What Is Wingz
Wingz is a ride sharing service similar to Uber or Lfyt, the big difference is that they focus on airport pick ups and drop offs exclusively. Personally I find airport transport to be a real pain point for me, it’s usually the first port of call for any taxi scams that run in that location because they know that most of the travelers aren’t locals and as such they can pull of tricks/scams that wouldn’t work on local passengers.
Wingz charges a set fee and there is no surge pricing, I think they have an interesting business model even if the rides seem to be more expensive than Uber in some locations (but still on par on cheaper than taxis).
New Locations
They have now launched in the following Texas locations:
- Austin-Bergstom International Airport (AUS)
- Dallas Love Field (DAL)
- Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport (DFW)
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Below is a list of locations that they previously served:
- Portland International Airport (PDX)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Burbank Bob Hope Airport (BUR)
- Los Angeles Int’l Airport (LAX)
- Chicago Midway Int’l Airport (MDW)
- Oakland Int’l Airport (OAK)
- Chicago O’Hare Int’l Airport (ORD)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport (PHX)
- San Diego Int’l Airport (SAN)
- San Francisco Int’l Airport (SFO)
- Mineta San Jose Int’l Airport (SJC)
Airport Fees
It was only a matter of time before airports tried to get paid when passengers used these ride sharing services (also formally called Transportation Network Companies (TNC)). At the moment there are two airports which charge these fees:
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) [charges for pick up and drop off]
- John Wayne Airport (SNA) [pick up only]
To cover these fees Wingz will now charge an additional $2 fee. I understand the rationale behind this, but one of the nice things about Wingz was the price was all inclusive, personally I think it would have more sense just to increase the fares by $2 for those locations – but they obviously want passengers to know they are merely passing on a fee rather than charging additional money.
Tipping
Once you’ve completed your ride, you’ll be prompted to review your driver and then you can add a tip, which is completely optional. Again, I understand that Wingz has probably had users requesting this feature, but I’m not a fan of tip culture in general (don’t worry, I’m still a generous tipper – I’ve work crappy jobs as well) and would hate to see this become expected rather than a bonus for exceptional drivers. I think again this takes away from the all included nature of Wingz which is what makes me attracted to it in the first place.
$10 Credit
If you sign up for Wingz using this link, you’ll receive $10 in Wingz credit which will automatically be applied to your first ride. I’ll also receive $10 in my Wingz account, although all the credit I earn will be given away to Wingz in a future competition (Wingz have also agreed to match this). We hope to run this competition sometime next week.
If you’ve used Wingz before, I’d greatly appreciate you sharing your experiences in the comments below.
