Can you reserve a ride without a cellphone, thus no app?
The Guru Take
Yes, but only with Uber (currently)
Uber currently offers an option to request a car using your web browser. This can be done on your laptop or your mobile browser like Safari, Chrome, and Firefox installed on your smartphones and tablets.
If you are ready, try this link here: https://m.uber.com/
EDIT: Lyft now offers this feature as well.
ippei
1202
Uber Driver, CEO of TaxiFareFinder and Unleashed, LLC
Comments
All of these posts don't consider that you can always use a friend with a smartphone to arrange the trip for you.
Of course, the trip fee would go on his/her bill. This should be no problem among friends.
It beats paying another service to do the same thing.
If this won't work then a taxi is the best bet.
I have had quite a conversation on Quora with a guy who had a flip phone that he insisted on using.
He thought the goverment should make Uber assist those without smartphones and credit cards.
The exchange went back end forth for several days.
I finally ended the conversation by saying, "if you wanted to clean a window on the second floor and had no ladder, would you buy or borrow a ladder or insist that the goverment get you a ladder."
Hahaha, awesome.
Having a friend call is an option but I feel that defeats the purpose of Uber as the biggest advantage is the convenience, GPS, online payment, etc.
(I suppose the price is a factor as UberX is cheaper than taxis.)
Jeremy,
Smartphones are ubiguitous, the Motorola startek is the highest form of COOL.
I can'ta believe kids these days have never seen them. I owned one in college. Wish I still had it.
Funny thing? Every phone since then has been bigger.
I once drove a religious Jewish family and they told me that mmany of the religious jews are not allowed to have a smart phone, so they use flip phones to call a service that is specifically set up by smart interpreneurs to receive their call from flip phone and schedule a rideshare for them then that person calls them on their flip phone and tells them what car will pick them up, just like a regular ride where a family member from across country requests a ride and calls the driver to let them know who we are picking up
I feel like that defeats the purpose. They are still *using* the smartphone through delegation. This is like a loophole.
I guess it's the same as having a secretary...but still! You are still using a smartphone!