On Airport Taxis

Just last May 29, 2010 me, my siblings, my uncle and his wife and 10 other people arrived in Manila (from a group tour in Singapore). Since we arrived in Manila at around 6PM--the evening rush hour--it was difficult for us to find a taxi to take us to our hotel in Makati.

We were, by the way, regrouped into mini groups which was composed of four (4) persons; maximum of four passengers only per taxi.

After waiting for a few minutes, our (big) group head told me and my mini group that we should go ahead and hire a metered airport taxi (the yellow one). So we did.

A regular taxi--the one that starts its rate a P 30 pesos--ride to our hotel would usually cost us between P 100-P 150, if the driver is honest enough not to take a longer route. A metered airport taxi starts its rate at P 70 (plus P 3 for every 300 meters) so we expected to pay at around P 150-P200.

As expected, we met the Manila traffic enroute to our hotel. The first thing I noticed about our taxi's meter was it mile counter (the one that counts down from 300 to 0 for P 3/300m additional cost) still ran, at a fast rate might I add, even if the vehicle was not moving.

By the time we arrived our hotel, the taxi meter indicated that our total bill was at P 268, as far as I can remember; that wasn't the worst part. The other mini-groups followed behind. Groups 2 and 3 arrived in our hotel a few minutes after we did. But the last group's taxi seemed to have taken his time to go to our hotel. The last group's taxi meter indicated that their total bill was at P 348!

Here's the worst part: group 2 and 3's taxi did not flag down the meter, saying that they would be basing the price they would charge on the last group's taxi. Talk about cheating.

To cut the story short, the group head (my uncle) spoke his mind to the taxi drivers. He told them that if they were not cheating, they should give us an official receipt to prove that that was really the bill we should pay. They didn't.

After everything calmed down, the hotel staff told us that we were not the first ones to complain. We learned that a lot of guests were also, in a way, "robbed" by these cheating drivers. I was a good thing, according to them, that someone finally stood up against them.


Here are a few tips to avoid being tricked by these a-holes:

1. DO NOT speak any language or dialect aside from Tagalog. Learn Manila twang before you go to Manila.

2. KNOW your route. Inform the driver which route you want to take. Google maps is a good tool to use.

3. KNOW the price range from point A to point B.

4. If you think you are being tricked, stay calm. DO NOT fight fire with fire. React only upon arrival to your destination (read Tips 2 and 3).

If you have been on that route before, you probably know the price range. If your past bill and the current had too large a discrepancy (P 100 and above), tell the driver that you were not pleased with what he did. Pay only the amount you paid in the past.

My aunt once went to Market! Market! from Makati and paid only P 50 for the taxi fare. Once done with her shopping, she took another taxi back to her hotel. She was surprised that the taxi meter read more than P 150. The driver took a long route to bloat the bill. My aunt was already suspicious then but only told the driver to hurry up because she another appointment in the following hour. Upon arriving in her hotel, within the sight of the security guard, she told the taxi driver she was displeased and that she would only pay P 50 as the first taxi she rode charged her such. Because the driver was guilty, there was nothing he could do.