Airport Uber Rides Cheapest in Birmingham, LA and Vegas, Study Says
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APEX Insight: When considering the least expensive way to get into town from the airport, the cost comparison can get complicated when considering taxis, Uber and rental cars.
Travelers have three main options, aside from public transportation, to get from the airport to their destination: taxi, rental car, or a ride-hailing service such as Uber. Costs of taxi service per mile, as well as distance between a city and its airport must be considered when determining the cheapest option.
According to a study by New Zealand-based car-hire company Go Rentals, Uber rides from the airport to the city center are cheapest in Birmingham (UK), Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Travelers seeking this option in Los Angeles will find that this good news just got better: In August, LAX began allowing ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft to drop off and pick up passengers in the same trip.
For travelers flying to Milan, Auckland or Madrid, the study suggests that a one-day car rental is the cheapest option. Milan’s taxi and Uber journeys are particularly pricey, partly due to the large distance between the airport and the city center. On the other hand, Stockholm is quite far from its airport, yet taxi, Uber and one-day car rental are listed as virtually identical in price.
There are a few caveats to keep in mind, such as Uber’s surge pricing: The busier the service is, the more customers pay. Conversely, Uber Pool will lower the cost of the journey; but you’ll be sharing the rideshare with other passengers. Also, not every rental car company will let you drop off a car at a different point than where you picked it up. Furthermore, comparing taxi prices to one-day car rentals isn’t quite apples-to-apples, since relatively few people will go to and from the airport by cab or car-share in a single day.
Also, travelers should consider whether or not they want to do the driving (and parking) themselves. For some, it’s an arduous, or even scary, task- particularly in cities like Athens, Rome or Los Angeles – while for others, it’s part of the adventure of traveling.
Another caveat is seamlessness. It’s common these days for car rental options to be included in the ticket-purchase funnel when booking through an online travel agency (OTA); and Jet Airways is doing the same with Uber reservations.
It should be noted that Uber has faced significant challenges over the past year, most notably the reports of sexual harassment within the company that led not only to an exodus of female staff, 20 firings and an empty C-suite; but also pushed passengers to competing services, like Lyft. Go Rentals did not include those competitors in the study.