One of the main reasons is that the J fare into Chennai is cheaper on OW than to BOM , even with the flight to and from BOM..
so was hoping to spend a few days on the outbound part of the trip..

You seem to have made your mind up to visit Chennai, so your probably looking for endorsement of your decision. If it's being able to tick off another Indian city cheaply, then go for it.

Sites in the city are limited, listed everywhere and none of them excited me. Sambar and idli are weak reasons for visiting :D

But TN has lots to offer within striking distance of the city: Mahabalipuram for example, and Pondicherry.

like i said before, there is nothing wrong with chennai but it would not be anywhere near the top of my list of places to visit....

Thanks for sharing great information to learn something new today.

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chennai winter smog
 

HI,

have booked for family to go to chennai over christmas /new yrs .. plan to go to the beach with a few days at the end visiting agra /jaipur.. was told that the smog will be horrific at this time of yr-is this true?
if so -will have to find a diff destination as dates are decided..

You are not going to encounter fog/smog in Chennai but will definitely come across it in places in Northern India like Delhi & Agra in the months of December/January.

It typically manifests during early morning & late nights which will lead to a lot of delayed flights/trains, etc.

chennai airport taxi uber etc
 

hi,looking for infor on chennai taxi.uber etc from airport to intercontinental-is the service reliable in the middle od the night?seems to be some sketchy repoerts on it..
thanks

I've used Uber for late night arrivals a number of times. Never had a problem.

Should have no problems. Can also have the hotel arrange a pickup if you are worried.

What sketchy reports? Care to cite them?

thanks all--in that driver cancels or asks for more money than the fee set by uber (to offset high uber charges) since to be an issue late at night?

In over a dozen trips to MAA (most, if not all late night arrivals) over the last few years, I have never come across this problem.

You've been really lucky then. Rideshare in India in general is inundated with scams, BOM & DEL are terrible & although I have not used them in Chennai I have no reason to believe that it is different there. Uber & Ola even station customer service reps at the DEL & BOM airport pickup locations to help frustrated passengers to deal with the drivers. I use taxis from the airport prepaid taxi kiosk whenever possible.

Some of the more common scams.

1. The no-show. Drivers get paid a little money if you cancel a ride, so they accept rides they have no intention of fulfilling. They just wait until you get frustrated and cancel, pocketing a small stream of money for doing nothing.

2. The cancel after pickup and pay in cash. The driver will pick you up, but pressure you to cancel the ride (paying uber & the driver the cancellation charge) and pay cash directly to the driver. Drivers then pressure you to pay extra sometimes.

3. Tolls/etc not included. The drivers insist that tolls, airport parking, etc. are not included in the fare and must be paid to the driver in cash.

4. The no-pickup unless fare paid in cash. Uber/Ola in India accept payments in cash to the driver (not just by credit card). Drivers prefer this because they do not pay the rideshare company their percentage. The driver will accept your ride then phone you and ask if you are paying by card or with cash. If you are paying by card the driver will no-show leaving you hanging until you get frustrated and cancel (paying uber & the driver the cancellation charge)

5. The no-pickup unless fare is long enough. The driver will accept your ride then phone you and ask where you are going. If your destination is too close the driver will no-show leaving you hanging until you get frustrated and cancel (paying uber & the driver the cancellation charge).

None of this is the drivers fault really. Drivers used to make a lot of money on Uber/Ola a few years ago, when the companies were pouring VC money into the market as driver incentives. That stopped a couple of years ago & drivers are barely making subsistence now and are forced to scam you. Rideshare companies are absolutely powerless to do anything about this because of massive driver turnover.

Uber/Ola provides its services for free if customers pay cash---are you joking? Cash is allowed as a convenience for customers since India is still a cash-based society. Uber/Ola just take their cut from the driver's credit balance resulting from electronic payments. In other words the accounting is done overall and driver gets the balance due after Uber/Ola take their share of the total income.

I have certainly seen drivers ask for cash, although not often. It helps their cash flow; it does not make them more money overall. So I don't complain to the rideshare company about this, although I will complain about other things.

I have experienced the other things you mentioned, but again, not often. I think for some of these scams (like the toll/parking scam) they try to judge whether they can get away with it with the particular passenger.

PS Never agree to #2, especially late at night. There will be no record of your trip and thus it is a safety issue.

You misunderstood, this isn't an Uber/Ola feature, the drivers just never pay the company what they owe for cash fares. This is why so many of them absolutely hate credit card payments & only do cash fares, because the company ends up keeping 100% of the payment to offset what the driver owes the company from cash fares.