Yes guys, there is a God. And He—and his cohorts GrabTaxi and Uber—just blessed us with ways to beat the carmageddon. Apparently, our impatient, elitist selves are too good for cars, and we’ve proven worthy of aerial transport, courtesy of these two companies.
Hours ago, in what seems to be a well-timed social media campaign, Uber and GrabTaxi dropped the news about their new services through viral hashtags #UberChopper and #GrabHeli, Instagram posts, influencers, and newsletters.
A partnership with aviation consultancy firm Airtrav and Uber, the UberCHOPPER experience takes flight starting this Saturday, Nov. 21. It’s a 10-minute ride with a fixed route and some refreshments to boot. (Do we still get the ever-present Mentos, though?)
Supplies are limited, as well as the number of people who can ride in it. A maximum of three passengers—yes, include that third wheel friend—can be accommodated per trip.
Try it: Check the app from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. starting this Saturday, and slide to the UberCHOPPER option. Like any of your Uber trips, set the pick-up location and request a ride. An UberBLACK will take you and your squad to the helipad, and whisk you away from this goddamn roads.
GrabTaxi, on the other hand, is still teasing. A single promotional image has been used, with public figures like actress Janine Gutierrez, DJ Gino Quillamor, and DJ Patty Manalaysay spreading the word first. No further details apart from its launch on Nov. 24 have been revealed.
Now we know we’ve got options, the real question remains: How much money are we going to shell out for these? How desperate are we to get a ride in these tough times? And just how bad have our roads become?
We don’t know the answer to our first question yet, but we think we know the other two. Yes, we’ve become so helpless that we need to start calling on copters; and yup, our roads have turned to hell.
Should we start calling on planes to get us out of here now, too?