Forum: travel.stackexchange.com
Tags: <airport-transfer><ride-sharing><michigan><dtw>
Title: Is Ann Arbor within reasonable Lyft/Uber range of DTW?
Question: My family is going to a wedding in Ann Arbor. From a map, it looks like it's within reason to Lyft or Uber from the DTW airport. (Where "reasonable" means something like "under $50".) Does this make sense or are there any gotchas?  I know this can be calculated with the app (or various online price estimators), but I'd really love to hear from a local or someone else with personal experience.

Answers:
sents: text: Both Uber and Lyft apps allow you to enter both a "from" and "to" location that is nowhere near your current location.
text: Thus you can simple open the app, enter DTW as the pickup location, the location of your wedding as the destination, and it will give you a price for that journey.
text: This allows you to confirm that taking such a journey is feasible, and roughly how much it will cost - although obviously the cost can vary based on the time of day/traffic/etc.
text: Looking at the moment, Uber is quoting a little under $40 from DTW to Ann Arbor.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/984/Doc
score: 35
sents: text: Also consider the Michigan Flyer https://www.michiganflyer.com/
text: A bus from DTW to Ann Arbor that goes 13x a day.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/108867/DumbTownie
score: 10
sents: text: I'm not a local, but a while ago I worked at Ford and lived in Ann Arbor for a time,
text: so I did that commute every day.
text: Your main gotcha is going to be the state of
text: I-94 (and I-275 as an alternative route).
text: This can be very bad in rush hour.
text: If you're arriving in the evening after 7pm, you should usually be safe.
text: If you're getting a hotel for the weekend, consider that Ann Arbor is not a small area, and it has limited access to I-94 along the west side.
text: If you want to minimise costs from the airport, then staying somewhere in the south-east or east of the city should make your Uber cheaper.
text: Assuming of course that someone local can give you a ride to the wedding.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/46293/Graham
score: 8
sents: text: I write this answer from a Lyft going from Ann Arbor to DTW.
text: Booking this ride on Lyft cost $50, whereas it was $100 on Uber with surge pricing.
text: I’ve seen it as low as $35.
text: So yes, for convenience, Uber and Lyft definitely work.
text: But as other answers mention, there are better options for more like $13/trip.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/108874/Evan Weissburg
score: 6
sents: text: Since you said you want personal experience, I have made this trip a few times via Uber while visiting Ann Arbor.
text: It should be reasonable, though my last trip was 2 years ago ($36 at ~8 AM).
text: There can be a large amount of traffic slow down in the morning on a weekday, as Graham's answer indicates.
text: The pickup time was a bit longer than I was used to, I think it took 10-15 minutes for the driver to arrive at the Airport.
text: I also took an Uber from the hotel to the wedding venue, it is a very common area for weddings
text: so the driver should be familiar with where to take you.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/78776/ShadowTiger
score: 4
sents: text: Rent a car for cheap.
text: I was just in Ann Arbor a few months ago.
text: My wife goes all the time.
text: If we are there for only a day, Uber makes sense for a one time round trip from the airport and back.
text: If you are there for more than one day, rent a car.
text: Unless you want to burden family members with schlepping you around, it’s more convenient for everyone.
text: Plus, Ann Arbor is a pretty nice area.
text: And, except for rush hour, the drive is easy.
text: It would be worth the $20-30/day or so as long as you do not have to pay for hotel parking.
text: We usually don’t.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/108254/Dean F.
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
Uber and Lyft are both recommended. Lyft has been reported to be cheaper than Uber. Depending on times and surge pricing,  Uber may charge between $40 and $100 for this trip.
Uber and Lyft are both options, costing between $36 and $100 depending on surge pricing.