My first full Uber experience, Great and Horrible Experiences

After having posted and practiced vicariously thru friends , I had my first real Uber experience the other day.
It was great and terrible. Completely based on the driver.
I am located in Carlsbad, Ca. and had a conference at the Concourse at LAX a hotel. The location of the hotel plays into the story. It is at the entrance of LAX and is the closest to the airport. right in-front of the LAX sign. As of May 2015, Uber is allowed to drop off but not pick up at the airport.

I arrived at Union (train) Station in  Los Angeles at 7:30 in the morning, Hit my Uber app on my phone and with in 10 minutes my ride was there.
Because it was in the middle of the morning commute, I got a notice that said the fees would be 1.7 times higher for the next 5 minutes. I waited the 5 minutes to request the ride.
The app allowed me to follow my ride until it arrived, a picture of the driver and the license plate number was listed. When you leave Union Station go out the front entrance and walk to the right. The Uber driver will meet you in the passenger loading zone.
My driver was friendly, was able to maneuver around a lot of the traffic and I arrived at my conference a half hour later. (## Yes, LAX is no where close to the train station) The FlyAway is only $8 each way and works well, I have taken it several times. But since I wasn't going directly to LAX I took Uber.
The total cost was $22.00 which was waived for my first ride. I was confident and ready to use Uber again that afternoon.

Now the bad. As Uber cannot pick up at the airport, you must move the location pin on your phone which is where Uber will find you, down the street, so Uber will pick you up. I did not know you could do this until the next day when I was sharing my HORRIBLE experience with other conference goers. The afternoon concierge at the hotel told me to walk down the street until Uber recognizes you. So in the middle of a not great part of town, off I went walking. (TIP: you can move the location pin then once you get your ride, call or text the driver of your real location. found this out the next day so did not try it).
The driver arrived at the corner about 20 minutes later. Once in his car, he took the long way back to the train station, I at first thought he was going around traffic. Wrong, he at the height of the traffic got ON the freeway while I saw the above mentioned FlyAway get off and go the way my morning driver did. Uber estimates the time of the drive (accounting for traffic) and it was 45 mins. NOPE 1.5 hours later, we arrive.
He charged me for the extra time and the fee was over 30 dollars. Ridiculous. Second, he was an older gentleman was playing loudly the most foul rap music. I am not a prude but this made the trip even more awkward and I did feel unsafe. 

The good part is you can review your driver afterwards. I DID with both the good and bad drivers.

Second, you are given pictures of the driver, car and license plate. So there is no chance of getting in the wrong car.

I would and will use Uber again, but now I have learned and will check out a few drivers before getting in for a long ride.

Next time I may try Lyft to see the difference.

Fair Dinkum in Viva Las Vegas? Hotel trumped AirBnb. First time ever!

Las Vegas is as far away from Fair Dinkum travel as you can get. And this is where we are going over a weekend this summer. We will be seeing a a show and then trying out a few restaurants. Our favorite natural area around there is Red Rocks. If you haven't taken the time to go thru there while in Vegas, you are missing a beautiful sight. Not to mention a great salve for your over stimulated  assaulted senses after walking the strip.

But I digress, My first line of lodging, AirBnb, this is first city I have seen, where this is not the best option. We want to stay on the strip or at least not more then a block off.
Tip 1. When making hotel/ lodging reservations in Vegas, LOCATION is everything, one block off in the wrong direction or two far north or south of the main drag defeats the purpose of location. Have a map out of all the big name hotels and really get a feel for how far you are. Use Google Maps to walk the area around where you want to stay. Make sure it is safe.

Las Vegas has done a great job of providing multiple transportation modes along the strip, but you do not want to walk thru an unsafe area to get to them.

Tip 2. Check out hotel prices vs. AirBnB. We found (first time ever) that a hotel is going to be closer and more cost efficient then a room via AirBnB.

We will be evaluating and staying at the Carriage House. It has mixed reviews on Trip Advisor, but mostly good and inexpensive.

I will go over on another blog, how to really read a Trip Advisor Review.

REVISED: TripAdvisor review of the Carriage House in Las Vegas

How to get the most out of your points for travel and vacations

I should be saying, "use your best travel credit card, rack up those points travel for almost free". And this time next year, I hope to be saying that. Many friends travel for work so their points add up quickly and from only a few sources. One close friend, her husband travels to China once a month. They get tons of points... And use those through out the year. Another close friend uses and researches points like others do coupons. Every hotel stay they have done they are either paying 1/2 due to points or racking up points for another trip.

Using points needs to be easy, simple and a natural part of everyday life. This was a website that I posted about a few years ago, I just went there and now he also has an app.

The Points Guy  : is a wonderful site that helps you Maximize your travel.. I have connected the link to the beginners page. It is much less overwhelming then his main page. But required reading if you want to maximize your travel rewards and points.

Before you start out for your Summer and Fall Adventures, Visit the point guy and incorporate some of the best options into your travel and daily shopping. By next year, Check in and lets see how many points you have. I will also be doing a running total every few months to see how I am doing as well.

Fair Dinkum!

Travel Sites for finding the best air routes and costs.

Getting ready for summer or early planning for Fall Vacations. Here are four great sites and apps. that will help you save money and get the best deals possible.


Hopper : When to Fly and Buy, is online and like many others also can download the app to changes on flights you want.

Which Budget : Searches airlines of all sizes for the best routes and costs. Most only cover top airlines.

Airfare WatchDog :Promo codes for airline sales and prices

Yapta:  Notifies you when prices drop and many times you  can get a refund if already purchased.