Uber

[tarheelmjfan]

Interesting discussion. We've never used Uber, but plan to on our upcoming trip. We always tip cabs. It wouldn't occur to me that we shouldn't tip an Uber driver. It doesn't seem right to me to save money on the fare + not tip. I really don't see a difference. Maybe I will, after we've used the service.

 

[DawnM]

I've tried lyft and uber and prefer uber. Lyft around here uses wave or something like that for a gps which isn't very accurate in my area. I only use lyft when we get a free ride from tmobile on Tuesdays up to $15 so it doesn't matter but otherwise it would cost more than needed. I like how unlike a cab we can call either company and track arrival time so you know when to go outside. If you ever have a teen riding and you call uber on your phone you can track uber the entire ride but lyft doesn't have that here. I think uber uses google maps and goes the way I would direct them.

Oh man, I only need rides on Tuesdays right now too! But I don't have T-mobile.

 

[DawnM]

Is Lyft as available as Uber?

I typed in my suburb in Lyft.com and it says it isn't available to me. The official city limits are 5 miles away from my house, but it looks like I can't get service here. I can get Uber.

 

[DawnM]

BTW: I am really just looking for my son, 18 years old but with some impairments (so not driving), to be able to get around when DH has to go into the office (twice per week). I am working full time now so the Mom taxi has come to a complete halt.

I would pay for everything through the app and he would just use it when needed.

I am still working on a possible ride with a friend. I have offered to pay his friend Uber pricing to come and get him on the Tuesdays he needs to be somewhere as the friend is going too (he would need to drive 12 miles ROUND TRIP to get him.) I am waiting to see what they say, but really wanted to know about Uber for that and for anything else we may need it for for him.

 

[ashley0139]

Well seeing as how not nearly everyone on the dis claims to tip 25% in restaurants or $10 a night to the maid, you too are.... exaggerating.

But I didn't say everyone claimed to, I said "people" claimed to, and I have absolutely seen people on the disboards claim all of those things.

Doesn't matter though, sorry for derailing the thread!

 

[GaryDis]

That was the WHOLE POINT of the app. A cashless system. As a 20something in LA with many 20something friends, I've never seen one of them tip. Only on the Disboards, where people tip Uber, 25% at restaurants, and leave $10 for hotel maids every day.

I think this has more to do with being 20somethings. I've known a fair number of people who didn't tip or tipped poorly in their 20s and started tipping more when they gained more life experience and/or job and financial security. I remember back when I was a 20something I gave a driver a tip that he thought was so low as to be almost insulting, and refused to take it.

And only a 20something or younger would say that cashlessness is the whole point of the app. For most people, the point is being able to get a ride at lower, predictable costs and a predictable wait without having to walk to a taxi stand or busy street.

 

[aprilgail]

That was the WHOLE POINT of the app. A cashless system. As a 20something in LA with many 20something friends, I've never seen one of them tip. Only on the Disboards, where people tip Uber, 25% at restaurants, and leave $10 for hotel maids every day.

By the way, I have a 5 star rating.

I remember being 20 and being a crappy tipper so it is understandable that you would think that. Once I grew up and saw how much other jobs depended on tips I tipped differently.

 

[hsmamato2]

I've used both Uber and Lyft to go from wdw-airport, they were both about the same- worked great-great price! I tipped a few bucks b/c I figure a safe drie is worth a little extra.... kind of like tipping a bellhop I guess -if I ubered a lot, like city living? then IDK about tipping all the time

 

[ashley0139]

I think this has more to do with being 20somethings. I've known a fair number of people who didn't tip or tipped poorly in their 20s and started tipping more when they gained more life experience and/or job and financial security. I remember back when I was a 20something I gave a driver a tip that he thought was so low as to be almost insulting, and refused to take it.

And only a 20something or younger would say that cashlessness is the whole point of the app. For most people, the point is being able to get a ride at lower, predictable costs and a predictable wait without having to walk to a taxi stand or busy street.

I remember being 20 and being a crappy tipper so it is understandable that you would think that. Once I grew up and saw how much other jobs depended on tips I tipped differently.

I tip plenty in restaurants, regular cabs, hair dressers, etc etc. This board looks down on "young" people so intensely it's just shocking.

I think the drivers are okay with it too, with my 5 star rating.

 

[mjkacmom]

My ds18 just used uber for the first time today, I'm going to ask if he tipped.

 

[DawnM]

I tip plenty in restaurants, regular cabs, hair dressers, etc etc. This board looks down on "young" people so intensely it's just shocking.

I think the drivers are okay with it too, with my 5 star rating.

I get where you are coming from. I am often floored at who people tip, esp at Christmas! Mailman, garbage collector, hairdresser, bus driver, etc.......

I tip for services rendered at the time of service, for things like food service at my table (I don't tip at Starbucks or counter service.), I tip the hairdresser when I get my hair cut.

I would tip a taxi driver, so I do wonder about Uber, but I know my son wouldn't think to tip.

 

[3smithboys]

My DH is a teacher and drives for both Uber and Lyft as a part time gig... He will sometimes get cash tips from his Uber fares. Lyft has the built in option to tip. Both Uber and Lyft take about 25% of the total fare that you pay. Lyft does not take the money that you give them as a tip... Uber implies there is a tip included, but there isn't.

 

[tvguy]

My DH is a teacher and drives for both Uber and Lyft as a part time gig... He will sometimes get cash tips from his Uber fares. Lyft has the built in option to tip. Both Uber and Lyft take about 25% of the total fare that you pay. Lyft does not take the money that you give them as a tip... Uber implies there is a tip included, but there isn't.

I would have to think to that it may depend on the location and the experience (for lack of a better word) the driver provides. A retired co-worker drives for Uber just for something to do. He lives in Palm Springs. He always has water for his passengers, points out the sights along the route and is one of those people that anyone can strike up a conversation with. His passengers all tend to be tourists, and mostly women. His age and personality are such that women are comfortable around him. He says he almost always gets tips.

 

[Bluestars]

I've used both Uber and Lyft to go from wdw-airport, they were both about the same- worked great-great price! I tipped a few bucks b/c I figure a safe drie is worth a little extra.... kind of like tipping a bellhop I guess -if I ubered a lot, like city living? then IDK about tipping all the time

I am curious to know how much cheaper it would be to use Uber as opposed to a shuttle service. How much was it to take Uber from WDW to the airport? Is Uber just as reliable as a shuttle service?

 

[tvguy]

I get where you are coming from. I am often floored at who people tip, esp at Christmas! Mailman, garbage collector, hairdresser, bus driver, etc.......

I tip for services rendered at the time of service, for things like food service at my table (I don't tip at Starbucks or counter service.), I tip the hairdresser when I get my hair cut.

I would tip a taxi driver, so I do wonder about Uber, but I know my son wouldn't think to tip.

I have to agree, there are a lot of people on the DIS who have a much much wider threshold of people they will tip than I have. I got flamed here by some because I said didn't tip the tradespeople who did the work during my remodel. My contractor used union trades people, and with the internet it's easy to check the pay scales. I don't think any of painters, carpenters, sheet rock installers, flooring people, cabinet people used on my project was making less than $35 an hour. That is above my threshold for getting a tip. We did always have cold bottled water and home made baked goods out for them. Although one carpenter did complain he gained 15 pounds in the 4 months he worked at our house.

 

[GaryDis]

I tip plenty in restaurants, regular cabs, hair dressers, etc etc. This board looks down on "young" people so intensely it's just shocking.

I think the drivers are okay with it too, with my 5 star rating.

It's not a matter of looking down. It's a matter of recognizing cultural differences that occur as a matter of age and not location. It's entirely reasonable to expect that a person used to riding traditional cabs would have a different outlook from someone who rarely or never used a cab or other ride service until Uber or Lyft came about.

I'm actually undecided. What draws me in the no-tip direction is that ostensibly Lyft and Uber treat their drivers as independent contractors, and I was taught you never tip the owner, since they're already getting both the owner's cut and the worker's cut. But that's more commonly applicable to barbers and hair salons. If I chose to follow that reasoning, it might be tacit agreement with Uber's and Lyft's position and an unfair approach for the drivers. Nevertheless, part of me wants to treat them as businessmen and not entrepreneurs, and they need to face the reality of what their income is.

 

[3smithboys]

I would have to think to that it may depend on the location and the experience (for lack of a better word) the driver provides. A retired co-worker drives for Uber just for something to do. He lives in Palm Springs. He always has water for his passengers, points out the sights along the route and is one of those people that anyone can strike up a conversation with. His passengers all tend to be tourists, and mostly women. His age and personality are such that women are comfortable around him. He says he almost always gets tips.

I do agree that it depends on location and experience. DH has a 5 star rating... He has phone chargers in his car, offers gum/water, ect....We live outside of Philly and many of his passengers seem to be college students (and this could also be the time of day that he Ubers...) His rides dropped off a lot over the summer.... when they all went home, and it's now starting to pick up again. He has been asked from passengers about Uber's tipping policy from passengers, and many people told him that they thought that there was a built in tip that the drivers got directly from Uber....

 

[tarheelmjfan]

It's not a matter of looking down. It's a matter of recognizing cultural differences that occur as a matter of age and not location. It's entirely reasonable to expect that a person used to riding traditional cabs would have a different outlook from someone who rarely or never used a cab or other ride service until Uber or Lyft came about.

I'm actually undecided. What draws me in the no-tip direction is that ostensibly Lyft and Uber treat their drivers as independent contractors, and I was taught you never tip the owner, since they're already getting both the owner's cut and the worker's cut. But that's more commonly applicable to barbers and hair salons. If I chose to follow that reasoning, it might be tacit agreement with Uber's and Lyft's position and an unfair approach for the drivers. Nevertheless, part of me wants to treat them as businessmen and not entrepreneurs, and they need to face the reality of what their income is.

To me, the Uber & Lyft Cooperations would be the owner in this situation. The drivers are working under their name & paying them a cut of their fare. Private contractors mostly work for a business owners. IMO, if they're working for & paying a portion of their wage to someone else, they're not really the owner. The ones I know also don't have a business to sell, if they were ready to quit or retire. I just don't personally consider that being a business owner. The main difference in a private contractor & hourly or salaried employee is they usually provide their own materials, drive their own vehicle & don't get benefits. They can make more than an hourly employee, but not always. The ones I know can't just decide to miss a day or go on vacation on a whim, because they still work for someone & have to answer to them. At least, that's how I see it based on the private contractors I know. I don't really care who anyone else tips.

 

[XYSRUS]

My youngest and I recently stayed off site for the week and went to the parks 2 days. We Ubered it 100% that week, all over. Awesome drivers. Prompt service. Great experiences. Never tipped. I have 5 star rating.

 

[Squirlz]

I am curious to know how much cheaper it would be to use Uber as opposed to a shuttle service. How much was it to take Uber from WDW to the airport? Is Uber just as reliable as a shuttle service?

We took Lyft from RPR at Universal to MCO last January. They arrived within minutes and the fare would have been less than $18, but it was free with our signup bonus. Rides with Uber back and forth to Seaworld and Discovery Cove were 6-7 dollars, and twice we had the drivers make a quick store stop.