Comparing the Lyft, Uber, and Sidecar Apps

In recent years, applications such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar – which offer an affordable alternative to traditional taxi or cab rides – have increased in popularity.  If you’re considering downloading an app such as Uber, Lyft or Sidecar, continue reading to discover some of the differences between the three apps, as well as some of the advantages and disadvantages of each app.

Requesting a ride:

When you request a ride using Uber or Lyft, you’ll automatically get matched with a driver.  Whilst all of Uber and Lyft’s drivers have passed background checks, you don’t have the option of choosing your own driver.  On the other hand, if you request a ride with Sidecar you’ll be presented with a list of drivers who can transport you from point a to point b; you choose which one you want.  Better yet, you can sort your search results by the shortest estimated time arrival or by price.  As a bonus, if you’re impressed with your driver, Sidecar will also allow you to save your driver to a handy favorites list.

Choice of vehicles:

Should you download Uber, you’ll have the option of a luxury car or a large SUV as an alternative to requesting a standard ride.  Uber also offers a black car service, should you require a private driver to ferry you around in a high-end sedan for a day.  Like Uber, Lyft also offers an SUV option for groups of friends who are looking to travel together and require a little extra space.  Should you download Sidecar, each driver’s car model and year will be displayed, so that you can easily choose a vehicle which suits your personal preferences.

Payment:

With all three apps, you’ll be required to pay your fare using your smartphone app.  Should you book a ride with Sidecar or Lyft, you’ll manually pay your fare at the end of your ride, by pushing a few buttons.  In contrast, if you book a ride with Uber, your fare will automatically be charged to your chosen credit card, so you won’t have to lift a finger.  Better yet, you’ll also be automatically emailed a copy of your receipt.

Pricing & Promo Codes:

One of Sidecar’s biggest selling points is that your fare is pre-determined before you get picked up, so there’s no need to stress about your fare increasing every time your driver stops in traffic or at a red light.  Unfortunately, at this point in time when you book a ride with Uber or Lyft, you’ll only be given an estimate of the fare you can expect to pay.  However, neither Lyft or Uber offers a price guarantee, so you could end up paying double the amount that you were shown when you requested a ride.  If you’re new to the Lyft platform, you can get your first ride for free by using a Lyft promo code when entering your payment information.  Using a promotional discount code can help you save some money while trying out a new service.  You can use a trip estimator for Uber to understand how much your ride will cost.

Tipping:

With Uber and Sidecar there’s no need to tip your driver as your tip is already calculated into your fare, whilst if you book a ride with Lyft you can choose to tip your driver a preset sum such as $1, $2 or $5, which just one tap on your smartphone.

Looking to share a lift in order to save money?

If you’re looking for a lift in a large metropolitan city such as Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York and have the Lyft app installed on your phone, you can opt to share a ride with other Lyft users in order to save up to 60% off your Lyft fare.  Sidecar also gives users the opportunity to share a ride with a second rider in order to save 50% off their Sidecar fare.  Uber also has a carpooling option aptly named UberPool, which features the same type of savings as the other services.

Interested in tracking your ride?

The Sidecar app allows users to filter their driver results by estimated time arrival.  So if you need a little extra time to get ready, you can opt for a driver who is located 10-15 minutes away from your current location.  Better yet, Uber and Lyft both offer maps that show you exactly how far away your ride is.

At the end of the day, you can’t go wrong downloading Sidecar, Uber or Lyft as all three applications have hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers and offer value for the cost.  The app you should download depends on a variety of factors including whether or not you want to be able to choose your driver or would like the option of sharing a ride with other users.

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