Free Trips with Uber this weekend

RedXIV

As per the blog post here

MEET UBERX

From today, getting around Dublin just got a whole lot easier. All uberX partners are commercially licensed vehicles who use the Uber app to give you preferential pricing.*

We’re so excited about uberX launching in Dublin that we’ve decided to give everyone FREE uberX trips all weekend long! Yes you heard us correctly, FREE trips whether you’re a long time Uber user or only signing up today!

T&Cs say its 5 trips of up to €25

Here are some sample prices:

• City Centre to Dublin Airport - €13 + toll
• Dalkey to Aviva Stadium - €17
• Dundrum to Stephen’s Green - €11
• Howth to The Docklands- €21

maximoose

Hmmm

Those fares, and this offer all seem a bit too good to believe...

So this is like Hailo, but not done by the meter and you authorise them to bill your paypal without knowing the amount?

Raoul

Yeah, it does seem far too good to be true. Hopefully it is true. Might test it tonight.

Yggr of Asgard

Warning, not all uber are free, make sure you use uber x not uber black.

Uber X are taxi's (rumor has that they only allow Saloon Taxis that are 2008 or newer) and the rate is calculated by uber app (not the taxi meter) and than charged to your credit card/paypal.

Uber Black are limo's (and not free this weekend).

Make sure you slide the car option to uber x.

jjbrien

Does not cover Dublin West

zefer

Cheers OP, will try this tonight

Edit: used it out of town last night, worked perfectly, no charge!

sdanseo

dublin-texas wrote: »

Uber X are taxi's (rumor has that they only allow Saloon Taxis that are 2008 or newer) and the rate is calculated by uber app (not the taxi meter)

That would be completely illegal (unless the fare was cheaper than the meter, which ran at the same time). You sure?

Bigcheeze

sdeire wrote: »

That would be completely illegal (unless the fare was cheaper than the meter, which ran at the same time). You sure?

It's cheaper than the meter.

Hogzy

Tried using the app at least 10 times and every time it said there was no Uber X cars available.

Fair enough, I can understand the large increase in demand considering the app was free for the weekend but the majority of the times I tried was during the day and not peak hours. Quite disappointed with the whole experience tbh.

fergm

seems a good bit cheaper. I used it on Sunday.

Base fare is only €3 and then you get charged 33c per min and 52c per KM.

Rush hour it may be more expensive though, as meter fares are charged at 48c per min normally and no KM charge, while Uber will charge you 33c per min and 52c per KM

ruddy1987

Used it four times over the weekend, all fares ran about 10-20% less than I usually would have paid on Halo.

Spook_ie

Also the standard taxi meter fare of €4.10/€4.45 includes the first kilometer or 170 seconds, Uber starts from point of boarding.

There is some doubt in my mind if the T&Cs

*By pre-booking a taxi through the Uber app you waive the right to have fares calculated & charged on the meter and instead choose to agree Uber’s preferential fare structure in advance of the journey.

are legal, as you are not prebooking a taxi

But for the weekend that it's on it's Googles money you are spending so enjoy it

mfceiling

Are Uber cars actual taxis or people doing runs "on the side"?

Would their insurance cover these journeys?

Bigcheeze

mfceiling wrote: »

Are Uber cars actual taxis or people doing runs "on the side"?

Would their insurance cover these journeys?

The UberX cars are taxis. The standard Uber cars are executive cars. For UberX, they only accept taxis which are 2008 or newer so in theory the cars should be better than a lot of the sh1tboxes around Dublin.

Spook_ie

Bigcheeze wrote: »

The UberX cars are taxis. The standard Uber cars are executive cars. For UberX, they only accept taxis which are 2008 or newer so in theory the cars should be better than a lot of the sh1tboxes around Dublin.

Bizarre how you seem to have the impression that a whole new fleet of taxis have appeared when it's still the same taxis you can find in Dublin anyway

ted1

Spook_ie wrote: »

Bizarre how you seem to have the impression that a whole new fleet of taxis have appeared when it's still the same taxis you can find in Dublin anyway

They have filtered out the carp ones so you can be sure that you won't get the same crai one that you find in Dublin

MonkstownHoop

Was delighted to avail of this on Friday evening, also had 20 uber credit which I used yesterday when no uberx cars were available, between this and recent Hailo promos I've had a few free taxis lately

Bigcheeze

Spook_ie wrote: »

Bizarre how you seem to have the impression that a whole new fleet of taxis have appeared when it's still the same taxis you can find in Dublin anyway

No, try reading what I posted before replying.

dmcg90

Have to say, really liked using Uber X over Hailo.

Had my fill of rude taxi drivers on Hailo, can't speak highly enough of Uber at the moment.

sasta le

That taxi pricing is maximum pricing no law on going cheaper is there?

dmcg90

sasta le wrote: »

That taxi pricing is maximum pricing no law on going cheaper is there?

Not if you class yourself as a taxi.

Bigcheeze

dmcg90 wrote: »

Have to say, really liked using Uber X over Hailo.

Had my fill of rude taxi drivers on Hailo, can't speak highly enough of Uber at the moment.

Probably just a fluke. The drivers on Uber are getting paid less than on Hailo so can't see what would make them happier about it.

dmcg90

Maybe they just are more picky about who they bring on to represent their brand. Had 4 UberX trips over the weekend and I can't complain about their service at all.

balfe1990

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Probably just a fluke. The drivers on Uber are getting paid less than on Hailo so can't see what would make them happier about it.

I read an article where it stated that a few drivers on Uber in NYC who worked a minimum of 40 hours a week were earning over 100,000$ a year.

The earning potential wouldn't be quite as great here, as its not as established as New York, but they get paid pretty handsomely.

ted1

balfe1990 wrote: »

I read an article where it stated that a few drivers on Uber in NYC who worked a minimum of 40 hours a week were earning over 100,000$ a year.

The earning potential wouldn't be quite as great here, as its not as established as New York, but they get paid pretty handsomely.

A minimum of 40 hours, so they could be working 200 and coming out with 20k for a standard work week

AdMMM

balfe1990 wrote: »

I read an article where it stated that a few drivers on Uber in NYC who worked a minimum of 40 hours a week were earning over 100,000$ a year.

The earning potential wouldn't be quite as great here, as its not as established as New York, but they get paid pretty handsomely.

UberBlack drivers get paid slightly more than taxi drivers, and uberX drivers get paid slightly less than taxi drivers. I don't see many taxi drivers earning that over here because a) Dublin is too small to generate long journeys outside of rush hour and b) there are far too many taxi drivers out there meaning long waits between jobs.

As for the bargain alert. I didn't read the small print and ended up getting a taxi before the free period began! I did check quite regularly throughout the weekend and availability was very poor. It seems that Uber have a lot of work to do to persuade taxi drivers that it's worth using over Hailo. For example, there are only 3 available UberX drivers in Dublin City Centre at the moment... while there are 3 Hailo drivers currently sitting outside my office, and hundreds more around the city.

Bigcheeze

AdMMM wrote: »

It seems that Uber have a lot of work to do to persuade taxi drivers that it's worth using over Hailo. For example, there are only 3 available UberX drivers in Dublin City Centre at the moment... while there are 3 Hailo drivers currently sitting outside my office, and hundreds more around the city.

Apparently one thing they are doing is giving drivers an iPhone to run the app.

faceman

I used Uber in L.A. a fair bit last week. The UberX drivers are individuals as opposed to taxi drivers. Seems similar to Hailo in terms of service (Hailo hasn't cracked the US yet) however Uber's gps has the edge as you can search for companies/business names rather than relying on just the address

Spook_ie

faceman wrote: »

I used Uber in L.A. a fair bit last week. The UberX drivers are individuals as opposed to taxi drivers. Seems similar to Hailo in terms of service (Hailo hasn't cracked the US yet) however Uber's gps has the edge as you can search for companies/business names rather than relying on just the address

You can do that with Hailo, press the ^ arrow next to the pick me up here message and it'll give you a drop down list of businesses in the immediate area

Spook_ie

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Apparently one thing they are doing is giving drivers an iPhone to run the app.

Paying them massive referal fees as well, no wonder the Uber drivers are happy so far


From a taxi website discussing Uber in Ireland

Uber X started at 4pm today in Dublin
Saloon Taxis only, 2008 or newer.
Meter is not run, the fare is set by Uber "meter"
No extras whatsoever
Standard fare is €3 initial fare, plus 64c per KM, plus 33 cents per minute.
So, if you travel 1km and it takes 2 mins, the fare will be €3 plus 64c plus 66c.
If demand outstrips supply surge pricing kicks in and the fare goes up by 1.5 (or more depending on demand)
Uber guaranteeing €12 per hour for this weekend (4pm Thursday until midnight Sunday), provided you are online and available, max 10% refusal.
Uber also pays an extra 3 per job if driver accepts 20-40 jobs in a week, €8 per job if more than 40 jobs accepted.
Uber operates on its own iPhone PDA supplied fre of charge.
If your rating drops to a certain level you get kicked off the system.

I reckon users will use it (if drivers sign up) as they are guaranteed a newer clean taxi (checked) at a low price

Commission 20%

€12 for every hour worked during the period
Send me your details and I'll refer you,
Phone /email and you get an extra €50 after sccepting 20 jobs, referrer gets €150 which might increase sign ups?

The legality of this bit is somewhat doubtful in my mind

If demand outstrips supply surge pricing kicks in and the fare goes up by 1.5 (or more depending on demand)