ViaVan launches in London with £3 Zone 1 rides

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ViaVan, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and US start-up Via, has launched in its ‘shared journey’ service in London.

From what I can gather, it is basically ‘UberPOOL with a minibus’.

A ViaVan will be heading in roughly one direction, say from Wimbledon to Central London, and will pick up people from ‘near’ their homes or wherever they are along the way. Each passenger will be dropped off ‘near’ their final destination.

All rides will be shared. The upside is very aggressive pricing – during the launch period, all rides inside Zone 1 will be priced at a flat £3.

I am pretty sure that this is not a service for me, but you may think differently. There isn’t much of a website – see here – but full details are in the app.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

bk3day says:

20 Apr20 April 05:36

IME, the VIA service in NYC (ridewithvia.com) is far superior to Uber Pool or Lyft Line.

VIA’s rates are markedly cheaper, the arrival time estimates more accurate and more often than not, on my routes, I’m the only passenger. Of course, every route is different so YMMV.
- Joe says:
  
  22 Apr22 April 02:45
  
  Echo similar for chicago and like the fact you get an accurate pick up time before you order (1-7 minutes makes a differendde when you use daily). It doesnr show if you are picking anyone else up or the route in the app tho which is frstrating
Pascal says:

20 Apr20 April 06:24

I’m using ViaVan since it launched 1.5 weeks ago almost every day. (why not going to work with it for the same cost as tube)

I never had to share yet in around 20 rides. So currently you have it all private due to low usage and them figuring the tech out.

You also get £20 credit with a referral, so lots of driving around for free. Is it OK to post mine? If not feel free to edit Rob:
Pascal6h8 for £20 credit to use for the £3 rides.
- Crafty says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 08:42
  
  I’ve tried to use your code but it’s being rejected, sorry.
  - Paul says:
    
    20 Apr20 April 11:12
    
    Try mine paul6r4 for £20 free credit.
    - bobby says:
      
      20 Apr20 April 17:04
      
      just used your code. thanks
- N says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 13:02
  
  Hope i can throw mine into the mix if it’s OK?
  
  nidal8r8
- Aeronaut says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 14:30
  
  @Pascal
  
  “I’m using ViaVan since it launched 1.5 weeks ago almost every day. (why not going to work with it for the same cost as tube)”
  
  Because it’s not as fast, gets stuck in traffic, indeed contributes to more traffic…
  - Pascal says:
    
    20 Apr20 April 21:22
    
    Ha well it’s taking me around 20-25 minutes door to door with viavan vs 35-40 by tube. As I start at 8am the traffic is usually still OK 😉
    
    Btw the code Pascal6h8 still works perfectly fine.
Tony says:

20 Apr20 April 06:46

Re: AA transfer offer
Does a transfer of hotel miles reset the expiry of your existing miles with AA?
The T&Cs don’t seem clear, they talk about accruing mileage credit with participating hotels but not direct transfers
- Nick_c says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 09:01
  
  Probably. I transfer a small amount from e-Rewards occasionally and that keeps mine active.
  - Tony says:
    
    20 Apr20 April 13:15
    
    Thanks
VP says:

20 Apr20 April 06:49

OT: Got a message yesterday around 20h that our early morning KLM flight to AMS from LCY has been cancelled. However, we saw it only around 23h and by then they had booked us on LCY-FRA-AMS arriving at AMS 6 hrs after our original flight. Checked their customer service number and my heart sank when all that was available was their social media team number for Whatsapp/Twitter etc. Sent them a message on whats app that we prefer direct flight and don’t mind flying from LHR and also specified the flight that suits us (still arriving 5 hrs after originally scheduled time but at least no change involved), had absolutely no hopes but lo and behold within 30 mins we received new tickets on the flight I had specified. While the original cancellation still sucks, am really impressed with their social media customer care team and if flying Skyteam will be more than happy to book KLM.
- JK says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 09:28
  
  You should be able to claim EU compensation too
  - VP says:
    
    20 Apr20 April 10:24
    
    I do plan to submit a claim for it. As we have PP currently in Sky Team Lounge in T4. Was pleasantly surprised to be informed that they offer 20 mins complementary facial treatment in Clairns Spa ! Also got some free samples after the facial. It was in a proper cabin with a proper door with soothing music in background while you lay down flat on their massage chair so all in all a very good outcome for a lounge accessed via PP.
VP says:

20 Apr20 April 07:10

Another OT: Apologies for my OT’s but this may be helpful to some readers. Had booked a stay in IC Estoril via Amex Plat FHR. Absolutely recommend the hotel and FHR. As Rob(or was it Annika?) has reviewed the hotel, will mention the FHR bit. The FHR rate was 60 Euros more than the cheapest non-refundable, w/o breakfast rate, so for 60 Euros we got room upgrade from garden view to sea view, breakfast for 2, late checkout at 16h (extended to 18h on request), and lunch/dinner. The FHR welcome sheet I received mentioned $100 of F&B credit, however, in the restaurant we were told it includes 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 desserts with any number of soft drinks. The hotel (as seem to be the norm in Portugal) charges for bread, butter, appetisers and these are not taken off however they took out items totalling c.$110 in the final bill so we had to pay $7-8 for the bread and appetiser. So depending on what you order you can get even more value than the $100 credit mentioned in FHR. If possible would suggest having lunch (or early dinner in summer) when you still have daylight as the views are gorgeous. We definitely plan to return to this hotel in future.

On the same tour, we had also booked IC Porto on points and took the Club package on arrival. Won’t go into details as I am feeling guilty for such a lengthy OT, but long story short, it is value for money if you would take advantage of the cocktail hours. If you can’t or don’t drink then not worth it.
- Alex W says:
  
  20 Apr20 April 08:41
  
  If you have ambassador can you get a double upgrade, with FHR upgrade as well?
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Apr20 April 09:13
    
    You might (I have in the past) but not guaranteed.
Dave says:

20 Apr20 April 07:30

Impressed with ViaVan too. Great for central London journeys. Nice app.
Use my code, favid2e2, to get £20 of free credit.

To Download the app : http://bit.ly/2JhMeoh
FlyUpTop says:

20 Apr20 April 07:44

Starwood looks the best for me, 1:1 plus extra 25% then extra 5000 when you transfer 20k.
Justin says:

20 Apr20 April 07:45

Used ViaVan a couple of times this week. Can’t fault it to be honest.
Citymappers smart ride is also decent
Use my code, justin3m2, to get £20 of free credit. Download the app here: http://bit.ly/2JhMeoh