We have read about the taxi rip offs in Prague. Apparently in a government reaction, there are now taxi stands called "Fair Place" with a thumbs up symbol. They are supposed to charge a fair rate.
Have you used them in Prague?
Are they available at the airport?
Thanks.

I've never taken a taxi from the airport so cannot tell (taken airport shuttle a few times years ago and, in recent years, always regular bus to city center subway stop ). If you don't get answer here, try Prague forum tripadvisor.com. There are regular visitors to Prague and Prague residents posting there.

That must be new. There was a discussion on here last week, and AAA Taxi was discussed as the preferred company. When in doubt, call them & send for a car. I can't imagine special stands that are supposed to be fair. Does that automatically insinuate that all the others are crooks? Crazy...

As far the airport, there is 1 que outside of arrivals, and there is a flat fee to go to downtown Prague 1. I've taken taxis from Ruzyne before, and this has always been the case (a standard fee for downtown).

When we arrived to Prague a few years ago, there was an official kiosk where they gave us a tickets to an offical taxi. The fare was a flat reasonable fare. However when we arrived to our hotel the taxi driver did not wish to give us back the change. The only detail we had given him a big currency bill, the only one we had. We did not wish to give a tip of forty or fifty dollars....at the end we won but it was a struggle.
i would like to know if things have changed in Prague recently, we got the inform from Lonely Planet.

This is one of the articles about the "fair place" taxi stands:

http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2...irer-fares.php

That is kind of funny, as what taxi is going to not go to a stand out of a sense of "honor" because they know they aren't fair. I read the article, it's an attempt, but it doesn't really guarantee anything. If you did get cheated, you'd have to complain and the city to investigate, so it seems pointless to me. But I guess if you want to go there, go ahead, I suppose it might make me feel better.

I don't take taxis from the airport, I either take an airport car that has a fixed rate (not metered or running like taxis), which are a choice right at the curb, or a group shuttle van (and Prague allowed them to pick up passengers right on the spot, without pre-arranged reservations, so it's easy and you just may have a wait a few minutes for it to fill upt) OR last time I had my hotel send the private car driver they work with to pick me up, as I knew that was a flat rate they quoted me.

There are a lot of options at the airport, so there isn't really any reason to take a regular taxis there, as far as I'm concerned. That may be perfectly okay, though, not saying it isn't, but I'd worry more about taxi options in other places than the airport.

Prague has been "known" for some of its corrupt taxis for decades.

Whenever we have taken one, anywhere, we have always asked the driver to tell us what the fare is likely to be in advance.

If it seemed out of line we simply took another taxi.

Those Fair Place stands have a price chart attached on the pole (e.g. Prague Old Town Square to Airport) so at least it's easier to negotiate the price beforehand with the driver.

Christina--please tell us more about using an "airport car" with a fixed rate. Where are they located at the airport? Are they located near the taxis?

Thanks much.

Also, any suggestions for a hiring a private guide in Prague and for sites outside the city?

Thanks much.

when i first moved to prague for an extended work assignment i was told by a local to use AAA taxi (they don't pick up from the airport however...or at least didn't when i lived there). the only times that i did not use AAA were when i was too tired to argue with associates who just wanted to jump in the first cab we could find. in these cases we nearly always had to deal with a lot of BS from the driver...haggling over far too expensive 'fixed pricing' and general dishonesty. AAA is professional and has a high tech and efficient booking system. a joy to use. they are all over so it's not much extra effort to find one.

It's been a few years since I took the airport car one, but yes, it was one of the options at the curb at the Prague airport, in the same place all the other kinds of transportation was. It had some name on the side called Airport Taxi or something, I don't recall exactly--I think that was the name of the company. I wouldn't stress about this too much, I'd just go out and see the options when you are there and see what appeals and compare the rates. That is one of the big advantages of Prague Airport -- they don't require special reservations in advance for some of those options like some cities do.

Twice I just did what seemed best upon arrival, the last time I did have my hotel send a car which is a good idea, also, if you like the rate they quote you. A lot of hotels in Prague do that. Also, you can compare rates to the group vans at the curbs and ask them about how long until they leave. They should give you an idea, it probably won't be long if you arrive any normal time in the day. They just have to wait to fill up.

And don't forget about Prague's excellent public transportation system. Much less expensive (basically free if you buy a transit pass for your stay in any case) and no hassles or anxiety.

You might want to check out www.mike-chauffeur.cz. We have used his service a couple of times and were very pleased and feel he is trustworthy.

We just got back from Prague. We had the Mike's chauffer (website listed above) pick us up at the airport and drive us to Cesky Krumlov. Then they took us from CK back to Prague 2 days later. Very reliable.

Going from our hotel in Prague to the airport, the hotel arranged a taxi. The cost was a set 750 czn (about $50) for 4 of us.

Can your hotel arrange for a pickup so that you don't have to worry about a taxi?

Of course hotels can arrange for a taxi pick-up, or airport transfer. As people have said before, sometimes nepotism is at play (especially at smaller hotels), so make sure there is a fixed rate in effect.

Another vote for Mike's Chauffer Service. We were in Prague the end of May and used his service to get to our hotel from the train station, and also back to the train station from our hotel. His father was the driver upon our arrival, and helped me buy train tickets for our return trip (to Vienna). Mike was the driver for our return to the station a few days later. Both were very nice, and very helpful. The service was excellent. Reasonable price. Take a look at their website mentioned in the post above.

use only yellow taxis run by AAA taxi company.

Our b&b will pick 3 of us and our luggage up at the airport and transport us to the b&b for 600CZK which would be somewhere arond $35 to $39 depending on exchange rate.
I did check out Prague taxi websites to find out what the going rate was and it seemed to be 600CZK.