Uber or Grab or Taxi (bluebird) in Jakarta indonesia

Was in Jakarta a few days back again and once again traffic was a nightmare (Welcome to Jakarta!)

Made a few notes about my ride experiences when using uber, grab and bluebird taxis.

Do also look at my previous post on taking taxi from the Jakarta airport as well as my experience on blue bird rides.

Some notes when choosing to take uber or grab in Indonesia:

• When taking uber, problem encountered: GPS is spotty
  
  As such, the uber car icons may not be showing accurately where the driver location is. There are times where the car has arrived but the uber app still shows the car being few minutes away.

• So, do we wait and trust in the drivers?
  No! Some of the uber drivers in Indonesia do not know the way, does not come if there is police, and they do not cancel the ride. They wait for you to cancel the ride and you get hit by the cancellation fee of RP30,000 once you have waited more than 5 minutes.
  If there is still no sign of your driver, please make alternative plans or book again.
  
• Please remember to claim back your cancellation fee if it is not your fault.
  
  Yes, although it might be a small amount from your perspective. But lets not condone with the drivers who are abusing this system.
  
• So, what are some tips to mitigate this?
  
  There is the call driver function to let the driver know where you are and if he is really coming or not. Only thing is, the drivers are usually not well versed in English and speak Bahasa. What you can try is to pass to a local next to you to help explain your pick up location. The locals are generally friendly and helpful.
  
• What else can I do?
  
  Another alternative to consider is blue bird. They are generally available but you will have to live with the advantages uber and grab gives, which is their GPS-enabled navigation to your desired location.
• That is a sacrifice to bear in time-sensitive times, until the system and driver pool quality of uber and grab taxis improve in Jakarta.

Learn tips, share tips

EUFASS

Jakarta Airport: Getting a taxi safely to your hotel

It is my first time in Jakarta. Things are cheaper here compared to Singapore. Food at a restaurant is about 70000 idr and i'll always complete the meal with haagen daaz at 35000 for 1 scoop. Before we get to the enjoyable side of Indonesia, lets not lose focus and see how to get you safely to your hotel in jakarta first :)

Directions on getting a taxi

Once out of baggage claim, then you'll go through customs, and you will soon see 2 short rows of stalls lining the aisle. On the left, you will see the money changers while on the right the taxi counters. There are 4-5 taxi companies to choose from, but I went with the one with the logo blue bird.

The airport transfer costed me 380.000 rupiah to my hotel and at first thought this seems to be pricey. However, as I could claim from my client this trip, I decided to go with the experience of a prepaid airport transfer. It turned out that the airport transfer is under the brand golden bird, and the ride offered to me was a Camry.

It was a smooth ride on a Camry, you need not pay the toll charge and the driver stays within the speed limits. Safety and comfort seems to be the main draw for the higher price.

Verdict: Suitable for business setting. If you are travelling with your boss (read: girlfriend), might be wise to take a golden bird. For casual travel, head out to take a blue bird. If you are not fussy on money, taking this option eradicates your concerns such as safety, being taken for a ride, need small change to pay for toll etc

How to take blue bird(taxi)

If you are budget conscious, flag a blue bird.

To take blue bird, exit the airport to the sheltered outdoor area and locate a taxi queue with blue bird logo. (Or you can find the area where lots of blue taxis are congregated) Someone online quoted that the price to city is around 120.000 rupiah excluding toll charge. However my ride from the city to the airport costed me 200.000 rupiah. So i guess it will be around that range - which makes my airport transfer service ride on the golden bird felt less expensive.

My experience on Blue bird rides

I took 2 blue bird rides- one from my hotel to my client's place in the city, another from my client's place to the airport. Both followed the meter. I was told that blue bird is one of the more reliable taxi companies in Indonesia. 

Verdict: Reliable and easy to flag in the city. However, on my way to the airport, I noticed the driver took the longer way. Its not much of a detour, probably an extra 10mins and he probably earned an extra 25%, but I advise you to just be careful. Again, to free yourself from such worries, arrange for an prepaid airport transfer. 

Hope this is useful for you

EUFASS