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taxis, Istanbul

taxis from marmara hotel - Istanbul
taxis from marmara hotel
by ophiro
taxis tips posted by real travelers and Istanbul locals.
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taxis: check the meter!
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  • TheTurkishBrit
  • Updated By TheTurkishBrit on August 10, 2005
  • Istanbul Page by TheTurkishBrit
  • Most taxi drivers are scrupulously honest, but the occasional one will see a lost looking obviously foreign person at the side of the road and will try to diddle you.
    SO as you get in take a look at the meter, it will alternately flick from the fare to one of two words, GUNDUZ or GECE, day or night. Yes, you've guessed it , the driver may "accidentally" switched on the night rate long before the midnight switchover. If so, point out his "error". Hopefully he will be very apologetic and switch it back !!!!! If he refuses, muttering "tourist police" to him may well do the trick. If all else fails get out of the cab as soon as you can and offer him what you think the fare should be,(about half what is showing on the GECE meter). Then take another cab to your destination.

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    taxis: Taxis
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  • ophiro
  • By ophiro on July 25, 2005
  • Istanbul Page by ophiro
  • taxis from marmara hotel - Istanbul
    taxis from marmara hotel
    by ophiro
    To get a taxi in Istanbul is cheap if you are more than 1 person because you pay for the way and not for a person.

    Some of the taxi drivers will try to get an easy money because you are a tourist.
    If you want to get a taxi ask him for a meter and if it is before midnight check for the word GUNDUZ which means daytime and after midnight you should see the word GECE which means night (it is higher price)

    There are a lot of taxis in Istanbul so if a taxi driver tells you he will take for a sum of money higher than 2-3 YTL leave him and find another taxi because even if he will start a meter he probably will take you in a longer way.

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    taxis: The Bill Switcheroo
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  • pflewis123
  • By pflewis123 on June 18, 2004
  • Istanbul Page by pflewis123
  • I thought it was just one dishonest driver, but then it happened in three different taxies in the same day.

    Here's how it works: you hand the driver a 10 million lira note, he immediately hands you back a 1 million note, saying that you only gave him one million. Or you hand him a 20 million note, and he hands back a 250,000. There are so many zeroes on the notes that it's easy to get confused, and the cabbies are counting on this.

    The best thing to do is carry small bills, count out your money carefully, and if they try to screw you over, threaten to call the tourist police. They will back down.

    There are a lot of good honest cabbies, but plenty of crooks, too.

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    taxis: taxi drivers
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  • orke
  • By orke on May 18, 2004
  • Istanbul Page by orke
  • just noticed exactly what bill u give him (the 1 and 10 mill looks alike) try to give them small bills

    also if there is a problem just say "ill call the police"

    know the place u r going to (so they wont cruise around all over town and also dont let them get u off the cab far from the place u r going to

    ask for an aproximatly price b4 u get on the cab (and first try to find out what is the normal price)

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    taxis: Istanbul Taxis
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  • muratkorman
  • By muratkorman on September 25, 2007
  • Istanbul Page by muratkorman
  • Istanbul is very crowded and this reflects on taxi numbers too. You will see a lot of taxis everywhere. As you will witness almost everywhere in the world, taxis tend to overcharge their customers either making tricks on taximeter or extending the route. I suggest you have a brief idea on taxi fares and distances before taking any taxi. There are only 2 taxi fares, normal day fare and night fare. Night fare starts after midnight and it is 50% higher than usual fare. If you cross the Bosphorus bridge or use highway, the toll belongs to passenger. There is no surcharge for luggage or reservation. It will cost you around 60 YTL (35 Euro) from Ataturk Airport to Kadikoy located on Asian side of Istanbul. Tourists favorite hotel center Sultanahmet will cost around 30 YTL (18 Euro) from airport. Be sure that taximeter is on and in the right tariff. Ask the taxi driver estimated cost of the journey.

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    taxis: Turkish taxis are generally...
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  • grrl_travel
  • By grrl_travel on September 7, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by grrl_travel
  • Turkish taxis are generally very safe, even late at night, however, the only slight negative I encountered was getting ripped off by a taxi driver. The amount was small so I didn't argue. And with one other driver I had to insist that I didn't want a full tour of the city and that I wanted to go back to my hotel.

    If you are a woman, do NOT sit in the front seat of the taxi. It's considered inappropriate (unless the taxi is full, but if you can have a guy sit in the front it's better).

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    taxis: A trip from the Airport to the...
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  • Kid-EZ
  • By Kid-EZ on August 26, 2002
  • Istanbul Page by Kid-EZ
  • A trip from the Airport to the main centre of Istanbul costs around $10, so stand your ground when some cabdrive tries to make you pay the same amout of money for a much shorter trip.
    A cabdriver tried to charge me $7 for driving over the bridge (from Galata) to the end of the tramline (only 800 meters) !

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    taxis: Taxi scams
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  • By mavi-tr on March 27, 2004
  • Istanbul Page by mavi-tr
  • Ensure that there is a meter in the taxi before you travel in it.

    Ensure that the meter is set to "Gunduz" (day) and not "Gece" (night) if you are travelling in the day of course.

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    taxis: Istanbul - Banknotes 20.000.000 =2.000.000
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  • Raffael
  • By Raffael on August 25, 2003
  • Istanbul Page by Raffael
  • taxis - Istanbul
    by Raffael
    PLEASE! Be aware when you take a taxi, as it happens twice to us. My friend before he has asked me 20.mil. liras and gave it to him, then later we took a taxi and i went out first till he pay..he payed but suddenly apears that he only gave 2.000.000 in case of 20.000.000? strange no! ,not at all, but i m not so easy,i was so sure something was wrong that i open the taxi?s driver door and discover he has droped there the banknote..when we went to the airport the same. So take care with taxi driver?s!. OK best luck

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    taxis: easy money for lousy cab drivers
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  • prikje
  • Updated By prikje on September 9, 2005
  • Istanbul Page by prikje
  • I found this tip from a
    VT member Cocali

    on taxiscam

    It was such a well detailed explained scam I just had to put it in my list also.

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