Hacker News Reader

Comment by decafninja | Hacker News Reader

Could be a coincidence, but my experience has been that Lyft have generally been faster and cheaper than Uber. However the quality of both the driver and the car has generally been higher with Uber.

I'd still call Lyft over taking a traditional cab though.

View on HN

In Chicago, the taxis are generally cheaper than Uber/Lyft from the airport. It is about $30 to the city with a Taxi. In the best conditions, i've seen Ubers for $38 to the same place, but it is generally in the $60-80 range.

It is so much more expensive that my company has stopped reimbursing ubers in most scenarios where taxis were otherwise available.

I've driven heavily in both and taxis are often nicer and safer than some of the craziness of UberX rides. If I take an uber I just pay the 10-15% premium for Comfort or Electric. I won't use UberX in the city anymore, it is so much worse than the taxis.

The real move is Uber to O'hare and taxi from O'hare.

It is like that in NYC too.

But the convenience depends on which terminal. I normally fly American--ez taxi from JFK.

Once I flew in on JetBlue. Nightmare taxi stand with a winding, immobile line. Had to call an Uber.

In Seattle, traditional cabs are 50% cheaper than Ubers to go from Seatac to the city.

Or you can take the light rail directly from the airport into the city for $2.50 (and presumably catch a cheaper taxi there).

We stopped taking cabs years ago when the cab we ordered for very early in the morning didn't show up, ending in a scramble to get to the airport and parked.

What most people like about Lyft or Uber: known price, known route, and backup drivers automatically located if there's an issue with the first driver.

That peace of mind seems worth paying for.

The "hack" that a couple of the comments in this chain are referring to is only ever taking cabs _from_ a major airport into a city. Often you don't have to play the waiting-on-someone-to-show-up game, there's just a line of them right outside the airport that you can hop in immediately. In some cities there's even flat rates they have to adhere to, depending on where you're going ("$20 to midtown").

I was gleeful when Uber and Lyft came on the scene to have an alternative to cab BS, but the one place they still shine is when going from an airport into a major metro area.

Do you take the cap to downtown? If so, why do you take a cab over the Link?

I have taken a cab ones, but to Fauntleroy, and I was missing a ferry (which I missed anyway because the driver took a weird way). However, the transit options to West Seattle aren’t nearly as good as to downtown though.

Cabs/Ubers/etc are too expensive to use daily, but for a one time thing (such as flying into an airport), it's so much less stressful than trying to deal with public transportation.

I'll give an exception to certain cities that have superb transit options, but none of those cities are in the US.

The transit option between SeaTac and Downtown Seattle is superb. I admit it can be improved (e.g. you have to walk through the parking garage to the station, and it is a bit slow going through Rainier valley) but for 2.50 USD it is the best option going from SeaTac to Downtown.

I still take link because it is so cheap, but I've experienced 25+ min delays (between the bus and link).

In nyc traditional cab is always cheaper than a lyft. Possibly exception with the flat rate rides from the airports.

Yeah I think the same pool of drivers drives for both, so it will simply vary based on the current demand/supply conditions

NOLA also seems to have a setup for a discounted flat rate on cabs from MSY to city center

Reply on news.ycombinator.com