Ive been away for a year and a half, and wondering how much cab fares have changed since 11/2003. Whats the going (metered) rate from Copa to airport, or Copa to Centro?

i was there in Oct 2003 and it was about 15-18 reals from Ipanema to Centro and when i went from Centro to the airport it was about 20-22 reals

Taxi Rates have indeed gone up. They went up about 2 weeks ago. It appears the normal R2.70 fixed fee has gone up to R3.20, and then the variable cost has gone up as well. The net result is that short taxi rides have gone up about R2 and more for longer rides.

Any safety tips for use of Taxi's in Rio is appreciated. I know the meter is important, however, what safety measures can I take to ensure I get a legit taxi?

I don't want to be wisked away to some alley somewhere. I think I got the taxi's in front of the hotel covered, but how do you get a safe taxi in front of the termas or 'Help'.

Any markings & or considerations?

yellow, they are very safe, and there are a ton of them

1. Make sure the meter is on. If not, get the hell out.

2. If the meter is on, make sure it's on the correct setting - 1 for daytime (till 9:00 PM I think), 2 for nights and holidays.

3. This requires experience, but make sure the meter isn't running fast. Even in bad traffic, where it takes you 45 minutes to get, say, to centro, you shouldn't pay more than R$20. The airport is about R$25-30 or so each way, depending on origin/destination.

4. Check the date on the meter. Currently they should say 2005. If so, there is no surcharge. If the meter stamp is older, the drivers will consult the fare sheet to add a few centados to the bill. the rates went up a little this year, and the old sticker indicates that they haven't recalibrated their fares. However, if he has a 2005 sticker and still tries to pull out a rate sheet, feel free to tell him to fuck off.

Remember, cabs are by far the safest method of travel in Rio. The robbers avoid them so have no worries about leaving your window open at intersections, during traffic stalls, etc. Cabbies are probably the most effective police force in the city - if some dumbass tries to rob one, or a customer in one, they will quickly find themselves surrounded by other cabbies coming to the aid of the first cabbie.

Watch out for the cabbies stopped in front of Help at night. They're pirates, they seem to have a different rate structure, like R$10 for a few blocks--or more. They don't use their meters, and hit you with an unreasonable bill when you arrive at your destination. They also solicit you as you walk out the door of Help, and try to herd you to their cab.

You can either ask how much to your destination, and then negotiate to a reasonable amount (if you know it, and speak a little Portuguese), or you can go up or down the street a little and flag a moving cab. If the cabbie doesn't move to turn on the meter right away, communicate to him to do it or get out.

Don't hesitate to get out of the cab if you can't get a price you like--just ask/negotiate it before you get going.

I have never lived in as big a city as Rio before, and it definitely takes some time to learn to travel efficiently by taxi.

Here are some more thoughts.

Taxis are everywhere. As long as you are on a major thoroughfare, you can usually find a cab in less than a few minutes.

The word for meter in Portugese is taximetro. Not all cabs have it and you should avoid any cab that does not have a taximetro. The ones without usually hang out by the major hotels, and also by Help Disco and Marius. Also, when it gets later, or you seem a little drunk, they might not turn on the taximetro. One rule of thumb "If you walk out of some place, and then suddenly several people are yelling at you "TAXI!", your BS meter should go up. Make sure that they have a taximetro.

You will learn this lesson quickly when coming out of the airport for the first time. Soon as you exit customs, there will be many people yelling taxi. Ignore them all and walk outside and find a yellow taxi with a taximetro. It normally costs between R$25 - R$35 reales to go from the airport to Copacabana. I have heard of guys getting gouged for as much as $R200!

When the driver turns on the taximetro, it has a fixed fee, which as of today is R$3.3. Then after that your variable cost is a function of time and distance travelled. There are two different variable costs 1 and 2. 1 is used Monday through Saturday before 9 pm. And 2 is used all day on Sunday and Monday through Saturday before 9 pm. They also use 2 for the entire month of December.

Very few taxi drivers speak English. And many street addresses are hard to pronounce, so it is always a great idea to have the name of your destination written on a sheet of paper or business card. The address should contain the street address, phone number and neighborhood. Most taxi drivers have a cell phone and can call if you get lost.

Don't sit in the front seat if you are travelling solo. You can get out on the right or left side more quickly and safely. Always look in both directions when getting out of a taxi.

Most taxi drivers don't carry a lot of change and quite often it is hard to break a 50, so if possible, try and make sure that you have smaller bills to pay the fare. Very few drivers have coins, and so the custom is to round up.

Another thing to watch out for at the airport when getting a metered cab is sometimes they try to charge you for extra baggage.

Avoid the white taxi at the airports! After flying into Santo Dumont airport, I made the mistake of taking a white taxi (as opposed to the ubiquitous yellow taxis). They have meters but are at least 50% more expensive than the yellow taxis.

The Radio Taxis at the international airport takes credit cards, which I thought would be worth the premium. However, they charged twice the yellow taxi rate! It is cheaper to change dollars into reals at the Banco do Brasil in the airport (with its lousy exchange rate) and take the yellow taxis than to take the Radio Taxis.

Splurge, don't save. I love savings, but not in this case

At least at Galeao International airport, I strongly recommend paying the extra charge and taking the special radio taxi. You are vulnerable, carrying valuables. The radio taxi you pay (or at least you order it) at a booth inside the airport. So there is a record of who you drove with

The radio taxis are in perfect shape, their drivers actually know how to drive correctly.

Some of the yellow taxis could be scammers, muggers, etc. Especially at international airport, where most gringos carry R$ 10 000 in cash and R$ 5000 in camera, laptop and valuables.

And from Gig to downtown you pass some extremely dangerous areas where gangsters put on police uniforms and stop cars. The best and safest taxi is the least you can do for yourself.

Good point, Brazil Specialist. I had such good experiences with Yellow taxis that it did not occur to me that cabbies are in an ideal position to rob tourists. The price difference between the Yellow taxis and the Radio taxis is less than USD$10. However, my R60 fare from Radio taxi did not include air conditioning. Cruising on the highway by the slums with open windows was a lousy introduction to Rio.

Is there any benefit to the white taxis at Santos Dumont Airport? The White taxi charged me R30 to get from Santos Dumont to Copa. I paid the same amount for a Yellow taxi from Ipanema to Gig.

A few taxi facts:

The higher premium number 2 meter setting get's switched on at 8 pm, and all day and night on all holidays.

The white taxi's are airport taxi's, therefore they are more expensive to use. And can be paid for by credit card.

At SDU, just go outside to catch a yellow taxi. And if it is too small or doesn't have a/c, take one that fits your needs.

By Sf4dfish

A few taxi facts:

The higher premium number 2 meter setting get's switched on at 8 pm, and all day and night on all holidays
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corrections

higher premium meter is switched on at 9 pm to 6 am(?). On all Sunday. All of December. Strong inclines like Corcovado.

And for gringos at any time. Met a guy that said he has never seen meter position 1 until he took a taxi together with me

The special taxies work well, have functioning brakes and have drivers who drive carefully like they would in the US. Unlike the average yellow taxi.

One of my ex-namoradas told me she was robbed by what she thought was a taxi. Don't know whether it had a meter.

A little update on the taxi's in Rio - First, in December of each year Brazilian's receive their 13th salary. This means that all taxi's will have the meter set at '2' all month long. After December, the meter should only be set to '2' after 9:00pm Monday - Saturday, all day Sunday, and on Holiday's (for example Carnival) - otherwise they should be at '1'.

The meter should always start at R$4.30 (*Subject to change).

When arriving at the airport, go to the end of the terminal and pick one of the yellow taxi's that are actually stationed at the aiport. Avoid the passerby's that try to flag you down...they tend to rip-off more. Also, don't bother paying the overinflated rates of the taxi companies that have booth's inside the airport, or those guys that try to flag you down while walking inside the terminal. Even when the meter is running a little fast on a yellow taxi, it will still be cheaper then those pre-set rates.

Always try to take the meter and avoid flat rates... be aware that you might be charged a per bag charge if you have alot of luggage. While the majority do not do so, some do and they have the right based on the taxi fare tables.

LM,

to add to your advice; if you go upstairs to the passenger drop off/dep level[after getting your bags on lower/arr lvl] and catch a yellow taxi just dropping of a fare usually a low flat rate can be negotiated, after all he does need to return to the city. At the very least, a metered fare without the hassel of the cabs all vying for your money on the arr. lvl can be avoided. Just use the elevators if needed for your luggage. The best are Aerocoop or Aerotaxi, they are yellow taxis.

I have a dumb question about taxis. When it is set at one, you pay the amount shown. If it is set at 2, do you pay twice the amount shown, or is already metered out the right amount and you pay that sum? Thanks ...mncpa1

When set at @ Bandeira 2, or rate 2 [9PM -6AM]pay only what is shown on meter, just as you would for the earlier rate when displayed.

Note: Bandeira 2 applies also to Sundays, holidays, and usually the entire month of Dec.

Actually it is not a dumb question at all - Like CFK already stated you always pay what is shown on the meter (the meter just runs faster with '2' then '1')...BUT, sometimes - depending on how many pieces of luggage you have - you might be asked to pay extra per luggage. I forgot the exact charge, but I believe it to be around R$2.00.

The difference between Bandeira 2 and 1 while the meter is running does not come out to be double either. I think more around 30% or so more..I do not know the exact amount, but it is not too extreme. On a typical airport run, it usually comes out to be about R$10 or so extra.

One last tip - If the taxi is running too fast and you have a pretty good idea about the rate to a particular place and the meter is running way over, make sure to question the taxi driver. If you get in and it looks like the taxi driver is already set to rip you off based on comments of pre-set fares, the taxi meter starting higher, or running very fast, just get out and take another one. If he argues with you then tell him to call the police and let them sort it out. While under normal circumstances getting the police involved is a bad idea, in this case the taxi driver will always back down if the meter is rigged (at least that has been my experience...other could have different experiences). Additionally, if the police gets involved the taxi driver better have all his car papers in order otherwise he will have to pay "a fine", so trouble is best avoided for him.

I remember a recent issue getting into a taxi in Ipanema to go to Barra and the taxi meter racing....in two blocks or so, it went up by R5.00. I started arguing with the guy and told him to stop the taxi now...we ended up agreeing to a price that I knew was fair (had taken a taxi to this location many times before), so it worked out ok....otherwise, I could have easily payed double.

One thing is for certain - almost everyone who has taken a taxi in Rio has had a bad experience along the way. This does not just apply to gringo's, but also Brazilian's from out of town.

The past few times I've had a bogus meter running hot, I've immediately asked the guy what the problem with his meter is. I can pretty much tell you within 30 centavos what the rate will be from anywhere in Leblon-Ipanema-Arpoador-Copa-Leme-Botafogo to anywhere else within those areas any time of the day, 1 or 2. Each time, the taxiesta didn't really say much, and I just paid what I normally would regardless of the meter reading. I had a R$12 ride back from Luomo that should have been about 7.5, I gave him R$8 and told him to have his meter checked and he said "good night" and that was it.

A bandit taxi - where the cocksucker is taking you the long way around - that's what really boils me over. I used to have the number for the taxi bureau, I can't remember the acronym or the number but if you drop that on them - that you're going to take their license info and cab number and call the hack inspector - that will get an immediate reaction. Don once told me the hack inspectors down there are not to be messed with and the taxi drivers definitely don't want to show up on their radar screen. I'll get that info and post it here, yet another thing for Rio mongers to have in their wallets in case of emergency.

That would be great info. I have had taxi drivers trying to convince me that going from the Airport to Ipanema via Copa was the better route. Yeah right...then the story changes, the tunnel is closed (no it is not - I make them call central from their taxi or just tell them to try the tunnel anyway), etc, etc...

Sometimes on short rides around town, i.e. between Copa, Ipanema, and Leblon, I sometimes just prefer taking the bus or van to avoid being worried about being ripped off.... alot less stressful.

My other favorite taxi bandits - in addition to those that take you the long way around - are those "taxi friends" of working girls. That almost never turns out good!

Thanks for the info, I did have one taxi driver out of villa memossa (sorry about spelling) who tried to get me to pay double. I didnt think it was right to pay double, but was not sure. So we had a few words back and forth, then settled on a price. Guess I paid a price for my inexperience, but will not be the first time or the last. Thanks again. .....mncpa1

Villa Mimosa is one of those places where you just need to walk a block or two down the street and flag down a passing taxi. Like outside of Help or the ones waiting around at Sugerloaf, they don't want to run their meters and feel they have a captive audience. Since most customers who frequent VM don't use taxis - and why pay R$25 or so for a taxi ride to a place to get R$27 pussy - they figure anyone picking up a taxi at the VM taxi stand isn't too bright or doesn't know the drill.

LM, agreed, the taxi scams are pretty well-known. I'm still pissed about the asshole who picked me up at the Sambadrome back in Feb and took me the way fucking long way - through Sao Cristavo, through Centro, etc back to Copa - instead of just going through Laranjeres to Botafogo. It was an extra R$12 and 20 minutes and I was cussing the motherfucker out the whole time. If I hadn't had a girl with me I would have pepper sprayed the fuck at a stop light in Sao Cristovao and just gotten another taxi, but she was acting all scared and as a paulista, she knows Centro a lot less than I do.

There was a young taxi driver who picked me up at my apartment to run me over to the Marriott who ran a hot meter and demanded the meter rate - again, with me commenting on his "broken" meter. My experience has been that whenever I stay at the Marriott and take a taxi there, I have a far higher rate of scamming/attempted scamming, so much that I just tell them to take me to Atlantica and Santa Clara instead of the hotel when I first get in. Again, I believe they figure that anyone staying at the Marriott is either rich and won't care about the scam - typical carioca cocksucker mentality - or is a tourist and won't know any better. Which is also cocksucker carioca mentality.

Man, just writing about taxi drivers in Rio gets me fired up. If it wasn't for the top-notch pussy, I wouldn't go within 3000 miles of Rio, and a main reason is shit like bandit taxis, stupid scamming garcons and other imbeciles you deal with on a daily basis down there.