UBER can save your day!

A couple of months ago, when a client arrived at a lunch meeting, in what looked like a chauffer-driven sedan, I thought that he had come up in the world. Turned out, he used UBER transportation service to get to our meeting.

You download an app, sign up, with credit card info. When you need an UBER pick-up, you type in your location; UBER will text message arrival time. UBER SUVs will hold up to 6 people. Fees, in some situations, and locations work out to be less expensive than taxis, and more convenient to use, if in a location where one can not easily hail a cab.

Many hotels that Planit Meetings regularly uses, in cities all over the world, have UBER accounts. If you would perfer to use UBER instead of a taxi, they will get an UBER for you, and charge the credit card you used for your hotel charges.

Go to: https://www.uber.com/cities/ to see sample fares to various locations in your city, get the app and sign up.

As an singleton urbanite in DC, who doesn't own a car, I get around by bicycle, metro and the Circulator, augmented with taxis. Most of the time, it works out just fine. Persuaded by our client, I registered with UBER, to have my account set up and ready to use, just in case. Such as, what if I have to get my dog to the Vet ER in a hurry -- one of the few drawbacks to living without a car: you can't hail a taxi with your dog: taxis won't stop for you.

Yesterday, two friends and I did a bike ride to Mt. Vernon...an easy-ish, gorgeous 42 miles round-trip from DC, on the Mt. Vernon Trail, that hugs the Potomac River. However, one buddy hit a wall, and just couldn't make it any farther....Her husband wasn't available to drive out to get her, and she wasn't carrying enough cash for a taxi, even if she had called one. I texted UBER, and they rescued her, with a SVU to fit her bike, within 15 minutes. If she had called a taxi, she'd probably have waited a couple of hours, for a free SUV to pick her up. If you've ever tried calling for a taxi on a Saturday afternoon, you'll appreciate how easy it is to use UBER....Moreover, we weren't even sure where we were, on the trail, but UBER found us!

Although Planit Meetings champions taxis, having an UBER account, even if seldom or never used, and especially if one travels a lot, seems important to have.