# Uber San Francisco, CA



## riverdees05 (Jan 5, 2016)

We are going to spend a week timesharing in San Francisco in March.  My wife has mobility issues and looking at maybe using Uber as an alternative sometimes to get from place to place.  We will be staying at Inn of the Opera.  There will be four of us, two seniors, one adult and one teenager.  Any experience or recommendations?


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## vikingsholm (Jan 5, 2016)

We live in the Bay Area and normally don't take taxis too often, but had a recent outing where we took a BART train into SF and exited at one of the Mission St. stations. Our destination was a mile or so from that, and we decided not to rely on a bus for the last mile, as we had a reservation to meet.

We downloaded the Uber app just before this, not knowing how prevalent cabs would be in the vicinity. We got out of the station, and saw no cabs for 5-10 minutes, nor any taxi stand there. So we hailed an Uber using the app.

The Uber map showed several cars in the vicinity, and one showed up in about 5 minutes, telling us the point along the street to wait, car type, and license number. The first ride after downloading the app was free up to $15, and we took a very smooth return trip to BART on Uber also. Trip and tip was charged to our credit card, and no cash tip needed. Price was similar to cab on the paid return trip.  It worked well for us.

If you're in popular tourist areas like the Embarcadero or Union Square, cabs are easier to catch than outer areas. But it's good to have the Uber or similar alternative app in case.  Just beware of flex pricing, as they may raise their rates in times of high demand.


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## DeniseM (Jan 5, 2016)

riverdees05 said:


> We are going to spend a week timesharing in San Francisco in March.  My wife has mobility issues and looking at maybe using Uber as an alternative sometimes to get from place to place.  We will be staying at Inn of the Opera.  There will be four of us, two seniors, one adult and one teenager.  Any experience or recommendations?



Even if you have transportation between attractions, how will your wife get around once you reach them?  San Francisco is a "walking town," and many sightseeing areas require a lot of walking.  I'm thinking of areas like Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, etc.  You may want a light weight collapsable wheel chair.


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## vikingsholm (Jan 5, 2016)

Apparently there is a lot of confusion about tipping Uber drivers, including mine as a new user.  While officially Uber says a tip for the drivers is not required, it seems it also does not separately add a tip into the credit card bill for the ride (except for Uber affiliated taxis, not the regular Uber car drivers).

Nor does it allow you to enter a tip separately onto the charge on your credit card in your Uber account for the particular ride through their app. So while not required or expected, drivers would not likely turn down a small cash tip (which we ended up doing on our first paid trip, not being sure).

Here's a link that talks about the issue:

https://www.thezebra.com/insurance-news/1074/should-you-tip-your-uber-driver/

Here's a key few paragraphs from that link, which still leaves it somewhat confounding:

Uber has discouraged cash tipping in the past. The point of Uber is that you, “don’t need cash when you ride.” If you email Uber, asking about tipping your driver, an automated official response will read:

    “Our current policy is that there is no tip with Uber. The Uber experience means not having to reach for a wallet at the end of a ride. As a result, we message to riders that tipping is not required – we never want riders to feel obligated to pay extra at the end of Uber trips. If a client offers a tip, please remind them that tipping is not necessary with Uber. New riders may not know about the tipping policy, and could feel cheated if they later learn that tipping was not required. However, if the rider still insists, you should accept the tip – you earned it!”


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## catwgirl (Jan 5, 2016)

Another good app is "Lyft" which works well in SF.


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## Maple_Leaf (Jan 5, 2016)

*Uber insurance issues?*



riverdees05 said:


> We are going to spend a week timesharing in San Francisco in March.  My wife has mobility issues and looking at maybe using Uber as an alternative sometimes to get from place to place.  We will be staying at Inn of the Opera.  There will be four of us, two seniors, one adult and one teenager.  Any experience or recommendations?



You may want to check whether Uber has resolved any insurance issues in San Francisco.  Uber in Toronto still has an unresolved question about insurance coverage using personal vehicles for commercial purposes.  A Canadian policy supposedly doesn't cover that, an Uber driver would need commercial insurance.  You as a passenger may end up with an uncovered driver.


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## riverdees05 (Jan 8, 2016)

How does one find out if they have the correct insurance?


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## DeniseM (Jan 8, 2016)

riverdees05 said:


> How does one find out if they have the correct insurance?



This isn't a problem in San Francisco - it's a Canadian issue.


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## radmoo (Jan 8, 2016)

Our kids live in Silicon Valley and we have had great Uber experience in San Fran as well as the 'burbs.  But I agree that you may want to look into wheelchair as SF is a walking town!


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## x3 skier (Jan 8, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> This isn't a problem in San Francisco - it's a Canadian issue.



May be true in San Francisco but other places like CO and OH, Uber covers driver and passenger when a passenger is onboard but not when the driver doesn't have a passenger. So if you get involved in an accident like being hit by a driver for whatever reason before you get in, all bets are off since normal car insurance usually will not cover anything if you are "Ubering". 

I happen to know this from investigating about becoming a Uber driver. 

That said, I've used Uber before and will again.

Cheers


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## SMHarman (Jan 8, 2016)

x3 skier said:


> May be true in San Francisco but other places like CO and OH, Uber covers driver and passenger when a passenger is onboard but not when the driver doesn't have a passenger. So if you get involved in an accident like being hit by a driver for whatever reason before you get in, all bets are off since normal car insurance usually will not cover anything if you are "Ubering".
> 
> I happen to know this from investigating about becoming a Uber driver.
> 
> ...


Didn't they change this so the coverage exists while the driver is signed in to the app in driver mode.


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## x3 skier (Jan 8, 2016)

SMHarman said:


> Didn't they change this so the coverage exists while the driver is signed in to the app in driver mode.



It wasn't when I checked about a month ago for OH and CO.

However when I checked the Uber web site just now, they cover liability up to $100k when logged in but no passenger since Jul 14. 

Cheers


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