Car service vs. Lyft

[chrismu1]

So since the new rules for Magic express back to MCO are now 4 hrs.(I aint getting my daughter up @ 5am) I am looking into either a lyft hailing back or my agent suggested Disney car service. the car service is around 95 dollars, lyft estimated price is 40 dollars. Any suggestions on either?
thanks

 

[FCDub]

Will you need a car seat?

 

[chrismu1]

No, just trying not get up mega earlier, 10:30am flight back home

 

[tobikaye]

Yeah, I have a 10:30 am flight towards the end of January. I figure by then, they will be back to the 3 hours, which is probably still an hour earlier than I would want. If they are still at the 4 hours then, I will probably do Lyft.

I figure that by doing something such as Lyft, then I can make changes that morning to when I get picked up. By doing a car service that has to be reserved, I am stuck at that time even if I am ready to leave or need just 5 more minutes.

 

[JimMIA]

Lyft or Uber will be MUCH less than a car service.

 

[writerguyfl]

If you've never used them, make sure you understand how ride sharing services operate. You're getting into a privately owned vehicle driven by a random person who signed up to drive. Conversely, the vehicles used by car services (should) be owned and maintained by that company. Additionally, the driver most likely went through a formal interview process.

Those distinctions are important to some people. Other people won't care.

 

[JimMIA]

If you've never used them, make sure you understand how ride sharing services operate. You're getting into a privately owned vehicle driven by a random person who signed up to drive.

The Uber/Lyft driver is hardly a "random person" . It's a person who has undergone a very detailed background investigation and met very stringent standards set by the State of Florida and enforced by a state agency.

In addition, drivers are constantly rated by riders and are terminated if they don't maintain a very high customer satisfaction average. A driver rating average of 4.6 out of 5.0 (92% -- an A in school) is borderline termination.

Conversely, the vehicles used by car services (should) be owned and maintained by that company.

That is sometimes true, sometimes not. Many car service drivers own the cars they drive -- just like taxis.

In either rideshare or car service, the car should be spotless and odor-free.

With a car service, the driver will usually be wearing a dress shirt and tie, if that's important to you. Some rideshare drivers rock some pretty interesting fashion choices, lol.

You will probably also enjoy a few more amenities with a car service, and you should get more personal, professional services like meeting you on foot in the arrival area at an airport and walking you to their car. I've used car companies on a number of occasions and never been disappointed...but there is definitely a large price differential.

 

[chrismu1]

The only concern I have is that I know the car service will be there when I need them to take us back to the airport, the lyft option, which I have not yet used, I do not know what time they will be there and with all the problems at airports I do not need us being late as this is the only flight back home with out 1 to 2 plane changes.

 

[Best Aunt]

The only concern I have is that I know the car service will be there when I need them to take us back to the airport, the lyft option, which I have not yet used, I do not know what time they will be there and with all the problems at airports I do not need us being late as this is the only flight back home with out 1 to 2 plane changes.

Well, you hope the car service will be there when you need them. You don't exactly know that. Companies make mistakes, drivers make mistakes, traffic issues crop up... I've never had a problem with a car service, but I'm not sure I would assume they are more reliable. With Lyft, you open the app, it tells you how long the driver will take to get to you, you watch the driver's progress, you can contact the driver directly, you get a notification when the driver arrives. With the car service, you probably get nothing after the original confirmation.

I know some people feel the drivers are "vetted" more with a car service, or with a cab. I guess my feeling is that in this day and age, you can have a bad experience with a person no matter what. Just because someone is supposed to be reliable and safe doesn't mean that they are.

 

[writerguyfl]

The Uber/Lyft driver is hardly a "random person".

By random, I meant that no one from the company (Uber, Lyft) has ever met this person. The driver rating is irrelevant if you get a brand-new driver. (I'm assuming that scenario has to be possible, particularly with the way these companies churn through drivers.)

I'm not sure why you seem bothered that someone has a different opinion of so-called ride-sharing services. I merely wanted to provide my opinion for someone who might have never used them before. I think I was pretty clear when I wrote this: "Those distinctions are important to some people. Other people won't care."

 

[JimMIA]

By random, I meant that no one from the company (Uber, Lyft) has ever met this person. The driver rating is irrelevant if you get a brand-new driver. (I'm assuming that scenario has to be possible, particularly with the way these companies churn through drivers.)

Whether anyone from the company has ever met the person depends on how the driver onboarded. A great many drivers take their documentation to Uber Greenlight Hubs (there are 4 hubs in the Orlando area) and start the onboarding process in person. So those drivers, indeed, ARE interviewed by Uber.

On the ratings question, actually new drivers tend to have lower ratings than established drivers. All drivers (and riders) start out at 5.0, but when you are new and only have a few rides, just one low rating will drop your average a good bit. For that reason, Uber doesn't consider ratings averages until a rider has done more than 100 rides. After 100, the rating tends to stabilize. My rating has stayed exactly the same for the last 8 months or so.

I'm not sure why you seem bothered that someone has a different opinion of so-called ride-sharing services. I merely wanted to provide my opinion for someone who might have never used them before. I think I was pretty clear when I wrote this: "Those distinctions are important to some people. Other people won't care."

Nobody's bothered; everybody has their own point of view. That's what discussion boards are all about.

But your post made it sound like any "random" person could just download the Uber Driver app, log on and start driving -- and that is totally false.

 

[joelkfla]

Whether anyone from the company has ever met the person depends on how the driver onboarded. A great many drivers take their documentation to Uber Greenlight Hubs (there are 4 hubs in the Orlando area) and start the onboarding process in person. So those drivers, indeed, ARE interviewed by Uber.

My experience with Greenlight Hub "staff" (I use the term loosely) does not inspire in me a great deal of confidence in their judgement. And I have heard tales of woe from riders about previous rides in dirty, poorly maintained vehicles driven by clueless drivers.

Nevertheless, I believe that those are isolated instances, and that those drivers will eventually be weeded out. I've heard lots more complaints about taxis. I don't have much experience with black cars or limos or whatever, but I have seen reports here on the boards and elsewhere of them trying to rip people off or not showing up or showing up late. With Uber & Lyft, at least you know your fare will be charged directly to your CC with no room for shenanigans by the driver, and if a driver cancels on you there's another one 5-10 minutes away.

Honestly, if money were no object, I'd probably go with a limo if I could verify they're past reliability and performance. But Uber & Lyft are reasonably priced, safe (IMO) alternatives.

 

[JimMIA]

My experience with Greenlight Hub "staff" (I use the term loosely) does not inspire in me a great deal of confidence in their judgement.

Our Uberkids in Miami are a good bunch. They're knowledgeable and try to help. As with any level of support, they have limits to their authority and parameters they have to stay within -- but the few visits I've made have been fine.

And I have heard tales of woe from riders about previous rides in dirty, poorly maintained vehicles driven by clueless drivers.

One thing that has struck me is that, in more than 1,300 rides between Uber and Lyft, I have never once gotten a complaint from a rider about another driver having a dirty car. I've heard complaints about drivers not speaking English, and not being able to follow the GPS, but not dirty cars.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I know some people feel the drivers are "vetted" more with a car service, or with a cab. I guess my feeling is that in this day and age, you can have a bad experience with a person no matter what. Just because someone is supposed to be reliable and safe doesn't mean that they are.

Yup. I once had a cab ride where the driver was somebody I'd hung out with in high school. If have preferred not to ride with him, but it was snowing, nighttime, and a shortride.

I've heard complaints about drivers not speaking English,

Yeah, I had one of those once. But he could and did follow the GPS.

 

[joelkfla]

I know some people feel the drivers are "vetted" more with a car service, or with a cab. I guess my feeling is that in this day and age, you can have a bad experience with a person no matter what. Just because someone is supposed to be reliable and safe doesn't mean that they are.

Yup. I once had a cab ride where the driver was somebody I'd hung out with in high school. If have preferred not to ride with him, but it was snowing, nighttime, and a shortride.

Redefining the phrase "bad experience."

 

[writerguyfl]

Nevertheless, I believe that those are isolated instances, and that those drivers will eventually be weeded out. I've heard lots more complaints about taxis. I don't have much experience with black cars or limos or whatever, but I have seen reports here on the boards and elsewhere of them trying to rip people off or not showing up or showing up late. With Uber & Lyft, at least you know your fare will be charged directly to your CC with no room for shenanigans by the driver, and if a driver cancels on you there's another one 5-10 minutes away.

Maybe my local cab company is unusual, but I've never had any issues. These are some of the positive attributes of my cab company:

• I can request a cab on the phone, via text message, on their website, or using their app.
• The app let's you pay be credit card or you can swipe your card in the car.
• They have guaranteed rates, so I don't have to worry about traffic running up the fare.
• Rates are set by law, so there's never surge pricing.
• All drivers speak English.
• The entire trip is recorded on video, which pretty much guarantees there won't be any "shenanigans" by the drivers.
• If I do have a problem, I can call 24/7 and speak to a live person who is local.
• Finally, they don't require you to give your name, phone, email, and credit card information to take a cab. That means I don't have worry about my personal information getting hacked like the 57 million people involved in last year's Uber data breach. (That's the breach that Uber illegally covered up by not notifying state, federal, and international agencies.)

 

[kaytieeldr]

Maybe my local cab company is unusual, but I've never had any issues. These are some of the positive attributes of my cab company:

Well, my local cab company closed because the owner got involved with drugs.

• I can no longer get an answer when i call them.
• I can hire Lyft on my phone app, no need for a computer.
• I can pay by credit card without having to swipe.
• Three identical cab trips one week charged three different fares.
• This city has taxi zones so, yes, should be the same fare each time.e
• Even non-English speaking drivers can get to you, and you to your destination.
• Ridehire users are made aware of the existence of surge pricing, how to determine if it's in effect, and can get a ride in the rain that's probably still less than guaranteed or zone fares.
• Lyft, at least, responds very quickly to e-mail!
• You do give your address and your credit card number to the cab company, along with possibly your name, and have no assurance the information isn't hackable.

Not trying to convince you to ridehire, but please dont try to convince everyone it's bad.

 

[JimMIA]

Whether a driver speaks English or not probably depends largely on where you live, not what kind of transportation you are using. I hear that complaint not only in Florida, but also NYC, Washington, LA, and SFO -- and the complaints are about both taxi and rideshare drivers.

Here in Miami, we have large numbers of both rideshare drivers and taxi drivers who speak little or no English. To make matters worse, many of the taxi drivers speak only Haitian Creole, and that is an adventure!

Drivers who don't speak English get by, but driving for anyone is more than just following the GPS. If you need to communicate anything (gate code, specific location at a mall, etc), or need to ask a question, a driver not speaking your language makes it tough. That works exactly the same for me, incidentally, with riders who speak no English. If they speak Spanish, I might be able to figure out what they're saying, but not always. But Uzbek? Nope...and I had riders from Uzbekistan last week.

 

[alliecat523]

I’ve had a car service not show up for me at WDW. It was a panicked race to get a cab to the airport.

I’ve had very good experiences with Lyft (not with Uber - been abandoned by them too). I’ve never waited more than 5 min at WDW for a Lyft ride. Drivers were always courteous and cars were spotless. I would not hesitate to use this. You can also pre book rides like a car service if you wish.

 

[Shanti]

So since the new rules for Magic express back to MCO are now 4 hrs.(I aint getting my daughter up @ 5am) I am looking into either a lyft hailing back or my agent suggested Disney car service. the car service is around 95 dollars, lyft estimated price is 40 dollars. Any suggestions on either?
thanks

We've had good experiences with both car services and taxis at WDW. Happy Limo is the car service we typically use.