MyTaxi €2 Booking Fee

So MyTaxi is reportedly adding a €2 booking fee when you order a taxi, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. 

Those who know me know that in my current role I travel frequently. You’ll also know that I hate carrying cash! So apps like MyTaxi, Uber and similar afford me the ability to pay for services without needing to have different currencies, it also lets me use a credit card even if the driver doesn’t have a machine (or in some area doesn’t want to offer credit card payment).

The other advantages are obvious too – such as the ability to skip the queue and order your taxi to your desired location, at the time of your choosing. Convenient, right?!

So now there is going to be a €2 fee for making such a booking, and I’m torn about what this means to me…

On one hand

The initial and emotive response is “whaaaaat an extra €2 !!!”  – it becomes another expense which adds to the cost of travel. Surely use of an app allows drivers to be able to plan and prioritise their own travel, secure fairs that might otherwise be “out of reach” (if only because I’m literally out of sight! Does this not mean that my use of the application helps them – negating the cost of the booking system? And what about the times when I can see free taxis and yet no one accepts my request for a taxi?

On the other hand

I look at the convenience afforded to me by being able to order from my phone, choose my date, time, and location of pickup, and use the credit card of my choice? I have a much faster service, I’m immediately contactable by the taxi driver, I can even get price estimates to help me plan my journey. I’ve skipped large queues at busy events. The application really does make a difference. Is this convenience worth the extra €2 it might cost me?

So… I’m torn!

But ultimately, I understand that there is a coat of running a large service such as MyTaxi, even if it’s built for cloud (I’m assuming, hoping so), it’s not free, there are infrastructure, development and administration costs. To keep evolving the application and service costs money. I personally can see €2 in value.

But perhaps there is a way to take the sting out of the fee. Perhaps for example, there is a way to “guarantee” a taxi to accept your fare, if they are around and available.

If nothing else, it’ll be interesting to see how MyTaxi and similar services respond to the varying customer responses.

tl;dr

I’ll pay the €2 !