Don’t even trust taxi meters when taking taxi in Prague. All the usual advice applies to using taxis in Eastern Europe. But in Prague, don’t be fooled by the nice car and “I’ll use the meter” line – they can set it at whatever rate they like. The only way around this is to work out the distance you will be covering, get a rough price from the hotel and/or a local and set a price with a driver before you get into his cab.
Charges
Taxi Driver in Prague will generally charge you as much as they can. Do they overcharge for the city they are in? Yes in most cases – but usually what they are charging is 15 – 20 Dollars for a short cab ride. Compared to some larger cities its not as bad as it seems. Obviously old town square is the magnet for the worst of the bunch. Some good natured haggling will usually get you down to a high priced ride rather than a rip-off. And its important to note that there are many honest taxi drivers in Prague – but don’t take taxi off the street. TAXI drivers have sometimes a little machine which disconnect taximeter from energy source so it doesn’t count kilometres properly and you pay 2 – 4 times more than you had originally pay!! TAXI drivers also sometimes choose longer way so you go ‘tour’ around Prague and you pay a lot of money.
Further tips
1) Always ring for a taxi if you can. Avoid the heavily touristy areas and the main railway station.
2) Only use taxis that have their rates posted on the outside of the cab
3) Discuss the price of the trip (or max cost if using the meter) with the driver before actually getting into his cab.
4) When you get in – learn the name of the driver and write it down on a a notepad with the car reg. If he objects to this he will be dodgy. Get out and walk away.
5) Watch the meter is set right – its not too difficult to estimate a kilometre. If it’s flying by then demand to stop and get out – paying only what is already on the meter.
6) Follow the route on a map so he doesn’t follow the ‘scenic route’.
7) If the price seems high ask for a receipt with the amount, taxi registration and drivers name written on it.
I have very recently visited Prague and I feel that you have some of the worst taxi drivers in the world. When it comes to making up prices for journeys, we come to see your country not to get ripped off. Will warn everyone I know to be careful when getting taxis.. Avi Singh
Which company use in Prague?
For inner city taxi trips most people seems to recommend Profi Taxi and AAA taxi. But even though, they seems to have good advertisement and media reputation, still occasionally passengers encounter problems with them. From my personal experience of 10-years of using taxi companies I can say it is getting better. But still tourists should be on watch as they are and probably always will be “like a alarm for Prague Taxi drivers” thinking this passenger has “money” so we should rip him off. Many Prague taxi centrals including most reputable once like AAA a Profi taxi still have to deal with “on time arrivals” and some of them drivers behavior. Specially if they have to provide sort ride taxi transfer they seems to be very unpleasant. Recently big majority of taxi customers phone taxi as it reduce chances from unmemorable trip experience.
