Read more about taxis in Tokyo here

If you want to get a taxi in Tokyo beware of the huge language barrier. The drivers are professionals, but normally they do not speak English so if you do not want to try your luck at speaking Japanese it may be a good idea to write down the address before hand in Japanese and hand it to the driver. Another good idea may be to get a business card form the places that you are going. It may also be helpful to have a map highlighted to show the driver where it is you what to go. The driver will be willing to help in any way that they can. This will make your visit much more pleasant.

Taxis are not the quickest way to get around because of the back to back traffic, but if you do not have any other choice do not be shocked if the price is higher than you might prepare to pay. The starting rate is from 660 yen, which will take you 2 km, and goes on from there. At night, however the prices increase by 20 percent between the hours of 11pm and 5am.

There are two ways that you can get a taxi. There are stations that have a rank or you can catch one from the roadside. On the taxi's appearance, there are three colors of lights that you need to be aware of. The red one means that it is vacant, yellow means that it is not vacant and green means that the night time rates are in affect.

When you approach the taxi do not attempt to open the doors for the doors open and close automatically by the driver so do not be alarmed. Enjoy having someone else open and close the door for you.

Taking a taxi cab while you are abroad can be a daunting task and often, there are occurrences that you do not expect. Most of these things happen due to the lack of knowledge about the transportation system of the place. The efforts of the taxi cab drivers in tricking you will result to paying a higher fare than what it should be. Read on and you will learn about avoiding the three pitfalls while taking a taxi abroad.

Finding a taxi
This is the first problem you will face since you do not know much about the place and the taxi services they have. If you are just arriving at the airport, you can often find information booklets in their offices, which have important information that will come in handy during your stay. This will usually include the taxi service provider's phone numbers and office address. If you are at the hotel, you may inform the front desk of the hotel and they will call a cab for you. You have other options, but it is always better to know phone numbers of a few well-known taxi companies. To be more organized, have them in your planner or just on a piece of paper.

The fare
In some countries, if the driver spots you as a foreigner; he will often try to trick you in paying more than usual. This is why you always should have a look at fixed and probable fares in the area here at Taxiprices.com before you go. This way, you will be able to save yourself from being ripped off by over smart cab drivers. Also, you should make sure to call the authorized or official cab companies, since there might be ‘independent' ones who are wise and tricky. Get the fare pricing clear before you start heading on to your destination. Some cab drivers may charge you more and go beyond the agreed fare price. Be careful about this.

The current currency rate
When you are in a new country, always have the currency of the nation's cash. This has happened numerous times wherein the passenger gave the fare to the driver, only to find out that a different currency was used; they both had a long and complicated experience due to this. To avoid misunderstandings, keep the local currency on hand and be updated with the current currency exchange rates.

By spending more time at the specific place abroad, you will learn more tricks to avoid pitfalls that some taxi drivers may lure you into. Be wise and know the right information.

 

Find info about taxi fares in Rome here

It is really hard to take a taxi in foreign countries. Besides the language barrier and issue, there are other things such as unknown or complicated directions, meeting new people, and more. These types of instances make it really frustrating when you are visiting a foreign country. The same thing may also happen when you are trying to hire a taxi cab in Rome, Italy. By following these methods and guideline, you will able to defend yourself from the trickery of some cab drivers and get a better travel experience.

Airport taxi in Rome
The first thing you will encounter - once you are at the exit gate of the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport - is that many taxi drivers are willing to help you. Some of them have a tag labelled "taxi" on the front of their shirts, making it easy to spot them. You will probably feel lucky and take one of them right away because they all look so "official"; but this would be the wrong choice to make. These drivers are unauthorized and are just pretending to be legit and officially approved cab drivers. The problem with these cab drivers is that they will charge you more than the actual rate prices. In this light, you should look for the actual authorized- Roman drivers whose taxis have "Comune di Roma" written on the side of their doors.

Taxi fares in Rome
Learning about the exact fare rates before you flag a taxi is important. If you are aware of such useful information about the taxis in Rome, you will feel much more confident and will be able to save yourself from spending excess money. There is a law in the city of Rome which fixes all the fares to a flat price; you can get a chart of these prices at various places of Rome, at the airport, and in some small shops within the city. To avoid higher prices, do not take the cabs which have "Comune di Fiumicino" on them, since these are private taxis and are likely to charge you more.

It is hard to win every bargain, but once you are familiar with the place and have useful information, you will know the things like these to avoid being ripped off.

Read about taxis in Asia here

When you are planning to visit some of the most exotic locations then Malaysia should be no. 1 on your list. It has everything that would make it one of the most beautiful and memorable stay for you. The Kuala Lumpur is the major city of Malaysia and the travel to this city can be planned at any time of the year as the city has no regular weather patterns. The place is not affected by monsoon and has steady rain in the months of September to December. The city has a good day time temperature of 32°C with 75% of humidity and this is because the place lies close to the equator. But it would be better if you could manage a cheaper travel, here are a few tips:

Taxi fares and rules:
When you travel in Malaysia through taxi, the fares are calculated by the taximeters. The starting price of the taximeter is Rm3 and as you travel per meter charges would be 10 cents. If you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam, the waiting charges for first three minutes are Rm3 and for every 21 seconds 10 cents would be charged. If you have to go through the toll booths, you would have to pay Rm2 for the phone booking and an extra 50% would be charged if you travel after 12 am to morning 6 am. If you have third person with you then Rm1 is charged, and maximum four passengers are allowed, the same is charged for the luggage also.

Fixed rate taxis:
When the passenger sees that the taxi driver is stopping the taxi to pick up another party, then the passenger can disagree and disallow that from happening. In and around Malaysia the taxis would charge on regular rates as fixed by the government, depending on the distance.

When you get down from the plane at KLIA, avoid the touts and go to the prepaid coupon counter where you can avail better and safer taxi service, provided by Airport Limo.

Read more here about taxi fares in Africa

Marrakech is the most famous city of Morocco and is situated in the southern part at the base of the Atlas mountains. The Marrakech is widely known as the ‘pearl of the south' and sometimes even as ‘the ochre city'. Morocco has four great tourism spots and Marrakech is one of them, attracting tourism due to the exotic and the striking locations and the environment. The transport in the city is a little wage though, and here is what you should know about the taxis.

When you plan to travel through taxi, the most important thing to understand is that there are two types of taxis. One is known as the Petit or the small taxi; these are red, fairly small and can accommodate not more than 3 people. These taxis have taximeters which would have different fares for the day and the night, at day it is 1.60 dirhams and in the night after 9 pm it is 2.40 dirhams. They are also sometimes shared by people and you would have to pay minimum of 6 dirhams. If you know the rate then you can negotiate and jump in, or ask the driver to turn the taximeter on.

The other type that is available is the large, Grand taxi, and these are old, mostly yellow Mercedes cars that can hold about 6 passengers. Two in the front and remaining at the back seat. These taxis do not have the taximeter and the person travelling would have to negotiate the rates with the driver. The rates range from 10 dirhams to 50 dirhams at max, within the cities. You can also take the larger taxis between the larger cities; be sure to negotiate the price first, however.

Taxis are easy to find in Marrakech, but all in all, the taxi service here is no match to the ones in Europe and U.S.

Find out taxi fares in Bangkok, Thailand and other destinations in Asia here

When you travel to Asian countries, you should be careful about you belongings, because the place is new and it' easy to get misguided. You must be really watchful with taxi drivers, cabs, etc, since the taxi driver scams in Asia have rapidly increased in the recent times. There are different ways in which they operate and here is what you can do to prevent misfortunes:

1. Taxi driver scams in Asia may involve robbery, theft, misguidance, etc. The first rule is to never be in a hurry in Asian countries, and provide enough time to each decision that you make. Some drivers in Asia may use any opportunity to trick you; e.g. they might tell you that the taximeter is not working, even while it's ok! If this happens, wait for another one, no matter how nicely the driver talks and how ever cheap his offers are.

2. Do as the locals, who would have enough knowledge about the scams and learn from their preventive measures. Pick up taxis where they find their taxis, which is not necessarily outside the central stations and tourist hotels. The taxi driver scams in Asia might include cheating or overcharging, where they might charge you many times more the actual cost. Sometimes even locals get cheated, so watch out.

3. If the taxi driver informs you that the hotel or restaurant you are going to had a fire accident last week, or provides any other reason for not taking you to your destination, don't listen to him and persist to go to the destination anyway. At least you can know how much of truth he said.

4. The driver might try add to the tip by saying that they do not have the change. Don't accept this, and only give him the tip he deserves. Taxi drivers always have ways to find change, even it might be from colleagues, shops, etc.

5. One last tip: If you do not know the way then ask some local before you step in the taxi, or have a look at a map. Look and act as if you know the fastest and closest route to your destination. Taxi drivers in Asian countries such as India, Thailand, etc. might take you to a trip around the the entire city, adding to the taximeter. When you decide to travel to Asian countries always keep in mind that you must have sufficient local information.

These advice would help you to avoid the taxi driver scams in Asia.

Here you can read interesting posts about anything that concerns the taxi business, anywhere in the world.

You'll get info about local taxi customs in exotic cities, you'll find taxi news and posts about taxi culture.

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