This is really stupid

[MaryAnn]

I am taking a flight in a couple of weeks. It will be too much for me to walk from the parking lot to the terminal so taking my car is not a good idea. So I'm looking at Uber and Lyft, and a) there is no way to contact them by phone; and b) since I can't contact them by phone there seems no way to ask the question as to whether there is a way to get a ride without a smart phone. I don't have a smart phone and don't want one. So ... apparently I can't call for a ride? If I can't even contact them except via already having a membership, and that membership assumes a smart phone, I appear to be not a potential customer and will, at least on the way home, take a cab. I don't see why a person is expected to own a "phone" that costs hundreds of dollars in order to be able to do simple things like call a cab.
In my view, people are almost brainwashed into believing they have to own a zillion dollar piece of equipment that costs them over $100 a month to use. This is really stupid.

[bort]

Try m.uber.com

I'd suggest testing it out before relying on it for a flight. (Like for real, get a ride somewhere unimportant to figure out how it works, before time is a factor).

[MaryAnn]

Thanks. It isn't going to work for the home trip because there will be no way to contact them when the plane gets in. For the outward bound I can get a local ride. Return is too late in the day to ask a friend to give me a ride. You wouldn't think getting to and from the airport would be the most difficult part of the trip. All the transportation on the other end is easy.

[Three Valves]

So, call a cab??

[MaryAnn]

Probably will be a cab. I actually own a moto G but use it only for its wonderfully loud alarm that will go over 9 hours of time and which has a camera that I can upload pictures from when in free wifi. But I don't know whether it would be more expensive to sign up with a service for two weeks that has a sim card to fit, or pay for a cab.

[Donn]

Cab sounds like the ticket. I've never tried one of the new "ride hailing" services ... so I guess it didn't occur to me until just now that they're not going to be much use to me either, with my wifi-only, no-data service (but costs me about $20 a year, and I can use the device for a tuner and timepiece anywhere.)

[MaryAnn]

Do you use that for a phone too? If so I'd like to know what the service is. Right now I'm on pay-ahead Verizon for $30 a month.

[Donn]

I'm on a legacy pay-as-you-go plan with T-Mobile. They would love to get out from under it, but there's a young man at the neighborhood office who will stay on the phone and work through layer after layer of management, on the one occasion where there was an issue, so the balance is currently in my favor. That makes it sound like there's nothing on the shelves today, but I haven't checked - there may for all I know be essentially similar plans. I pay once a year, usually $20 though I think it could be as little as $10. That gives me everything but data. I can make and receive phone calls and text messages anywhere there's tower coverage, and use wifi for internet stuff if desperate. If I slip up and forget to make my yearly payment, they can recycle my phone number and it's all over.

[Heavy_Metal]

Also look at airport shuttle services, such as SuperShuttle. The airport should have a listing of which ones service them.

[MaryAnn]

I wheedled a friend into providing rides even though the return flight is well past his usual bed time. Free meals for him are a lot cheaper than the airport limo quote I got. So it's all good.

[Tubaryan12]

A friend with a smartphone and the uber app can order an uber for you. You then pay the friend back when you're done. I've ordered an uber for my daughter when she missed a flight in Florida from Ohio.

[MaryAnn]

Yah. anyhoo I am in charlottesville now, got an apt I think I can make work despite the stairs to it, and ex hubby is gladly providing door to door (airport, I mean) vehicle service for a couple of free meals. Doesn't get any better than that.

[bort]

Yah. anyhoo I am in charlottesville now, got an apt I think I can make work despite the stairs to it, and ex hubby is gladly providing door to door (airport, I mean) vehicle service for a couple of free meals. Doesn't get any better than that.

[MaryAnn]

Agreed. I rented a car there and have an excellent friend who carted me around as needed so the rental just sat on the street for a long time. But it was the contingency plan in case the friend ran into serious problems.