Originally Posted by joejones

So I tried Uber. The black car I ordered turned out to be a good ol' MK Taxi (Toyota Crown) fitted with an iPad mini connected to the Uber app. A good ride as always, nicer than regular taxis, but nothing earth-shattering from that perspective.

There are a few aspects that are more user-friendly than simply calling a taxi. Getting a car is simple -- you only have to call up the app and push a couple of buttons (you can also input a destination address if you want). You can see where your car is in real-time, both before pick-up and while en route. The app handles the payment for you, so you don't need to mess with cash or even sign anything upon arrival.

On the other hand, availability is spotty. I have looked at the app periodically over the last few days. Sometimes it's possible to get a car in 15 minutes, sometimes there are no cars available at all. I assume this will get better as more people use the service.

Price-wise, it came out around 30% more expensive than a regular taxi on the run between my house and office, but about the same as ordering a regular taxi in the morning considering the applicable surcharges (and it would also come out even late at night). I'll probably keep using street hail for non-time-sensitive runs during the day unless they bring their prices down a bit.

Those of you interested in trying it out can use my invite code for a 2,000 yen credit: 6w9m1