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I traveled recently in a foreign country where I did not speak the local language. Uber allowed me to enter my destination and location without confusing the dr

I traveled recently in a foreign country where I did not speak the local language. Uber allowed me to enter my destination and location without confusing the driver. I could never have done this with a traditional taxi cab.

thinkpad20 9y ago
You couldn’t show them the address written down?
- reaperducer 9y ago
  I've tried that in most countries I've been to. The results have been hit-and-miss. Japan: Works great Turkey: Nope. Thailand: Nope. France: Works, but not always well In a lot of countries, cab drivers are illiterate. And I don't mean functionally illiterate. I mean simply CAN NOT read. Not even a map. If you don't speak the language absolutely fluently, you're screwed.
- themistocle 9y ago
  I could, but sometimes addresses are not so clear. In my experience taxi drivers like it when you can explain directions and negotiate price. Without common language for me that is quite difficult.
collyw 9y ago
I have managed to take taxis in plenty of countries where I don't speak the language. Don't pretend that its something difficult.
- Tehnix 9y ago
  Sure it's easy to take a cab. What's more tricky, is not getting scammed. E.g. in Vietnam you'll be looking about various internet sources on which taxi companies are probably not gonna scam you. In France, I had some friends getting scammed in a separate ride from mine. In general, the ability to know beforehand the price, is golden! Adding to this: in countries payment can also be a problem, trivially solved via Uber. Take e.g. when I first arrived in South Korea and took an cab from the airport (fixed rates and in cabs in Korea are nice, so not a complaint there), the taxi couldn't take my card, and I didn't have 100k won in cash (accidentally took a luxury cab), so we had to drive around to find a bank that luckily took VISA.
- reaperducer 9y ago
  Depends on the country. Travel to a difficult country, or a rural area of pretty much any country, and get back to us.
  - collyw 9y ago
    What do you consider a "difficult" country? I used to lug a kayak around South America with me on public transport and taxis or even the back of trucks that were going the right way (while speaking the language very poorly). The biggest problem I had was getting a taxi in Hungary where the letters look the same but the pronunciation is quite different. Even then it was a case of getting a map out and pointing to the street.
- themistocle 9y ago
  I am not sure how you were able to communicate if you could not write or speak directions, but I am impressed! I don't think it wasn't possible to do before Uber in general, just for my case.
  - collyw 9y ago
    Map, and a finger. Or a piece of paper with a hotel name written on it. Are people really becoming so incapable of navigating life without a phone?
Sargos 9y ago
This is the primary reason I use Uber when traveling. It makes things so easy.
kbart 9y ago
So people before Uber have never used taxis in foreign countries?/s In most countries taxis already have apps comparable to Uber available on Google Play. Even before that, I've managed to get a taxi in China without understanding a single word or symbol (could be said the same about driver and English) and successfully reach my hotel -- showing a hotel's reservation did the trick (I bet that pointing a finger on a location on a map would also work).
- jhbadger 9y ago
  Did they really have those apps pre-Uber or did they simply adjust to compete by releasing their own app later? Nothing wrong with that, companies adjusting their model to compete, but at least where I live, cabs hadn't changed their model since the 1950s at least. Now, some of them are beginning to release apps, but they wouldn't have bothered without Uber and Lyft taking their business.
- themistocle 9y ago
  Those are interesting techniques. In my case I was in a foreign country and did not have a map or hotel reservation. I also did not know about local taxi companies. My visit was not exactly well-planned.
  - kbart 9y ago
    If you had a phone and Internet to call Uber, you also had a map. Of course, I don't deny that it's much simpler with Uber or a taxi app, but telling that Uber is the only mean to get a taxi in a foreign country is like telling that people couldn't eat before inventing a spoon.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      Yeah my intention was just to share that I found it easier. In my case the map wasn’t working. I was on a public WiFi hotspot and I didn’t know where or how to hail a cab. I’m sure it is technically possible to do without the convenience, but doing all the communication over the app in advance saved me from walking four hours in the rain and likely getting lost.
lightbyte 9y ago
Counter anecdote to your anecdote: I took tons of cabs when I was visiting Colombia and I didn't know a single bit of Spanish. I'd just pull up google maps, click on where I wanted to go, show them the screen. Every single one was perfectly fine.
- themistocle 9y ago
  Not having mobile data in my case meant that I was scrambling from public wifi to the cab. I could not use Google translate or other tools in the car. I also would have no way to negotiate price or insure that I was going the correct place. Not saying that Uber is the only way, but that for me it was helpful.
  - nbanks 9y ago
    I didn't realize that Uber worked without mobile data.
    - themistocle 9y ago
      Yeah I actually used it from a public WiFi and then ran outside to meet the driver when he got close enough.

thinkpad20 9y ago

You couldn’t show them the address written down?

reaperducer 9y ago
I've tried that in most countries I've been to. The results have been hit-and-miss. Japan: Works great Turkey: Nope. Thailand: Nope. France: Works, but not always well In a lot of countries, cab drivers are illiterate. And I don't mean functionally illiterate. I mean simply CAN NOT read. Not even a map. If you don't speak the language absolutely fluently, you're screwed.
themistocle 9y ago
I could, but sometimes addresses are not so clear. In my experience taxi drivers like it when you can explain directions and negotiate price. Without common language for me that is quite difficult.

collyw 9y ago

I have managed to take taxis in plenty of countries where I don't speak the language. Don't pretend that its something difficult.

Tehnix 9y ago
Sure it's easy to take a cab. What's more tricky, is not getting scammed. E.g. in Vietnam you'll be looking about various internet sources on which taxi companies are probably not gonna scam you. In France, I had some friends getting scammed in a separate ride from mine. In general, the ability to know beforehand the price, is golden! Adding to this: in countries payment can also be a problem, trivially solved via Uber. Take e.g. when I first arrived in South Korea and took an cab from the airport (fixed rates and in cabs in Korea are nice, so not a complaint there), the taxi couldn't take my card, and I didn't have 100k won in cash (accidentally took a luxury cab), so we had to drive around to find a bank that luckily took VISA.
reaperducer 9y ago
Depends on the country. Travel to a difficult country, or a rural area of pretty much any country, and get back to us.
- collyw 9y ago
  What do you consider a "difficult" country? I used to lug a kayak around South America with me on public transport and taxis or even the back of trucks that were going the right way (while speaking the language very poorly). The biggest problem I had was getting a taxi in Hungary where the letters look the same but the pronunciation is quite different. Even then it was a case of getting a map out and pointing to the street.
themistocle 9y ago
I am not sure how you were able to communicate if you could not write or speak directions, but I am impressed! I don't think it wasn't possible to do before Uber in general, just for my case.
- collyw 9y ago
  Map, and a finger. Or a piece of paper with a hotel name written on it. Are people really becoming so incapable of navigating life without a phone?

Sargos 9y ago

This is the primary reason I use Uber when traveling. It makes things so easy.

kbart 9y ago

So people before Uber have never used taxis in foreign countries?/s In most countries taxis already have apps comparable to Uber available on Google Play. Even before that, I've managed to get a taxi in China without understanding a single word or symbol (could be said the same about driver and English) and successfully reach my hotel -- showing a hotel's reservation did the trick (I bet that pointing a finger on a location on a map would also work).

jhbadger 9y ago
Did they really have those apps pre-Uber or did they simply adjust to compete by releasing their own app later? Nothing wrong with that, companies adjusting their model to compete, but at least where I live, cabs hadn't changed their model since the 1950s at least. Now, some of them are beginning to release apps, but they wouldn't have bothered without Uber and Lyft taking their business.
themistocle 9y ago
Those are interesting techniques. In my case I was in a foreign country and did not have a map or hotel reservation. I also did not know about local taxi companies. My visit was not exactly well-planned.
- kbart 9y ago
  If you had a phone and Internet to call Uber, you also had a map. Of course, I don't deny that it's much simpler with Uber or a taxi app, but telling that Uber is the only mean to get a taxi in a foreign country is like telling that people couldn't eat before inventing a spoon.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    Yeah my intention was just to share that I found it easier. In my case the map wasn’t working. I was on a public WiFi hotspot and I didn’t know where or how to hail a cab. I’m sure it is technically possible to do without the convenience, but doing all the communication over the app in advance saved me from walking four hours in the rain and likely getting lost.

lightbyte 9y ago

Counter anecdote to your anecdote: I took tons of cabs when I was visiting Colombia and I didn't know a single bit of Spanish. I'd just pull up google maps, click on where I wanted to go, show them the screen. Every single one was perfectly fine.

themistocle 9y ago
Not having mobile data in my case meant that I was scrambling from public wifi to the cab. I could not use Google translate or other tools in the car. I also would have no way to negotiate price or insure that I was going the correct place. Not saying that Uber is the only way, but that for me it was helpful.
- nbanks 9y ago
  I didn't realize that Uber worked without mobile data.
  - themistocle 9y ago
    Yeah I actually used it from a public WiFi and then ran outside to meet the driver when he got close enough.