Hello everyone,

Just got from our four days in Hanoi and want to provide some information about riding apps in Vietnam and Hanoi in particular.

There are currently four (might be more but I have not found) apps: Grab - the most known and took over Uber's operations in SEA counties, GoViet - this is Vietnam's version of GoJek, FastGo and Be. Last two are local apps.

Note - GoViet currently only has motorcycles ride, for hiring a car you need to use other three.

Bottom line after four days: if you need a car, use Grab as your first option and only use FastGo if Grab is not available.


Now details for each app:

Grab

Grab: biggest market share, about 80% I was told. I do not know if it is still the case, but in past you could not even create profile at Grab if you've been outside of their service area/country. Workaround is simple - either use FakeGPS (for Android) or disable location services for Grab app and when running, it will ask the location and set it to the location you know Grab is working (like Hanoi). After that you can create profile and enter your phone/credit card info.

Grab in Vietnam/Hanoi - cars (GrabCar, not GrabTaxi) are better/nicer and upscale - never seen any run-down car for more than dozen rides. While drivers do not speak English, at least they try to communicate asking - 'ok/not ok' when adjusting aircon or dripping you at the location. You can and should enter your credit card at the app and charge your ride on it, even if your credit card company adds fees for foreign currency transactions, considering cheap rides and not need to deal with cash - I'd say it is preferable option. Also Grab does not have the problem with credit cards not supporting 3D Secure like other apps, read below.

Price for rides for Grabcar:

• From HAN to Railway Street - 285K VND plus 30K add-on fee for parking. BTW, return trip booked via local hotel was 300K, but it used local (run-down) taxi.
• From Railway street to Bat Trang Pottery Village - 159K outgoing and 179K return.
• From Railway Street to Ethnography Museum - 65K in and 80K return.
• Note about Surge pricing - it might be the case that Grab's price will be 2-2.5x higher than other apps due to surge pricing and even in such time there might be no cars available.

One more thing about Grab - while it offers to give tip to the driver, it asks after ride is completed, not before, like FastGo. Again - I would go with Grab as #1 option.


GoViet

GoViet is GoJeck's Vietnam app/division. However it at this moment only has motorcycles and not cars. We've been three travelers so it made unstable for us. Also, based on some feedback - quality of GoViet service is not that great. I know a local person who works at GoViet and I got an advice to use Grab instead (Sic!).


FastGo

This is local riding app. As with Grab you can use credit card for rides, however you need to use a card which supports 3D Secure - when after entering the card you will get SMS code for confirmation. Most US issued credit cards do not support 3D Secure - my attempt to use Chase and US Bank cards were not successful. I had to use a card which was issued in Singapore.

App usage: supports English on interface, however updating car's movement before arrival at your pickup point is inconsistent. It might show that car is not moving for 5 minutes and then suddenly it shows that it has arrived. Also, it took more time for drivers to respond, accept the ride and arrive at the pickup point - expect that double of the time compared to Grab.

Regarding cars: they are lower quality than you get with Grab, even when you select FastCar (analog or Grab's GrabCar) you might end up getting local 10-15 year old taxi which rattles during the ride, gas smell is around and windows do not fully close. Also drivers instead of sending messages via app, are calling you - you need to have someone who speaks Vietnamese to answer them.

Price for rides: they are always the same price or cheaper then Grab, sometimes significantly. At one case, Grab displayed rate estimation of 151K VND while FastCar was only 56K VND. Also, contrary to Grab, FastGo offers/asks for a a tip before even you click 'book' button.

Overall - if you have a card supporting 3D Secure (or are ok using cash) and Grab is not available or significantly more expensive - you can use it.


Be

This is the the second local riding app. I really wanted to use it but could not. I was told that it is the cheapest option, you can ride from the airport for the half price of Grab.

However there were following problems: first, the interface is only on Vietnamese. While I with the help of Vietnamese colleague could navigate around it, three times trying to use it in Hanoi were not successful - drivers canceled all times.Twice they canceled after calling and hearing 'Hello' from me - call was hung up and then my ride canceled. I was told that if drivers see international number (I used my phone with roaming instead of local SIM) they don't want to deal with tourists and cancel the ride.


Couple of more tips when using apps:

Always try use pick up points which the app knows instead of using drop pin. Usually the app offers the pick up location either via address or via landmark.

Your chances for successful pick up will increase if you are at clearly identified/located place, like a hotel, shopping mall, landmark, etc. Note that some hotels are located inside narrow streets where car can't go (like nearby Railroad Street). In this case go the place which has clear access to the road.

If there are no cars available at this moment, there might be after 10-15 min. Or, when you close and re-open the app and at that moment it will show where on the map nearest cars are. It might worth to walk 5-10 min to that area to increase your chances. Finally, have some cash if you have to fail over using local taxis but make sure that you hair the recommended ones.

At the very end - have enough time to arrive at your destination. Call car at the middle of Hanoi in rush hour on weekday and expecting to be at the airport in 30 min is foolish.