Colombia Forum

cafetero
Joined 2015
Posts: 2328

7 years ago

Calling vs. hailing taxis

7 years ago

An shy online friend keeps asking me private message questions that I know others will be interested in, so I´m posting my responses here and hoping that others with more experience than I can weigh in on the pros and cons.

I´ve never had an incident with a taxi, but I have heard or read a few accounts of taxis working in cahoots with other hooligans to drive you into a place where you can get robbed or worse. Usually hear about it associated with the airport in or late at night outside a disco or bar.
Restaurants, bars, shopping plazas, supermarkets, hotels and others are all used to calling taxis for patrons, and they give you the taxi number that is going to pick you up so you know you are getting the right one.
At major airports and bus terminals there is usually a queue for a kiosk that asks you where you are going, then gives you a receipt saying what the taxi will charge you. Then you go to the taxi queue outside and wait your turn for the approved taxis.
Often there will be a second line of unapproved taxis and even private cars ¨pirates¨ and you may be tempted to go in that line because it is either much shorter or non-existent. The pirate line is the one where you can get in trouble.
As far as hailing a cab on the street, it all depends.....time of day, section of town, how rich, touristy and gullible you look and so forth. Here again, you can have a nearby business call the cab for you.
You can also get the number for Easy Taxi and call your own cab if you know the address where you are. They also will give you the cab number so you know you are getting in the right one.

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