How To Avoid Taxi Scams

TTT 61 - Taxi Scams
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Meggan: Hey everyone and welcome back to Travel Mug Podcast for Travel Tip Tuesday. We hope you're having a great 2024 so far, and that you have lots of travel plans near or far on your horizon this year. So Jenn, you have trip coming up right?

Jenn: I do. I think when this comes out, I'll, I think I'll be just home maybe. So, hopefully, hopefully I've had a good trip.

Meggan: Wonderful. will hear all about it, I'm sure. That's excellent. Well, we recently booked a second trip to Europe for the end of September this year using credit card points. So I was excited to be able to finally use those. And one of the things I did was join a travel tips group for the city that we're going to, which is Amsterdam and My goodness. Oh, a tip. When you join these kinds of groups, is to review the group first using the search function before asking a question that has likely been answered hundreds of times. Or just use Google for yourself. some people ask questions like they've never used the internet for themselves ever. Anyway, but I digress.

We'll, maybe I'll do a travel tip Tuesday on before I.

Jenn: learn how to use Google please.

Meggan: Use the internet. You're in a Facebook group, so I know that you're on the internet. So anyway, I rant over. But anyhow, but one of the things that someone said happened to them at Schiphol Airport, I think it's Schiphol. We're gonna go with it. Um, there in Amsterdam is that they were scammed by an unsanctioned taxi driver, meaning charged way above what a taxi cab company would've charged. And I've actually seen this a few times as well with some YouTubers that we watch, and it got me thinking like, what are the things to really watch out for? If you wanna grab an airport taxi for convenience after a long flight. So before leaving for your trip, as we say, nearly every episode, uh, research.

So look up the sanctioned cab companies in your destination. look around any travel tips groups you have joined, and also see if they have an Uber equivalent. When I hear about a lot for Europe, it's called Bolt, and you can actually usually download that app before even leaving home, upon arrival at the airport. Please look for an official taxi stand. They will be close to the terminal. and if someone meets you in the terminal saying they can give you a ride, and their car turns out to be parked far away, this is likely a scam. Even if the line for official cabs is really long, get in line. It is your safest bet. The lines usually go faster than you think they will. Don't flag one down on your own as you won't know if they're official or not. Like people aren't gonna, a hundred people aren't gonna stand in line for unofficial taxis. Like that's a safe place for you. And ensure any taxi you get in is well marked with a company logo and a phone number. If it looks official, it's likely official. another thing is to try to establish the fair upfront before you leave, as there's often set prices from airports to city centers. And if there's no set price, a ensure they have a meter. And B, ensure that they're using their meter. Um, there are actually useful sites you can actually look up, typical taxi fairs for most major cities, such as taxi fair finder.com. Again, that's a research thing. Now if you're paying with cash. Another tip, which I never really thought of, is to use smaller bills and say them out loud as you're handing them to the driver as there have been known scams where if you pay with a 50 note, they drop it and then have a 20 that they sort of quickly reproduce saying that that's all you gave them. So if you're not counting it out, knowing for sure you gave them a 50, they might do a slight of hand. Now, if you are getting scammed and you know that you've been scammed, drivers of course can get irate if you get to your destination and you call them out on it, or if they're trying to charge you a crazy amount. Don't be intimidated. Advise you will pay half or try to come to some agreement of another number that works better for you. But don't be scared into paying a scam unless of course you find yourself feeling very unsafe. Then just pay what you must and chalk it up as a learning experience. But if that's not the case, if there's yourself and another individual. Like try to barter at that point. I'm not gonna pay that, but I will pay you this. I've seen that myself on YouTube videos and it does work. So don't let them like intimidate you because if they're irate, they're just mad they got caught.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: That's essentially what that is.

Now, there is a lot more information about this online, so please do further research before setting out to ensure that you are armed with all the info you need to not get scammed. So, Jenn, do you and Ryan often use cabs from the airport in bigger cities, or what do you typically do?

Jenn: I cannot think of a single time that I have been in a cab traveling. I, we really don't. And we usually do, public transportation if that's an option. Or we've done prearranged bus travel, through like gray line, let's say that. So we did an Iceland, is we, um, took a gray line bus that I booked and paid for in advance, from the airport to Reykjavik and. Yeah, Uber or, um, Lyft that we've ordered, like when we landed. So yeah, I don't think I've ever really done a taxi, and it is because I don't, um, trust them. Most of time. They give me a feeling, and I don't love Uber and Lyft either, but I like that at least the price is on the app, kind of thing.

But yeah, no, typically we, we opt for public transportation whenever possible, or a bus that like arranged in advance type of thing.

Meggan: Excellent. We have taken taxis before. We've never been in a scam situation that I know of. I am interested to see what will happen in Amsterdam because we're going to take the um. Subway to the city center. It's apparently five euro versus like 75. As a cab would be. So we're going to give that a try. So I can't wait to report back because that's gonna be the first time we've ever done that.

Jenn: Wow.

Meggan: I know, well, it's either car rental or not, so we normally don't have to. So anyway, this is all very interesting. We'll see what happens. well that is it for this week's Travel tip Tuesday. Thank you so much for tuning in and we hope you find this information useful as you travel plan for the next year and beyond. And if you have been scammed and don't mind sharing, uh, let us know about it and if you're comfortable doing so, so that other people can know what to look for, maybe your situation's unique. Maybe it's something that's happening all the time and people don't know about it. you can find us as always on social media at Travel Mug Podcast, including Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at our website, travel mug podcast.com. Leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. We'd love to hear from you, and we'll talk to you again soon. Bye.