Airport Taxis: The necessary evil?
My mother arrived yesterday from Australia. Since none of my other siblings are free to pick her up, I ended up with the task. Me, who has no car.
I took the MRT to Magallanes and took a cab to the airport. That was crazy. He cab driver dropped me off at the departure area and told me to just take the stairs down to the arrival area. I soon found out that it’s not as simple as “taking the stairs down.” It involved a flight of stairs, a walk down to the pedestrian lane, through the parking lot and paying Php30 to go inside the lounge where I stayed no more than 30 seconds.
Anyway.
Having no car meant that our only alternative is to take the airport taxi. It was a stagerring Php790 from NAIA terminal 1 to Sangandaan. *hyperventilates*
But I suppose they’re a good alternative from unscrupulous taxi drivers who’d either: a) charge you 150% more than what the meter counted (though still so much lower than the airport taxi fees), or; b) rob you. Not all taxi drivers are like that, thankfully.
Their cars are new and well maintained, and their drivers are very courteous. You pay at their station inside the station so he wouldn’t overcharge you. Though you *are* already overcharged. Yes, I’m still bitter about that.
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1 second=1 peso?
lol.
damn, that 30 could be used for a kfc steak thingy…(see previous post)
wee…australia…maraming pasalubong? hehe
lol, the pasalubongs are in the balikbayan box that probably won’t be here till christmas :(
basically, we pay for their trip back to the airport since they won’t be picking up any passengers along the way. but still, the max i think the meter would run from the airport to my house is only 250, and there wasn’t any traffic then (tip: it’s best to arrive in manila at noontime). when we got here, i didn’t feel that i still have to give the driver any tip XD
Nina, I am sorry about your experience. Anyways, here’s a tip I developed when I pick up my Mom from NAIA (whatever Terminal it is, old MIA or the Centennial):
Get a cab that will agree to 1.) bring you to the airport, 2.) pick up your Aunt or whoever, and 3.) take you home.
This way, you get to save A LOT of money, as well as spare yourself the headache.
Here’s the catch though: make sure the person you’re picking up GOES UP to the DEPARTURE LEVEL because NAIA really doesn’t allow cabs in the arrival areas. So don’t blame the cabs. Blame NAIA for this. Make sure she’s up there na before you get a cab para isang pulot na agad and go, go, go!
Trust me, this really works :-)
Cheers! Let me know if this has helped you.
thanks for the tip! though it’d be hard to tell my 70-year old mother to drag her 30kg luggage UP to departures :P
No need to “drag”. You can bring your pushcart inside the elevator at the Arrivals level, then go up the Departure level :-)
ah, i see! i’ll try this with my sister when she comes home in 2 weeks :)
some taxi drivers are just too greedy, i can understand that they need more money but i will give them more than what the meter is showing as long as they don’t say “dagdagan nyo nlang po kc mtrafk eh.” I had one experience with a taxi driver being so greedy. my cousins and i were in SM manila and we want to go to the Legarda station of the LRT. The driver said “bhala na kau kng mgkano bgay nyo” and then we arrived at our destination, i gave him Php60 but he refused to take it cuz he wanted Php100, but eventually i just gave him what he wanted cuz he’s getting on my nerves. That taxi trip from SM manila to legarda station is not even worth Php60 in my opinion.