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Old Apr 10, 2019, 9:50 am
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Flying Lawyer
There was no VAT whatsoever stated so a taxi would have been an additional 7 percent cheaper for me (because taxi VAT is 7%)
Of course, I understand it😉
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Old Jul 8, 2019, 8:21 am
  #47  
 
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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
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Old Jul 8, 2019, 1:54 pm
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Xeno
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.
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Old Jul 8, 2019, 2:46 pm
  #49  
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Do yourself a favour and download the Freenow app (formerly MyTaxi, yes stupid name) to get a reliable service at a fair price.
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Old Jul 8, 2019, 7:43 pm
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I have the Freenow app so I will likely compare prices at the airport.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 10:17 am
  #51  
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Originally Posted by Xeno
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....
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 10:37 am
  #52  
 
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Originally Posted by Flying Lawyer
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
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:43 pm
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Xeno
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
Berlin is different! When I click on your link it says "no Uber in Stuttgart".


At the airport there is no reason to use an app there are enough official cabs.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:50 pm
  #54  
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At the uber-website they declare they are present in Stuttgart but they can't even estimate a price. Forget it....


Reason? Uber isn't available in Stuttgart. At the moment they are available (but not in the US version) they are operating in Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt.

Last edited by offerendum; Jul 9, 2019 at 3:56 pm
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 11:17 pm
  #55  
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Originally Posted by Xeno
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.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 1:19 am
  #56  
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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.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 2:05 am
  #57  
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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.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 4:56 am
  #58  
 
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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.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 6:20 am
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by Flying Lawyer
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.
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.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 10:16 am
  #60  
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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.
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