Big news at Wingz—our new and improved web app is now live!

Along with a redesigned/streamlined booking process that’s cleaner and more efficient, we’ve added the around-town ride feature that used to be only available in our mobile app. So go ahead, book all of your important rides from the office computer: a trip to the holiday party, the next big sporting event, or your last-minute shopping spree for the gifts you forgot needed to get.  

If you’re headed to or from the airport, rides will include a validated flight number that recommends the best pickup time for your journey. 

We’ve also revamped our bookings page (through which you can easily view past and future rides) and the My Favorite Drivers page; adding, sorting, and editing your list has never been easier!

We hope that this update makes booking from any device easier and more fun than it’s ever been before. Click here to check out the new look today!

We’re coming up on the final push for our Take Off with Wingz Sweepstakes. Just a reminder of what’s up for grabs if you’ve yet to enter:

• First Prize: 2 Roundtrip airline tickets anywhere in the world
• Second Prize: $1000 to spend Expedia
• Third Prize: $500 to spend on HomeAway
• Five runner ups: One free Wingz ride each

After signing up, entrants used to only be able to get additional chances to win by taking a Wingz ride or referring friends who took their first ride by the end of the year. Now there are more ways to increase your odds of nabbing one of our prizes!

If you hop on social media and spread the word, participants will gain one extra entry by posting their referral code along with the #WingzTakeOff hashtag on either Facebook or Twitter (note: there’s limit of one post per week per social media platform).

Plus, if somebody takes their first ride because of your post, you’ll still get those extra 3 entries from the referral.

The more you get the word out, the better your chances are of flying somewhere incredible on us.

We’ve cooked up an exciting event here at Wingz HQ to cap off an amazing year—today, we’re announcing the start of our Take Off with Wingz Sweepstakes!

The more you use Wingz, the more likely you are to win one of our amazing prizes; here’s a rundown of what’s up for grabs:

• Grand Prize: Two roundtrip airline tickets to any destination in the world!

• Second Prize: $1000 to spend on Expedia

• Third Prize: $500 to spend on HomeAway

• Runner-Ups (5 winners): A Free Wingz ride (of up to $75)

Signup takes less than a minute, and once you’ve input your information, you’re automatically entered in the running.

How do you increase your chances of winning? By taking rides and referring friends! Here’s how it works:

• Sign up to enter: Visit www.wingz.com/Takeoff to officially put your name in the running
• Earn more entries:
  • ONE extra entry for each Wingz ride you take between now and December 31
  • THREE extra entries for each person you refer who takes a ride between now and December 31

Make sure you enter before the end of the year and get that referral train running; you might be headed to your next international destination on us.

For the sweepstakes’ full rules, click here.

If you’ve been keeping up with us the past few months, you might have seen that we released new services in Austin and the SF Bay Area for those who wanted the same benefits of Wingz in their important around town rides.

Following each of those launches, we received a ton of requests from people in other areas wanting the same treatment; thankfully, we’re here to say that today that service is making its debut in every city we serve!

Here are the details:

• We now offer advance booking, flat-rate pricing, and trusted drivers for private rides all around town and beyond.
• Our official nationwide launch is today, effective immediately!
• The service is live for each city we’re in—Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, and the Bay Area.
• You’ll still be request any of your favorite drivers (from airport or non-airport rides) for a more personal experience.

We hope that your next trip to a concert, sporting event, or doctor’s appointment is made a whole lot easier with this latest feature.

Sit back and get ready to enjoy the ride.

We like to make a big deal about our drivers here at Wingz, and rightfully so: they’re our lifeblood. If we’re going to be a service predicated on the ability to book a driver over and over again, you’re going to want to be darn certain that the folks behind the wheel know what they’re doing!

But how can we ensure that our drivers are giving it their best every ride?

It’s an interesting—albeit abstract—question to tackle, but the answer might lie in the way our bookings are structured. You see, as nice as it is for you to see a familiar face each time a Wingz driver is picking you up, it’s equally advantageous for the driver when you schedule them directly.

A “direct booking” gives Wingz drivers a higher percentage of the fare and provides a big incentive for them to give it 110% on their rides with you. If you’re impressed with a driver after the trip, you can add them to your Favorite Driver list and automatically request them each time you need a ride. You’ll end up giving them a steady workload and be part of a clientele that can help your driver build a business. It’s an added motivation unique to Wingz that could push your ride from good to great.

The friendly kind of “competition” of this setup fits into our app’s formula for giving you rides, and it lets the best drivers rise to the top of the pool when you’re scheduling a trip without a direct booking . When you ride with Wingz, you’re riding with those who truly want to give you the best service on the road.

It’s the middle of the post-work rush hour and your route to the airport is littered with clogged highways, multiple fender benders, and unexpected detours. Your on-demand car arrives 13 minutes later than expected, but the games don’t end there: the app’s going to levy a surge charge on you for having the gall to travel during the city’s busiest time of day. Only after your drop-off at the departures level do you realize the trip was $25 more than the last time you took the same trip.

Wouldn’t you like a little more predictability?

We certainly think so, which is why the issue of transparency is at the heart of everything we do as a business. The ability to get an up-front price before you book is one of the most beloved features at Wingz; consistency is crucial to our pricing model and overall philosophy. We’ll never charge you extra if your trip goes long or the demand for our cars is high—that means you’ll pay the same price whether it’s 4:00 in the morning or smack in the middle of a special event like a rainy rush hour, a protest or a football game. It’s an essential part of our platform that separates us from the other transportation services out there.

So the next time you’re inching your way through thickets of heavy traffic in a car that’s getting more expensive by the minute, remember with Wingz, you’ll never have to guess the prices you’ll pay.

It’s 5:43 a.m. and you’re in a cold sweat. The departure of your early-morning flight is creeping ever-closer, but no matter how nimble your thumbs are in smartphone acrobatics, you can’t find an on-demand ride anywhere within 10 miles of your location.

Shouldn’t you have planned this out beforehand?

We think so, which is why Wingz has the unique feature of scheduling your rides in advance for a stress-free travel experience. If you know when and where you want a ride, there’s no reason to leave your trip up to chance.

Pre-booking your ride with Wingz means that before you even get in the car you’ll know exactly who’s picking you up, at which time, and at what price. Plus, since you’re planning your ride ahead of time, you’ll never be subject to the surge pricing that other rideshare companies set loose whenever there’s a particularly quiet or busy time of the day.

A few other companies have recently trotted out their own versions of “scheduled” rides, but it’s important to know that those features are really just cueing your ride requests at a specific time. Translation: if there aren’t any cars in your area for the time you “scheduled” one in advance, then you’ll still be as driverless as those who hadn’t pre-planned their request in the first place.

When you ride with Wingz, you’re riding with reliability—not a perception of it.

Your trusted, personal driver.

You’ve probably heard the term from us before, as it’s the #1 mantra we stand behind and take pride in as a company. When we hand-pick our drivers to become a part of the Wingz team, there’s an intense (but fair) level of scrutiny involved on our side of the equation. We want to make sure that you’re riding with a crop of outstanding drivers—ones you’ll want to ride with again and again.

If a potential driver comes to us looking to apply, they’ll have to go through a step-by-step vetting process that includes:

• An individual screening to bring in the friendliest and most welcoming
• A criminal background & MVR (Motor Vehicle Record) check to assure passenger safety
• A 19-point vehicle inspection to keep you riding with the best cars around
• A disability online orientation to assist passengers that require special accommodations
• An online orientation and knowledge test to ensure you’re riding with the savviest and most well-informed

Beyond the logistics of this checklist, we still need to confirm that these are the right people for the Wingz driver team. When we’re in the home stretch of the on-boarding process, we also look for:

• A recent and clean vehicle that will make riding with us comfortable and carefree
• A customer-oriented attitude that demonstrates the driver is willing to go the extra mile to make a rider happy
• Some experience driving with other transportation providers or other rideshare companies to verify that this isn’t their first rodeo in the industry

After all’s said and done, we only end up accepting around 5% of the drivers who apply to become a driver. Once they’re on board, Wingz drivers are subject to routine checkups per regulatory requirements to verify their vehicles are safe and their insurance up to date; it’s a lot of work, but it’s the only way to keep our engine running.

Earlier this year we rolled out a new, around-town service in Austin created for those who wanted to book rides beyond the airport with their favorite drivers. We’re happy to say that today, that feature is making it’s debut in our home town of San Francisco, as well as the greater SF Bay area!

Just like our airport rides, our new service takes the stress out of getting to and from wherever you need to go—a night on the town, a business meeting, a sporting event, or even a doctor’s appointment!

With advanced booking, flat-rate pricing, and trusted drivers, you can rest easy knowing a friendly driver will be waiting for you… not the other way around. As always, once you ride with Wingz, you can re-book your favorite driver for a more personal experience. Just hop on our iOS or Android app (no desktop bookings for this service yet) and start scheduling your rides today!

Just to be uber-clear: Wingz rides are not on-demand, they can be booked anywhere from 1 hour to 2 months in advance (2 hours to 2 months for airport rides). The reason is simple—advanced booking takes the stress out of wondering if a driver will be available when you need it.

While we’re happy to drive you shorter distances, these rides do have a $25 minimum.

Now sit back and get ready to enjoy the ride!

Stumptown, we’re back!

Our 11-month hiatus from Portland has been more than we could bear—we’ve all deeply missed your breweries, bridges, and Trail Blazers. It may have taken us a while to get the necessary permits to return to PDX, but we’ve been working around the clock since our departure to make sure we could return to the Rose City.

Portland is one of the most scenically gorgeous and culturally rich cities in the United States, and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of its travel landscape. We’re excited to be back in the burgeoning “Silicon Forest” tech scene, which is starting to become an integral part of the business milieu in the Pacific Northwest.

Our list of cities and airports is ever growing; you can visit wingz.com to see where we’re currently available. If you don’t find your favorite place of destination or departure now, hang tight—we’ll be there soon enough! 

Book your ride today.