Pre-arranged pick-up or pre-paid taxi?

cambridgetoindia

Reading the arrivals thread, I started re-thinking my plan to take a pre-paid taxi from Mumbai Airport to Coloba. The hotel where we're staying offered a pick-up for R 2000, which I thought seemed perhaps too expensive.

Am wondering if this is in fact a standard rate for a hotel pick-up. And also if it's worth paying extra to avoid the hassle and hunt for a taxi. (This will be at around 10 PM.)

I appreciate any input!

Steve

That in fact seems a bit overprized.
Basically it´s not a big hassle at all to get the prepaid taxis at mumbai airport.
Just make sure that you´ll change some money before you leave the airport.
Then there´s an official place for the prepaid taxis. You can get to the same counter from inside and outside the building.
Keep the luggage because some guys will try to carry it for you and ask for bakshish!
Have fun!

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aadil

Hi there,

You are being ripped off!!! HAHAHA!!! It does not cost more than Rs350 for the taxi from the prepaid taxi stand inside and outside the airport. Just use the prepaid taxi and you will be fine whatever the time maybe when you arrive here. No problem in hunting for a taxi as the number of the taxi is already written down on your receipt and it has to processed by the driver with the traffic police before you can leave the airport premises. No hassles at all and very safe too.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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pix

maybe a dumb question...but hell i will ask it any way...how does one arrange a prepaid taxi ?

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jarman_ah

As you go through the gate at the arrivals terminal at Mumbai airport, there is a large booth, just near the money-changing booth, marked "PREPAID TAXIS". You just join the queue and pay your money (be warned -- if you're not the first off your flight, that queue can be VERY long). They give you a voucher and direct you to the first available taxi. The rates for various destinations are clearly marked on a board. The whole process is very easy and you can't go wrong (it's closely supervised to guard against rip-offs).

Frankly, we found that the board with the rates was the only feature of the prepaid taxi service (which is at every airport) that we made use of. We normally just checked the rate for our area, then went outside and hailed an autorickshaw, keeping half the prepaid rate as our maximum price when negotiating. Naturally, prepaid taxis are more expensive than the ones you negotiate for yourselves, though often the drivers will begin by quoting you a rate around the same as (or even a little bit more than) the prepaid rate.

At Mumbai, however, we didn't use a taxi or autorickshaw at all. Just at the left of the main door is a bus stand, and there are public buses every few minutes to Andheri Rail Station. We didn't know how much the bus would cost, so (for the two of us) we handed the conductor a 100-rupee note. He gave us our tickets and walked off.... returning, a few minutes later, with a handful of small change (collected from the other passengers) so vast that we were sure that it must add up to more than the original one hundred rupees! We never did get to count it all, but it seems that the bus fare might be five rupees each.

This part of the journey takes only about ten minutes, and several people on the bus (we were the only non-locals) were eager to show us where to get off to catch the train. One man actually got off the bus and led us to the rail station entrance. We thought he must be planning to travel by train also, but as soon as he was sure we could recognise the station entrance and the ticket window, he bade us farewell and headed back towards the bus stop! There was a train waiting, and we had our tickets purchased and were on the train while many of our fellow-passengers were still queued up at the prepaid taxi booth.

The suburban trains at Andheri go to Churchgate Station, in the centre of Mumbai. I think the tickets for a one-way journey are about twenty-five rupees each, maybe a bit less. It takes about forty-five minutes. By the time we arrived at Churchgate we felt that we had already learned a bit about mastering the Mumbai public transport system, and the total cost for the two of us was somewhere around the area of fifty or sixty rupees.

I would advise anyone to take this route, if you know where your hotel is and how to walk there from the station. It's quick, it's fun,. and it's cheap.... plus, arriving in a strange new city (and Mumbai can be VERY strange!), it gives you a sense of accomplishment to know that you've jumped the first hurdle in finding your way around.

iyou

Jarman, your comments are informative, accurate and entertaining. A hat trick!

The only thing I would add is that for folks arriving after midnight, as is the case for most international flights, this option will not be available. The trains stop running between about 1:00 am and 5:00 am. Also, between about 8 am and noon, and from 5 pm to 9 pm the trains are simply too crowded for anyone traveling with luggage or backpacks. Otherwise your advice is excellent.

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kenneth

I also have had good luck with the pre-paid taxis at the Mumbai and other Indian airports.

Unfortunately there were no pre-paid taxis at the Mumbai domestic terminal when we were there last year. They were only at the international terminal. My wife and I were robbed in a not pre-paid taxi. If you arrive at the domestic terminal, it is safer to take the very crowded shuttle bus to the international terminal to get a pre-paid taxi.

Jamie11

Just walk out side the airport, go past the prepaid bit and there is many willing black and yellow taxi's. the maximum you should pay is 350 rupees, coming from coloba back to airport you can pay 250- 300. these prices are currently valid as i was there last week. its as simple as that!

jarman_ah

I should have added that the voucher you will be given at the PREPAID counter should be handed to the taxi driver at the end of your journey, when you are quite sure that you have actually arrived at your chosen destination, and not before. If you surrender it to the taxi driver at the beginning of the journey, the whole point of the service is lost, and you may well end up at his brother-in-law's rathole of a hotel because the one you had planned to stay at just happened to burn down as you stepped into the taxi.

pix

great info guys ! thanks.

kiwi_razz

There's more info on getting the train here

from Bombay domestic airport into (maybe) fort area