I just thought that I'd throw this in here. I've been using Uber around Santo Domingo with very good results. However, I've had two extremely strange rides in a row to the airport, which convinced me that taking Uber from the city center to Las Americas is no longer a good idea. I don't know much about driving for Uber and wonder if the drivers have a way of knowing where you're headed before accepting the trip? If so, then I believe that there is a certain element targeting people headed for the airport, as it's probably a pretty good bet that they are a foreigner and potentially ripe for some Dominican to take advantage of.
I'll just tell the story of the most recent trip, which is the one that really opened my eyes to the potential dangers. I requested a ride to the airport, and to my surprise, a guy with a car which I would describe as being "slightly less than Uber quality" arrived to pick me up. I've been taking Uber around Santo Domingo with very few problems. The drivers are always prompt and driving clean, well maintained (by DR standards) cars. However, this guy was in a sub compact hatchback, which didn't even have enough space for my luggage. I had to put my things in the back seat and ride up front.
The thing I noticed immediately is that his car had a manual transmission, but he was struggling to drive it. Anyone who knows how to drive a stick shift could tell that he didn't know what he was doing. He almost stalled it several times at various traffic lights, and then completely in reverse when we had to back out of the toll plaza, which is another story. He wanted to chat a lot, though I had already advised that my Spanish wasn't that good. Really, he was trying to extract information to be used later for intimidation purposes. What can I say, he caught me with my guard a little low based upon my overwhelmingly good experiences with Uber, and I chatted with him a little. I won't go into specifics on my particular situation, but it became abundantly clear that he was trying to make me insecure and/or feel intimidated by talking about some of the things I told him about myself. I already know that it's a bad idea to share personal information with people in this country, as many will just try to use it to get what they want from you, but again, my guard was a little low on this day. Once I realized what he was doing, the conversation abruptly stopped.
The other strange thing is that he either really didn't know how to get to the airport, or he was purposely trying to veer off the main route and/or waste time, possibly setting me up to get robbed somewhere along the way. On 27 de Febero, in the central city, I had to direct him to take the express tunnels. Same thing after crossing the bridge over to the east, he failed to take the tunnel and instead stayed up with the local traffic. Again, when we get to San Vicente, he veers to the right and drives adjacent to the autopista, at which point, he could feel my energy change.
I'm a nice person, I prefer to be this way, but I am also someone who's not easy to mess with. I told him that I knew the way to the airport and for him to get on the autopista, to which, he complied. I went from "guard down" to "shields up" in about two seconds. My new found Dominican friend now seemed to be the one who was a little nervous. However, begins to do something that the other driver on my previous trip did, and at the exact same section of the road; drive fast and somewhat erratic, getting very close on the backs of the cars in front of us, swerving between lanes, etc. I just ignored him and wished that I knew how to say "you're about to be in a fight" in Spanish.
After an ordeal at the toll plaza, not attributable to my driver, he then stays to the left as we approach the turn to the airport, as if to speed right past it towards Boca Chica. Again, I have to yell at him "A LA DERECHA"! Tranquillo, tranquillo, he says, yanking the wheel to the right. Once inside, he had no idea which level was which, or where he was supposed to drop me off. Almost as if he had never been to the airport!
Although I will continue to use Uber in and around Santo Domingo, that was my last Uber to the airport. I'd advise others to use extreme caution or consider other options as well. This driver, and the one before, seemed to inexplicably move slowly or indirect at times, which makes me believe that they're working with other people for some kind of potential setup.
