It’s sad, but true that taxis are very quick to overcharge foreigners, just like they are all over the world. They know you don’t know how much a fare should cost, so they slyly double or triple it on you. If the route on your phone doesn’t match the one in the taxi dispatch system, then you’re simply being mugged.
In some countries, it’s far worse and more ruthless than in Ecuador, like India for example where I spent the month of May this year.
In Ecuador, before you get in a taxi, always be sure they put on the taxi meter… “Pones el taximetro?” If they refuse find another cab!
In Quito, during the day most use the meter, at night they don’t, and in Guayaquil, almost no one uses the meter ever.
In cases where they don’t use the meter, always negotiate before you get in the taxi or be ready for a RUDE awakening when they tell you the price at the end of the journey.
$1 for very short trips, $2 for trips up to 10 minutes, $3 for trips from 10-20 minutes… and so on are about the standard taxi prices in Ecuador now a days.
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