Mumbai airport to Colaba at 3 am?

sald

The 'con' most cabbies try to pull is that at the time of dropping you off, they'll ask for some tip - probably give a sob story of how they have been waiting at the airport all day long in the taxi queue and this is their only trip of the day...and so on.

If you feel like it, tip them Rs20-30.

You could probably also look out for one of these guys who'll help you put your luggage in the cab at the airport. If he's not the cabbie, ignore him cos he'll also ask for some tip.

Overall, note that the licence no. of every pre-paid cab leaving the airport is noted by a traffic cop. There's always scope to complain.

shashank.aggarwal

Pre-paid means that they cannot quote prices after that..to avoid any sort of con simply do not hand over the slip before you reach the destination..as simple as it gets...

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Passion fruit

ok - got it!!!

Thanks very much to both of you sald & shashank for the extra info on pre-paid, tipping and how all of that works!

jyotirmoy

When you buy a pre-paid coupon the drivers don't talk to you. The clerk enters your destination in the computer and it spits out the fare, they may ask you how much luggage you have, show them whaat you haave.
I had been to your country and the Chocolates are great. Better than the Swiss

aadil

The cost for the Colaba trip for a prepaid taxi is about Rs350 plus Rs5 per piece of luggage for the normal (black and yellow coloured) taxi and about Rs400 for the airconditioned (blue and silver coloured) taxi called "cool cab". The only way these guys fleece you is by stopping somewhere along the way and saying that the taxi is not working due to some defect and that you will have to take another taxi but according to the prepaid rules mentioned on the coupon you are supposed to be transfered to another taxi arranged by your driver and he will pay the remaining amount for the rest of the ride to the new driver. So you need not pay anything to the new driver but the scam is that unsuspecting passengers always end up paying the guy for the second taxi!!! Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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Passion fruit

Bon jour!!

Thanks Aadil & Jyo for all your detailed explanations on mumbai-cabbies. I think i am well equipped now with knowledge on all scams and what-nots that a cab-driver possibly could try to pull off.

Yah- Belgian chocolate is pretty good indeed....however swiss chocoalate is not too bad either...especially Lindt...mmmmmhhhhh

good day to you both!

matt67

The driver will ask for a tip at the end of the journey. You see you dont pay him the fare. You pay the fare at the counter and the driver collects the fare from the counter. So only money that you give him is the tip. The journey is about 1.5 hrs approx 50 kms. How much tip would you give a taxi driver in Europe for that distance?. I would say about 8 Euros. So even if you give half that it will be about Rs; 300 which the taxi driver will be very very happy with. After all he has to survive too. remember he has waited about 3-4 hrs ina queue at the airport to get a fare. Also remember that as you leave the airport a uniformed policeman will ask for your voucher. This is a precaution to see that the correct taxi is taking the correct passenger out of the airport.

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jyotirmoy

Hand over the coupon only after reaching your destination.

New-South-Welshman

When the trip ends, just pay as you like.

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Passion fruit

hi all,

have been back from india since ten days. thanks to your tips on taxis, i went to the pre-paid booth and paid everything in advance. e didn't try to con me, only stopped the car once to take a wee. i tipped the driver 200 Rupees. He seemed dead pleased.

However, the seashore hotel in colaba is (compared to elsewhere in india) a dump for a whopping 500 Rs a night...and they made me pay another half a day just coz i arrived at 6 am and check out time is 12 noon!!

but of course i am still madly in love with india ... aaaahhh how i long back to ranakpur and udaipur...snifffff

aadil

Well you tipped almost half the amount of the fare to your destination!!! I am sure he was really pleased with the tip as it was a little bit more than half of the total fare you paid (Rs350)!!! The driver already gets some money for waiting in the long queues and that is why the fare is not Rs200 but Rs350 for the ride into the city. Some people have all the luck!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.