Honest Ticket has announced that it will launch its new prepay taxi service aimed at overseas tourists on July 15, beginning with major airports.
In recent years, several taxi operators in Korea have been caught overcharging tourists with exorbitant fares, often targeting travelers who have just arrived in the country. While Seoul has been trying to crack down on this behavior, it’s always difficult to know whether you’re being ‘taken for a ride’ if you’re a visitor in a new city.
Upcoming service Honest Ticket hopes to help tourists and foreign residents take taxis around Korea without having to worry about being duped. It also helps drivers by reducing misunderstandings, and keeping customers happy since they won’t be watching the meter creep up — especially for longer distances.
The app differs from Kakao Taxi in that rides are paid for and booked in advance. It also offers the choice between regular cabs, VIP taxis or a van if you have a large group. Once you’ve selected the departure point and destination, the distance and time is calculated, and payment can be made in US dollars via Paypal. Credit cards are also accepted, though it uses the Korean payment system KG Inicis to process transactions.
Once a booking has been made, passengers can then use their electronic ticket in any cab displaying the Honest Ticket logo on its windshield. Drivers scan the ticket — which is active for 30 minutes prior and following the chosen time. The whole process removes the need to worry about language barriers or confirming the destination, which is selected by placing a pin on a map.
Honest Ticket supports English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, and makes use of Google maps when selecting destinations so that users can type location names in their own language. On the other hand, distances and travel times are calculated through SK’s T-map platform, and the journey is displayed live on the driver’s device.
While the app is a welcome addition to the mobile taxi market, don’t mistake it for a competitor of Kakao or Uber Black — at least not in its current form. Honest Ticket is primarily targeting the tourism market, and will initially only operate out of Incheon International Airport, Gimpo Airport, Jeju Airport and Uni Hotel Jeju. The company says that it will gradually increase the number of departure points by establishing partnerships with hotels and will also monitor use during the Pyeongchang Olympics to improve services in the future.
“Now that Korea has joined other developed nations as a competitive tourist destination, there continues to be complaints about using taxis here,” explains Honest Ticket CEO Yang Han Wul. “We launched the app to stop misunderstandings towards honest-working taxi drivers and help visitors in Korea feel safe and comfortable when using taxis. By building trust in taxi services, we look forward to improving Korea’s image as a whole.”
Yang says that he eventually plans to release the app in other countries that are known for poor taxi services, including the Philippines, China, France, the US and India.
