[jacquesm]

That's a rather low standard for 'saving your ass'. I travel abroad frequently and I don't recall ever having had trouble to find a taxi except for Colombia, where you have to arrange one in advance (or rather, had, no idea how it is today there).

Really, of all the hard things one could attempt to do while abroad getting a taxi isn't one of them.

Some simple rules:

- don't accept anybody's offer of a ride

- look for relatively uniformly colored vehicles in a row

- observe whether or not the drivers are asleep or awake

- approach the first one that looks awake

- ask if they are free

- if so enter the vehicle and state destination

- optional: if all you have is a credit card make sure you ask up front if it will be accepted, otherwise ask to stop at a local ATM to pick up some currency

Using taxis was a solved problem long before Uber and the like arrived. Just like there is more food than McDonalds that is perfectly safe to eat when abroad.

[curun1r]

Your advice is laughably bad in many parts of the world. Taxi scams, often perpetrated by those uniformly-colored vehicles lined up to take riders, bilk tourists/travelers out of a ton of money. The simple fact that there's often no way to ensure what the price of the ride will be before agreeing to accept the ride has left many a traveler being faced with the choice of paying and exorbitant amount or risking a run-in with the authorities for not paying. Worse yet, taxi drivers will hold bags in the trunk hostage as they demand payment. Even in the US, scams are common. Taxi drivers let air out of their tires to increase the milage or ask whether they can use the freeway knowing it will take you miles out of your way.

And these are legitimate taxi drivers. From everything that I've observed taking both legitimate taxis and Ubers around the world, Uber's policies keep drivers far more well behaved than do the policies of the official taxi agencies. And the poster you were replying to is right...the consumer experience is considerably better. The simplified payment and upfront pricing alone make Uber better for riders.

[jacquesm]

I've done my share of traveling and I've yet to be scammed by a taxi driver, maybe that's just luck but the number of days I spent abroad is probably higher by now than the number of days I spent in my home country.

I'm far more ware of the police abroad than of taxi drivers.

[nicolas_t]

You're either lucky or for some reason taxi drivers think I'm an easy target to scam.

First, my definition of scamming by a taxi driver: When a taxi driver takes a much longer route so that he can charge more.

Countries where I've been scammed:

1. France (Paris but not in smaller cities). Even though I'm French, I've had multiple Parisian drivers scam me.

2. Thailand. Over there it's even more blatant with multiple taxi drivers refusing to use the counter when they see a foreigner.

3. Malaysia. Same as Thailand

4. Portugal. A lot of taxi drivers there usually do not have GPS, have an approximate understanding of the streets and will take a very long way to get to your destination (80% of the taxi drivers in my experience). Still not sure if it's incompetence or malice but Uber drivers were almost always quicker and more accurate.

Countries where taxis were reliable:

1. Japan. I've always had great experiences there

2. China. I've taken a lot of taxies in Shanghai and while there's been a few times when a driver tried to scam me, percentage wise it's negligible and much lower than say France.

3. UK. I haven't taken a lot of cabs there but the ones I took were all professionals and accurate.

So now the question is, are you lucky? Do you maybe not notice when you're taken for a ride? Or do taxi drivers assume from my demeanor that I'm an easy target...

I've never taken uberPop in France because it was illegal. On the other hand, uberx is legal and consistently offers a much better service than taxies in France.

Regarding police, I'm always wary of policemen especially if they're armed and in countries with little protection against abuse like Japan.

[oh_sigh]

Where do you travel?

I've been taxi scammed in:

- Italy(Napoli): Get taxi from train station to hostel. Drive around for 40 minutes, end up under 1 mile from train station.

- Morocco(Tangier): Get taxi from port to bus station, same thing as in Italy

- France(Bordeaux): Get taxi from hotel to airport. Taxi driver demands extra 20 euro for carrying my backpack in the trunk.

- Costa Rica (San Jose): Get taxi from airport to hotel. Taxi drops me off at hotel, and I pay. I realize that it is no where near the right hotel, wave taxi down, and he refuses to take me to the correct hotel or refund my money.

[jacquesm]

I've had people try to scam me in Italy but that never worked, drivers demanding extra money for putting your luggage in the trunk should be dealt with appropriately (though that one never happened to me, it would seem that 20 euros is a bit excessive), Costa Rica and Morocco I have no experience with (though I'd expect Costa Rica to be more or less like Panama and I didn't have any issues there on multiple visits).

I think a good part of this is that I don't come across as your average 'easy to rip off' tourist so that may very well be why so far taxi drivers have been pretty good to me.

[me2i81]

I've had attempted scams at the Rome central train station at least three times. "Meter is broken."

[atomic_lock]

I've yet to have a problem with a taxi. Agree on a price ballpark before getting in. They won't have any incentive taking the long route, and when arrived you don't have to budge if they ask for more.

Granted that I look like a very cheap backpacker, which might help getting a correct price in the first place.

[oh_sigh]

I guess you haven't taken many taxis in foreign/non-first-world countries? You can haggle all you want, but if the man is holding your luggage hostage, you'll have to pay or get the authorities involved...which may be difficult if you don't speak the local language. And the fact that all the driver has to say is "We never agreed to that price beforehand"

[jacquesm]

> I guess you haven't taken many taxis in foreign/non-first-world countries?

That would be a wrong guess.

And you'd have a hard time holding my luggage hostage, I have a single small bag that goes with me in the passenger compartment. Large suitcases are a vulnerability.

[stickfigure]

A cab driver tried to hold me up at gunpoint in Panama City (I jumped out of the moving cab, much to my captor's surprise). My sister-in-law had a similar experience in Mexico City (sans the dramatic escape). And I'm probably much more savvy than the average tourist. This happens all too commonly.

I wrote it up, if anyone prefers the long form: https://www.quora.com/What-does-it-feel-like-to-have-a-loade...

[jacquesm]

Wow, that's a new one. I've been to Panama City many times and never had that happen to me, on the other hand, a friend of mine was in a car with a friend of his and said friend got shot through the head at a traffic light. It's not the safest place on the planet, to put it very mildly.