Today I’m going to give a tip to help you save taxi fees from the airport. January is over, February has come and the festive period is over, the diaspora uncle and cousins are probably back to the lives now, safe from the struggles of the average Zimbabwean. If you are like me then most likely the cousin’s made sure we remember them by flying on the cheapest flight which meant you had to drive them to the airport because taxis cost too much.
Those who fly pretty frequently or at all must be aware of the standard airport nightmare. Most of the time you have one family member who is excited enough to come and get you from the airport or take you there ( I used to be that nice guy). Like cabbies all over the world, a trip that has the airport as a destination or a start point is usually quite pricey. Luckily you can haggle the price to the airport with your cab driver but the reverse isn’t true. In Zimbabwe a cab from the airport will cost about USD $30 (equivalent to a little more than ZWL $600). It hurts.
I’ve realised this is mostly due to our ignorance or maybe a general lack information. Zimbabwe actually has different ride hailing options locally give you a chance to travel to or from the airport at very affordable rates. I’d like to assume that I don’t have to introduce the frequent flyer to the concept of ride hailing. Simply put, it’s using an application to hail or call a taxi from your phone. It automatically picks your current location as your pick up (or you can set a different one) and allows you to set your destination. This means the driver doesn’t have to call you to ask where exactly you are and if you’re not into chit chat the driver will have your destination in the app and can navigate there without speaking a word after “Hello.”
While we have a few different options available (especially in Harare), the major ones are VAYA, Toda, Hwindi. My biased preference is for VAYA although from a neutral standpoint I also view it as the best.
Pricing varies between the three. There isn’t an exact cheapest service a month the three as this often varies. VAYA does have the advantage of having more cars on the road which means you’re almost always guaranteed you’ll be matched with a driver
How much less will you pay?
Because these ride hailing platforms are built on principles of the shared economy; which means individuals share their vehicles with us to provide a solid service that covers all areas. By allowing many different people to register on their platforms it means these services have got a chance to have cars in many different areas. This i show they are able to charge lower prices than the average traditional taxi.
Also, to be fair these services are constantly advertising and creating customers for the many registered vehicle owners. This way they get to complete a significant number of trips per day and can charge less. The traditional taxi operator has been parked for four hours, is tired grumpy and hungry when you show up and knock on his window. Sleepily, he’ll wake up, raise his seat, scrutinize your dressing before throwing a price that covers for his quiet day.
I’ve gone through the options of local ride-hailing platforms to get you a picture of the prices.:
Toda 
VAYA Africa 
Hwindi
So it costs about half what airport taxes are charging to use our Zimbabwean ride-hailing platforms to get a ride from the airport. The only possible challenge is whether you are guaranteed to get a ride at the airport. It’s not a high traffic area so I don’t think there are cars there waiting. Also, unlike the US and other countries, there is no partnership between the ride-hailing apps and the airport that gives them subsidized or free parking. The airports should seriously consider this.
How to do it
All you have to do really is download any of the three apps. All apps are available for both android and iOS so you’re pretty much safe. If you are coming from outside Zimbabwe it may be safer to download the app(s) before you leave as our airports don’t offer Wi-Fi so you would get there and be stuck. Again, airports please do better.
The apps will pick up your current location and you can set your destination. This is especially beneficial if you don’t know where exactly you are going. The in-app google maps tracking allows you to make sure you’re not being driven into the woods but watching the best route as well as the route the driver has taken.
You can pay using local currency, ecocash and bond notes or USD on all platforms. VAYA allows for in-app payments when using Ecocash and also allows you to make Visa and MasterCard payments as well. The other make zimswitch card payments through POS machines the drivers carry around but that’s rare.
Zimbabwean Cities you can ride-hail in?
Harare is a definite. I mean this should be obvious, though we do have that small potential unavailability glitch. If you are willing to wait, you may be able to get it though. Once you are in the CBD then the apps should be your first choice because of price saving.
Bulawayo gets a little trickier. I haven’t been able to use Toda and Hwindi in Bulawayo and mostly get VAYA. The waiting time is a lot more than in Harare so you need to make your bookings earlier than you would in another city.
All three ride hailing platforms are slowly growing into the other cities. You can almost get a VAYA in Gweru, Kwekwe and VIc Falls but I find it’s rarely guaranteed that you will find the other players there.
Conclusion
Save up on your hard-earned dollars by taking advantage of this blessing the sharing economy has given us. Airport shuttles tend to be really costly but by ride-hailing it will cost you a fraction of the cost. Take advantage of this, download the apps and travel comfortably.
#kaizenYOU
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