I tried Uber's luxurious London competitor Wheely, and it made me think it's possible for money to buy happiness
Wheely was founded by Swiss/Russian 29-year-old entrepreneur Anton Chirkunov in 2012. The premium ride hailing app is now available in London, Moscow, and other major Russian cities — and it plans to launch in Paris this year.
I decided to try it out. I used the service twice — once in September from my flat in south east London to Gatwick airport, and a second time in December from home to Heathrow. Here's what the booking screen looks like — at the time of writing this, a journey from the Business Insider office to Heathrow would cost a flat rate of £80, and a car would be available within 5 minutes.
When I checked the same trip on Uber, a car was also just 5 minutes away, and the trip was estimated to cost between £42-56 for an UberX — or £78-103 for an Exec "high-end" car, which would likely have been similar to Wheely's offering.
As of April 2018, Wheely only had 150 drivers in London while Uber had 50,000, according to the FT.
Wheely's drivers, however, are all professional chauffeurs.
As well as entering the pickup spot and destination, with Wheely you have the option to add comments, and change the passenger who is travelling. You can also choose the time you'd like the car to arrive, even booking months in advance, which is what I did for both trips.
Like with Uber, you can choose between levels of luxury when it comes to the cars. I opted for Exec, which is a Mercedes-Benz E-class (and comparable to the Uber Exec).
There's also the option of the VIP S-class...
...or the V-class if you're travelling with a crowd.
Once you book, you receive an email confirmation as well as a record of you booking in the app. When the day rolls around, you get a notification when your driver is on the way, and when they've arrived. On both trips I took, my driver was really early — but didn't expect me to be ready. The company claims they don't get in contact with the customer until 20 minutes after the booking time — a bit of a contrast to Uber, which charges you if you take too long getting to the car when it finally arrives.
Here's the car and driver from my second trip. Both times, the chauffeurs were friendly and well-dressed, ready waiting outside the door to say hello, take my suitcases, and open the door to help me in.
The company's drivers have a code of conduct — they must wear smart suits and ties (like the ones in the company photo below), open doors for passengers, and help to carry their luggage.
The interior of the car — which is always either black or silver and no more than three years old, according to the company — was super spacious and pretty luxurious, completely fitted out with black leather.
There was a seat divider in the middle — water bottles included, which is a nice perk.
My first trip was around 5 a.m., and these red stripes were lit up on the car doors, which was also kind of cool.
It was a little tricky to get a good photo of the interior without freaking the driver out, so here's an official snap from the company of what another Wheely car might look like with a random man inside it.
When each journey started, the driver checked that the temperature was OK with me and asked whether I preferred radio or silence, and if I wanted music, what channel or type I would like. From then on, the driver was silent throughout the journey.
It's part of Wheely's code that drivers should not initiate conversations — or keep personal belongings in the vehicle.
I received a notification at the start of both trips that my account had been pre-authorised for payment — though the final amount wasn't taken until the end of the journey.
Both journeys were pretty peaceful, and very smooth. There were no driving issues or concerns over directions. For the Heathrow trip, we made record time of an hour, never hitting any traffic.
According to Wheely, all chauffeurs must pass "a rigorous driver accreditation process with tests on London’s geography and venues, and chauffeur etiquette standards."
It was pretty nice to have time to relax in the airport for once — and easily the least stressful journey I've had to get there.
My Gatwick journey cost £75, and the Heathrow trip cost £70 — both pricey, yet cheaper than what an UberExec would have cost. The price was also guaranteed from the moment of booking, since Wheely doesn't have surge pricing.
While Wheely might not replace your weekly UberX rides to simply get around town, it's definitely worth the splurge for a longer journey — or if you're travelling with another passenger or two and can split the fare, especially when you consider that the Heathrow Express train costs at least £22 per person one way.
The company claims it is generating $50 million in annual bookings, and is growing 100% year-on-year since its 2012 launch.
CEO Chirkunov told the FT last year: "It's not possible to run a service that’s cheap, good, and safe all at the same time. You have to pick two."
I'm inclined to think he's right — and a luxurious, safe journey is the way to go, if you can afford it.
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