Enter Day 10 of the 12 Days of Giveaways

a gnome on a branch
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Earlier today I wrote about my experience with not one but two hotel taxi rides that didn’t go as planned. I was very glad that I wasn’t in a hurry to get to my destination, as it could have easily been more of a disaster than it already was. It also made me wonder if the first cab driver realized at the end that it was the wrong destination, or if he really believed the pharmaceutical company was where I was supposed to go. For the second driver, I’m not sure if he simply misunderstood who was going to pay, or just didn’t care.

a red question mark on a black surface

Getting taken to the wrong place and then being hit up for payment reminded me why I love Uber. The destination is entered before the ride even starts, so there is no confusion. Payment is easy and sorted automatically. Jon with No Mas Coach even shows you how you can even get free groceries by using Uber. Of course, Uber wasn’t an option for these rides and payment wouldn’t have worked the same way. But, I use Uber whenever possible.

Today is Day 10 of Magic of Miles 12 Days of Giveaways.

a wrapped present under a tree

To enter today’s contest for a chance at iTunes gift cards, airline pajamas, or a USPS box stuffed with travel goodies, let me know in the comments below if you have ever had a similar thing happen to you with a taxi. Did I overlook any smart options? What is your take on the situation? .

If you’re just joining now at Day 10 of the Magic of Miles 12 Days of Giveaways, the prizes in the contest are fun and travel related. They include a couple GoGo 25 use Internet passes, first class pajamas, Starbucks gift cards, and more!

a gift box with a bow

Today’s Magic of Miles contest ends at 9pm PST tonight so get those entries in. Click here to read full contest details, and good luck!

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47 Comments

  1. In London we used Uber a lot. Oddly the rate wasn’t preset but more like a regular cab. Also the pick up points were confusing and I ended up getting dinged on my rating for being at the wrong place somewhat.

  2. I have found both taxicabs and Uber to be very hit or miss, with some drivers taking me directly where I wanted to go and others taking (or attempting to take until I forced a change of course) roundabout routes that increased mileage and time to travel what should have been the same route.

  3. I rarely take cabs in the us or traveling. I have done so, but am far more likely to use public transportation. Once I did have an argument with a bus driver in Germany because he didn’t want to honor my transfer from the underground even though I paid for the ticket to go all the way to my final destination. It was not my fault that the ticket expired timewise before my once an hour connection left. After arguing in my very broken German for five minutes the driver just let me go about my business. Thankfully there was no fare inspector or I would have had to go through the whole argument process again. I had no intention of paying a second time due to long transfer wait times on a Sunday.

  4. The second guy you might have been able to make him wait by getting someone from inside to talk to the cabbie and to get your hostage luggage released. There is the possibility that neither cab driver in addition to not speaking English also weren’t particularly fluent in German either which contributed to the all around confusion?

  5. I don’t think there was much you could have done with the first driver. From your description he probably would have left anyway even if you had asked him to wait. The only thing you might have been able to would have been to get his badge or license number and report him at hotel.

  6. OK, I’m officially bummed. I misread the rules for this giveaway (my bad!) — I thought one could only enter once/day! At least I have 3 days left to increase my odds of winning! So I guess you could say (in the spirit of today’s theme), I took a wrong turn at the first post announcing this contest!

  7. We took a taxi in Ireland and had only a little money left – kept eyeing the meter hoping we’d make it to our destination before we ran out of money! We didn’t – but luckily, we found a Euro we didn’t know we had!

  8. It’s always a game of trust taking a taxi to a destination when you don’t speak the language! I think you did the best you could!

  9. In Rome I definitely had a taxi driver who intentionally could not find where we wanted to go in order to increase the fair. Not the same but still frustrating.

  10. Nothing like that, but my last hotel taxi ride, the driver came in and we confirmed we’d be right out. He then got in his car and started to drive away.

  11. I’ve had the Lyft switcheroo where we order an XL and a Toyota Camry shows up and takes us to the wrong hotel – but that’s the worst for me personally. Years ago, my mother missed a wedding she flew in for because the taxi driver didn’t know how to get to a place that was 3 blocks away from their hotel.

  12. Several years ago, I had to take taxis in India, and it’s a constant struggle against the scams / misdirections — happy for Uber now in many ways

  13. There can be plenty of confusion with Uber. I was in Cleveland and flying out of Akron. The driver actually drove us to CLE instead.

  14. We had a taxi misunderstanding happen in Paris where we had to ask the front desk employee at the hotel come out to translate between us and the taxi driver. That is not a good feeling when something like that happens.

  15. You did not overlook anything, sometimes things just happen and in a different language you cannot always know what is happening.

  16. On a stopover in Singapore on our way to Bangkok, we went out for dinner with a friend I had made on a previous mileage run transiting Changi. After dinner, he called an Uber to take us back to the Crowne Plaza at the airport. He knew how much the fare should be and gave me that amount in Singapore dollars. Only one problem — it was the first night (or so he said) driving for Uber for our driver and he got lost. What should have been a 25 minute ride stretched into almost 45 minutes before he finally found his way to our hotel. He tried to charge us more that the amount my friend had given me and I had no additional local currency (since we were on a layover). He wasn’t happy but eventually he allowed us out of his car for the originally quoted fare.

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