American Blue Private Car Service

Second time I’ve waited at ohare over 15 minutes (today was 24 minutes after order time…34 after I arrived and texted the driver…) called the driver who clearly was woken up by the call, who then argued with me that he wasn’t late. Why am I paying more for a private car again??? At least I expect less from the American «regular» taxi. As a frequent traveler I expect drivers to be 5 – 7 minutes out, not 20!!!

Broken system and backend.
I had 4 very good experiences with this vendor which is why I give it 3 instead of 1 star, but the experience I just had is big enough to knock it down to two stars as you will read.
I tried changing online to an earlier time via my iPhone and I could not log in because it said «too many redirects». I then happened to find an app online, probably a beta app and tried but got a «null error» and received no text or email confirmation.
I then tried to call but the phone kept ringing for a minute and no one picked up, likely due to a busy night before hand.
It turned out the change order did go through, which is the crux of the issue as I did not see the missed calls and prepared as if my request for a change did not go through.
They need to fix their systems to not give errors when utilizing a phone, they need to fix their systems to provide confirmations for changes if made by myself and not a phone dispatcher. And they need to make sure their dispatcher is available via the phone.

I have tried to given this service the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions, but after today I’m moving on. My two main gripes;
1) Bait and Switch — on more than two different occasions I have ordered the «Blue Car» service and only for a standard American Taxi to show up. Don’t advertise a «premium» service, have your customers book it, and then show up with your standard economy service.
2) Pick-​up booking from airport — completely erratic, sometimes a good experience with a driver that communicates and is available, other times you call get the status on your pickup and you are begging the dispatcher for an update, the car they assign is more that :40 minutes away, and you get to sit outside breathing exhaust fumes.
To add onto this I have also had many drivers on the way back from the airport who have blown past the exit to get to my house, and clearly have no idea how to navigate successfully around the Northern Chicago area. At one time wasn’t there a test that drivers had to take in order to become licensed?
Net/​net — I guess you get what you pay for as they are cheap, but after way too many stressful Monday morning trying to get to the airport and exhausting Thursday evenings trying to get home — I’m done with American Blue Car and American Taxi. Your experience may vary — but I’m out.

great ride service that falls somewhere between limo and cab. rates are not much more than regular taxis, and you get the added benefits of:
direct text message communications with drivers.
semi-​flexible pick-​up waiting (sometimes cabbies yell at me when i’m 6 minutes behind because i was looking for my wallet, not american blue).
new and clean cars that smell new and clean (not like air freshener covering up bad smells).
easy to use app for ordering/​scheduling.
can store credit card on file.
the only downsides are that occasionally you’ll get a normal american taxi vehicle (fresher and newer though) and you have to schedule your airport returns in advance because there is a 2 hour pre-​order window.
all the drivers i’ve had have ranged from quiet and professional to outgoing and friendly.

American Blue is a premium suburban Chicago car service offered by American Taxi. The main difference is an upgraded vehicle (mid-​size sedan with leather in my experience). The rate is approximately a 30% premium (varies) compared to American Taxi. Although American Blue has online ordering via the web, they don’t have the smartphone app option as is the case with American Taxi.
As a suburban car service, one end of the trip must be in the suburbs (no Chicago-​to-​Chicago service). Flat rates to/​from airports are available.
American Blue and American Taxi are just the dispatchers. The drivers are independent owner/​operators.
Overall, no issues and very convenient and efficient ordering and payment — credit cards accepted. The upgraded vehicle does provide a more pleasant ride vs. some of the American Taxi vehicles (especially the older vehicles). American Taxi has an edge with the smartphone app and no advance reservation required (very handy for airport pickup).

For the first time ever I found myself in the predicament of not being able to get a ride from a friend to the airport, and not wanting to abandon my car to the wilds of O’Hare for a week while I went on vacation, I decided to hire a ride from home. A friend told me that she has used American Taxi with great satisfaction, but I felt more secure in going with the car service, American Blue, so I could set up the pickup times etc.
As it happened, I had the same driver (Marty) both going and coming back: nice guy, chatted with me (which relieved my stress on the way when I was worrying about travel issues), and when I was coming back checked in with my cell phone when my plane was late. We had an hour’s drive in rain back to my home in Naperville, but he was a very safe driver.
The rates are extremely reasonable; the flat rate from my home was only slightly more expensive than a taxi and much less than a limo, and I felt safer knowing that I had a designated car and driver waiting for me. I will definitely use this service for my airport needs again!