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5 key reasons to try new Lyft Premier

March 9, 2017

A new upscale option from Lyft (Photo: Lyft)

In less than a decade, the introduction of ride-sharing services has changed the way we travel for business more than just about anything else. Starting this week those rides get more luxurious as Lyft’s new Premier option expands.

Gone are the days of tense calls with terse dispatchers and uncertain waits for taxis to take us to the airport or to our meetings. Also gone: Overpriced limo rides to or from the airport.

Now we just push a button on our smartphones and watch our ride come to us on a map. We know how much the ride will cost before we even get in the car. When the ride is over, we thank the driver and step out of the car instead of waiting around for a receipt or worrying about leaving the right tip. While the wow factor of that has worn off on many frequent travelers, it still feels like magic to me!

To grab more of the lucrative corporate travel market, Lyft is now bringing even more magic to our airport or cross-town rides with the introduction of Lyft Premier – a new luxury ride service that will pick you up in high-end sedan or SUV like a BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Lexus LS, or Cadillac Escalade in minutes.

You’ll now see the new Premier option pop up on the Lyft app in 19 cities (Image: Lyft)

Last year Lyft introduced the new Premier option in a handful of major cities, and has been steadily expanding it across the US. Just this week it introduced Premier in eight more cities for a total of 19.

Ready for a little luxury in your next ride? Here are five key reasons to give Lyft Premier a try:

1> New cities: This week, Premier arrives in Baltimore, Boston, Denver, New Jersey, Orange County, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Seattle. It’s also available in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Phoenix, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C.

2> Tipping: As always (and thankfully!) you can tip your driver via the Lyft app. Once your ride is over, you’ll get a prompt on your phone to rate the driver and leave a tip if you’d like. No awkward moments when you don’t have cash, or the driver does not have change. For this reason alone, many frequent travelers use Lyft as their primary ride-share service. What about you?

Don’t miss: Should I tip my driver? Poll shows that 35 percent of TravelSkills readers do!

Lyft Premier will pick you up in a BMW, Audi, Lexus, or Cadillac in minutes. (Image: Lyft)

3> Prices: Back in the day, I would pay about $50 or $60 for an uncomfortable taxicab ride between my house in San Francisco and SFO Airport. When I was lucky enough to have a client willing to pay for a cushy car service, that fare would rise to around $100. These days I pay about $30 for a regular Lyft ride to the airport– and when I want a little luxury, I’ll ping a Lyft Premier for about $60. Generally, Premier fares run about twice as much as regular Lyft fares. In New York, a Premier ride from Manhattan to JFK runs $101-$121, while a regular Lyft costs $52-$65.

4> Nicer cars: Premier offers users style, consistency and comfort, and Premier vehicles likely resemble the luxury car in your garage or driveway. To qualify as a Lyft Premier vehicle, it must be a top-tier luxury make/model and it can’t be older than a 2008 model. It must have leather seats and comfortably accommodate at least three passengers.

5> Higher-rated drivers: Premier drivers maintain stellar ratings. Since Premier rates are higher, drivers make more money on higher fares (plus Lyft reports that Premier rides earn 50% higher tips on average) and are more likely to offer those little extras such as phone chargers, mints and water.

Ride-sharing among frequent travelers has become ubiquitous– as a matter of fact, they are now more frequently expensed than taxis and rental cars combined.

In addition to Lyft Premier, you’ll find Lyft, Lyft Line (shared rides) and Lyft Plus (6+ passenger vehicles) on the app. Since its founding in June 2012, Lyft has expanded to more than 200 cities in the U.S.

Do you or have you used Lyft? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below.

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Heads up: Trying out Navdy in my car

March 3, 2017

The Navdy device provides an augmented driving experience (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In addition to flying, I spend a lot of time behind the wheel of my scuba blue Audi station wagon. With California’s tough new laws that forbid even holding your mobile phone while driving (for any reason), I was psyched to see the recent rollout of Navdy, a new device makes it possible to handle communications and directions while you are staring straight ahead at the road. This new category of automotive device is called a “HUD” which is short for “heads up display.”

Navdy calls itself “the world’s first augmented driving device.” It links up with iOS and Android smartphones and projects information onto a small transparent screen that sits directly in front of the driver. So it really does augment your driving experience.

“Navdy lets you make and receive calls, listen to messages, control music, receive calendar reminders and stay connected to the apps on your phone,” the company says. “Navdy also connects to your car with Navdy Dash to show your speed, RPM and automatically recommend nearby gas stations when your fuel level is low.”

This video gives you an idea of how it works:

Last month Navdy shipped me one of its devices to try and write about for TravelSkills. Here’s what happened…

Opening the box- Navdy costs $599 and with a price like that, I have high expectations for everything, including packaging. The device is shipped in a slick, square black box, inside of which are four stacked trays of various components. Impressive and intuitive. I thought I might be able to hook it up without even reading directions.

Installing it- I deferred to the quick start instructions, and getting it all hooked up took me 30-40 minutes. First I unloaded everything in the box and laid it out in the passenger seat. Next I cleaned the dash (with a special wipe in the box) and placed the sticky side of the rubber mount directly in front of the steering wheel, then snapped in the Navdy unit, flipped up the clear screen and removed its protective sleeve. Then I took the cord and ran it down the left side of the dash and under it where it plugs into the car’s onboard diagnostics (OBD) port– that’s for power and also to let Navdy know what’s going on under the hood, like when the car is low on gas. I also wrapped its small rubber control dial to the steering wheel, which is used to scroll through menus on the screen.

Downloading the app to smart phone- Navdy works in tandem with your smart phone, so you need to download an app to synch everything. Once connected and enabled, Navdy allows you to answer calls using a swipe of your hand, and then talk via your car’s Bluetooth system. It will read texts to you. This is how it keeps your hands off your phone when you are driving, but also allows you to remain completely connected. The dial mounted to the steering wheel allows you to scroll through menus, or even access Siri.

Feels like a jet fighter with bright and clear maps and menus — even in sun (Image: Navdy)

Trying it out for the first time- It felt like something out of Star Wars or a fighter jet, looking out the windshield and simultaneously looking through a moving map of my car on the grid of San Francisco. I was able to easily adjust the lens to my eye level. The map was bright and crystal clear. Using “glances” I can see heavy traffic ahead, fuel, who is calling me, and what’s playing on the stereo. If I wanted it to, it would even show my calendar, my Twitter and Facebook alerts and Gmail headers, but I feel like that’s just a bit too much info, so I did not enable those functions. When driving, the device uses its own maps, which is fine, but I have grown accustomed to using Waze, which is currently not available on Navdy– so there will be a bit of a learning curve.

Using hand gestures- The Navdy device has a motion sensor, so I’m able to accept calls by swiping my hand right over the steering wheel. Swiping left hangs up. Pretty cool!

Parking- Living in San Francisco, I have it constantly drilled into my head never to leave anything of value (or perceived value) in sight in a parked car to avoid theft. The Navdy device is discreet, but it’s right there on the dash– however it’s not all that difficult to remove (it’s magnetically attached to the mount) and stash under the seat.

Overall, I really liked it. If I had a job that required frequent car travel, it would be a dream come true… almost like sitting at my desk while behind the wheel, fully connected, but hands-free and compliant with increasingly stringent driving laws.

For a limited time, Navdy costs $599. If you don’t like it, you can return the unit within 30 days for a refund. For details, go to www.navdy.com.

Uber’s driverless car test in San Francisco hits a snag

December 15, 2016

A driverless UberX Volvo near San Francisco’s ferry terminal. (Image: Uber)

Uber’s driverless car test in San Francisco is getting off to a shaky start.

No sooner had Uber started testing the use of driverless cars in San Francisco this week than the state stepped in to block it – and an incriminating video didn’t help Uber’s case.

The ride-sharing giant, which started using driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh in September, expanded the service to the streets of San Francisco this week with some UberX automated Volvo XC90s. The company said customers could request a self-driving car for their local rides based on availability.

But California’s Department of Motor Vehicles quickly intervened by telling Uber it needs a permit to use the driverless technology – something that 20 other companies already have, the DMV noted.

Uber is challenging the DMV’s warning, however. “We understand that there is a debate over whether or not we need a testing permit to launch self-driving Ubers in San Francisco,” the company said. “We have looked at this issue carefully and we don’t believe we do…First, we are not planning to operate any differently than in Pittsburgh, where our pilot has been running successfully for several months. Second, the rules apply to cars that can drive without someone controlling or monitoring them. For us, it’s still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them.”

As soon as the UberX Volvos hit the street, they started having problems, according to local media, with the cars running red lights on at least two occasions. Uber called it “human error,” blaming the problems on the engineers who were in the driver’s seat of the driverless cars, supposedly ready to handle any emergency or sticky situation. It said both employees had been suspended while it investigates.

One of those incidents was caught on video from the dash cam of a local taxi:

Readers: Would you ride in a driverless car as long as there was an Uber engineer keeping an eye on things? What if there wasn’t? Post comments below.

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Reader Report: When A Stop Sign Is Just A Suggestion

October 1, 2016

In Crete, drivers hang two wheels off the side of the road. Why? (Photo: Jon Orlin)

On a recent trip to Sicily, I came to a stop sign on the main road from Palermo into Marsala, a small town on the western coast. I stopped. Immediately behind me, the cars started honking. I wasn’t sure what was going on.

At the next stop sign, I stopped. Again, more honking and the car behind me came within inches of my rear bumper, indicating their displeasure with my actions.

As I continued towards the town, I noticed all the cars ahead of me and cars coming from the opposite direction were completely ignoring the stop signs. Maybe they slowed down a little, but they went through them at 30 miles an hour.

Later that night, I asked a local what’s with the stop signs. He laughed and said they were just a suggestion. If no one was coming from the side streets, he said the locals just ignored the signs. I forgot to ask him about the stop signs I saw at traffic lights which seemed to be completely illogical. Elsewhere in Sicily, drivers did stop for stop signs.

For travelers, these local customs can be unnerving and strange. I started to think back on some of my more unusual driving experiences around the world.

Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, on a trip 20 years ago to the island of Crete, I was surprised to see most drivers drove partially in the shoulder of the road. Their right wheels would actually be over the solid line that marks the shoulder. At first, I thought they did this so other cars could pass. I never learned why many drivers did this all the time. (See photo at the top)

Not enough room for buses and cars on Italy’s Amalfi Coast (Jon Orlin)

The drive along the Amalfi Coast is famous for the amazing scenery and the crazy hairpin turns on the edge of a cliff. But, the line in the middle of the road is treated as merely a suggestion, as long as you see no one coming in the opposite direction. If you hear a horn, it means a bus is coming around a blind curve and you might need to stop and back up.

When driving in Melbourne, Australia, I learned about the crazy hook turn. If you want to make a right turn at an intersection, you actually start from the far left lane. You even drive a little towards the left before starting a sweeping right turn. The first time I drove it, I was shocked I actually made the turn without incident. Trams run down the center of the street where these turns are required and the procedure is said to reduce congestion and actually avoid accidents.

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A crazy way to make a right turn in Melbourne, Australia (Photo: John Orlin)

In Buenos Aires, you need to watch out for taxicabs driving with their headlights off at night. If the cab drivers don’t have a fare, they don’t bother to turn on their lights. A local claimed this was done to save money.

Back in the U.S., I had a strange driving experience on residential streets around Seattle. Many of the two-way streets allow parking on both sides of the street with room for just one car to travel in the center. When two cars meet, one has to find an empty parking spot to pull into or start backing up. I found myself in a few standstills with neither driver wanting to yield.

I’m sure this is just a snapshot of international driving quirks. Share your experiences in the comments below.

TravelSkills reader Jon Orlin (@jonorlin) enjoys traveling around the world. He was an Executive Producer at CNN for many years, and ran the video departments at Yahoo and TechCrunch.

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Travel start-ups: Another one bites the dust

July 20, 2016

FlightCar is shutting down its 12 airport locations. (Image: FlightCar)

There’s been no shortage of start-up companies in the travel arena in recent years. Some of them have made it big, like Uber and Lyft. But others start out with a lot of flash and promise, and then flare out and disappear.

The latest company to join the latter camp is FlightCar, a San Francisco-based venture founded in 2013. Its business model was pretty simple : When you drive to the airport, drop off your car at a FlightCar lot and you get free parking and a car wash. You also agree to let the company rent out your vehicle to someone else while you’re away. And if they do, they’ll give you a share of the revenue.

Things seemed to be going well for a while, but then business started to falter. Stung by poor reviews about its customer service, FlightCar earlier this year went through a major overhaul, replacing a number of key executives and making other operational reforms.

But that apparently wasn’t enough. The company said in a blog post that over the next couple of weeks, it will be shutting down at all 12 airports where it had been operating. It noted that it has sold its technology platform to Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. the automaker’s “innovation lab for new mobility services” located in Silicon Valley.

It’s the second San Francisco-based ride-sharing innovator to close up shop in recent months. Last December, the same thing happened to Sidecar, originator of a ride-sharing app in 2012. Sidecar got into the market ahead of Uber and Lyft, but it never expanded beyond nine U.S. cities, and was soon overwhelmed by its larger and better-financed competitors.

Beacon’s all-you-can-fly business model didn’t fly in the northeast. (Image: Beacon)

And it’s not just ride-sharing companies that can fail. The California-based all-you-can-fly membership airline Surf Air seems to be doing well, but last year three of its four founders moved east and started a company called Beacon, based on the same all-you-can-fly model for trips between Boston Logan and New York’s Westchester County Airport. They did not replicate their west coast success, however; Beacon shut down in April of this year.

Readers: Did you ever use FlightCar? What was your experience like? What’s the next travel startup to bite the dust?

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Safer ride sharing with no surge pricing

July 19, 2016

The iCARS app promises luxury cars with certified professional drivers. (Image: iCARS)

A new ground transportation app that fingerprints and drug tests its drivers and does not impose surge pricing is expanding beyond the Bay Area and Texas to several major cities.

The company is called iCARS. It started earlier this year in the San Francisco area and recently began operations in Houston, Dallas and Austin (where Uber and Lyft have been banned). “In the coming months, this growth will be followed by launches in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.,” the company said.

ICARS said it works with local affiliates that can meet its high standards not only for the quality of their vehicles but also for their drivers. While Uber and Lyft have routinely fought against local governing bodies that want to impose requirements like insurance, fingerprinting and independent background checks of their drivers, iCARS says it will only work with local car service providers “who operate insured vehicles driven by professional chauffeurs who meet all state and federal transportation regulations.”

Specifically, it said the vendors it uses must carry $1 million in commercial liability insurance, perform regular maintenance on their vehicles, subject their drivers to background checks and random drug tests as well as fingerprinting, provide driver training, and provide drivers with employee benefits as required by state laws. That means it should not run into the same problems that Uber and Lyft have in gaining access to some major airports (as in Austin).

Besides offering iOS and Android apps that individuals can use to hail rides on the spot or book them in the future, iCARS said it also works with third party intermediaries like hotel concierges, travel management companies and corporate travel offices so that they can book rides for any number of travelers, and it promises integrated expense reporting for users and their companies. The company promises that bookings include no hidden fees and no surge pricing.

Vehicles available for iCARS riders include luxury cars in various categories – i.e., Sedan Class, SUV Class and Sprinter Class or Custom Class, depending on the maximum number of seats.

We checked the pricing for a ride from San Francisco Airport to the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero and got estimates ranging from $59 to $87, depending on vehicle class; from DFW Airport to the Dallas Convention Center the estimates ranged from $80 to $120.

Another Uber or Lyft alternative that employs more rigorous driver checks is Wingz which offers pre-booked airport rides, only. It operates at almost 20 airports, primarily located in the West.

Readers: Have you used iCARS or other ridesharing alternatives yet? Thoughts? Would you be willing to switch to providers that require more rigorous vetting of drivers? Please leave your comments below.

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