3 lessons from my first Uber ride & how I escaped the surge

I had one more bad experience with the cab cartel this week. It was the final straw that sent me searching for a better way to get around without getting the run around. All the cool kids are using Uber these days. I gave it a whirl in Chicago this week. Despite one big uber gotcha that almost cost me 100 bucks (yeah, $100), it worked like a charm.

Here’s how I wiggled into and back out of that hundred-dollar Uber mistake — and a few other lessons I learned as an Uber n00b.

The Cab Cartel

I was on a turn-around trip to Chicago Wednesday for an afternoon meeting. Flew out of DFW at 6:30a. Flew back just after midnight. My game plan was to land at O’Hare and score a cab to the meeting location. Then, if I had some extra time, maybe I’d grab another cab and wonder down to the lake shore for a few hours then catch my flight back to big D.

I rolled up to the taxi stand O’Hare. It was a muggy morning — in more ways than one. The August morning weather was humid. Also, I was about to experience a near robbery. I had done my research and knew that the cab fare to the Chicago suburb I needed to reach should cost about $45-50. When I informed the taxi maitre d of my destination, he laughed. “These are city taxis. If they leave the city limits, they’ll charge you double time. It will be at least $120.” One way? One way. It was my turn to laugh.

The taxi stand man stepped around the corner of his booth. “I know a guy.” He pulled up a number on his phone. “It’s ringing.” He hands me the phone. I’m pretty sure we’re skirting some rules at this point. But, anything to save a few bucks.

Long story short, a Middle Eastern man in a black suv picks me up about 100 yards from the taxi stand. The taxi maitre d pretends not to see as I slip into the back seat. At this point, I’m guessing there’s about a 20% chance I’m in chapter one of an international spy thriller novel — the chapter where the sympathetic but stupid murder victim makes a fateful decision that puts him in the middle of a plot that’s far larger and more sinister than he could imagine. The bad news is that my body will wash up on the shores of Lake Michigan tomorrow morning. The good news is that Jack Ryan will be the one to discover my corpse and he will disrupt the global terrorist network’s plot before it’s too late. You’re welcome, America.

Well, turns out that I did not get murdered. But, I did get robbed. The fee for this 40 minute ride from the airport? $89. Ridiculous. But, in the process I did discover:

Uber Lesson One: Most people are not murderers. They are normal, hardworking people trying to make a living. In this world of fear and hyper-cynicism, I forget that.

But still, there’s no way in the world I’m going through that taxi / limo robbery scenario again.

Chicago skyline from Grant Park

Uber. Cheaper.

So, when my meeting ends and I’m ready to go downtown to check out the sights, I do what all the cool kids are doing and download the uber app. And, I’m shocked. My John Grisham inspired ride from the airport to this hotel in the western ‘burbs cost me $89. Uber says it can take me all the way back past O’Hare to the Field Museum on Lakeshore for… $43. And the car can be there in 2 minutes.

My first instinct is that this low price is somehow a trap. But, I’m trying to be a little less cynical (see lesson one). With a few taps, the car is on it’s way. I see the driver’s name and picture and the car’s license plate number. A late model Honda pulls up and checks out. In about 2 minutes, I’m in my first Uber.

We glide down the free as I calmly search the back seat for signs of criminal intent. It’s clean. Then, I slip into my trademark interview mode with driver Jose and pepper him with questions about my first Uber ride.

O: How long have you been driving?
J: “About 6 months. I’m leasing this car and trying to pay for it with rides.”

O: Why Uber?
J: “We men have our pride,” he says. “I got tired of asking my wife for cigarette money.”

O: What do you consider a successful week of Uber driving?
J: “We’re from the Philippines,” Jose says. “I drove big trucks with cargo for 5 years to pay my wife’s way through nursing school. Now, she works and I’m at home. I get bored and I want to buy stuff.” “Like cigarettes?” I chuckle. “Cigarettes…beer…maybe a new TV. But I don’t like stress. I only drive a couple of days a week. When I feel calm. I want to stay calm and get out of the house.”

O: Any lessons learned as a driver you’d pass along to other drivers?
J: “I learned this hauling for the fashion industry in LA — always carry snacks. You never know how bad traffic will be.” He pops the glovebox open to reveal his stash. “You want a cracker? They’re from the Philippines. They are amazing.”

(TLDR: My driver is nice, gives me some Uber tips, and offers me a pack of Pilipino crackers.)

I take the pack of SkyFlakes crackers he hands me. Minutes later, we arrive at the Field Museum and he drops me at the door. No money changes hands. The Uber app charges my card automatically when the ride is over. Clean and classy.

Uber Lesson Two: Unlike the Cab Cartel, Uber is straight forward, you know the cost ahead of time, and the pick-up and drop-off system in infinitely more human and convenient than going by cab.

Uber’s Secret Dark Side: The Surge

I do my thing in Chicago for a few hours. Then, a storm starts to roll in across the lake. The light’s perfect. I snap a few photos. Fat drops of rain slam into me. I pull on my rain jacket and scramble down Michigan Ave. where I take refuge in a coffee shop as the rain drops turn into slanted sheets of water rippling down the windows.

It’s all good. I’m feeling confident. Uber confident. I’ll pop open the app, dial up a ride, and get back to the airport with time to spare.

I pinpoint my location in the Uber app. I type in the O’Hare airport address and wait with soggy smugness as Uber calculates the fare…….. $158. Say what? I check again. Yup. Just hours ago, I took an Uber for twice the distance than I want to go now. That ride cost me $43. Now, I want to go half that distance. And Uber is quoting me a price 4 times higher. And my blood pressure goes 4 times higher. I quickly imagine several ways I can explain to Sarah why I spent $200 on cab fare for one day in Chicago. Every way results in an ER visit. Uber, what’s the deal?!

Turns out I’m a victim of something Uber calls “surge pricing.” Apparently, when Obama authorized the Surge in Afghanistan in 2009, there was something in the fine print that allowed Uber to jack up their rates in areas and times of day that are in high demand.

What that means for me is: 1. I have 2 hours to get to the airport. 2. It’s pouring rain. 3. And I’m beginning to wonder if Uber a double agent of the Cab Cartel. They’re shaking me down for an extra $100. What to do?

I begin scouring the web to research this surge pricing model and how to work around it. Here’s what I learn:

1. Uber surge pricing is only for limited times when demand increases. They say their motive is to lure more drivers into these temporarily lucrative areas.
2. Uber divides the cities where they operate into smaller geographical areas. Surge pricing is only applied to these smaller areas, not to the city as a whole.
3. According to driver forums, many Uber drivers don’t like surge pricing either. It often slows business because no one in their right mind pays $158 for a ride to the airport. Drivers will actually leave the area under surge pricing and head for nearby areas with less expensive fares.
4. You can use your feet to beat surge pricing. Use your Uber app map to see where drivers are clustering up for a clue where lower fares can be had. Or, you can download one of a handful of free apps that will show you the shortest route out of the surge affected area where you’re standing. (I used this one.)

And that’s just what I do. Thanks to the app, I see that if I walk about a mile south, I’ll cross out of the Uber surge zone. Sure enough, I see about 4 Uber cars on the map in that general area. So, off I go in the rain.

It’s about a 10 minute walk in the rain, but the further I get away from my first location, the lower the Uber fare becomes. Soon, I’m standing on a street corner in a random neighborhood across the street from a small college and Uber says they can give me a lift to O’Hare for $52. I’ll take it.

Uber Lesson 3: If you’re a Uber noober, be prepared for Uber surge pricing. When Uber tries to take you for a surge fueled ride, let your feet do the talking.

Surge pricing isn’t the end of the world for short rides, but getting slapped for 4x the normal fare on a 30 mile ride is no bueno.

Thankfully, I was picked up by a fascinating guy. An immigrant from Guatemala who is so proud that his son is going to college. As it turns out, it’s the college where I was just picked up. He has helped his son with his homework every night since first grade. He learned so much with his son that my driver decided to take his GED at the same time his son was graduating high school. So, they both got their diplomas this spring together.

Which brings me back to:

Uber Lesson One: Most people are not murderers. They are normal, hardworking people trying to make a living. In this world of fear and hyper-cynicism, I forget that.

Filed under: culture, GoWild, reviews, travel Tagged: chicago, featured, field museum, how to, reviews, taxi, travel, uber

More WildStuff over at wildthoughts.net

GoWild: Disc Golf in Dallas

Today, Sarah and I made an important discovery: There is more in this universe than meetings and computer screens. Things like sunshine. Trees. Creeks. And little plastic frisbees.

Today, we went disc golfing at the very fun Alex Clark Memorial course in McKinney. We were both over due for a nature detox treatment. Don’t let her charming personality fool you, Sarah is a disc golf machine!

Here are some photos….

GoWild: How to Turn Yourself into a Font for Free

So, I'm a procrastinator. I'd like to say I'm a recovering procrastinator, but I'm not there yet. The down side to putting all my tasks off until the last minute are the periodic moments of panic scattered throughout a typical week.

No middle ground for me! It's either a sense of calm and well-being as I ignore the work piling up. Or, it's the terror that strikes hours before the deadline. In the past, I tried to reform myself. Now, I just blame the problem on genetics and my childhood. It's easier that way.

The upside to my procrastinating ways is all the cool stuff I find on the internet while I'm distracting myself from my to-do list.

Take this website for example: www.fontcapture.com. It's a fun and easy tool to convert your own handwriting into a true type font that you can use on your computer like any other font -- even in design programs like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Best part? It's free.

The process involves four easy steps:

1. Go to the website and download the template.
2. Print the template and fill it like (like I did above) with your handwriting sample.
3. Scan the completed template and upload it to the site.
4. Name your new font and download it.

Once you have it on your computer's harddrive, you can install it like any font. Possible uses? Create a new font for a design layout. Print nearly hand-written looking letters to friends and family. Fill out forms. "Sign" documents. Fool the teacher into thinking your mother wrote a doctor's note.

Or, if you're like me, you can finally realize just how bad your handwriting really is. You can download my font file to see for yourself. Ha! Have fun...

GoWild: 5 tips for your first visit to the new Cowboy Stadium

The Dallas Cowboys christened their new stadium Friday night against the Tennessee Titans. I had a chance to try out the billion-dollar complex for myself, 19 rows from the 20 yard line.

Even though it was only a preseason game, about 75,000 people came out for the event. The atmosphere felt like a mid-season NFL game complete with tailgate parties and people painted blue.

If you want to paint yourself blue, I'm not going to judge. But to help keep you from feeling blue on your first visit to cowboy stadium, here are some things you should know before you go.

Scope out your view.

Prepare to be impressed with what a billion dollars can buy. Expansive space with lots of glass and a capacity of 100,000 under the largest single span dome in the world. The view from inside is so massive it feels fake. Before the game, they showed a video demonstrating how the Statue of Liberty, the St. Louis Arch, and the Empire State Building can all fit inside the stadium with room to spare.

Despite the grand scale, there's really not a bad seat in the house - even on the 4th tier section that takes the term "nose bleeds" to new heights. Seriously, if you're afraid of heights you might want pass up on the top section.

Tickets prices aren't for the faint of heart, either. The image above shows our seats for the pre-season game versus the Titans and the price tag. Yes, you read that right. Since your seats are such and investment, you'll want to check out the stadium's interactive seating charts. Click on a section, and you can check out the virtual view from your seat. For example, to see where I sat, click here, then click on section C133 on the map.

Get a game plan.

Traffic flow is well laid out and handled the thousands of cars with minimal waiting during my visit. Still, if you ever have a chance to go, do yourself a favor and visit the special map website dedicated to helping you plan your route to the stadium. Simply enter your ZIP code, and it gives you the best route based on real-time traffic and construction info. It's bad enough when Romo gets called for a delay of game...you don't want to be slapped with a delay to the game.

Parking near the stadium is expensive. As you can see from this parking map, lots surrounding the stadium complex are divided into two tiers: Blue and Silver. Most if not all the Blue and Silver lots require a pre-paid parking pass with prices running from $70 - $120. Some of the Ranger Stadium cash lots are open before the game for $50.

If you're running low on funds after your ticket purchase, or you're wanting to save up for a hotdog at the game (see below), you can find some private parking areas for half the price. You'll just have to walk a bit. Along Division Street, we found a sweet deal for $25. If you want the scoop on that, I can hook you up.

Watch where you point that thing.

Heads up -- there are strict rules for what kind of cameras you can take to a cowboy's game in the new facility. No video cameras of any kind are allowed. Still cameras that don't have detachable lenses are also permitted. In other words, fancy SLR-type rigs are a no-no. If you can take the lens off the camera body, you'll want to leave it at home. There aren't any storage lockers at the stadium, so if you try to sneak a camera past security and they get wise to your shenanigans, you'll be hoofing it back to the car.

Don't forget your wallet.

Yes, your ticket was expensive, but it's not the last time Jerry will sing "Ka-ching" as you open your billfold. Concessions aren't cheap. My hotdog and pepsi were $10.50. That's the budget route. Expect to drop nearly 10 bucks for nachos, a bar-b-que sandwich, or a beer. The up side is that club section seats have their own limited access concession stands that drastically reduce lines.

And the pro shop... Really? You didn't just ask that, did you?

Pass the popcorn.

One of the reasons there's not a bad seat in the house are the twin 60-yard-long HD TVs mounted above the playing field. Yes, that's right 60 yards long, making them the largest HD TVs in the world. Even from the upper levels, you feel like you're a part of the action.

The image on the screens is so sharp that you find yourself spending more time looking at the screens than at the field of play - even from the very best seats in the stadium. If you're in the lower sections, you'll find the screens so low that they're dipping into your field of view. At our experience with the inaugural game, the screens were too low, in fact. A Titan's punter hit the bottom of the displays during the game, forcing a do-over. Look for the screens to be raised several feet in the future.

Because the TVs are so impressive, you'll want to avoid end cap seats so you can take in the all the HD goodness.

The TVs dominate the viewing experience - and also present a catch 22. It's kind of ironic but, if you were going to spring for 4 good seats, a good parking space, and food for the crew you might consider going out and getting yourself a big TV and throwing your own party instead.

Extra Point: Witten introduced for the first time at Cowboy Stadium