Assalamualaikum and hello everybody. After a day full of hard work, you need to get home... and
quick... and you have quite a few options to do so. You could choose to hop
on the LRT and stare down weird people from the corner of your eye (if you
find any), you could find your way through a tired and eager crowd onto a
fully packed bus (and I mean, fully packed) during peak hours and have the
joy of breathing down oxygen that’s made its way through someone’s pits.
You could walk... really? After a hard day of work? I don’t think
so.
Or drive perhaps? Well, if you have a car and the patience to
weave in and out of stagnant traffic. Why not?
Or you could simply get someone else to chauffeur you around.
Services like GrabCar and Uber are all about ensuring that you get from
point A to point B, safely. If you don’t already know Grabcar is the
service that’s being offered on the MyTeksi app. In essence, both Uber and
Grabcar allows you to request for on-demand chauffeur services.
Now while both of them
have their advantages, there are a few things about GrabCar that gives
it an upper hand.
What do you need to know about GRABCAR?
GrabCar and GrabCar+ are the two services from MyTeksi that’s
looking to spice up the way you commute to and from your favourite
destinations. GrabCar (Economy) is the cheaper means of transportation and
it offers casual rides for daily usage. It’s similar to the uberX service
offered by Uber in Malaysia.
However, GrabCar+
is a premium service for the more sophisticated and discerning passengers
who want a more luxurious and memorable experience. Picture yourself
being driven around in a Nissan Almera while you read a newspaper (I’m
guessing that’s what sophisticated people do). This service is parallel to
UberBLACK.
Isn't it just the same as UBER?
While to those familiar with Uber, GrabCar may sound like a
knockoff but it’s so much more. There are clear differences between the
way the two operate and charge their customers. Uber charges a base fare
and they charge a fare based on the distance that you travel and the time that
you take to travel whereas GrabCar charges a fixed rate basis which does make
it a cheaper option based on traffic.
This means that before you confirm your ride, the estimated
price is already calculated based on the base fare, distance between the
two points, and estimated time taken to travel that distance. Even if you
get stuck in traffic and the clock is ticking, you don’t have to
worry getting a fare shock when you reach your destination.
Additionally, there’s no midnight surcharge either. ๐๐๐
Image credit: GrabCar
Another key distinction between Uber and GrabCar is that GrabCar
doesn’t implement the practice of surge pricing. You don’t pay double the
price during peak hours. And in my opinion, this is definitely a neat
feature, as I don’t have to shell out double the amount of cash every time
I need to travel to and from work, which occurs mostly during the peak
hours between 7am to 9am and 5pm to 8pm.
Uber has been operating in Malaysia for a longer period of time than
GrabCar. In order, to compete on the same plain as Uber, GrabCar has
dropped its prices significantly to make it one of the most affordable
modes of transportation in the Klang Valley especially in Bangsar, Mont
Kiara, Hartamas areas and the KL city centre.
Image Credit: GrabCar
The base fare for uberX is RM1.50, and the base fare for GrabCar
(Economy) is RM2.30. However, GrabCar has just lowered their base far
to RM1.40, which brings them to their lowest base fare since they first
started in May 2014.
Finally, another difference is that GrabCar offers rental
services. If you’re planning on going cruising through Klang Valley or
taking a day trip out of town, you can choose to rent a GrabCar either by
the hour, half a day or for 8 hours. It’s quite handy if you’re interested in
taking the wheel all by yourself but you don’t own a car.
While both Uber and GrabCar have their advantages, your decision
to use either one of the services has to come down to the availability of
drivers on both services. If the drivers of one service are unavailable in
your location, you could always resort to using the alternative.
Personally, as someone who often needs a ride during peak hours
and since I know the possibility of getting caught in traffic is very
high, Grabcar offers the services that I need to ensure that my fare
doesn’t increase to an unsightly amount and the best part of GrabCar is 100% Malaysian.
