can you use uber in napa? If so how easy is it? ie is it always 3x surge type of thing.
thanks
-paul
I think that they came and went. There was a time that they offered into discounts in Napa Valley, but last month there was zero availability. I used Lyft instead.
I used it a couple of of times last weekend. It’s not bad in the town of Napa but once you get outside of there it’s, not surprisingly, a lot less reliable. No surge pricing but the one time I used it to get back to Napa from St. Helena I waited ~20 minutes (and this was a Saturday when you might have some influx of drivers from outside the valley). I wouldn’t try and use Uber to visit wineries, and you might want to monitor every now and then and plan accordingly if you’re relying on it to get you back from a restaurant.
going to dinner is usually ok
some surge pricing later and when the bars close
still better than black tie
Interesting. I was in Calistoga when I tried and failed to use Uber last month.
How does Lyft differ? I was looking at using uber too since I’ll be going to Napa tomorrow.
currently looking at an uber map. Wed at 330pm. Plenty of ubers from Napa up to St Helena. Calistoga becomes an issue (30 minute wait, which means sometimes there won’t be any cars)
Napa is kinda unique or warped. Everybody wants to get into something for quick money/extra money and one of two things happens: It becomes too much of a burden, or, they find out it isn’t as lucrative as they thought.
I have two customers who got into it, one with Lyft and the other Uber. The Uber guy was only getting one call a week, usually later in the evening. The Lyft guy signed up for three days a week and stays busy.
It is my understanding you can sign up for certain days and times. Guess what, nobody wants the times the drunks want to go home or anything past their own bed time, so cabs have the edge after 10 PM
There are a bunch of people who offer winery driving, either in your car or theirs and I don’t think it is possible that you couldn’t find limo service to the wineries.
uber/lyft doesn’t require signing up for certain times/days. You just turn on your app whenever you feel like driving.
Sign up/turn on your app, same thing. Obviously, Napans don’t signup/turn on their apps much.
many of the drivers flock to napa rather than work in sf
napa is a cakewalk compared to sf
Bumping this - wondering about Uber in Napa now, summer 2016? Plenty of cars? Surge pricing?
surge pricing is everywhere! you can’t avoid it during peak times 
Fair enough! But can someone who’s been there recently tell me how the wait times are and whether there seem to be plenty of cars? Just want to know if I can rely it.
We were there last weekend in June, before the Fourth. Stayed on a friend’s ranch in Pope Valley, E of St Helena. We were underimpressed by Uber availability when trying to travel N/S thru the valley.
I rarely use it outside of town, but It is great for travel within the city of Napa. I have never had more than a 8min wait. I use it a couple of times a month. Regardless of surge pricing, it is cheaper than a taxi / car.
Thanks Hardy and Glenn. Good info. Hired a driver for during the days for tasting appts but was considering uber to/from dinner.
the farther north you go less likely there are uber. They seem to be concentrated in Napa and some in yountville and some in st helena.
We had a pleasant experience earlier this summer in yountville. No surge and driver was there within 2 minutes.