Taxi Chile

Taxis in Santiago, Chile.

Avoiding taxi fraud in Santiago Chile

Why not come to Chile and see it? There are many good reason to go to Santiago de Chile, and it is a place that is becoming more and more popular with travellers from home and abroad. Cantiago, the largest urban center in Chile, is most linked to the rest of the planet, a center linked to the land and very near the seaside. It is possible to do many things in the surrounding area, such as hiking in and around downtown St. James, visits to museums, exhibitions and trade shows, culture and more.

Whilst Chile has a very good reputation in respect of sincerity and openness of its people, there are certain areas where certain tales are continuously told by some who try to take full account of the situation. On these trips, travellers decide to travel through Santiago, and we keep hearing about cheating when tourist are crossing roads with some not too honourable taxi riders.

Whilst most taxi riders in Chile are very sincere, there are some who do not depend so much on them, so you should be very careful when you meet them. Since only 14% of taxi riders are Ministry of Transport certificated, there is room for some disloyal taxi riders who can exploit unconscious people.

Not only in Chile is the problem of taxi driver trying to charge excessive rates to tourist, there are also tales in many other places that point to the same thing, so we generally have to be very wary to prevent overpayment if you are interested in taking good care of your chilenian people. Santiago, a town of more than 7 million people, may have a few options for getting into one of these taxis.

Without trying to put all taxi riders in this class (I even have good buddies doing this job), but real life says it all: Santiago taxi services pick up many visitors every day. In Santiago, sometimes these taxi fraud are just a small amount of cash and sometimes by billing you tenfold more than they normally would.

Chile considers it a "gringo" if you have light hair/skin from an English-speaking state. When you look at grigo and then try to speak to your taxi cab follower in a fractional amount of Hispanic, many would consider you a simple goal to be cheated of. Particularly if you are trying to use taxis: it is because you have cash.

Lots of these chauffeurs (also in some shops) are showing themselves to be excessively kind to you, talk a great deal and try to help you in a kind way. You will be so pleased with your experiences that later, when it is paying your bills, you will see nothing weird. One of the most frequent taxi fraud in Santiago de Chile.

It is a good suggestion to always have your bill ready at hand and tell the taxi driver: "I'll pay you with $10,000", waiting for your exchange and only then give the bill to the taxi operator. That once happend to me, even as a Chilean who knows all the little cheats and gimmicks that go around...after I talked a great deal on the way and was a very nice guy, I was surprised when I realised he was trying to do it!

In general, there are certain things you need to keep in mind in order not to be cheated by a taxi-driver somewhere in the can. Taxis can be taken anywhere in Chile, there are some stop points in certain places, such as in front of buses, but in general you can stop them anywhere. You can also use several apps to order a taxi directly to your home without having to go outside to do one.

A somewhat very widespread in many country (and Chile) is the assumption that you do not know where your goal is, nor the itinerary to this place, then some taxi riders are trying to make longer trips to slightly raise the rates. Do not get into a taxi with two inmates. So the only thing that needs to be inside is you and the taxi cabbie.

Riders in Chile MUST keep the counter running when you go up, and if they don't, you can even file a complaint with the cops and they will be fine. In Santiago, the standard fare for a taxi begins at 300p, then increases by 130p every 200m. Take a close look, the gauge will start at this pace and no longer, and be careful how much it will gain over time.

When you are in a coach depot somewhere in South America, try to get away from the area and never take a taxi near a coach depot, and especially not near those who offer their service to you, unless there are officially licensed cabs working on the premises. With the exception of taxi rents at the airports, which have a flat price, all other taxi journeys NEVER have to be prepaid at the end of the trip.

Maybe the best option, although most taxi riders are not very lucky, is to use Uber. Santiago Airport has taxi services where you can make direct payments and fares are set in advance. Please note that there are taxes at Santiago Airport. Preferring to shun the informal taxi driver who harasses travellers after going through the international police force, I strongly advise you to shun them as they usually ask overcharging.

While there are some illegal taxi cars at the airports, the cops have forbidden them to be, but from now on they appear again and you have the opportunity to meet one of them. Having spent many years in Santiago de Chile and having had some of these awkward experience, I am sharing this so that you know what could be happening.

All in all, my overall experiences in many taxis in Santiago have been very good, with very kind and sincere individuals, but sometimes there are exemptions. Were there issues or was there taxi fraud in Santiago?