Suggestion Grab App

A smartphone app that I kind of learned about late in my stay in the Philippines probably would have saved me a whole lot more money if I would have known about it sooner. I'm glad I used it when I did though because it still saved me quite a bit in fare going back to NAIA homeward. I was at Wanderers Guest house in Malate, because we were on a tight budget, very tight, because of a problem with my bank not liking my purchases in the Philippines even though I had notified them of my trip ahead of time. (OT, and another story) The night we came to Wanderers from NAIA, a taxi driver picked us out of a line of people at the airport and offered to drive us to our hotel. Jhing was negotiating with the driver and the driver's wife was with them. She asked how much to go to Malate, and he first said 450 php, and after we got in the car, he told her 550 php. She looked at me. I had no idea what to expect what the rate would be, because I didn't know how far it was. So, we paid 550 from NAIA to the Guesthouse. Seemed like it took quite a while too.
On the day I was to go back to NAIA, we were worried about our money situation, as we were extremely limited on cash by that point and 550 php again was going to be a big stretch, so I started looking for cheaper options including jeepneys, which, with a 50lb. suitcase was going to be interesting across 3 jeepney rides. So, I asked the hotel desk what my cheapest options were for getting to the airport. He said to get a taxi, preferably a yellow one and have them run the meter. He said there is also an app called Grab that you can DL on google play that's like UBER, but he liked it better than UBER. It tells what to expect it to cost based on what the available drivers nearby are willing to accept. Some were as low as 139-160 pesos. I found a yellow cab nearby that quoted 160-250 pesos and I chose that one. Within a few minutes, our cab was there, and for less than half what we paid to get from the airport before, we were able to get there with change to spare for her ride home. I don't know how well the app works in Dumaguete, but in Manila, I think it will be my go-to from now on. Just in case anyone else may need to know. I really didn't know what to expect fare wise on anything, and apparently, since my fiance doesn't use the taxis that much, she didn't either. Hope this helps someone else though.