4 ms·

That however is why they were cheaper. It seems, from the article, people don't actually want to pay the premium for that better level of service.

uxp100 4y ago
Which was cheaper? In my experience, in addition to being much worse in many ways (love to be called and told my cab driver is ready to pick me up when I am already boarded and sitting in a plane, after the dispatcher repeatedly told me they were 10 minutes away for an hour, and then I managed to just street hail a cab at 5 am) cabs were also about 50% more expensive. However, my local cab company got an app, it’s a piece of shit, but it shows where the cab is in a map as it comes to you, which really was the killer feature for Uber/Lyft for me. So good riddance Uber, you served a purpose for a time, but normal cabs stepped up their game just a little bit, and I have basically negative loyalty to you.
- marcinzm 4y ago
  In NYC the call taxi companies were cheaper than uber/lyft even in the prime discount days of those apps. Of course the user experience was much worse.
  - vkou 4y ago
    In NYC my user experience with Lyft has been much worse than taxis. Cost more, longer waits, cherry on top of a Lyft driver waiting five minutes on the other side of a long block away from pickup, and canceling the ride because I allegedly refused to show up. That I had to talk to CS to reverse the charge with. I took taxis for the rest of my time in NYC, and I can't see any reason not to keep doing so.
ghaff 4y ago
>people don't actually want to pay the premium for that better level of service See air travel in general.
- logifail 4y ago
  >>people don't actually want to pay the premium for that better level of service > See air travel in general. At least in Europe, currently having a provider get you from A to B as per your booking is the key, "premium" / "better level of service" is completely irrelevant. I'm back to booking everything as cheap as possible. If it's all going to go wrong, I want to have paid peanuts for it so I can just walk away and not bother having to try and claim anything back.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    I admittedly do relatively few short-haul flights. With some exceptions, 5 hours is about the floor so I will pay for more comfort/relaxation.
    - Spivak 4y ago
      Paying more for a better seat makes sense, paying more for a better airline really doesn’t unless you’re rich af or a business traveler and want double xl super platinum diamond plus premium status.
      - logifail 4y ago
        > Paying more for a better seat makes sense We'll need a working definition of "better"... Intra-Europe you're going to have to look long and hard to spot the difference between the "business class" seat at the front of the aircraft and the cheaper seats further back. You will (probably) get an inch or two extra legroom, the middle seat next to you will likely be blocked so there's more personal space, and you'll get something to eat and drink. Whether that's really worth spending a few hundred $$$/€€€/£££ extra is between you and your wallet.
    - logifail 4y ago
      > 5 hours is about the floor so I will pay for more comfort/relaxation I've got miles with both OneWorld and Star Alliance so can redeem on quite a lot of different airlines. At present, having a seat booked is not much of a guarantee of getting to your destination on time - or indeed at all. On the one hand you've got legacy carriers struggling to operate their published schedules[0][1][2] and on the other major European hubs are also struggling, AMS halted ticket sales in order to avoid complete meltdown[3][4] due to lack of trained staff, and FRA is also chaotic due to staffing issues and strikes[5][6] Low cost carriers such as Easyjet are also having to cancel hundreds of flights.[7][8] To be frank, air travel in Europe is a total mess, it's seems like it's going to take a while for the operators to get a grip. [0] https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/21/is-it-time-to-give-up-on-british-airways-an-inside-look-at-the-carrier-in-chaos https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/21/is-it-time-to-giv... [1] https://www.ft.com/content/08a94781-42e7-4d0c-9e54-dc899c597adf https://www.ft.com/content/08a94781-42e7-4d0c-9e54-dc899c597... [2] https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cancelled-flights-updates-british-airways-heathrow-b2088656.html https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cancell... [3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/klm-caps-amsterdam-ticket-sales-amid-airport-security-chaos https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/klm-caps-... [4] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/25/fights-at-amsterdam-schiphol-airport-where-chaos-still-reigns_5984592_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/25/f... [5] https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/frankfurter-flughafen-fraport-rechnet-weiter-mit-abfertigungsproblemen-a-e04ef265-26b5-42c4-92da-c6bcc4abeaf9 https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/frankfurter-flugh... [6] https://simpleflying.com/frankfurt-airport-closed-departures-security-strike-chaos/ https://simpleflying.com/frankfurt-airport-closed-departures... [7] https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/29/more-easyjet-cancellations-for-passengers-as-it-glitch-continues https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/29/more-easyjet-canc... [8] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10857739/EasyJet-leaves-THOUSANDS-passengers-stranded-cancels-200-flights.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10857739/EasyJet-le...

uxp100 4y ago

Which was cheaper? In my experience, in addition to being much worse in many ways (love to be called and told my cab driver is ready to pick me up when I am already boarded and sitting in a plane, after the dispatcher repeatedly told me they were 10 minutes away for an hour, and then I managed to just street hail a cab at 5 am) cabs were also about 50% more expensive. However, my local cab company got an app, it’s a piece of shit, but it shows where the cab is in a map as it comes to you, which really was the killer feature for Uber/Lyft for me. So good riddance Uber, you served a purpose for a time, but normal cabs stepped up their game just a little bit, and I have basically negative loyalty to you.

marcinzm 4y ago
In NYC the call taxi companies were cheaper than uber/lyft even in the prime discount days of those apps. Of course the user experience was much worse.
- vkou 4y ago
  In NYC my user experience with Lyft has been much worse than taxis. Cost more, longer waits, cherry on top of a Lyft driver waiting five minutes on the other side of a long block away from pickup, and canceling the ride because I allegedly refused to show up. That I had to talk to CS to reverse the charge with. I took taxis for the rest of my time in NYC, and I can't see any reason not to keep doing so.

ghaff 4y ago

>people don't actually want to pay the premium for that better level of service See air travel in general.

logifail 4y ago
>>people don't actually want to pay the premium for that better level of service > See air travel in general. At least in Europe, currently having a provider get you from A to B as per your booking is the key, "premium" / "better level of service" is completely irrelevant. I'm back to booking everything as cheap as possible. If it's all going to go wrong, I want to have paid peanuts for it so I can just walk away and not bother having to try and claim anything back.
- ghaff 4y ago
  I admittedly do relatively few short-haul flights. With some exceptions, 5 hours is about the floor so I will pay for more comfort/relaxation.
  - Spivak 4y ago
    Paying more for a better seat makes sense, paying more for a better airline really doesn’t unless you’re rich af or a business traveler and want double xl super platinum diamond plus premium status.
    - logifail 4y ago
      > Paying more for a better seat makes sense We'll need a working definition of "better"... Intra-Europe you're going to have to look long and hard to spot the difference between the "business class" seat at the front of the aircraft and the cheaper seats further back. You will (probably) get an inch or two extra legroom, the middle seat next to you will likely be blocked so there's more personal space, and you'll get something to eat and drink. Whether that's really worth spending a few hundred $$$/€€€/£££ extra is between you and your wallet.
  - logifail 4y ago
    > 5 hours is about the floor so I will pay for more comfort/relaxation I've got miles with both OneWorld and Star Alliance so can redeem on quite a lot of different airlines. At present, having a seat booked is not much of a guarantee of getting to your destination on time - or indeed at all. On the one hand you've got legacy carriers struggling to operate their published schedules[0][1][2] and on the other major European hubs are also struggling, AMS halted ticket sales in order to avoid complete meltdown[3][4] due to lack of trained staff, and FRA is also chaotic due to staffing issues and strikes[5][6] Low cost carriers such as Easyjet are also having to cancel hundreds of flights.[7][8] To be frank, air travel in Europe is a total mess, it's seems like it's going to take a while for the operators to get a grip. [0] https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/21/is-it-time-to-give-up-on-british-airways-an-inside-look-at-the-carrier-in-chaos https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/21/is-it-time-to-giv... [1] https://www.ft.com/content/08a94781-42e7-4d0c-9e54-dc899c597adf https://www.ft.com/content/08a94781-42e7-4d0c-9e54-dc899c597... [2] https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cancelled-flights-updates-british-airways-heathrow-b2088656.html https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cancell... [3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/klm-caps-amsterdam-ticket-sales-amid-airport-security-chaos https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/klm-caps-... [4] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/25/fights-at-amsterdam-schiphol-airport-where-chaos-still-reigns_5984592_4.html https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/05/25/f... [5] https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/frankfurter-flughafen-fraport-rechnet-weiter-mit-abfertigungsproblemen-a-e04ef265-26b5-42c4-92da-c6bcc4abeaf9 https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/frankfurter-flugh... [6] https://simpleflying.com/frankfurt-airport-closed-departures-security-strike-chaos/ https://simpleflying.com/frankfurt-airport-closed-departures... [7] https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/29/more-easyjet-cancellations-for-passengers-as-it-glitch-continues https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/05/29/more-easyjet-canc... [8] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10857739/EasyJet-leaves-THOUSANDS-passengers-stranded-cancels-200-flights.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10857739/EasyJet-le...