For those who availed the cheap Cebu Pacific flights to Philippines earlier, does anyone have any experience with Uber cabs in Manila ?
Was thinking of using Uber to get from the airport to the city, and avoid the taxi chaos.
Manila, Uber experiences.
MITM on 02/06/2015 - 18:36
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Might keep the Courtesy Coach as Plan B. Thanks for the tip.
Uber is great in Manila - new cars, polite drivers and almost same as metered taxi (except when surge pricing is on). They only have uber black and uber x. Sometimes Uber black is better as uber X could be on 3x surge pricing. From my 20-odd trips cars for Uber X are new Toyota Vios and Hyundai Accent, and for Uber Black they are 4x4 Mitsubishi Fontera,
You can get Uber at the airport but there can be shortages during peak times and/or unlucky periods but if start checking as soon as you touch down by the time you get through customs, etc the car can be waiting.
That's encouraging, thanks MrM. I figured on getting the Driver to meet us at the Departures drop off so we stand out.
Uber Black for 3 and bags might be the go.
We land 5pm on a Sunday so should be quiet, right?
I was going to get a local SIM first up, but perhaps I should use Roaming to arrange Uber first. Any tips here ?Yep get roaming active and order once you land. Local SIMs are at the exit gate so unless you got lucky you'd be waiting 10-30mins for the car on you got active and requested a car. Sunday 5pm should be fine and perhaps just a metered taxi or two would be ok at this time if last resort.
I don't know about uber, but regarding the taxi choices, I believe that the yellow airport taxis should be used from the airport. Especially if you are not experienced in travelling to Manila. They are more expensive than a white taxi but your route is recorded when you board the cab. I think that they are safer. Ask the driver to use the skyway (plus 20.00php). You will be arriving terminal 3 and so the skyway is better. I had no problem catching one when arriving by Cebu Pacific on a week day at 5pm (Rush Hour)
Thanks for that Peck. Do you remember/guess the cost ? (We're headed to Makati.)
Also, what was the wait line like ? I've read up to an hour at T3, hence the Uber question !!
There were about 10 people in the queue in front of me, and I waited about 15 minutes. I really don't remember, but it was certainly very cheap by comparison to Aust. My guess $A15 to Makati. It certainly would have been cheaper out of rush hour. And cheaper if you took a white or other taxi (which I did all around Manila, and also going back to the airport). If I remember correctly you walk out of the front doors, cross the narrow service road and they are on your right. Plenty of people will point it out. I had heard that there were all sorts of hassles with other taxis from the airport if travelling during rush hour, whereas the airport taxis are reliable and hassle-free. And that was certainly my experience.
When you exit the terminal everyone will ask you if you want taxi - the answer is no and keep walking :-)
Just follow the directions as set out by peck (across the first service road then walk right along the island down to the end where you will see a queue for yellow taxis. Make sure you have small change in pesos (P100 notes) to pay as many drivers say they don't have change (or really don't have change!).
The best uber benefit is not having to carry around taxi money!
Never tried using Uber from the airport in Manila but it's been useful when I've used it elsewhere (e.g. within Makati, Pasig to Makati) Would definitely recommend it over getting a regular (white) taxi. Don't have any thoughts on the yellow airport taxi since I've never used them.
I also used GrabTaxi when there wasn't an available Uber around. Additional Php70 (~$2) on top of the taxi fare and the quality of the car isn't guaranteed but it could save you some time.
If it was my first time in Manila, I probably wouldn't use Uber just for terms of safety although I did travel their alone as a female.
I'd be inclined to ask your hotel if they provide a airport shuttle bus.
Hi all, I can confirm Uber is definitely the best. I've made about 10 trips with no problems.
The cost has been around $3 to $4 for 25 min ride, through the most horrendous traffic in new and comfortable cars.
Some drivers have little English, one driver was a researcher for Reuters.
And the app is accurate.Pick up is possible at the airport on arrival if you roaming on. I caught ina Yellow per the advise above, and waited 30+ minutes Sunday night. I'd hate it to have been during the day in 30+ degrees.
I got a globe telecom SIM/New number and the Uber app transfered my profile automatically.
Very happy with Uber, but probably will bypass Manila next time and fly on to Palawan.
Smart move. The taxi situation is terrible departing the airport. Someone suggested to me afterwards that it's faster to catch the courtesy bus to the casino and catch a cab from there. I hadn't even considered Uber when I was there in November.