How much of a nit do you have to be to request UberPool instead of UberX for a two block ride You save maybe at most 2 bucks for the potential of having 15 - 30 min added onto your trip.

I beg to differ with your comment that Vegas had decent cab service. Serious problems with long hauling, dirty vehicles, drivers that didn't know city, and drivers that couldn't communicate in basic English. Also trying to arrange a pick-up off strip was typically unreliable.

Other cities that historically had corrupt cab management and terrible service were New Orleans, Washington DC, and New York. Recognizing that taxis are important for attracting conventions and tourism, New Orleans and Washington DC moved to zone charging and/or flat airport to city fees. New York increased patrols of taxi authority "cops" and cracked down on long-hauling.

Best city I've experienced for cabs hands down is London. Vegas was nut low.

Decent cab service in that if you're leaving from one hotel there is always a cab right in front waiting. If you are leaving from a strip hotel, it is without any argument easier to just hop in a cab and the extra cost is marginal (since Uber/Lyft does seem to cost more in Vegas than other cities). Most other cities, if you're leaving the front door of your hotel it is probably faster and easier to request Uber/Lyft.

As for quality of vehicle/drivers, long hauling, etc- different story.

Honestly I haven't had too many issues with Vegas cabs. In all my trips to Vegas since the late 90s, I've maybe got longhauled once. Vegas is a cut above most cites in the fact that you never have to wait for a cab. But guess what, you can get longhauled and solicited for prostitutes (which a driver already tried to do to me and my friends) in an Uber ride too.

We just came back not long ago from our first Vegas trip. Will probably put a trip report together, but on the topic of cabbies. Being our first trip, I don't think we were long hauled per se, didn't see any tunnels or anything, but he did pull a "oops, I missed the turn into the front entrance" at Aria and took us around back to the valet/cab entrance. He goes off on some story about wanting to show us the canoe display, then proceeds to tell us, look, I will turn off the meter right now, and we will settle up and then I will take you around to the front for reception.

Sure enough, he turns off the meter, we pay him, no tip because I'm like WTF to myself and he stops at the valet entrance. The staff from Aria go to open our door and our cabbie tells him, no sorry I didn't mean to stop here and will take them around front. Aria staff were like, ok sure buddy you know better, and looks at me and asks if everything is ok. We say yeah sure, whatever, I already paid him.

Our cabbie pulls away and talks **** about the Aria bellhop and takes us to the front and drops us off at reception, gets out, unloads our bags and off he goes.

Very weird and left me with a sour taste for sure. My guess he made another $1 out of the trip by taking us around to valet entrance....

We didn't take another cab that week, Uber the entire time and it was a way better experience.

i spend $450-$500/ month on uber/lyft and i havent had an experience where I felt uncomfortable.

vegas cab service was total **** and a ripoff. and i saw tons of long cab lines this last trip for cabs while my uber would pull up right away.

aria is really strict about them not picking up or dropping off at the front entrance. i never got picked up there and only got one driver out of maybe ten to drop me off at the front.

Sure, but why the song and dance. Just tell me straight up, they don't like me stopping at the front. It's not like he didn't wind up taking me to reception, I figure he made an extra $1 hustle by taking us up the ramp.

I think you miss the benefits of UberPool. If you are only going a very short distance, then you're not going to be rerouted to pick someone else up. The longer the trip, the higher chance of other pickups.

Example, I was out with my gf and friends at a bar. We all bounced to another bar a quarter mile down the street. My GF didn't want to walk in heels so we did an Uberpool for 3 dollars. An equivalent uberX would have been 6.50 due to mins + slight surge.

I wouldn't call that being nitty. It's just taking advantage of quirks in their system. Don't get me wrong, I typically do UberX over any of their services but when you're doing 15+ rides a month, the cash does start to add up.

For a 2 block trip, I will just walk. That's how nitty I am. I was thinking the Uberpool ride saved me like $4...a little less than half. I'm not too familiar with Uberpool and didn't know it could add 30 minutes to my ride. It was just something that has been offered as a popup in my phone in Vegas and I'm like "Sure I'd like to save the money"

How lazy do you have to be to Uber two blocks

My wife and I got an Uber ride from TI to the Venetian....directly across the street. It just happened to be raining like crazy and that walk across the street would have soaked us. I know that's it what you are talking about but I couldn't resist.

In all seriousness, if a girl is all floozed up in high heals, I can see why it would be worth it for them to spend $3 to ride 2 blocks down the street vs walk. Pure speculation because I don't wear heals and my wife doesn't usually either.lol

My friend was on a big run in Vegas once and from Caesar's valet area wanted to take a cab to Bellagio and go to poker room. lol

Of course I walked and beat him there.

I think you mean the back (Vdara side)? Front of the hotel is where the cab line is and where I've been dropped off literally every time I've gone in.

I've taken about 30 Uber rides in Vegas. Most for the minimum or just over. 2 dollar tip (3 on longer rides) every time, cash or casino chips. Perfect 5.0 passenger rating. I'm guessing that $2 is a perfectly acceptable tip for a $6.70-$10 ride, and when you consider the price savings versus scab, it is a win-win.

Yea vdara side.i had a few drivers tell me they don't let them pick up or drop off at the front and aria is really strcig about it.

And they weren't trying to rip me off for an extra 20 cents or whatever.

I don't know if this happened in other cities, but Uber for whatever reason seemingly cut prices on January 1st at midnight. Perhaps by accident? (Uber historically does a temporary price cut in January since it's their slowest month excluding Jan 1)

Anyways, surge pricing was non existent in most spots in LA and the minimum ride fee randomly dropped down to 4.65 for the day. Prices today are seemingly back to regular, 5.65 for my usual 1.5 mile hike. Pretty weird. Sounds like LA drivers got the shaft this year.

I wouldn't use Lyft. They can't compete Uber and things like what the OP went through are typical.

I have had nothing but good experiences with Uber but judging by the cheap rides they drivers are not making great money.

They likely have some deal with the city or something where both organizations want to encourage people to rideshare vs. risk a DUI since it mutually benefits both.

Also, I don't have any weird stories and I never tip in Uber (rarely use Lyft), though according to a few other LV travelers I've talked to, rideshare tipping is standard in Vegas but not in other major cities (why this is dependent on the city you're in, I don't understand).

I do regret not tipping one of the Uber drivers on the way to AYCE sushi - dude was the coolest driver I've had yet and gave a bunch of good spots to eat at. Shoutout to Todd in the hybrid Camry!

I mean, Uber was a 4-8x surge last NYE. It's possible a ton of more people drove in hopes of cashing in big which kept the demand/supply in check. I was more mystified by the lower min fare.

Think about it, would you want to drive and put up with the traffic and drunks on New Years Eve if you weren't being paid a premium? The surges do work in bringing out drivers who normally would not drive on a night like that.

Right... You're missing my point. I'm saying I was surprised that there wasn't any surge this year in the LA area and prices were temporarily lower than regular rates on-top of that.

The City of Boulder was offering $5 off rides downtown to reduce congestion and address issues with parking. It worked so well, the city has extended it until end of February.


BOULDER, Colo. – People heading into downtown Boulder to shop or wine and dine this holiday season will be able to get discounts on Lyft and Uber rides, among others, through a new partnership involving the city and taxi/ridesharing companies.

The partnership, between the city, the Downtown Boulder Partnership, Lyft, Uber, zTrip and the Rocky Mountain Institute, is called “Door to Downtown,” or “d2d.”

The program started Nov. 25 and will run through New Year’s Day.

Taxis or ridesharing services involved in the program will take you from your home in the Boulder area to downtown and back in order to curb parking and traffic congestion and provide added safety for people in the holiday season, according to the city.

The program officers a $25 credit that is good for five $5 vouchers. People can use the vouchers between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Last uber I had in Vegas the driver didn't speak English. Not that it was a problem, but it was funny. He had the heat on and the car was way too warm. We asked him if we could open the windows and he kept looking at us like I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. Someone tapped a window with their finger and he said "Si"

Guy was in a brand new car, too.