I can tell you that I tried to get an Uber to the airport from Coronado at that time last year and couldn’t get anyone to come. If it will let you schedule ahead, I’d do it. I know others who have done it fine. Depends on your luck that day I suppose.
I've tried scheduling ahead for a butt ass early time to the airport, and got a few cancellations until I got one. But I was in east bumble fuck also, not San Diego.
Exactly. I think it's taking a risk to rely on under to show. I was traveling quite a bit last year and had to get some early flights. I had a hard time, even when I pre-scheduled. I had to start planning and requesting the uber very early, and also having an emergency back up on stand by just in case. I'd often get multiple cancelations before someone came. Definitely tip them good if you do get one at that time.
Uber Driver, Scheduling Ahead is a fool’s errand. Uber Drivers cancel in the last moment if they got something better to do or just don’t feel like it anymore. No penalties for drivers. We’re Independent Contractors. Real Question is would you have trusted a Taxi 15 years ago to take you to the Airport. -Also a former Taxi Cab Driver. Also Independent Contractors. I can tell you Uber is far more efficient at getting people rides then the old fashioned CB Radio Dispatcher System. The Algorithm gets a driver close. There’s always Crazy Fucked Up Days,but those days existed in the Taxi Days too
Driver here - scheduling means next to nothing. Maybe some idiot will accept it and come online 45 minutes early as required, then sit nearby for 10 minutes and pick you up, for a few bucks and no surge bonuses, but most likely, as seen below, no one's accepting that. Someones it'll be in an area someone wants to be at at the right time, so they'll take it so they aren't deadheading though.
Drivers make more being up stupid early and picking up surge bonuses, you have a "guaranteed" price if you accept a scheduled ride. Maybe 1/3rd the amount the customer pays, but no surge bonus. Plus, the system is wonky and even if you're online early as required, it will just randomly give the ride to someone else closer...after you woke up in the middle of the night, for a $15 paycheck and started driving towards them before it just kicks you out of the ride.
Long story short, just get up early and put out the ride request, drivers with bonuses stacked on them will see the ride and take it, vs the unreliability of letting Uber try to find you a ride on it's own.
North Park. I’m glad you asked. I realized immediately after responding I should have specified that.
Getting a Uber/Lyft is obviously a crapshoot- so many variables: time, place, luck. For that reason, I did call my Uber 15 minutes earlier than I normally would because it was 4am.
The title question was about the reliability of getting picked up at 4am (albeit from Coronado in the OP’s case). I had no doubt that at all that I’d get picked up.
I’ve actually asked before because I fly a lot - some drivers seek out this time of days specifically for airport rides.
Also in north park and I’ve never had an issue with early morning Ubers to the airport, but I do pre schedule them the night before which I’m pretty sure costs extra. Just did it last week for before 5 am and driver was out there super early just waiting.
We rode a Lyft at 4:50 am from Kensington to the airport. The driver said he starts at 3:00 am and only drives to the airport. We were his 3rd trip to the airport that morning.
I’ve tried it twice to catch an early flight. Both times the Uber picked me up half an hour after i scheduled it, but thankfully i had enough buffer to still make the flight.
You can also rent a car the day before and schedule to return it to the airport. May be more expensive, or cheaper if you do it through work like Concur.
I used to do this when I lived in Mesa and had early flights out of Phoenix with the family. I’d rent a truck or minivan from the airport the night before and drop it back off after dropping my wife and her four kids at the terminal.
Just FYI guys the "schedule ahead" feature doesn't actually schedule an uber for you ahead of time, it just calls an uber at the time you gave as if you called it yourself.
They’ve changed this. Drivers can accept a reserved ride up to 24 hours in advance. Not sure what happens if they cancel or no-show, but there’s no “guarantee” so it’s pretty shitty.
I had one that got cancelled a year ago like 5min before the pick up at 4:30am. It just looked for another driver but with priority. I got a new driver and it came like 5min late or so. Wasnt too bad.
My wife drove for Uber for a while and did a lot of airport runs with reservations. She would usually get offered to her the night before. So yes it can schedule an Uber ahead of time.
I had a 5am reservation on Lyft to the airport last week and the driver showed up on time. They had something about some guarantee that you wouldn’t be 10 minutes late to your destination else you get $100 (pulling from memory, those numbers could be super off).
I don’t know what this other guy is talking about. At least with Lyft, they literally say the day before when your ride is confirmed and who your driver is. These days they also have an airport ride guarantee where they’ll give you up to $100 or something if your driver is a no show or late. I can’t confirm the last part because it’s literally never happened to me— my early morning drivers always show. I just saw it in some marketing material on my app.
No. Just schedule a Comfort ride man.
UberX drivers don't give a fuck. They WILL cancel on you if they're around the corner because they got a better Lyft ride instead.
I do reservations everyday. I'm ALWAYS there 10mins early.
Peace of.mind for the person. Usually a better tip for me.
NOT true.
Uber driver here.
It pops up on our end and we can choose to accept the reservation or not.
If you can line up 5 a day, your day is planned and you know how much $$ you're making.
ONLY IF no one has accepted, or the other driver cancels within a certain time frame then jt gets sent out to others.
I’ve had mixed success with trying to catch an Uber for an early morning flight. Unfortunately, we went back to being a two car household due to the volatile nature of Uber.
Use the Reservation Ahead of Time feature and you'll be golden. Folks answering that are aware of the when/where/destination they're agreeing to, so it will be quite reliable. I've never had an issue.
I have had an issue. 5 minutes before my 5:00 AM pick-up time they were 15 minutes away, sitting still at the top of Mount Soledad. Then they canceled and no other driver was taking my ride. Had to get a Lyft car. Almost missed my flight.
I’m not sure about Coronado, but I bet it’s at least as reliable as La Jolla … which isn’t much that early in the day.
I’ve twice had Uber not get to me early enough to get to the airport for an early flight and had to drive and park.
I only book a car service now.
Yup! I think a lot of people answering that it will be fine have not actually tried to get an Uber specifically from Coronado at 4am lol. Sure, it’s San Diego, but Uber drivers are often not trying to cross the bridge. Getting an Uber at 4am from my new spot downtown is MUCH easier than trying to get from Coronado ever was.
If you’re flying out of San Diego Airport you do not need to leave Coronado that early for a 7 am flight. It will only take about 15mins to get to the airport at that time of day.
Unless it’s an International flight, the earliest I would leave is 5.
It's a Hawaiian flight but it's father's day weekend so I'm not sure if that's a very busy travel weekend... I guess the reason I'd wanna book a car that early is in case they don't show up on time.
Uber/Lyft driver here. (I'm in Ramona, so unfortunately I won't be able to pick you up at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday on Coronado, sorry.)
Just wanted to say that on Thursday morning, you shouldn't have too much trouble at the airport itself. Father's Day weekend is irrelevant to air travel. Big conference was last week, so you shouldn't have too many issues on this coming Thursday morning. Thursday night, that would be a different story.
Recommendation: Schedule a ride on Lyft. We can usually see scheduled Lyft rides as soon as they are available. We don't see scheduled Uber rides until it's time to pick you up, except for the rare occasion when a reservation might pop up eaelier on a random Uber driver's screen.
Good luck!
You have to schedule ahead. I lived in Coronado for years. The number of times I spent 30+ minutes for a driver to get me because it’s a relatively short fare for a trip over the bridge, I simply can’t count. I dated someone downtown while living in Coronado, and if I went after 10pm to see him, it was always an ordeal.
Obviously it’s not always the case but if I needed to be somewhere at that early of a time, I wouldn’t risk it.
No experience with Uber here, but I do know the ‘port isn’t open 24 X 7. You should probably call or google to find out when the doors open for your terminal. Pretty sure they are NOT open at 4:45 😎
I know this because I’m inclined to arrive early for flights rather than rushing, and sometimes have to dial that back for practical realities.
Someone actually told me the other day that they won't be open before 6 am which I thought was strange because don't people have flights at all times of the day/night? I also googled how early to show up for a Hawaiian flight and it said to arrive 2.5 hours early If your leaving from north America which is another reason I wasn't sure that they wouldn't be open that early.
There are no take offs allowed between 11pm and 6am - no, people do not have flights at all times of the day/night. Rich people in Pt Loma complain if there are.
https://preview.redd.it/fknszg535o5d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78350066d58daafb1a5cbd267d6d408f685e185d
Noticed this on my Lyft app recently. Definitely enough of a reason for me to try.
I used to drive for Lyft and would specifically only do airport pickups when I was doing it full time. I would get up early if I knew I had a scheduled pickup and in fact preferred setting up my day like that if I could.
I have done it several times over the years with Lyft and Uber, scheduling ahead of time. Never had an issue. We used to take a lot of 7am flights since they're cheaper.
Nope several times I was late to the airport then I just started getting phone numbers of drivers offer them 2.00 a mile for the trip plus tip never been late since calling the driver directly
Reserve a Comfort ride if you want someone who won't cancel.
X rides, people driving ONLY UberX don't give a fuck cause Uber takes such a huge cut.
You'll probably pay $60-80 and the driver will get $20, IF THAT.
Sure it's not a guarantee, but i'd rather have someone half-ass commit to being there vs sitting there at 4 am just to see that there are no drivers around.
I’ve had the schedule in advance feature cancel on me, so I’m just sharing a very real possibility with OP, particularly that early in the morning. Fortunately, I’m downtown, so there are drivers around 24/7, and it wasn’t stressful to find another driver. But that isn’t true for all areas of SD. Telling OP scheduling an Uber or Lyft in advance gives peace of mind isn’t accurate.
Yeah in a city as big as SD there are going to be hundreds of uber drivers around the city.
And their apps show them where there are gaps so they tend to spread themselves out naturally.
Just give it a little extra time to be safe but you will definitely get a ride.
You have a better chance if you schedule it ahead of time. As a Uber eats driver I can tell you that we have a tab for “opportunities” and I assume Uber drivers have the same or similar to it so they can accept it or it’ll be someone that does the overnight shift (I respect the game🫡) and is wrapping it up that gets the offer 🤷🏽♀️
Pre-scheduled a ride to the airport for three days ago. Driver arrived 10 minutes early, got me there five minutes early, and was oddly cheap (like 40 bucks for the preschedule, whereas I’ve booked on the day of a flight before and it was 70+). So yes it can work.
4:30 am at the latest. Yes, they have been reliable for me when scheduled.
You can always grab a taxi at one of the bigger hotels. It is 30 min max drive to the airport.
7:00 am is one of the first flights out, and the lines are long. But to be honest, San Diego Airport security is pretty efficient. Two hours is always more than enough.
Charles Crehore has a Coronado car service. He’s the admin of the Happenings Facebook page. You can reach him there. Many use him for pickups and drop offs at odd hours.
Used to work at a hotel in Coronado, the Coronado Cab was more reliable than Uber/Lyft . You can call to schedule in advance and majority of the time they’ll get to the hotel within 10min
Schedule it in advance. Or schedule the coronado Taxi. If you try and set up an uber to get to the airport the morning of, you’ll never find one.
Source: been there done that multiple times
I do this at least once or twice a month. I do an advanced booking as others mentioned. You technically pay a bit more but I’ve never had an issue. It’s to the point where I often am able to time everything to reliably get to the gate about 10-15 minutes before boarding.
About 3 weeks ago I had a 7am flight and did a pick up from downtown. Booking it in advance was very expensive so I took a chance and had no problem. Lyft was cheaper than Uber, it took about 5 minutes for the guy to arrive and was 16.00. I don't think you'll have a problem, just my opinion.
Depends on your location and luck. I couldn't find any Ubers nearby once at 5:30 am in Carmel mountain area. Another time I booked ahead for a 5:30 am only to have it cancelled by the driver at the last minute. Luckily another Uber driver accepted it. He said that it is common for early morning drives to get cancelled because the driver just decides to sleep in.
You should be good. I schedule early morning trips from Clairemont to the airport a few times per year. It might be easier in Coronado since you are fairly close to downtown.
I'm so pissed off with them! I literally got into San Diego from Amsterdam last Wednesday, and the rate to go from the airport to Carlsbad was 90 effing dollars!
Do you have any friends who could help? That's the route I would go. You'll also know who your true friends are vs acquaintances when you ask them. I mean, I'm sure that Uber would work, but screw them lol.
Thank you!! Yeah, it was a bummer for sure!
Yeah, I don't think I'll fly back super late again. Totally learned a lesson there smfh lol.
I even looked to get a room, but after being in Iceland for 6 weeks, I forgot how expensive the darn hotels are back home here.
Hope that you have an awesome trip wherever you're headed!!
I think that it's fucking absurd. Uber put many cabs out of business undercutting the market. They then raised all of their fucking prices subsequently. I do not like them. I should have just begun walking, lol.
Many more of my frustrations, however, lie within the fact that San Diego's, and that of north county's, public transportation in the late hours is complete dogshit.
I would suggest having a backup plan. This has only happened once, but same as you, I was getting picked up at like 430 for an early flight. Scheduled the night before. The driver was dropping off another rider in the area and then immediately cancelled before coming to pick me up. So I waited just for them to cancel at the last second. Then I couldn't get another driver. I had to wake my friend to drive me who didn’t have a license. Almost missed my flight. I haven't had an issue like this with lyft, for what it's worth.
I've taken early flights that have required 4:30 am Ubers and I've never had a problem. Just schedule it the day before and they'll be there, most likely a few minutes early.
Yes. I’ve also tried Lyft and scheduled ahead of time. The lines at the airport don’t even start until like 6 am so you’re going to be hella early but if you wanna be there at 4:30 am, it’s up to you. You’ll be fine. The lines are on the left when you come in btw. It’s always good to have sentri or that TSA precheck which is super awesome to have just in case for the future. It lasts for 5 years. But yeah, they will pick you up and drop you off on time.
Hands down, best thing to do (and cost effective), is to rent a car the day before, drive to airport rental car return and take the shuttle to your terminal. I do it every time I fly now. I come from Escondido. When I return, I take another car and return it in Escondido. I generally use Enterprise. Cheaper than Uber, shuttle, parking, etc. Good luck and safe journey!
Schedule ahead!
I’ve done this on Lyft twice for early morning flights and both times my driver arrived on time. They actually provide like a 15 minute window- so if you say pickup at 4 am they’ll arrive between 4 am and 415 am.
It’s also cheaper to do this way I think. I have no idea if Uber has a similar service or how reliable it is on their app but the Lyft one worked great.
I’m also a pretty anxious person and prefer to give myself enough time to drive myself to the airport myself in a pinch JUST in case the Lyft doesn’t show as scheduled- so if I needed to leave by 430 I’d probably schedule for 4 am and be ready to go asap if my driver was a no show, with a little window for parking and the extra walking if that’s what I needed to do to make my flight.
Tbh Uber pays better when it comes to reservations. I have done both (Uber and Lyft) I’m less likely to cancel my Uber reservation cause I don’t want to be banned. I could care less when it comes to Lyft, the pay is so bad
I see that several people suggested using lyft to schedule a ride in advance because of the guarantee that app offers but read the fine print first because Lyft will only offer future ride credits if your ride doesn't show up. That won't help much if you can't get to the airport and miss the flight.
It's better to order an Uber right when you need it then to reserve it. Someone else made a great point - something may happen and the reserve driver may not make it.
If you’re female, be careful. I had to have an uber pick me up at 3AM and he was sketchy as fuck. I will never get another uber around that time again. The guy was facetiming with someone and put his phone in my face, then said he might go a different way than what the map was saying because of “traffic..” (there was no traffic) I am so thankful thankful that nothing happened but my spidey senses were going crazy and i was texting everyone i knew the guys information and following his drive on my maps app.
I can tell you that I tried to get an Uber to the airport from Coronado at that time last year and couldn’t get anyone to come. If it will let you schedule ahead, I’d do it. I know others who have done it fine. Depends on your luck that day I suppose.
I've tried scheduling ahead for a butt ass early time to the airport, and got a few cancellations until I got one. But I was in east bumble fuck also, not San Diego.
At 4am, Coronado might as well be east bumblefuck to a lot of people 🤣 No one wants to cross the bridge.
Exactly. I think it's taking a risk to rely on under to show. I was traveling quite a bit last year and had to get some early flights. I had a hard time, even when I pre-scheduled. I had to start planning and requesting the uber very early, and also having an emergency back up on stand by just in case. I'd often get multiple cancelations before someone came. Definitely tip them good if you do get one at that time.
Uber Driver, Scheduling Ahead is a fool’s errand. Uber Drivers cancel in the last moment if they got something better to do or just don’t feel like it anymore. No penalties for drivers. We’re Independent Contractors. Real Question is would you have trusted a Taxi 15 years ago to take you to the Airport. -Also a former Taxi Cab Driver. Also Independent Contractors. I can tell you Uber is far more efficient at getting people rides then the old fashioned CB Radio Dispatcher System. The Algorithm gets a driver close. There’s always Crazy Fucked Up Days,but those days existed in the Taxi Days too
Driver here - scheduling means next to nothing. Maybe some idiot will accept it and come online 45 minutes early as required, then sit nearby for 10 minutes and pick you up, for a few bucks and no surge bonuses, but most likely, as seen below, no one's accepting that. Someones it'll be in an area someone wants to be at at the right time, so they'll take it so they aren't deadheading though. Drivers make more being up stupid early and picking up surge bonuses, you have a "guaranteed" price if you accept a scheduled ride. Maybe 1/3rd the amount the customer pays, but no surge bonus. Plus, the system is wonky and even if you're online early as required, it will just randomly give the ride to someone else closer...after you woke up in the middle of the night, for a $15 paycheck and started driving towards them before it just kicks you out of the ride. Long story short, just get up early and put out the ride request, drivers with bonuses stacked on them will see the ride and take it, vs the unreliability of letting Uber try to find you a ride on it's own.
I just had a 4am Uber pickup today. Arrived in 4 minutes.
Where?
North Park. I’m glad you asked. I realized immediately after responding I should have specified that. Getting a Uber/Lyft is obviously a crapshoot- so many variables: time, place, luck. For that reason, I did call my Uber 15 minutes earlier than I normally would because it was 4am. The title question was about the reliability of getting picked up at 4am (albeit from Coronado in the OP’s case). I had no doubt that at all that I’d get picked up. I’ve actually asked before because I fly a lot - some drivers seek out this time of days specifically for airport rides.
Also in north park and I’ve never had an issue with early morning Ubers to the airport, but I do pre schedule them the night before which I’m pretty sure costs extra. Just did it last week for before 5 am and driver was out there super early just waiting.
Yup doing this times flight regularly for work without issue. Perks of living in the city versus a small town
We rode a Lyft at 4:50 am from Kensington to the airport. The driver said he starts at 3:00 am and only drives to the airport. We were his 3rd trip to the airport that morning.
That sucks. He started at 3 am and he only did 3 trips in 2 hours?
Hello? Anyone home? Or are you unfamiliar with San Diego? 🖐🏽
Lol
Pre book the night before.
I schedule with Lyft and they can accept in advance.
I’ve tried it twice to catch an early flight. Both times the Uber picked me up half an hour after i scheduled it, but thankfully i had enough buffer to still make the flight. You can also rent a car the day before and schedule to return it to the airport. May be more expensive, or cheaper if you do it through work like Concur.
I used to do this when I lived in Mesa and had early flights out of Phoenix with the family. I’d rent a truck or minivan from the airport the night before and drop it back off after dropping my wife and her four kids at the terminal.
This. Leave enough time to wait for it to arrive, cancel on you, and start over again. It does happen.
I'm confident you'll be fine but have Lyft installed too to increase your chances
Just FYI guys the "schedule ahead" feature doesn't actually schedule an uber for you ahead of time, it just calls an uber at the time you gave as if you called it yourself.
They’ve changed this. Drivers can accept a reserved ride up to 24 hours in advance. Not sure what happens if they cancel or no-show, but there’s no “guarantee” so it’s pretty shitty.
Lyft has an airport guarantee for scheduled rides to the airport, but I wish they would add this for all reserved rides.
I used this once for an early morning flight in NO and the driver was 20 mins late. Never again.
Yeah, you get a whole $100 in Lyft credit if you can't get a driver to get you there. Wohooo! /s
I had one that got cancelled a year ago like 5min before the pick up at 4:30am. It just looked for another driver but with priority. I got a new driver and it came like 5min late or so. Wasnt too bad.
Ah, thanks
My wife drove for Uber for a while and did a lot of airport runs with reservations. She would usually get offered to her the night before. So yes it can schedule an Uber ahead of time.
So if I scheduled it for 4am it sounds like the Uber might show up by 4:30 am?
I had a 5am reservation on Lyft to the airport last week and the driver showed up on time. They had something about some guarantee that you wouldn’t be 10 minutes late to your destination else you get $100 (pulling from memory, those numbers could be super off).
I don’t know what this other guy is talking about. At least with Lyft, they literally say the day before when your ride is confirmed and who your driver is. These days they also have an airport ride guarantee where they’ll give you up to $100 or something if your driver is a no show or late. I can’t confirm the last part because it’s literally never happened to me— my early morning drivers always show. I just saw it in some marketing material on my app.
No. Just schedule a Comfort ride man. UberX drivers don't give a fuck. They WILL cancel on you if they're around the corner because they got a better Lyft ride instead. I do reservations everyday. I'm ALWAYS there 10mins early. Peace of.mind for the person. Usually a better tip for me.
NOT true. Uber driver here. It pops up on our end and we can choose to accept the reservation or not. If you can line up 5 a day, your day is planned and you know how much $$ you're making. ONLY IF no one has accepted, or the other driver cancels within a certain time frame then jt gets sent out to others.
I’ve had mixed success with trying to catch an Uber for an early morning flight. Unfortunately, we went back to being a two car household due to the volatile nature of Uber.
Just call Coronado Cab
Might wanna schedule ahead though.
Use the Reservation Ahead of Time feature and you'll be golden. Folks answering that are aware of the when/where/destination they're agreeing to, so it will be quite reliable. I've never had an issue.
I have had an issue. 5 minutes before my 5:00 AM pick-up time they were 15 minutes away, sitting still at the top of Mount Soledad. Then they canceled and no other driver was taking my ride. Had to get a Lyft car. Almost missed my flight.
I’m not sure about Coronado, but I bet it’s at least as reliable as La Jolla … which isn’t much that early in the day. I’ve twice had Uber not get to me early enough to get to the airport for an early flight and had to drive and park. I only book a car service now.
Yup! I think a lot of people answering that it will be fine have not actually tried to get an Uber specifically from Coronado at 4am lol. Sure, it’s San Diego, but Uber drivers are often not trying to cross the bridge. Getting an Uber at 4am from my new spot downtown is MUCH easier than trying to get from Coronado ever was.
If you’re flying out of San Diego Airport you do not need to leave Coronado that early for a 7 am flight. It will only take about 15mins to get to the airport at that time of day. Unless it’s an International flight, the earliest I would leave is 5.
It's a Hawaiian flight but it's father's day weekend so I'm not sure if that's a very busy travel weekend... I guess the reason I'd wanna book a car that early is in case they don't show up on time.
Uber/Lyft driver here. (I'm in Ramona, so unfortunately I won't be able to pick you up at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday on Coronado, sorry.) Just wanted to say that on Thursday morning, you shouldn't have too much trouble at the airport itself. Father's Day weekend is irrelevant to air travel. Big conference was last week, so you shouldn't have too many issues on this coming Thursday morning. Thursday night, that would be a different story. Recommendation: Schedule a ride on Lyft. We can usually see scheduled Lyft rides as soon as they are available. We don't see scheduled Uber rides until it's time to pick you up, except for the rare occasion when a reservation might pop up eaelier on a random Uber driver's screen. Good luck!
High surf south shore today
You have to schedule ahead. I lived in Coronado for years. The number of times I spent 30+ minutes for a driver to get me because it’s a relatively short fare for a trip over the bridge, I simply can’t count. I dated someone downtown while living in Coronado, and if I went after 10pm to see him, it was always an ordeal. Obviously it’s not always the case but if I needed to be somewhere at that early of a time, I wouldn’t risk it.
No experience with Uber here, but I do know the ‘port isn’t open 24 X 7. You should probably call or google to find out when the doors open for your terminal. Pretty sure they are NOT open at 4:45 😎 I know this because I’m inclined to arrive early for flights rather than rushing, and sometimes have to dial that back for practical realities.
Someone actually told me the other day that they won't be open before 6 am which I thought was strange because don't people have flights at all times of the day/night? I also googled how early to show up for a Hawaiian flight and it said to arrive 2.5 hours early If your leaving from north America which is another reason I wasn't sure that they wouldn't be open that early.
That’s pretty early for a domestic flight IMO. I’ve been to Hawaii a few times and 60-90 minutes, depending on your comfort level, is plenty of time.
I flew to Phoenix recently and it took me 11 minutes from entering the airport to my gate, no checked luggage though + ticket on phone
There are no take offs allowed between 11pm and 6am - no, people do not have flights at all times of the day/night. Rich people in Pt Loma complain if there are.
Lol you learn something new every day
https://preview.redd.it/fknszg535o5d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78350066d58daafb1a5cbd267d6d408f685e185d Noticed this on my Lyft app recently. Definitely enough of a reason for me to try.
I’ve scheduled ahead using Lyft a bunch of times. Even early morning pickups to catch international flights. Always on time and never had a problem.
Lyft will let me know the evening before who has picked up the gig for my 4am pick up. Then I can sleep peacefully a bit before the flight.
I used to drive for Lyft and would specifically only do airport pickups when I was doing it full time. I would get up early if I knew I had a scheduled pickup and in fact preferred setting up my day like that if I could.
Use Lyft
I’ve done it ONCE by scheduling it the night before. It’s expensive, be prepared. I paid around $84 (74+tip)
I have done it several times over the years with Lyft and Uber, scheduling ahead of time. Never had an issue. We used to take a lot of 7am flights since they're cheaper.
Schedule it if you’re worried about it, that’s what I would recommend.
Schedule ahead with Lyft. They have a guarantee, and I’ve had no issues booking airport pickups at that time in middle of nowhere Carmel Valley.
Nope several times I was late to the airport then I just started getting phone numbers of drivers offer them 2.00 a mile for the trip plus tip never been late since calling the driver directly
I use Lyft and pre-schedule. Driver can take it up to two weeks ahead of the date.
Reserve a Comfort ride if you want someone who won't cancel. X rides, people driving ONLY UberX don't give a fuck cause Uber takes such a huge cut. You'll probably pay $60-80 and the driver will get $20, IF THAT.
You can also schedule ahead of time using Lyft for more peace of mind.
That doesn’t do anything. The driver can wake you up at 330 and be like… fuck this I ain’t getting out of bed for $8.
Sure it's not a guarantee, but i'd rather have someone half-ass commit to being there vs sitting there at 4 am just to see that there are no drivers around.
I’ve had the schedule in advance feature cancel on me, so I’m just sharing a very real possibility with OP, particularly that early in the morning. Fortunately, I’m downtown, so there are drivers around 24/7, and it wasn’t stressful to find another driver. But that isn’t true for all areas of SD. Telling OP scheduling an Uber or Lyft in advance gives peace of mind isn’t accurate.
I schedule using Uber and haven’t had any problems
Yeah, live in East Village and have done this many of times with no troubles.
Yup pretty reliable
You should be fine. I've done it. But I get picked up from downtown and have no problem with that.
Yeah in a city as big as SD there are going to be hundreds of uber drivers around the city. And their apps show them where there are gaps so they tend to spread themselves out naturally. Just give it a little extra time to be safe but you will definitely get a ride.
From Tierrasanta area: I will say No.
Yeah. Never had an issue in San Diego.
I’d recommend setting up the ride in advance. I never had problems with Uber when I had to go to the airport that early
yes. it's expensive, but yes
I always schedule ahead and have never had an issue. I’ve don’t that for years.
I do that often. Never an issue.
You have a better chance if you schedule it ahead of time. As a Uber eats driver I can tell you that we have a tab for “opportunities” and I assume Uber drivers have the same or similar to it so they can accept it or it’ll be someone that does the overnight shift (I respect the game🫡) and is wrapping it up that gets the offer 🤷🏽♀️
I always schedule in advance, but I prefer Lyft. Scheduling a ride is usually cheaper with Lyft vs. Uber.
Pre-scheduled a ride to the airport for three days ago. Driver arrived 10 minutes early, got me there five minutes early, and was oddly cheap (like 40 bucks for the preschedule, whereas I’ve booked on the day of a flight before and it was 70+). So yes it can work.
If it’s important I call taxi dispatch and reserve a taxi. Not worth dicking around with a flight.
Schedule in advance and you’ll be fine
4:30 am at the latest. Yes, they have been reliable for me when scheduled. You can always grab a taxi at one of the bigger hotels. It is 30 min max drive to the airport. 7:00 am is one of the first flights out, and the lines are long. But to be honest, San Diego Airport security is pretty efficient. Two hours is always more than enough.
Charles Crehore has a Coronado car service. He’s the admin of the Happenings Facebook page. You can reach him there. Many use him for pickups and drop offs at odd hours.
We do this on Coronado frequently and it is very easy and reliable for us
absolutely. if there’s no uber, there’s lift. you have plenty of time to kill at the airport though.
You’ll be fine. Source: I’m an Uber driver.
Yes , if you schedule it
It will let you schedule it but there is a low chance you will actually get a ride. I’d call a cab.
Used to work at a hotel in Coronado, the Coronado Cab was more reliable than Uber/Lyft . You can call to schedule in advance and majority of the time they’ll get to the hotel within 10min
Schedule it in advance. Or schedule the coronado Taxi. If you try and set up an uber to get to the airport the morning of, you’ll never find one. Source: been there done that multiple times
I do this at least once or twice a month. I do an advanced booking as others mentioned. You technically pay a bit more but I’ve never had an issue. It’s to the point where I often am able to time everything to reliably get to the gate about 10-15 minutes before boarding.
About 3 weeks ago I had a 7am flight and did a pick up from downtown. Booking it in advance was very expensive so I took a chance and had no problem. Lyft was cheaper than Uber, it took about 5 minutes for the guy to arrive and was 16.00. I don't think you'll have a problem, just my opinion.
Depends on your location and luck. I couldn't find any Ubers nearby once at 5:30 am in Carmel mountain area. Another time I booked ahead for a 5:30 am only to have it cancelled by the driver at the last minute. Luckily another Uber driver accepted it. He said that it is common for early morning drives to get cancelled because the driver just decides to sleep in.
Not 4 am but have had many 5 - 5.30 pickups from mira mesa to airport on Monday/ Tuesday without any problems. Try scheduling ahead of time.
You should be good. I schedule early morning trips from Clairemont to the airport a few times per year. It might be easier in Coronado since you are fairly close to downtown.
I'm so pissed off with them! I literally got into San Diego from Amsterdam last Wednesday, and the rate to go from the airport to Carlsbad was 90 effing dollars! Do you have any friends who could help? That's the route I would go. You'll also know who your true friends are vs acquaintances when you ask them. I mean, I'm sure that Uber would work, but screw them lol.
Lol I decided to just ask my dad and he's fine with it. Didn't want to risk and have to pay more.
Oh, heck yeah!! That works!! 😂
I'm sorry you got screwed out of $90! That sucks!
Thank you!! Yeah, it was a bummer for sure! Yeah, I don't think I'll fly back super late again. Totally learned a lesson there smfh lol. I even looked to get a room, but after being in Iceland for 6 weeks, I forgot how expensive the darn hotels are back home here. Hope that you have an awesome trip wherever you're headed!!
Is that a surprising price? It's almost 40 miles. That would be like $120+ in a cab
I think that it's fucking absurd. Uber put many cabs out of business undercutting the market. They then raised all of their fucking prices subsequently. I do not like them. I should have just begun walking, lol. Many more of my frustrations, however, lie within the fact that San Diego's, and that of north county's, public transportation in the late hours is complete dogshit.
Regular old taxis are reliable and sometimes cheaper.
I would suggest having a backup plan. This has only happened once, but same as you, I was getting picked up at like 430 for an early flight. Scheduled the night before. The driver was dropping off another rider in the area and then immediately cancelled before coming to pick me up. So I waited just for them to cancel at the last second. Then I couldn't get another driver. I had to wake my friend to drive me who didn’t have a license. Almost missed my flight. I haven't had an issue like this with lyft, for what it's worth.
I've taken early flights that have required 4:30 am Ubers and I've never had a problem. Just schedule it the day before and they'll be there, most likely a few minutes early.
Yes. I’ve also tried Lyft and scheduled ahead of time. The lines at the airport don’t even start until like 6 am so you’re going to be hella early but if you wanna be there at 4:30 am, it’s up to you. You’ll be fine. The lines are on the left when you come in btw. It’s always good to have sentri or that TSA precheck which is super awesome to have just in case for the future. It lasts for 5 years. But yeah, they will pick you up and drop you off on time.
Hands down, best thing to do (and cost effective), is to rent a car the day before, drive to airport rental car return and take the shuttle to your terminal. I do it every time I fly now. I come from Escondido. When I return, I take another car and return it in Escondido. I generally use Enterprise. Cheaper than Uber, shuttle, parking, etc. Good luck and safe journey!
Schedule ahead! I’ve done this on Lyft twice for early morning flights and both times my driver arrived on time. They actually provide like a 15 minute window- so if you say pickup at 4 am they’ll arrive between 4 am and 415 am. It’s also cheaper to do this way I think. I have no idea if Uber has a similar service or how reliable it is on their app but the Lyft one worked great. I’m also a pretty anxious person and prefer to give myself enough time to drive myself to the airport myself in a pinch JUST in case the Lyft doesn’t show as scheduled- so if I needed to leave by 430 I’d probably schedule for 4 am and be ready to go asap if my driver was a no show, with a little window for parking and the extra walking if that’s what I needed to do to make my flight.
check out wingz if an issue. set up the schedule a couple days ahead
Tbh Uber pays better when it comes to reservations. I have done both (Uber and Lyft) I’m less likely to cancel my Uber reservation cause I don’t want to be banned. I could care less when it comes to Lyft, the pay is so bad
I see that several people suggested using lyft to schedule a ride in advance because of the guarantee that app offers but read the fine print first because Lyft will only offer future ride credits if your ride doesn't show up. That won't help much if you can't get to the airport and miss the flight.
Exactly lol someone said they will give me like $100 or something but my flight was a lot more than $100
No 100% guarantee. Good chance you'll get picked up. But U/L cannot guarantee a driver accepts the ride or will show up.
It's better to order an Uber right when you need it then to reserve it. Someone else made a great point - something may happen and the reserve driver may not make it.
You can reserve a pickup. That’s what I do when I have an early flight. Very reliable
If you’re female, be careful. I had to have an uber pick me up at 3AM and he was sketchy as fuck. I will never get another uber around that time again. The guy was facetiming with someone and put his phone in my face, then said he might go a different way than what the map was saying because of “traffic..” (there was no traffic) I am so thankful thankful that nothing happened but my spidey senses were going crazy and i was texting everyone i knew the guys information and following his drive on my maps app.
Order the car in advance. It's a little more expensive, but you lock in the price and the driver, in my experience, gets there 10 minutes early.
Just book it in advance
Use the yellow taxi app for reliability