I'm heading to Vietnam last week and was wondering if anyone had any experience with Uber over there. I know someone who used uber in that hellhole, KL, and they were happy with it. I understand the wait times can be longer than grabbing a cab in hcm, but has anyone ever actually tried them?
Ummmmm. Thanks?
yeah. grab one last time in HCM from my home to the airport. Can't complain.
Having said that taxi is darn cheap so i don't even know why i did bother.
I'm looking for a hassle free ride.
grab a chain taxi you won't have any issue with i dont think
This Vinasun or the green cabs (I forget their name) and it'll all be fine.
Take a taxi, it isn't expensive in VN.
make sure you don't get ripped off
I'm heading to Vietnam last week
Last week? How was your trip?
Lol
In five days. Next week.
You can either use Uber or also try Grab Taxi (which is generally bigger than Uber in South East Asia) if you're concerned about wait times.
Friends tell me that at least with these guys you are more likely to receive good service (english speakers or at least know a few words) and the cars they use in vietnam are much better/newer than taxi fleets. Last time I went I was picked up in a big SUV. Friends have also been in merc's driven by a female (crazy, I know).
If you must uses taxis, then from the airport just remember to make sure they go by the meter and that no you don't have any extra money to give them for coffee/tips. For general taxi travel stick to Vinasun, Mailinh or Taxi Vang (yellow). Might want to take a picture of the driver and their card just in case you have any issues and want to follow up afterwards :)
Enjoy!
You need to be careful with Grab Taxi though. I was in Johor recently at Double Tree and the fee was x10 what it was if I just got a taxi out on the street.
In HCM, just take a Vinasun cab and you won't have any issues (at least in my experience). And it's dirt cheap.
We did take a couple of Uber's and they are also dirt cheap. But it can get a bit tricky if they try and call you and you don't have an active number (or you can't speak vietnamese)
From the airport, we followed the following advice from our AirBNB host and everything went well. Although if I did it again I'd probably just grab a Vinasun cab as it's cheaper:
For Airport Transfer from Tan Son Nhat we recommend the following:
SONG VIET - We highly recommend this option for someone new to the city. You can locate Song Viet booths at column 6, for both domestic and international terminals. MAKE SURE YOU ASK for PREPAID SERVICE costing 220k VND for District 1, then pay AND get a receipt for the service. Anyone one who stops you to offer different services or quote you a different price is not part of Song Viet. Please ask the receptionist or driver to CALL US so we can properly give them direction to our home.
stratbargain 5 min ago new
"In HCM, just take a Vinasun cab "
And Mai Lin
Beware of imitations, use google to find out more info regarding taxi scams, they are pretty prevalent there but Mai Lin and Vinasun are the safe bets but as said, some do try and copy their signage.
There is always the risk of getting taken into some back street and raped or organs harvested.
Good experience if you are into that kind of stuff.
Not sure why you would want to uber when taxis are dirt cheap there.
Had very positive experiences with uber in HCM. Price is noticably cheaper than cabs and you don't have to deal with small change which is a major hassle. It's another saving as well cause you usually round up the fare instead of expecting exact change. You can also point on the map where you want to go if you are struggling to communicate. Never had an uber driver try to cheat me either.
Cabs are pretty decent in Vietnam, much better than other Asian countries I've been to. Like others mentioned stick to Vinasun and Mai linh. I probably only have 1/20 rides where the driver tries to cheat.
Downsides of uber are you have to wait for it to arrive which is universal with uber everywhere. If you have a vietnamese number in there they will usually call you to confirm location. I can speak Vietnamese so am not sure of their English ability.
You can just keep your aussie number in there and see if they can find you.
I haven't taken an uber in Vietnam yet, but I met this European couple tonight who had never heard of it do I showed them the app. A car was three minutes away and the estimate was less than half that expected of a taxi to go to the airport.
Where we're going we don't need roads!