NatalieM

I'm looking for any advice as to how to estimate and ensure reasonable cab fares for an upcoming trip to Italy. This is an area I feel particularly ill at ease due to the language gap. In a recent trip to Spain this was an issue that seemed to recur, in that cab drivers often "estimated" an overly high fare, then quickly relented when we challenged the quote. E.g. cab fare from airport in Florence to Hotel Porta Faenza -- travel threads estimate 10 euros, while the hotel website says 25 euros. Is cab fare regulated at the airport? Or am I worrying too much? Thanks!

hopscotch

Just ask the driver to write down the amount he wants. He has to feed his family. If you agree to his price that is the deal. If you don't agree to pay what he asks look for another cab. Keep the paper on which the price is written in the event of a dispute at the other end.

Flyboy

Also stick with officially sanctioned taxis. At just about every major international airport I've visited, there are "freelancers" who offer "taxis" to the naive. Official taxis don't do that; they wait in a taxi line. (You probably know this, but somebody's keeping those others going.)

kimerley

Hopefully you are worrying too much, planning a trip tends to do that...I'm suffering from it now.
When my son and I arrived in Perugia last July, I knew that I had to find a taxi driver who spoke English...so that the owner of the villa we were renting could give him directions via a public phone!
What a hoot....I could not find an english speaking taxi driver (obviously I'm in Italy) and eventually found a girl waiting for a bus who was bilingual to help me, this took my around 40 minutes.
She approached the various drivers and eventually found one.....
The taxi driver reluctantly entered the public phone booth area, I rang the owner and she gave him directions!!!!!
He got slightly lost and the 9km trip from the Station in Perugia to Montelaguardia (try finding it on a map..)was a princely 50 euro. He did not rip me off, the meter was running and all was above board.
Get a friend who speaks writes/speaks Italian to write our your question/cost for you and give that to the driver.....wish I had.

StCirq

I think you're obsessing, or assuming the worst. I've been all over the world and never gotten ripped off by a taxi driver. Admittedly, I speak Italian pretty well, so I wouldn't worry about it, but neither would I go on vacation assuming I was going to be ripped off, which is I think your assumption. Such assumptions don't sit very well with me - they're like assumptions about the Mafia - that Italians will rip you off, etc. I don't like that, and my experience has not been anything like that.

Write down the address and give it to the cab driver (make sure it's a genuine cab driver, not a gypsy cab). Ask him to confirm a price. If it's reasonable, get in. If it's not, bargain. Agree on a price and go. It's not Nigeria!
Also, Italian's not that difficult a language. If you're traveling this summer you've got more than enough time to master taxi language so you are in complete control of the situation.

NatalieM

Thank you to the first several posters' helpful suggestions. Yet again, StCirq's response is the type that discourages new posters. FYI I am not assuming I will be ripped off, but have, unfortunately, been misquoted fares by unscrupulous (or unofficial) cab drivers in several countries, including the U.S. It is frustrating when reasonable questions are met with unfounded criticism. If you don't like the question, simply don't reply.

Grasshopper

St. Cirq, have you been to Athens? Taxi drivers there <b>will</b> rip you off. I think it's a game for them. At least pre-Olympics. Maybe something has changed since. I never saw working meters, I got change that turned out to be Romanian, and I got the long trip to a short destination.

That said, in Italy if you take a lisenced taxi from a queue, you will never be ripped off. Just pay what's on the meter. No matter how tired you are when you arrive, and how aggressive a stray, &quot;helpful&quot; taxi driver may seem, DON'T take a ride from a gypsy driver.

Christina

I've taken cabs in Athens and never been ripped off. I felt a little guilty about how little the fare was, actually. If I'm in a country where I don't know the language or feel uneasy, I do show them the address (or tell them) and ask them about how much they think it will be. I have never insisted on a flat rate in any city because I don't think that's right if a cab has a meter, but I'll admit I just am not very aggressive about those things and basically just go with the flow and assume if I act fairly savvy I won't get ripped off. Since I have asked for an estimate, I guess I figure they won't go too far from it.

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never been ripped off by a taxi driver in any city, even the ones where everyone says they will (like Prague or Athens). If it's the thing to do in Italy to get a flat rate quoted, then I would follow their advice.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't think a hotel would have a reason to overly inflate their estimate of a cab ride, and would trust them more than threads which can often be wrong due to simply forgetting, being out of date, or people getting confused about exchange rate differences.

Deloris

Ask your hotel concierge for the cost of the trip. Have them write it down.Check if this includes a tip. Ask the cab driver (with help from concierge if language is a problem). FLAT FEE. when you return, offer the payment and then add tip if not included. By the way, greasing the palm of your hotel concierge at the start of your trip REALLY HELPS! How mucn? Depends on how much you need them and how much you want to see. If you will really need them a lotfor more than 2 days ... a $20 is well worth the investment. Only 1 or 2 days, depends on the request.

francesco_m

Christina, my experience in Prague was great, but I experienced one taxi driver who charged me twice the cost of what another taxi had asked (same hour, same route), and the amount was on the display...the trick is that taximeter can run at different &quot;speeds&quot; and above the amount in euros you should see a little number (1, 2, 3...) that changes the &quot;cost of each mile&quot; (that should be used if they're going out of town, or if it's a bank holiday, or else -each county decides for its taxis). Even in Italy you can get that, so ask if you see &quot;strange numbers&quot;, and also pay attention at a list of prices that every taxi has to display where you can clearly read the cost of each mile and supplements.

caroline_edinburgh

I think I've twice had taxi drivers from Fiumcino airport try to rip me off, I'm sorry to say, and they seemed to be from the official taxi rank. The first one told us what the price would be but then added on various supplements which seemed at least partly to be connected to our baggage, and which almost doubled the price. I wasn't sure if this was legit or not so didn't feel I could argue. With the second I watched the meter like a hawk all the way; then suddenly, as we approached our hotel (well, the street round the corner from the hotel, as it transpired - so we couldn't complain to the hotel ?), the fare increased hugely. When I disputed this, the guy eventually revealed that he'd switched the meter from euros to lire, as if this was a normal thing to do, and switched it back again. When I go again, if I want to taxi into town, I'll get the hotel to book it.

suec1

We have taken a taxi several times from Rome Termini to our hotel. On our last trip I think we were ripped off but I did not want to argue about 10E. We always avoid the gypsy cabs and head for the official stand outside instead but this last time there was a dark haired girl (I think) who stuck her hand out when we got into the cab. Well we did not give her anything as this had never been expected previously but then I think the cab driver overcharged us - it was 24E to go to a hotel near the Piazza Nuvona - usually we stay up on the Aventine Hill and it only costs about 12E to get up there - and I think that is further! But like I said I did not feel like arguing however afterwards I really felt we had been ripped off. What do you think? And have you enchountered the dark haired person who is &quot;helping&quot; you pick up a cab at the taxi que? SueC1

ira

Of course you were.

If you had just stood in line, you would have saved 10 E.

However,
Some time ago I went to NYC on a business trip. My client had arranged a room for me at the Penta Hotel.

&quot;How do I get there&quot;, says I.
&quot;Just go out of Penn station to the cab stand&quot;.

So I did. Got ina cab and was driven to the Penta Hotel. $6 + tip.

Checked in. Called my Lady Wife, gave her my room number and the hotel phone number: &quot;Pennsylvania 6 - &quot;, and she said, &quot;5000&quot;.

I was in the Hotel Pennsylvania (now called the Penta) right across the street from the Pennsylvania Station.

suec1

Ira - the thing was I did stand in the line! The dark haired person was &quot;working&quot; the line - &quot;directing&quot; people to cabs that were pulling up there as if she were some sort of controller. That was what was so frustrating to me - I went to the designated place and still think I was ripped off. That is why I am curious as to whether other Rome travelers have had this same experience. SueC1

sandi_travelnut

There are taxi stands all over the city. If you catch a cab there you shouldn't have any problems.,...we never did. Once we took an unregulated cab but agreed upon the proce before we got in. He wa very nice and charged us exactly what we agreed upon. The reason we took the unregulated cab was because there was a long queue at the stand and no cabs coming. It was freezing outside and we saw several unregulated cabs a few yards away..just sitting there empty. We had no issues.

kfusto

I have twice had porters at Stazione Termini in Rome try to load me into unofficial cabs ( I needed help as was travelling with elderly relative and could not handle the bags alone this time). These are pretty much always a rip off unless it is a case of you knowing where you are going and what you should pay.

In Florence, there are supplements for pretty much everything and taxis can get expensive. The hotel or restaurant calls you one and gives you a ticket and tells you how many minutes til pick up. I am not sure exactly when the meter starts ticking, but I have seen supplements that equal the fare. You will pay between 20-25 Euro to the Porta Faenza from Peretola Airport in Florenceso the hotel is correct.

In large cities like Rome and Milan, public transportation is a good option.

chepar

I think just because it hasn't happened to YOU means it doesn't ever happen. Obviously, it does happen sometimes - but there are things you can do to lessen the chance of it occurring. Others have already gone over them, so I won't reiterate.

I don't think we should trivialize someone's concerns about the issue, especially as this is a common one.

Lovejoy

Here is a link to a funny story of how the Mayor of Prague went undercover to see if the cabs really were ripping of tourists.In a bit of irony he disguised himself as an Italian tourist.On his first ride he was overcharged 500%.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4175143.stm

elaine

It hasn't happened to me anywhere (except once here in New York, by a foreign-born cab driver, so I wonder how that statistic gets counted, LOL) but I have read about this problem in Prague. I believe the often-suggested solution is to call one of the metered cab companies, or have your hotel do it for you for airport pick ups and drop offs. I've done that in Italy too.
If I were taking a taxi from a line or hailing on the street and if it weren't metered, then either I wouldn't take it, or I'd set the price before I got in.

It's true that just because it hasn't happened to me doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. But, similarly, just because it happens to Joe doesn't mean that it is <u>likely&lt;u/&gt; to happen to most people: ditto
pickpockets, thefts from hotel rooms, etc.</u>

elaine

sorry that underlining didn't work, I was trying to emphasize 'likely'