Using Uber while abroad
#151
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,724
Chase has first free ride with Uber, up to $30, by signing up with a Chase card and using the code ChaseUber. Until the end of the year.
https://www.chase.com/digital/uber
Not sure if existing Uber accounts are eligible.
Can you use the credit overseas?
https://www.chase.com/digital/uber
Not sure if existing Uber accounts are eligible.
Can you use the credit overseas?
#152




Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: TAS
Programs: A3*G, UA 1K
Posts: 9,244
Baku and Bucharest
Used uber in Baku and Bucharest in July.
In Baku, Google maps has a bad database with no house numbers which makes navigation a challenge. Once I got a Kia Rio with a broken windshield. Another time was a recent Mercedes sedan so YMMV.
Also I imagine there may be a language barrier due to bass GPS data.
In Bucharest going from the city to the airport things were fine. Had trouble getting it from the airport.
I use it extensively in Lisbon and so far have not had better service than here.
In Baku, Google maps has a bad database with no house numbers which makes navigation a challenge. Once I got a Kia Rio with a broken windshield. Another time was a recent Mercedes sedan so YMMV.
Also I imagine there may be a language barrier due to bass GPS data.
In Bucharest going from the city to the airport things were fine. Had trouble getting it from the airport.
I use it extensively in Lisbon and so far have not had better service than here.
#153
FlyerTalk Evangelist


Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: IB+ Gold, TK E+, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, IHG Diamond
Posts: 14,195
Not sure, but I happened to set up my Uber account when in Taiwan, and duly received a sign-up bonus in TWD that was not applied to my first ride. Nor was it ever applied to any future rides in different countries.
YMMV, but I would be surprised if a U.S. promo code worked on an international ride.
YMMV, but I would be surprised if a U.S. promo code worked on an international ride.
#155


Join Date: May 2001
Location: (AA EXP)
Posts: 620
My understanding is that applying the parking brake is actually the way drivers are taught in Brasil, and may actually be the law. At least that's what I remember one of my Brasilian friends told me when I asked why he was applying the parking brake at each traffic light.
#156


Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Programs: Hilton Gold, Priority Club Platinum (until December), FB Explorer, BA Blue, M&M Pleb
Posts: 8,616
Been using Uber almost exclusively, since arriving in Kampala. I wouldn't have known unless a fellow Flyertalker I met on the flight in had told me. Points to note:
- Cars vary a lot.
- Only one of the drivers I've had, so far, has had a proper dashboard mount for his phone.
- Some of the drivers struggle with navigation.
- Quality of navigation provided by Uber is variable.
- Once you've been assigned a driver, it's best to call him and tell him where you are.
Uber itself seems buggy here (it has been up and running for five months). When the driver is on his way, instead of the smooth indication of progress I get back home the car flicks to different bits of the map.
- Cars vary a lot.
- Only one of the drivers I've had, so far, has had a proper dashboard mount for his phone.
- Some of the drivers struggle with navigation.
- Quality of navigation provided by Uber is variable.
- Once you've been assigned a driver, it's best to call him and tell him where you are.
Uber itself seems buggy here (it has been up and running for five months). When the driver is on his way, instead of the smooth indication of progress I get back home the car flicks to different bits of the map.
#157
FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,337
Wow I never would have thought to use Uber there too. I think it would be good for going back and forth to Entebbe. Otherwise in Kampala I always jump on the back of a motorcycle and pay them enough for a beer. The traffic is generally too jammed to get around by car anyways. Motorcycles are the best way.
#158


Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Programs: Hilton Gold, Priority Club Platinum (until December), FB Explorer, BA Blue, M&M Pleb
Posts: 8,616
Wow I never would have thought to use Uber there too. I think it would be good for going back and forth to Entebbe. Otherwise in Kampala I always jump on the back of a motorcycle and pay them enough for a beer. The traffic is generally too jammed to get around by car anyways. Motorcycles are the best way.
. And yes, the traffic at rush hour is pretty unbearable.
#159
FlyerTalk Evangelist




Join Date: May 2002
Location: NYC, USA
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, Lifetime Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 11,049
The Uber app had all major hotels, tourist sites, bars, and restaurants in English. I tried to pick places where pickup would be easier...so rather than near the Cathedral (which could be crazy busy), I walked a block to the Hard Rock Cafe (which was listed in the Uber app) and got a pickup there.
According to the Uber website, they are only available in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Both have the Uber-Moto option.
According to the Uber website, they are only available in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Both have the Uber-Moto option.
I used Uber extensively this summer in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Very easy to use and incredibly cheap. Drivers were always happy to pick up and drop off at hotels, downtown, airports, etc. Almost none of them spoke enough English to communicate with me, but it was not a problem because the Uber app allows you to put in the destination and the drivers took me where I wanted to go. I found that it worked well to request the Uber and then immediately send the driver a text message advising the exact location (i.e. "Pick up at Sheraton Hotel") since the phone's GPS signal can be wonky.
I saw a lot of sad taxi dispatchers when I stepped to the curb and waited for my Uber. But the hotel front desk and bell staff actually said Uber was safer because the drivers are all vetted and background-checked, whereas the taxi drivers are not.
#160
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,856
I used Uber twice in Copenhagen last weekend. First of all, prices, like everything else in Denmark, are really high. I took two three mile rides, which in Durham would run me about $6. They were $12-13 there. Secondly, apparently Uber exists in a state of legal flux over there so allegedly the taxi companies and the police are anti-Uber. I was told by my first driver if we were questioned that I was her friend.
Both drivers were very friendly and both cars were neat. Both also knew the city quite well.
Both drivers were very friendly and both cars were neat. Both also knew the city quite well.
#161
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: UA M+ Plat
Posts: 52
Have used Uber all over the U.S. (but mostly at home in the Bay Area) and in Amsterdam and Lima.
In Lima about half the time the cars were the sketchy unofficial taxis, but I felt safer knowing Uber was tracking the ride, and other than the typical hectic driving I didn't feel unsafe during the ride(s). Once a driver seemed particularly insistent about something (that I approve his route?) before we left, but the language barrier got in the way (Spanish is not one of my languages, unfortunately!) and it was fine in the end. Still would be interested to know exactly what he was concerned about - tried to explain to a local tour guide later, but she had no clue either!
In Lima about half the time the cars were the sketchy unofficial taxis, but I felt safer knowing Uber was tracking the ride, and other than the typical hectic driving I didn't feel unsafe during the ride(s). Once a driver seemed particularly insistent about something (that I approve his route?) before we left, but the language barrier got in the way (Spanish is not one of my languages, unfortunately!) and it was fine in the end. Still would be interested to know exactly what he was concerned about - tried to explain to a local tour guide later, but she had no clue either!
#162


Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newcastle, UK
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hertz 5*, Avis Preferred Plus, Amex Plat
Posts: 2,081
Just back from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Pretty much flawless service from Uber in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Penang, and Ipoh and Singapore. And cheap too, barely any of my journeys in Penang or Chiang Mai were more than $1!
Chiang Mai is very new, had only been up and running a week or so, so drivers were still getting used to Uber. In fact one driver must have messed up because I only got charged for the final 200 yards of the journey (I tried to contact Uber to make sure he's paid for the remainder, but they don't seem to want to help.) Another driver turned up in a pickup with her brother in the passenger seat and son lying down in the back of the pickup - I didn't have the heart to complain.
Bangkok was the hardest place to use. From the airport was fine, and the driver easily found me on the correct door of arrivals. Other rides were more difficult. They all seemed to ignore where I had placed the pin, phone me to ask were I was (sometimes in English) and then ignore that too. Coupled with the fact that if you spend more than 15 seconds by the side of the road looking out for your ride, you'll have 400 taxi drivers trying to pick you up...
Was in Phuket and Koh Samui too, where Uber don't operate. Very much missed them there.
Chiang Mai is very new, had only been up and running a week or so, so drivers were still getting used to Uber. In fact one driver must have messed up because I only got charged for the final 200 yards of the journey (I tried to contact Uber to make sure he's paid for the remainder, but they don't seem to want to help.) Another driver turned up in a pickup with her brother in the passenger seat and son lying down in the back of the pickup - I didn't have the heart to complain.
Bangkok was the hardest place to use. From the airport was fine, and the driver easily found me on the correct door of arrivals. Other rides were more difficult. They all seemed to ignore where I had placed the pin, phone me to ask were I was (sometimes in English) and then ignore that too. Coupled with the fact that if you spend more than 15 seconds by the side of the road looking out for your ride, you'll have 400 taxi drivers trying to pick you up...
Was in Phuket and Koh Samui too, where Uber don't operate. Very much missed them there.


