Review: Yandex - Armenia's Rideshare Taxi Service

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During my extended visit to Yerevan Armenia, I used Yandex for rideshare and taxi service and it was excellent.

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If You’re Visiting Armenia, Download The App BEFORE Arrival

If you’re visiting the Republic of Armenia, especially Yerevan – download the Yandex Go app prior to your arrival. Both cell phone service and wifi can be spotty in the arrivals hall and dreadfully slow prohibiting the download of the app. Like many airports around the world, the arrivals hall is filled with taxi touts attempting to take you into the city for extortionate prices ($100 USD will be the first ask) when the app offers prices as low as $5 USD for the 30-minute ride into the city.

I encountered this in Panama City, Panama as well.

The app also functions in the following countries (many of which do not have other rideshare apps): Russia Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Serbia, and Moldova.

Yandex Go on the iOS App Store

Yandex Go on Google Play

Easy To Use

Though Yandex Go is owned by a massive Russian conglomerate, I was able to select English as my default language and use American Express as my payment method. Requesting a ride is easy. When opening the menu, enter your address and choose a service class to ride in. For airport pickups with luggage or many passengers we chose mini-vans.

Many residents of Yerevan, Armenia ride economy for everyday errands – I have several employees who don’t have any desire to own a car because of Yandex. However, due to the extremely low costs and our short trip, we often chose “Business Class” which was often the only luxury option and rarely spent more than $5 USD even for 15-20 minute trips with tip.

Searching for a Yandex Go car

Once the destination and class has been submitted to the app, a driver that picks up your ride will be shown on the Yandex Go map with an approximate time of arrival.

For those traveling with children, riders can indicate that they need a child safety seat with the vehicle and only those cars will be offered. The app also has a food delivery component whereby Yandex service users can order food from local cafes and restaurants (or coffee shops) for delivery as one might with Uber Eats in the US.

One of my favorite features is that customers can create rides with multiple stops, whether it’s to pick something up at the store, or a friend along the way – a feature that Uber has made difficult in the past.

Incredibly Inexpensive

I’ve traveled all over the world and lived in some incredibly inexpensive locations – Yandex is by far the most affordable service I have found with relation to the vehicles and frequent availability. With an approximate exchange rate of 428 Armenian Dram (AMD) to $1 USD at the time of our visit, we used the marker of 1,000 Dram as just over $2 as our baseline for quick conversions. The exchange rate has recently slid to 477 AMD to $1 as of the time of writing.

We were consistently offered rides at a price point of 900 AMD, 1300 AMD, and 1900 AMD. Prices vary depending on your location, distance, class of service, and availability of vehicles at the time of ordering. We only had one bad ride out of dozens during our stay (which I will write about in the near future) and many of the vehicles were late model BMWs, Mercedes, or fully-loaded Toyotas. I don’t need a BMW for a ten minute ride but when the cost is only $0.30 more, I splurge.

Yandex totals

For those who would prefer not to use a credit card, Yandex Go offers the convenience of a rideshare without requiring a credit card as drivers also accept cash. For busy areas, double check the app as it will suggest alternative pickup points that are convenient to drivers and roadways.

Yandex Go ride history

Conclusion

If you’re visiting Armenia or any of the other countries in which Yandex Go is offered, I highly recommend using the service. It was quick, easy, cheap, offered in my language, all without sacrificing the ride experience. Truthfully, it made it hard to justify walking around town.

What do you think? Have you used Yandex Go? How was your experience?