Free Now Premium Services

[Rat Catcher]

Any drivers on here willing to admit how much they are paid by Free Now for providing premium services?

The only such service I'm aware of is the surge fee which varies in accordance with demand and is called Priority Taxi. Those jobs seem to be routinely offered to non-priority drivers with a small bonus attached (€2/€4/€7) which is presumably a cut of the fee charged to the client, in the case reported below seemingly €30-40. I assume Priority drivers get a bigger cut. Are yisser sworn to secrecy or wha?


https://www.galwaybeo.ie/news/ireland-news/famous-irish-music-star-refunded-9849708

Famous Irish music star refunded 'too expensive' taxi to Dublin Airport as 'lesson learned'

The rockstar was refunded the 'total charge'

ByThomas Telford
14:50, 9 JAN 2025 UPDATED15:01, 9 JAN 2025

A famous Irish rockstar has shared a positive update on a recent taxi journey he took to Dublin Airport.

Earlier this week, we reported how Galway native Steve Wall, a singer-songwriter and actor who is also a founder member of the multi-platinum-selling Irish band The Stunning and The Walls, was shocked at being charged a €75 taxi fare to Dublin airport from Harold’s Cross.

He took to X to vent his frustration at the price claiming it never used to cost more than €35 to get to the airport from Harolds Cross.

"What’s going on with taxi prices? Just got charged €75 to the airport from Harold’s Cross which never cost more than €35 approx.

It cost more than my flight…mental! I booked it via FreeNow. No air coach service nearby," Steve told his ten thousand followers.

Thankfully, Steve has now confirmed that he was refunded the entire fare from Freenow and has urged people to consider other taxi companies or Dublin Bus as ways to get to Dublin Airport.

"Just an update on the thread below. I was refunded the total charge, so thank you FreeNow_IE, Steve said. "However lesson learned, FreeNow is way too expensive at €76 for a 45-minute airport run with no tolls.

Future options for me are Dublin Express from Rathmines or a fixed rate company like Borough taxis.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Also Dublin bus news should consider an hourly express No. 16 to the airport with just a few stops. It goes there anyway."

When asked in the replies how Freenow explained the fair, Steve responded: "They said I was mistakenly charged for a premium service."

[Shallow Hal]

A Premium service?....I thought he just booked a taxi...was that not the metered fare or a charge by FreeNow for this Premium service?

[Rat Catcher]

Free now often offer a bonus on what they call Priority Taxi fares. As a non-priority driver the most I've ever been offered is €7 but €2 would be most frequent with the occasional €4. You then input the meter fare and Free Now pay that plus the bonus to you less commission. The amount they charge the client is between them and the client, I guess.... but there does seem to be a lot of secrecy surrounding the surcharges they apply.

The problem is, clients generally pay scant attention to the fare breakdown so they get the impression that what they're charged is the normal fare... and assume it's the drivers making a fortune which may well be the case or at least partially so for Priority drivers but certainly isn't the case for us normal plebs. Clients also don't seem to be know that firms (not drivers) set their own fares. As Steve alludes to some (in particular Free Now) are obviously a lot more expensive than others.