Using a taxi abroad

A new year can normally only mean one thing; holiday companies are already trying to get their sales for the rest of the year sorted. For those that are going away, the new year can actually be a really good time to get your holidays booked since by and large it is cheaper to book a holiday in the winter months than it is in the summer months. This is obviously due to the fact that the demand for booking a summer holiday in the summer itself is increased to such a degree that hotels, airlines etc can and will charge more for you going on a holiday through them.

Thankfully though, one thing that is always stagnant in terms of pricing when it comes to your holiday is traveling to and from the airport to the destination of your choice. This is in part thanks to the fact that transport costs never change if you’re getting a taxi, although the same can’t be said if you used a bus put on by the hotel.

For many, it can be a worry getting a taxi abroad and one of the biggest reasons for this is that there can be more often than not a language barrier between the customer and the taxi driver.

Due to this, a lot of travellers end up getting a hire car instead. However in the long run, this can actually be a lot more expensive. The reason for this is that not only do you need to pay for the cost of the car itself, but you’re also going to have to pay for the cost of the insurance of the vehicle as well. Even though the car doesn’t belong to you, it’s an absolute must that you take out insurance for any hire car so that in the event that you cause an accident, it won’t cost you a fortune in repair bills.

However, the bigger issue is that when you hire car, you also need to make sure it is topped up with fuel since this isn’t included in the price of the hire. Further, you need to make sure that you don’t go over the mileage set by the hire company (some, but not all hire car companies put a limit on how many miles you can travel in with their car), and when you’re dropping it off, you need to make sure that there is at least the same level of fuel in the car that there was when you first picked it up.

When you start to add all of these little extras, it makes a seemingly convenient alternative to taxis a much more expensive one. There is of course also the issue that if you’re taking the car out in the evening to go for a meal, you’re not able to have an alcoholic drink.

When you’re getting a taxi, it’s always going to be the same rate for the journey, and you’re not going to have to try and deal with the hire car issues listed above. With taxi companies as well, you’re always free to shop around to get the best price which is now easily done online. Many taxi companies will also let you slightly haggle with them if you mention that you can get a journey cheaper from a different company.

A lot of taxi companies now also have an app for your smartphone which will update you on when your car has been dispatched, and what make and model it is for added security and peace of mind.

My boss has recently came back from Thailand (Krabi, to be precise) and on her return she had informed everyone that in terms of getting to and from the airport to the hotel, it was actually someone from Krabi on the plane that told her to Google ‘transfer Krabi’.

Krabi Transfer are actually a taxi company that work in Krabi as well as other parts of Thailand and she said that the service that the driver provided was excellent as well as the cost being even better than the prices that other taxi companies are the airport had quoted her.

Have you had a particularly good or poor experience using a taxi service abroad? Feel free to discuss this in the comments section below.