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Bolt app?


Jesper

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I only used it my last couple of days there as I only found out about it late but it is a great asset.

Just type in your destination and ping it off and wait to you get a driver agree.

One of them I stood out on Soi and pinged it off and the guy was sitting in the car 15 yards away and he rolled down his window and flashed his phone and goes is this you??

And I was off within 25 seconds of placing the order 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well .. my first ever attempt today to use Bolt was not a huge success.

I was at Lotus Supermarket by the the Town Hall.  I had 2 heavy full rucksack type bags and had just also bought a large fold up patio chair.

I used the App.  Taxi was 2 minutes away.  Soon the App .. said it had arrived.  Not a car in sight.  I thought best I move 100 yards up to the main store entrance (from the car park). I had been by the dual carriage way entrance.  But very close by. No sign of a possible taxi liveried or plain.

My phone rang .. a guy sounding annoyed shouting hello hello.  He confirmed he was a taxi.  I said I am at the main Lotus entrance from the car park.  

I got a "whaaaaat !! ?"  I kept saying "Lotus Supermarket car park".  He kept repeating "whaaaaaaat !".

He or I rang off as we were getting no where. Cant remember who.  I waited at least 10 more minutes sort of keeping my phone at shoulder height ... as a hint to any passing Bolt taxi.  My position on the App was correct.

I got a motor bike taxi in the end (I was seriously over loaded .. (chair round my neck) really but it was mostly quiet back streets to my condo).

I will try out Bolt again ... but not get too overloaded next time .. in case a plan B needed again. 

Technology hates me. Im gonna get loadsa .. "I never had any problems"

Hey Ho 😁.

 

 

 

Edited by Wingeing Pom
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1 hour ago, Wingeing Pom said:

Well .. my first ever attempt today to use Bolt was not a huge success.

I was at Lotus Supermarket by the the Town Hall.  I had 2 heavy full rucksack type bags and had just also bought a large fold up patio chair.

I used the App.  Taxi was 2 minutes away.  Soon the App .. said it had arrived.  Not a car in sight.  I thought best I move 100 yards up to the main store entrance (from the car park). I had been by the dual carriage way entrance.  But very close by. No sign of a possible taxi liveried or plain.

My phone rang .. a guy sounding annoyed shouting hello hello.  He confirmed he was a taxi.  I said I am at the main Lotus entrance from the car park.  

I got a "whaaaaat !! ?"  I kept saying "Lotus Supermarket car park".  He kept repeating "whaaaaaaat !".

He or I rang off as we were getting no where. Cant remember who.  I waited at least 10 more minutes sort of keeping my phone at shoulder height ... as a hint to any passing Bolt taxi.  My position on the App was correct.

I got a motor bike taxi in the end (I was seriously over loaded .. (chair round my neck) really but it was mostly quiet back streets to my condo).

I will try out Bolt again ... but not get too overloaded next time .. in case a plan B needed again. 

Technology hates me. Im gonna get loadsa .. "I never had any problems"

Hey Ho 😁.

 

 

 

Yeah it's hit or miss with the drivers, sometimes they park nowhere close and expect you to get there and their English is understandably lacking in many cases. You saying Lotus Supermarket Car Park won't help, the only word he might recognize is Lotus but you'd have to pronounce it how the Thais do which is Looooo Tas. If you just said that or Looo Tas parking, he might have found you. Also it gives you the licence plate so you can look for that and many of them are those actual meter taxis that never use their meter in Pattaya so don't always be looking for a normal looking car.

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I had a long streak of no problems until last week. I was at Tigglebitties on Soi Regional Land and I ordered a Bolt taxi. I saw from the map on the app that he kept driving around Big C South for 10 minutes or so and he notified me that he had arrived. The map said he was still at Big C. I looked around outside just in case, but there were not any cars around fitting the description. 

At that point, I just cancelled the ride. Luckily the second driver found me without any problems.

 

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My girl is "different". A different one everyday.

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9 minutes ago, Syd Tybil said:

I had a long streak of no problems until last week. I was at Tigglebitties on Soi Regional Land and I ordered a Bolt taxi. I saw from the map on the app that he kept driving around Big C South for 10 minutes or so and he notified me that he had arrived. The map said he was still at Big C. I looked around outside just in case, but there were not any cars around fitting the description. 

At that point, I just cancelled the ride. Luckily the second driver found me without any problems.

 

Not related to Bolt but I'm staying at View Talay 6 and I had a Grab Food driver go to Central Festival, thinking it was my condo and sent me a picture of him there by the elevators until he finally understood that I don't live in Central Festival.

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I thought the idea was the driver could see exactly your position .... I was expecting him to pull up next to me. As per the YouTube vloggers vlogs.

GPS on your phone tells the driver where you are exactly ... via the App.    I assume you have to be outside for the GPS to be certain to work. I was outside.

Also .. I cant remember seeing a car on the App display when it was telling me "taxi has arrived", either.  But maybe I was not zoomed out enough to see where it was.   

On my next try .. I will look out for that.  

Hey Ho.  Its sort of interesting ...  😁.  6,500 baht a year for a data package .. so I can use Bolt ..... not best buy at first try. 

Edited by Wingeing Pom
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First Bolt turned up right by me. Second one said arrived but not near. Down the street I saw a silver car so held my phone up high. Driver realised and came to me. 

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On 08/03/2022 at 08:40, jimboh said:

Anyone know how to order a pick up truck on BOLT?

 Just find an empty Baht Bus, stop it and negotiate ... best deal + mover built-in

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8 hours ago, Syd Tybil said:

I had a long streak of no problems until last week. I was at Tigglebitties on Soi Regional Land and I ordered a Bolt taxi. I saw from the map on the app that he kept driving around Big C South for 10 minutes or so and he notified me that he had arrived. The map said he was still at Big C. I looked around outside just in case, but there were not any cars around fitting the description. 

At that point, I just cancelled the ride. Luckily the second driver found me without any problems.

 


I was staying at InterContinental and the TG and I were laughing as we watched his progress on the app, driving circles around Phra Tamnak.

I got to the point where I would send text thru the app saying "at InterContinental hotel"....not that it helped! 555
 

8 hours ago, Wingeing Pom said:

I thought the idea was the driver could see exactly your position .... I was expecting him to pull up next to me. As per the YouTube vloggers vlogs.

GPS on your phone tells the driver where you are exactly ... via the App.    I assume you have to be outside for the GPS to be certain to work. I was outside.

Also .. I cant remember seeing a car on the App display when it was telling me "taxi has arrived", either.  But maybe I was not zoomed out enough to see where it was.   

On my next try .. I will look out for that.  

Hey Ho.  Its sort of interesting ...  😁.  6,500 baht a year for a data package .. so I can use Bolt ..... not best buy at first try. 

Can be an issue when you get a Bolt from Central Festival - GPS pings you in the middle of the damn mall, so the driver is invariably on the wrong side.

Similar with Hilton, as they often think you are at Central and go there instead of Hilton driveway, because app shows you elsewhere.


Those minor quirks aside, I LOVE Bolt! A true gamechanger, especially when I am staying in Phra Tamnak.

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3 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:


I was staying at InterContinental and the TG and I were laughing as we watched his progress on the app, driving circles around Phra Tamnak.

I got to the point where I would send text thru the app saying "at InterContinental hotel"....not that it helped! 555
 

Can be an issue when you get a Bolt from Central Festival - GPS pings you in the middle of the damn mall, so the driver is invariably on the wrong side.

Similar with Hilton, as they often think you are at Central and go there instead of Hilton driveway, because app shows you elsewhere.


Those minor quirks aside, I LOVE Bolt! A true gamechanger, especially when I am staying in Phra Tamnak.

Is there anything on the car a sticker or something saying its a bolt taxi.A few times when going home I’ve hailed a taxi standing on Soi Buakhao to take take me to the Airport Bus station in Jomtien .Obviously the ones I have used before have been the yellow and green ones.

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1 minute ago, Gaztop08 said:

Is there anything on the car a sticker or something saying its a bolt taxi.A few times when going home I’ve hailed a taxi standing on Soi Buakhao to take take me to the Airport Bus station in Jomtien .Obviously the ones I have used before have been the yellow and green ones.


No stickr, but Bolt shows you the driver, car model and license plate number.

I would say a very good percentage (maybe 40-50%) of the Bolts that I ended up getting were the Toyota Innova model red and yellow taxis, but I also didn't just select the cheapest, compact option (I'm tall and have a bad neck).

FWIW, I pulled up my ride history on the Bolt app (I'm trying to avoid going to the gym! 555), and, out of the 33 Bolt rides I had in February while staying at the Hilton and then the InterContinental in Phra Tamnak, only 5 were over 100 baht and only 1 topped 150 baht (it was a long ride - I think to or from Glass House restaurant in Na Jomtien).

By comparison, pre-Bolt, I would routinely be charged 250 baht (sometime 300 baht) by songtaews or taxis to take me from the Walking Street area or Central Festival back to the InterContinental.

Given that the InterContinental killed their shuttle service to/from Central Festival due to COVID, Bolt was HUGE for me.

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4 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Can be an issue when you get a Bolt from Central Festival - GPS pings you in the middle of the damn mall, so the driver is invariably on the wrong side.

Similar with Hilton, as they often think you are at Central and go there instead of Hilton driveway, because app shows you elsewhere.

So you wait until you walk outside at either end and then book your Bolt. Or to be really clear walk a little bit down the road so you’re not at the mall at all. You can’t expect the app or the driver to be mindreaders, make life easier for yourself. 

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16 minutes ago, Arnie85 said:


So you wait until you walk outside at either end and then book your Bolt. 
 

Yep - that's exactly what I started doing, especially because so many Bolt drivers are the taxis that park at Central Festival. Takes 1 minute for them to pull up.

When at Hilton, I would message the driver and say "Hilton driveway."

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1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

By comparison, pre-Bolt, I would routinely be charged 250 baht (sometime 300 baht) by songtaews or taxis to take me from the Walking Street area or Central Festival back to the InterContinental.

Been following from afar when BM,s talk about Bolt and the fares.Still can't figure it out how they really make any money from it when you take into account all the outgoings of running a car such as tyres fuel,purchasing the car and other maintenance required.

Second point when Pattaya is up and running fully just wonder if it would create  traffic jams from too many Bolt cars around.At the moment it works quite well with the bike taxis and Songtaews.

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I have never had any of these issues with Bolt.

My user tips are as follows:

  • Always use the locations exact name for pick up and drop off (ie, Ruby Club and Areca Lodge Hotel)
  • Confirm the exact pick up location by moving the pin to my exact pick up location.
  • Be at the pick up spot prior to drivers arrival
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Never had issues with Bolt either. You can drop the pin of both the pick up location & destination. It also has different options for mode of transportation though I just generally choose economy; you can type in Central Festival as your pick-up & move the pin. Anywhere between Walking Street & Terminal 21 has been less than 100 baht (usually 50 to 65 baht). Cash only.

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Apologies if this has been covered already, here now and going home in a few days, the question is does Bolt provide a service from Pattaya to the airport? If yes what do they charge? If no who can you recommend? My regular hotel normally books it for me but are looking for 1500 now. I've used Mr T and Em's taxi before to get here but never to go back. 

Also another reason I'm asking I booked a taxi years ago from some crowd on the street, paid 500 baht deposit and they never showed up.

Thanks in advance 

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I have just enquired on the BOLT App, for you ... 

Wong Amat (North Pattaya) to BKK Airport

 

TAXI  B1286 (Icon liveried taxi)

MOTOR  B1079  (shows icon of a motorbike !!!)

ECONOMY B1291 (normal car .. not taxi'd up)

BOLT B1357 (Icon liveried taxi)

COMFORT B2023  ( Larger car)

XL B2023 (Looks like mini van icon)

I have no idea the difference between some of them. But they cars except "Motor".

I believe that it is only a guide. And the type you get is often not the same as the icon image you clicked on. I guess cheapest most sensible.

They can ask for more if they can justify it I gather  .. one You Tube vlogger said .... but it is a good guide he said.

Plus the always expected tip .. I guess .... but you get that however you book. And not compulsory.

Edited by Wingeing Pom
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30 minutes ago, Wingeing Pom said:

I have just enquired on the BOLT App, for you ... 

Wong Amat (North Pattaya) to BKK Airport

 

TAXI  B1286 (Icon liveried taxi)

MOTOR  B1079  (shows icon of a motorbike !!!)

ECONOMY B1291 (normal car .. not taxi'd up)

BOLT B1357 (Icon liveried taxi)

COMFORT B2023  ( Larger car)

XL B2023 (Looks like mini van icon)

I have no idea the difference between some of them. But they cars except "Motor".

I believe that it is only a guide. And the type you get is often not the same as the icon image you clicked on. I guess cheapest most sensible.

They can ask for more if they can justify it I gather  .. one You Tube vlogger said .... but it is a good guide he said.

Plus the always expected tip .. I guess .... but you get that however you book. And not compulsory.

Thanks very much for taking the time to do that, very much appreciated 

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A BOLT driver I met a while back was of the opinion BOLT not save much on airport / long distance trips.  Good value for local trips. She is a BOLT driver, as I said.

For an important trip like going to catch a plane home .. I personally would stick to a reliable outfit .. like Mr T, as the savings peanuts. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 25/05/2022 at 00:11, Rambo2201 said:

Apologies if this has been covered already, here now and going home in a few days, the question is does Bolt provide a service from Pattaya to the airport? If yes what do they charge? If no who can you recommend? My regular hotel normally books it for me but are looking for 1500 now. I've used Mr T and Em's taxi before to get here but never to go back. 

Also another reason I'm asking I booked a taxi years ago from some crowd on the street, paid 500 baht deposit and they never showed up.

Thanks in advance 

Nam's Taxi & Cherry Taxi are very reliable at 1000 baht to the airport. Nam is a thread in this section; you can find Cherry Taxi on Facebook. Usually give a 200 baht tip.

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I’ve used Grab back to the airport.  Problem is they’re still dipshit dangerous drivers, even if they’re with a reputable app. You don’t know who you’re going to get because anyone can sign up to be one of those drivers.  Yes there’s a rating system on there etc and they’ll eventually stop using people who they get complaints about, but that’s not much use to you while you’re bouncing around in the back around the corners when they’re going 140kph is it.  Stick with Nam or Cherry or Mr T or Hannibal Smith for airport transfers. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 14/05/2022 at 23:11, Luv2Phuket said:


No stickr, but Bolt shows you the driver, car model and license plate number.

I would say a very good percentage (maybe 40-50%) of the Bolts that I ended up getting were the Toyota Innova model red and yellow taxis, but I also didn't just select the cheapest, compact option (I'm tall and have a bad neck).

FWIW, I pulled up my ride history on the Bolt app (I'm trying to avoid going to the gym! 555), and, out of the 33 Bolt rides I had in February while staying at the Hilton and then the InterContinental in Phra Tamnak, only 5 were over 100 baht and only 1 topped 150 baht (it was a long ride - I think to or from Glass House restaurant in Na Jomtien).

By comparison, pre-Bolt, I would routinely be charged 250 baht (sometime 300 baht) by songtaews or taxis to take me from the Walking Street area or Central Festival back to the InterContinental.

Given that the InterContinental killed their shuttle service to/from Central Festival due to COVID, Bolt was HUGE for me.

Do you know if InterContinental shuttle service is back on track and will it stop at Encore before Wynn ?

I'm contemplating booking a suite in September.

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6 hours ago, FarangKiNok said:

Do you know if InterContinental shuttle service is back on track and will it stop at Encore before Wynn ?

I'm contemplating booking a suite in September.

The InterContinental shuttle I was referring to is in Pattaya/Phra Tamnak. I think your question concerns Las Vegas.

In either case, I am not sure.

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