I made the mistake to use Uber X in Düsseldorf. Like in other places on this globe, they quoted me a (good) flat fare in the App, EUR 5,55, which was close to half of the taxi price I know pretty well (EUR 9,00). In the end I received however an Uber invoice per Email, charging me a base fare of 2 EUR and extras for time an milegage. From what I would guess exactly the fare based to the citycouncil's directive for "Mietwagen" and close to double the EUR 5,55. For that result I had to wait close to 10 minutes and sat in an old Toyota. I did not get a VAT invoice, to could not reclaim the 7% included in taxi fare. At the end the old Toyota was more expensive than a regular taxi. No need to do that again but a need to make that public to warn others.

Wired! Normally a Mietwagen is 19% VAT compared to a Taxi with 7%. So especially annoying.

There was no VAT whatsoever stated so a taxi would have been an additional 7 percent cheaper for me (because taxi VAT is 7%)

This is just a cash receipt and not a VAT invoice (which makes a difference of 19%)

My next stop is Stuttgart so I am hopeful this will work for me like it did in Berlin.

Here is a page that encourages me to think Uber is a possibility there:

https://uberestimator.com/cities/stuttgart

Sure, when booking via the app you either get a regular taxi or a mini cab and will get cheated on the price. Uber still is not legal in Germany.

I have the Freenow app so I will likely compare prices at the airport.

There is not a lot you can compare. Via Freenow you pay the price on the meter, plain vanilla and easy. Via Uber you either pay the same or the same plus a surcharge or a limo price....

So in Germany neither app has a firm price prior to the actual trip?

I think my experience in Berlin with Uber was where the price was known prior to getting in the vehicle. See post #30 in this thread at https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28999753-post30.html

It has been explained so often to you, but you do not want to comprehend: In Berlin you got what you would call a limo in the US or a minicab in the UK. Or as you wrote "but a typical car and driver like one would find in the USA howbeit better cleaner Mercedes and a courteous driver.". Our system calls these services "Mietwagen". They are not generally regulated. They offer fixed fares or alternative arrangements, in Berlin probably the double of what you would have paid for a taxi.

I don't understand the obsession with Uber. Maybe in places like New Jersey or LA where the regular cabs are gross and driven by people who don't have a clue where anything is, but in Germany taxis are generally clean and driven by people who've had to pass various levels of qualification and who are properly insured to drive passengers. They also know their way around town. In FreeNow (myTaxi) you even have the option to choose only 5* drivers, new E Class Mercedes, etc, or a combination of these. My last driver's car was so clean I asked him if he had just bought it that morning. Turns out he had it for 18 months with tens of thousand of kms on the clock.

It is very variable, LondonElite. The taxi drivers in Frankfurt are usually not that great with poor standard of driving and bad customer service. Their car are clean though. I would be happy with some competition there to shake the market a bit.

Regular taxi drivers in Frankfurt find their driver of choice and call him upfront every time they need a cab.

My taxi driver speaks fluent German and English (and probably French as well), has an impeccably clean car. Knows his way around town (including where to go eating, etc.) and always picks me up directly at the platform (on Frankfurt main station) or directly at the airport when I tell him the flight number and tell him whether I have checked luggage or travel with hand luggage only.

I will happily make a referral, if you send me a PM. Good service like this needs to be rewarded.

As I did not write a detailed report at the time, I can only recall general perceptions that include the notion the Uber price in Berlin was less than an available taxi from/to my hotel. The same was reported by a friend of mine who lives in Frankfurt and had used Uber in his travels in more than one city in Germany.

One of the issues for me is that I go to so many countries that I lose every time I convert USD to a local currency. I would much rather use a cc and deal with the conversion fees rather than ending up with a handful of currency that is not useful in the next country. I average 7-8 countries a year and that is spread across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.

Taxi licencees in most large German towns/cities have to accept credit cards. If you use mytaxi /freewhatever you pay with the app. Uber in Germany is just a middleman brokering limo services.

Some taxi franchises (like Isar Taxi in Munich) require the cars to be of a certain standard (clean <5 years old etc). Also in Germany you can take any taxi in the queue. If you see a banged up dirty taxi in the stand you are free to take the one that appeals to you in the queue.

Absolutely. But I wouldn´t count on getting a medal for it from the other drivers.

Once I needed to be quickly in downtown, so I walked to the Sheraton near my home and hopped in the first taxi in line. It was the classic taxi you don't want: old unkept mercedes, nasty driver etc etc. When I told him where I wanted to go he flipped out: 'the one before you went to the airport, the guy behind you also wanted to go to the airport, and you are only going downtown for 12€!' :p

I politely told him that I would also prefer to sit in a clean taxi and he is free to let me go at the next kerb. But that I would make sure his behaviour is reported. That cooled him down a bit. Of course at the end I paid by card for which magically had a machine in the glove compartment ;)

Not only does the Uber app not work in STR, I also could not get a taxi to show up using the Free Now app. This was at the Stuttgart Marriott.

However, using a conventional taxi from the Marriott to a university illustrated how much the airport taxi driver overcharged me when taking me to the Marriott.

Often you pay legally a surcharge if the journey starts at the airport.

Received an email from Uber yesterday saying they are now launching in Hamburg.

If I rightly understand your query, the taxi from the Marriott to the university went by the airport. I then saw how short the actual distance was from the airport to the Marriott.

My taxi driver at the airport wore a tie, but he took me on the scenic route.