Warning - Uber charged us A LOT of money from OIA - Orlando Airport (Cocoa: hotels, house)

[Eric1026]

Up until recently we had used Uber a few times, but every time we used them from our house and to the airport. Living near the Independence / Winter Garden area, the fares were about $ 40-50 for Uber versus $ 70-85 for a Mears Taxi. On our recent travels, we used Uber to go to the airport and the above held true.

We decided to try to use Uber to pick us up at the airport and bring us back home. They ended up charging us $ 130.91 for the trip from the airport and back home. We did not know this until we got the email after the driver left. I know that looking back we should have noticed that the Uber App did not give us an estimated fare cost (it had done this for all of the other trips). I also know that we should have asked the driver what the cost is in advance.

We will probably continue to use Uber for trips to the airport but never again while at the Orlando Airport. We just wanted to give people a heads up and open a discussion thread in case anyone else had any feedback on this rather large one-way charge.


****COPY/PASTE OF EMAIL BELOW********
FARE BREAKDOWN
Base Fare 7.00
Distance 86.08
Time 23.08
Subtotal $116.16
SR 91 (FL Turnpike) - Orlando South NB ON Toll (?) 1.00
SR 528 (Beachline Expressway) - Airport Mainline Plaza Toll (?) 1.25
SR 429 (Western Beltway) - Independence Mainline Plaza Toll (?) 1.50
SR 528 (FL Turnpike) - Beachline West Mainline Plaza Toll (?) 1.00
MCO Airport Surcharge NB (?) 10.00
CHARGED $130.91

[bmw335xi]

Wow, I need to be an Uber driver in Orlando lol

[1insider]

Irrelevant I know but for what it's worth, my ride Saturday night in Cocoa Beach.

FARE BREAKDOWN
Base Fare 1.50
Distance 3.53
Time 0.99
Subtotal $6.02
Safe Rides Fee (?) 1.55
Total $7.57

[kyle19125]

Uber operates a "Surge Pricing" fare system based on call volume. Since you didn't indicate when you used it, I'll assume it was over the busy holiday weekend which perhaps might have contributed to the situation with a lack of drivers available.

https://help.uber.com/h/6c8065cf-553...0-d292ffdce119

[bmw335xi]

It will say if surge pricing is in effect and by what multiplier.

[Eric1026]

I just looked at the email and it does not say anything about surge pricing. It does say UberBLACK under car type (it is written out with the caps on for black). So maybe that is some sort of special car?

I will still use Uber but I learned a lesson to get a fare quoted on the app before accepting the service. Up until this point, the app always showed us the fare but this time it did not.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Eric1026

I just looked at the email and it does not say anything about surge pricing. It does say UberBLACK under car type (it is written out with the caps on for black). So maybe that is some sort of special car?

I will still use Uber but I learned a lesson to get a fare quoted on the app before accepting the service. Up until this point, the app always showed us the fare but this time it did not.

This explains it....hadn't heard of it either.
What is Uber BLACK?

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Eric1026

I just looked at the email and it does not say anything about surge pricing. It does say UberBLACK under car type (it is written out with the caps on for black). So maybe that is some sort of special car?

I will still use Uber but I learned a lesson to get a fare quoted on the app before accepting the service. Up until this point, the app always showed us the fare but this time it did not.

UberBlack is their premium luxury vehicle service. UberX is your average Joe. UberX Pool is the same as UberX, but you might share your ride with other passengers (cheapest option), but I don't think it's available in Orlando yet. UberXL is are large capacity vehicles for people with a lot of luggage.

[Crane's Rooster]

I discovered this as well this morning. Uber made an agreement after pressure from Mears and other taxi companies that it would only allow UberBlack pick up at the airport. As stated by others UberBlack is the most expensive version of Uber, also most in line with most cabs and transportation companies serving OIA. I've spoken to other reguler UberX drivers who have told me the way around this is to take a free shuttle to one of the off site hotels and requests an Uber from there. After learning this information this morning I decided to take the Lynxx Express bus 111 to the Sandlake Sunrail Station. The ride over was actually very fast but the bus pulled in while the train was at the station. I made a run for the train but just barely missed it. This cost me an extra 30 mins. Instead of taking Uber from the sandlake station home, I decided to take it to a DT station closer to home than summons uber. All in all between the bus, train and uber I paid about $10 from the airport to downtown.

[WithDisp]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

I discovered this as well this morning. Uber made an agreement after pressure from Mears and other taxi companies that it would only allow UberBlack pick up at the airport. As stated by others UberBlack is the most expensive version of Uber, also most in line with most cabs and transportation companies serving OIA. I've spoken to other reguler UberX drivers who have told me the way around this is to take a free shuttle to one of the off site hotels and requests an Uber from there. After learning this information this morning I decided to take the Lynxx Express bus 111 to the Sandlake Sunrail Station. The ride over was actually very fast but the bus pulled in while the train was at the station. I made a run for the train but just barely missed it. This cost me an extra 30 mins. Instead of taking Uber from the sandlake station home, I decided to take it to a DT station closer to home than summons uber. All in all between the bus, train and uber I paid about $10 from the airport to downtown.

The 11 bus will take you from the Airport to Lynx Central Station Downtown for $2.