Grab Taxi and Uber

So last week I was in the Philippines enjoying a vacation from the vacation.  Great place, too bad about the crime, here is a picture of my Hotel Shuttle.

On a serious note, the Philippines is great to get away and enjoy dry air.  It was heaven compared to the humidity in Phuket.  Of course when traveling in South East Asia you never know if your taxi driver is ripping you off or giving you a good deal. Then there is the problem with Taxi drivers having absolutely no clue where they are going, many unable to read a map, or perhaps unwilling.

I tried Uber in Thailand once and the prices quoted there were ridiculous.  More than the tuk tuk mafia!   But then someone in the Philippines recommend Grab Taxi and I have to say I'm impressed.

What is the fuss about Uber and Grab Taxi? 

Well Uber in my opinion is just a headache and they compete with taxi companies.
Grab Taxi on the other hand joint ventures with taxi companies and has a much better interface.

Why you should use Grab Taxi

1. Joint Venture with Taxi Company
2. Choose between Metered Taxi, Sedan, Luxury Vehicle, and SUV
3. Fares are estimated for metered Taxi and fixed price for other vehicle types
4. GPS with Map Locations so you don't even need the address and you can do keyword searches like airport, ferry, mall etc
5. Secure & Safe - License Plates shown with driver info, you can share your trip via email and social media to ensure you arrive safe
6. Receipts - all receipts are emailed to you
7. Drivers have GPS Driver app and know where they are going
8. No fees*
9. *Schedule Rides - i.e. An early morning trip to the airport.  This is the only feature that you are charged a very small fee for.

Even if there is a taxi stand, I still use Grab Taxi.  Why?  Because they know where they are going.  Last regular taxi I took, the driver didn't even know the road he was on, my hotel was just 1km down the street and he wanted me to pull up Google Maps on MY phone.  Put it this way, if a taxi driver is smart enough to cash in on regular fares AND Grab Taxi fares and uses a smartphone for GPS, that's the driver you want..   Thank You Grab Taxi for making my traveling easier.