Grab v. Bolt - fare estimates

[Speedhump]

Looking at their phone apps, Bolt shows a fare estimate for your intended journey, Grab only shows 'book now' giving you no idea of cost. This seems poor of Grab.

 

I know both services increase fares during busy periods, and the Bolt app does show the fare I checked as 'busy', so it's estimating on that basis (I assume), and I know Bolt has in the past been cheaper, although I believe they are increasing fares having now grabbed some market share.

 

I would tend towards a service that gives me an idea of cost, and Grab certainly used to.  Is this their response to the introduction of Bolt, trying to prevent fare comparisons? If so, how do they expect to compete? I won't touch the 'book now' icon unless I know what the rough cost should be.

[scubascuba3]

Not showing the cost is back to when you get in a taxi with a meter, best to avoid

[tonray]

12 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

Looking at their phone apps, Bolt shows a fare estimate for your intended journey, Grab only shows 'book now' giving you no idea of cost. This seems poor of Grab.

I use Grab 3 or 4 times per week....it shows exactly the cost of journey before I ever hit book now. Maybe you are not signed in or need to assign a payment method first ?

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Not showing the cost is back to when you get in a taxi with a meter, best to avoid

In BKK the fare rate is usually hanging on the back of the seat.

[Mike Teavee]

Just did a random search on Grab & it clearly shows the fare (this is on the iPhone App).

 

I don’t have a payment method set-up, always pay cash but then again I always use Bolt as they are/were much cheaper 

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

In BKK the fare rate is usually hanging on the back of the seat.

anyone happy with that?

[Speedhump]

Thanks for the replies. I've used the app a lot in the past, and have a debit card assigned. I dont see how you log in/out, but if it wants me to 'book now' it should show a fare anyway.

 

I'll uninstall and reinstall the app, try that.

 

Anyway, obviously only my problem!

 

Great weekend all. ????

 

PS -  actually I see I'm using the Grab main app (food, transport, gifts, etc.) , and selecting 'transport' rather than using the Grab Driver app. I thinik that might be the trouble...

 

PPS- I see that's only for the drivers. OK, it's safe to ignore me now....

[VocalNeal]

10 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

anyone happy with that?

Well it is about 2.5 B per km (maybe more now) so if one knows the distance. I just pay what it says on the meter. 

[Speedhump]

OK, the fare estimate appears only after you touch 'Confirm Pick-Up'. And you can back out then, instead of proceeding by touching 'Book'.

 

Not intuitive enough for an old fart like me, I thought 'Confirm' would lock you into a booking.

[Gottfrid]

Hurray! After this discussion we can all have the luxury to get the cheapest price and save 20 baht on every 200 baht fare. 

For some reason, I start to wonder why a certain kind of people even think about moving abroad, as all they think about is to save 25 cent here and 50 cent there.

Must be a terrible life to live under such economic pressure in a foreign country.

[Speedhump]

Just now, Gottfrid said:

Hurray! After this discussion we can all have the luxury to get the cheapest price and save 20 baht on every 200 baht fare. 

For some reason, I start to wonder why a certain kind of people even think about moving abroad, as all they think about is to save 25 cent here and 50 cent there.

Must be a terrible life to be under such economic pressure in a foreign country.

And I wonder why some people hate those who don't want to overpay, even by 20 Baht. What is the problem with people like you, there's obviously something going on there....

 

Trying to start a squabble, maybe just nothing to do on a weekend but feeling spiteful?

 

I won't be playing whack-a-mole with you, so have a great one.

[scubascuba3]

6 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Hurray! After this discussion we can all have the luxury to get the cheapest price and save 20 baht on every 200 baht fare. 

For some reason, I start to wonder why a certain kind of people even think about moving abroad, as all they think about is to save 25 cent here and 50 cent there.

Must be a terrible life to live under such economic pressure in a foreign country.

some people are just used to over paying and you can't compare Thailand vs USA

[tonray]

9 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

OK, the fare estimate appears only after you touch 'Confirm Pick-Up'. And you can back out then, instead of proceeding by touching 'Book'.

 

Not intuitive enough for an old fart like me, I thought 'Confirm' would lock you into a booking.

yeah...if you always use your pickup location (home for example)...you can set it as a saved location and then you don't need the Confirm Pickup dialog

[StayinThailand2much]

17 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

some people are just used to over paying and you can't compare Thailand vs USA

That's the people in the U.S. that cannot figure out 'how much to tip', and need a special calculator for that...

[Speedhump]

26 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

That's the people in the U.S. that cannot figure out 'how much to tip', and need a special calculator for that...

British tourists who started arriving in the US in droves (certainly in Florida) in the 80s and 90s need to apologize to the US for overpaying for everything and still finding it dirt cheap. The local economy went through the roof and everyone ended up paying more. Tipping at 20 percent was mystifying to Brits though (I think still is).

 

I remember the 'Don't shoot me, I'm not a tourist' t-shirts, although they were mostly for the downtown areas...

[Gsxrnz]

7 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

I remember the 'Don't shoot me, I'm not a tourist' t-shirts, although they were mostly for the downtown areas...

The Brits were easily identifiable as the ones wearing the "No sex please, we're British" T-shirts.

[tonray]

9 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

I remember the 'Don't shoot me, I'm not a tourist' t-shirts, although they were mostly for the downtown areas...

Now they sell t-shirts that just say "dont shoot me"

[Speedhump]

3 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

The Brits were easily identifiable as the ones wearing the "No sex please, we're British" T-shirts.

I think they were mostly 'family with kids' vacations, so you could well be right. ????

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, Speedhump said:

I won't be playing whack-a-mole with you, so have a great one

You just did! ???? Now, put another 20 baht in the piggy bank. ???? I wish you a great one too!

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

some people are just used to over paying and you can't compare Thailand vs USA

When did we sink as low as we see 20 baht different as overpaying, if we can afford to relocate to another country?

[scubascuba3]

3 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

When did we sink as low as we see 20 baht different as overpaying, if we can afford to relocate to another country?

it's all relative, if a taxi should charge 40 baht but try for 60 they are trying to stiff you, same for dual pricing, the more mugs accept it the more they do it

[Gordon]

In Chiangmai and Bangkok I use the Indriver app. I think they still dont charge any fees from the drivers opposed to Grabs 25% commission on the fare. The Indriver collect more or less the whole fare.The app works by suggesting a fare for the chosen destination and drivers can then offer bids which are usually the same as the fare suggested by the app. Good thing is that you can see how far away the driver is from your location and what brand/model of car they are using. If you have a lot of luggage you can then choose a suitable bigger car (which sometimes will have a higher offer for the fare). I find this way more user friendly as i know how far the car is away and which type of car I will get. The fare is usually 20-40% cheaper than Grab....at least for now.

[shortstop2]

3 hours ago, tonray said:

.if you always use your pickup location (home for example)...you can set it as a saved location

Is it possible with Bolt to save more than 2 locations, Home and Work?

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Hurray! After this discussion we can all have the luxury to get the cheapest price and save 20 baht on every 200 baht fare. 

For some reason, I start to wonder why a certain kind of people even think about moving abroad, as all they think about is to save 25 cent here and 50 cent there.

Must be a terrible life to live under such economic pressure in a foreign country.

So you want to book a trip to Bangkok from Wongamat & Bolt comes back at <1.300 THB, Grab > 2,500… 

 

Still poh-pohing the saving? 

[tonray]

18 minutes ago, shortstop2 said:

Is it possible with Bolt to save more than 2 locations, Home and Work?

I don't use Bolt, perhaps someone else can chime in

[Speedhump]

10 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

So you want to book a trip to Bangkok from Wongamat & Bolt comes back at <1.300 THB, Grab > 2,500… 

 

Still poh-pohing the saving? 

Forget him, he's obsessed with his 20 Baht Fantasy. I think he never goes further than the bar at the end of his soi.

[marcho]

I dont use Grab or Bolt. I use Indriver app. You can pick who you want to pick you up, and there fare is there. Try it

[Gottfrid]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

it's all relative, if a taxi should charge 40 baht but try for 60 they are trying to stiff you, same for dual pricing, the more mugs accept it the more they do it

Sure it´s relative. If you go to a national park and Thais pay 30 baht while they charge us 300 baht. Yeah, then I react too. Not on a difference of about 20-30 baht on a fare of 200 baht though. Is that relative enough for you, because that is what we are talking about here, right?

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

So you want to book a trip to Bangkok from Wongamat & Bolt comes back at <1.300 THB, Grab > 2,500… 

 

Still poh-pohing the saving? 

Yes!

[scubascuba3]

42 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Sure it´s relative. If you go to a national park and Thais pay 30 baht while they charge us 300 baht. Yeah, then I react too. Not on a difference of about 20-30 baht on a fare of 200 baht though. Is that relative enough for you, because that is what we are talking about here, right?

A noodle soup stall in Pattaya charged thai 40 baht falang 60, you probably think that's fine, only 20 baht difference