Tynan

I heard that taxis were super cheap here, but everyone wants to charge us a bunch of money. $28 from the airport and $5-6 to get anywhere.

As an experiment my friend and I left our backpacks in the hotel and spoke only Spanish. We told the driver the street we wanted to go to, rather than the name of the actual place. He charged us $2 and then tentatively asked if that was ok.

For the next ride we just didn't ask how much it was and handed him $2. No problem. Is this what locals do? We've only been here for two days but we're doing everything we can to get off the "gringo track".

Tynan

PS... if you're a vegetarian, check out the place on Calle D in Cangrejo. The orange juice is amazing.

MRWOOHOO

Hi Tynan, I do know that the drive from the airport to downtown is about 20min and the tolls are pretty expensive so I dont think you got screwed to bad? If you get the taxi directly from the hotel they usually charge $5 to get anywhere, that is to expensive. All it should really cost you is no more than $2 and that can get you across town so you are doing fine. If the distance is short give him only $1.50, if he gives you a dirty look and says something give him another 50 cents. The key to getting around this city by taxi is landmarks. Either the name of hotels, restaurants, clubs, can get you where you need to go. Quick question, do you ever catch yourself closing your eyes when you are in the taxis? (LOL)

Tynan

Haha.. the driving doesn't bother me. I have friends who are rather crazy themselves. Thanks for the advice!

Tynan

nuaeman

Well I believe most who read this would know whether they are screwed by those taxi drivers, $28 is unbelievable as over here the taxi don't screw that much

Btw does any of those taxi use meters?

MRWOOHOO

I dont think so, they are constantly driving around with almost no gas. Three times I have had to sit in the car while the taxi driver puts $3 of gas into the tank.

nuaeman

Well I guess that's one way of not overspending the petrol money, how are those drivers btw, are they friendly despite their "good" driving skills.

Tynan

I've found all the drivers to be super friendly and helpful... one drove us around for quite a while trying to help us find a good hotel. He'd call ahead and check vacancies for us. No extra charge (although that was back when we were paying gringo prices)

Tynan

zhinghur

I was lucky though, never met with such instance. This things sucks actually, but I guess, may be because of extreme poverty that cab may be trying to save as much as he can.

MRWOOHOO

It really isn't that big of a deal. I have seen many a taxi driver with a wad of cash, they do Allot of business outside of just driving people around. Some of these guys are real businessmen. They are usually very helpful and polite and they really are the key to getting around the city.

Patricio

From my experience the Panama City drivers are very friendly, one guy even gave me a free drive to the Albrook Mall because he had to pick up his wife who was shopping overthere.
This you won't see happening in Europe.

MRWOOHOO

Very true

ankuranks

wow thats good to hear,i've never seen such a taxi guy who would drove me for free,not in the states at least.

Lalaguayaba

$20-40 dollars is standard from the airport; the tolls are huge, so it's not a big deal, and no--they aren't screwing anyone.

If you want a cheaper taxi from the airport, go to the departures section of the terminal, and find a taxi that has just dropped some ppl off...

Cheers.

PanamaPat

The taxi fare from the airport to downtown has been around $27.50 for many years. If you don't use the Corredor, it's only $25. Panama is the only Latin American country I know where the airport taxi fare has been stable for years and is applied to everyone I know... no overcharging whatsoever.

When going to the airport, it's another story and many taxi drivers will try to get as much as they can. You shouldn't pay more than $20 and I once was lucky enough to pay only $15 (negotiated with a taxi driver a couple of days in advance).

Within the city the minimum fee is $1.25 for one person or $1.50 for two persons and that gets you quite far. (If you call a taxi rather than hail it from the street, they charge a bit extra "for the call", I think it's $0.40 extra).

To get the best possible fare even as a foreigner, try this: When leaving the taxi, don't ask the driver how much it is, just give him $1.25/$1.50, or hand him two $1 bills and hold your hand open and say "no lo tengo mas pequeño" or "no tengo las monedas" ("I don't have it smaller/I don't have that in coins"). That has always worked for me.

You can also rent a taxi by the hour ("cual es la tarifa por hora?"). With most taxis the regular rate is $10 per hour but you can negotiate them all down to $8 if you try hard enough. And that's a pretty good deal.

None of the above applies to hotel taxis. They are affiliated with hotels and charge at least 50% more.