If you’ve been reading my Hotel Reviews you will notice that they start with a ‘Getting There’ snippet. I do this for two reasons: 1) If you are landing in a country and google transport from airport, chances are you don’t want to read the entire hotel review before getting to the useful info. 2) Because hotels seldom write the cheapest way to get to the hotel. Instead they sell their car service for $100+ which only an ass clown or someone expensing it on the company would go for.
Currently, I am en route to Athens airport to catch my flight to Egypt. I googled transport from airport and my hotel name. The result was either to book a private car or take a taxi for 30 euros. From there I went on tripadvisor, taxifarefinder.com (a cool site), and others until I found that haggling for a taxi should run around $7. We shall see if that is true but at least I have a point of reference.
Just about everywhere in the world has to have an affordable transport option to the airport to service the local market. The only places I know of without reasonable transport are Mauritius, where the airport taxi went for $100, and Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, where only the rich ruling generals (something perhaps changing as of today) reside.
Before settling for the ripoff option, ask yourself how a local would get from the airport. The answer may be something inconvenient such as taking a bus to a central station only to catch another but at least you are aware that it exists. From there you can make the determination of how best to spend your time/money. Alternatively, you can continue to read my blog.
Great post!
FYI, I live in Egypt–the airport is a mess. Your best bet is Uber (for clean, reliable, legitimate transport), but if you must take a local cab you will find it very difficult to get one for under 100 EGP (~$14), which is still a great deal but about triple what it actually costs. Good luck!
Is there Uber from airport in Cairo? I tweeted at them but they didn’t answer.
Yep. Free WiFi available at the airport as well.
Damn. While I appreciate your good news, I was looking forward to haggling with the taxi. I’ll give it a go for 60 egp just to keep my skills sharp.
Go for it!
And now for the conclusion of my story. So from 260 to 100, I finally got a driver to do 60. Well there was a miscommunication about my hotel name and so I ended up in city center of Cairo when I needed to be in Giza.
He brings me to Giza and demands 150. Blackberry is dead at this point so I assume I’m getting robbed and settle for 100. Turns out Uber goes for 125. The man cursed my name and took off. TPOL 1 Egypt 0
A great success! That describes every cab ride I’ve taken from the airport in my two-year time here. Yes, Uber can be a little more expensive (95EGP to get me to Zamalek), but not having to get in a fistfight and deal with smelly cars and drivers is worth the couple extra bucks.
Thanks for sharing–have a great time at the pyramids and all that.
My two favorite options for Airport transit options are the Salk Airport Transit Guide app, and/or the Rome2Rio app. Between the two of them you can find multiple options for all price points.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll test them out and add them to my travel advice section.