[UncleEntity]

> If any cab driver tries to negotiate a flat rate ahead of time, it's usually a rip off.

The only time I'd do that was if it was the difference between a round-trip and just dropping them off, usually I'd just shut off the time part of the meter and wait for free. Or if something went wrong I'd give them the benefit of the mistake like if I forget to change the meter off airport rate or something. Other times I'd just give someone a deal because they obviously could use the money more than me and I felt bad for them.

Though...flat rates did make for some better rides since you can take whatever route you want and not worry about people complaining you're taking the long way to run up the meter. A couple times I had people "hardball" me over a flat rate (like "I won't pay a penny over $80 you dirty peasant") and I'd always make sure the meter was well over whatever high price they randomly decided on to make them feel better about their negotiation skills.

Usually whenever someone would ask for "the best price" I'd just say "whatever the meter says when we get there" and leave it at that unless they were doing something unusual like multiple stops over a long time period or if they were super determined and I was in a good mood.