Tag: ride sharing

Visiting NYC? Prepare For Price Hikes For Taxis, Uber/Lyft, Bridges, Tunnels, AirTrain, PATH, & More

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is in the middle of NYC’s current transportation transformation. They built a new Goethals Bridge between Staten Island and New Jersey, rebuilt the roadway of the Bayonne Bridge, and did extensive renovations on the George Washington Bridge. JFK is getting a $13 billion transformation, LGA is in the midst of an $8 billion renovation and EWR’s Terminal One is being redeveloped. They’re also looking at a replacement for the obsolete Port Authority Bus Terminal.

So when the Port Authority suddenly announces proposed plans for toll and fare increases, is anybody really surprised? Raise your hand if you are. Anyone? Bueller?

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Here’s the low-down on the proposed increases:

Continue reading “Visiting NYC? Prepare For Price Hikes For Taxis, Uber/Lyft, Bridges, Tunnels, AirTrain, PATH, & More”

The Newest Tourist Scam, Another Reason Why Southwest Rocks, Why I Want To Visit This Airport, & More!

Happy Wednesday to all of our travel friends, both near and far! Here are some articles we’ve read from other bloggers (and other sources) that we think you may like, as well, so we’re passing them along.

Continue reading “The Newest Tourist Scam, Another Reason Why Southwest Rocks, Why I Want To Visit This Airport, & More!”

Uber App Has A New Update In The U.K. – Let’s Hope It Doesn’t Come Here!

Uber is currently available in 70 countries and how it works, and what it and its drivers can and cannot do can sometimes vary from country to country (or even city to city) depending on local laws.

If Uber is anything like other large companies, I’d also suspect they experiment with new and different ideas in a select city or cities to see how it goes, and then roll it out on a larger scale if it’s successful. If that’s the case with this newest update in the U.K., well, it’s not a good thing for passengers and I hope it never makes it to the U.S.

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Uber, Lyft & Minnie Vans at WDW: Comparing NEW PRICING STRUCTURE & Value (Updated Oct., 2018)

Uber and Lyft have been servicing the Central Florida region for a while now, much to the chagrin of the local taxi companies such as Mears, Taxi Orlando and Yellow Cab Orlando. Their integration into the area became complete in the summer of 2017, when the two ride sharing services were finally allowed to pick up at Orlando International Airport.

Walt Disney World (WDW) joined the ride sharing game a few months later with the introduction of what they call “Minnie Vans.” Minnie Vans provide guests with point-to-point rides within the WDW complex, or directly to Orlando International Airport (MCO). When introduced, each Minnie Van ride was $20. In February 2018, they increased the price to $25 and not long afterwards, they introduced Minnie van rides from MCO to WDW for the (sarcasm) low, low (/sarcasm) price of “just” $150. Gratuity not included. Because of course it isn’t.

Although the ride from MCO hasn’t changed in price (yet), WDW has now changed the price of on-property Minnie Van rides to a $15 flat fee with a “per mile” rate on top of it. The “per mile” rate is not documented, which means Disney can play with the amount as much as they want, include their own form of surge pricing, etc. However several Disney blogs are suggesting the flat rate is currently based on roughly $2.75 to $3 per mile and the real-life examples that Summer from The Points Guy recently gave would support those rates.

So for potential ride-sharing customers who want to travel within the WDW property or to MCO, there are three options. Which one is best? Well, it depends. Read on…

Continue reading “Uber, Lyft & Minnie Vans at WDW: Comparing NEW PRICING STRUCTURE & Value (Updated Oct., 2018)”

Free Flights To Australia, “Leaked” 2018 Starwood Promotions, & Other Posts We Liked

From getting the OK to steal something from the plane, to how Uber & Lyft are cutting into airport profits, to some of the coolest lazy rivers anywhere, here are some stories we saw this week that we thought were interesting. We hope you will, too:

  • If you want to “steal” the salt and pepper shakers from Virgin Atlantic, The Points Guy is reporting that this week they say it’s OK. Happy holiday season!
  • View From The Wing wrote that if your name is Sydney or Houston, United may fly you to Australia for free.
  • Protect your valuables when traveling, especially in South America, because Loyalty Lobby reports that your phone could be stolen from right out of your hand.
  • Sharon and I love lazy river rides. Here’s a list of Hyatt resorts, compiled by Mommy Points, that have some great ones (and some even have Flowriders!).
  • The New York Times is reporting that ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft are cutting into airport profits by reducing the number of people parking at the airport (apparently they haven’t checked out the parking situation at MCO recently).
  • Some details of the Starwood promotion for 2018 “leaked” this week, as per One Mile At A Time.
  • Pizza In Motion wrote about a new Google Maps enhancement that will be awesome for travelers. Problem for me is I might be a little too OCD to trust it. 😉
  • I know of friends who have MoviePass and love it. Frequent Miler wrote about a great deal on a MoviePass membership from Costco.
  • I never got into collecting Plenti points but as per Travel Codex, it looks as if the program’s days are numbered.
  • Traveling the world sounds exciting, but remember that you may be caught on a remote tropical island when the once-a-week plane is cancelled. It happened to Rapid Travel Chai.

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