Corsica Taxis is part of the Still The Best Trip Report.
As a former taxi driver (see TaxiCab Confessions: The Revelation), I don’t feel bad when I say that I hate taxis. This was especially true in Corsica, where rideshares exist but only in theory (The Uber app showed a taxi from the airport to my hotel was 38 euros but could not be booked).
The gouging began at the airport. I landed at. I walked out of the terminal and, as my book says, was prepared to be robbed (buy Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong . . . Including Mine). I called the hotel and asked how much a taxi would cost to Porto-Vecchio. They said 50 euros. I asked the driver in the front of the line. She said 55-70 euros. “It depends on the meter.”
Terrified of the meter, I told her no. I asked the next driver, and she said that it would take 30 minutes to get there. I was told that at 7 PM, there’s a night tax for taxis, and seeing as it was 6:45 PM, half the ride would be based on the night tax. She took out her phone and started clicking away with her long nails on her calculator app. She estimated it would be 70 euros. Outraged that the price had gone up, I went to the car behind her. Chivalry is not dead in the taxi price gouging world as the driver told me I had to take the cab that was first in line.
Still outraged, I decided to walk to the exit of the airport, hoping that a stray cab would offer me a normal rate. On my way out, I was told ‘good luck’ by a taxi at the end of the line.
20 minutes later and with no ride, I returned to the taxi line and back to the same woman. She said it’s now past 7, so the rate will be exclusively the night rate. She took out her phone and started tapping away. She told me 85 euros. I agreed.
Weaving in and out of traffic like a crazy person, my taxi driver eventually brought me to the hotel. The meter said 99 euros. She said I was ‘lucky’ to be paying 85. Impatient and upset that she had underestimated the rate, she told me to hurry up and get out.
TPOL’s Tip: Don’t take an afternoon flight to Corsica. You’ll pay for it. The night tax is real.
Taxi to the Beach
I was told that the nicest beach in all of France is Cala di Lume. The cost of getting there by taxi is 40 euros. The nicest beach in all of France for 40 euros? Sign me up. Hungover from the night before (see Guns & Butter: Porto-Vecchio, Corsica Travel Guide), I was delighted when an S Class picked me up.
Taxi from the Beach
Having spent 40 euros to get to the nicest beach in all of France, I was fine paying 55 euros, including the aforementioned night tax. This time, it was a Mercedes Van.
Taxi Back to the Airport
I had a late afternoon flight, so I slept in. I figured it would be 50 euros to pay for a taxi to the airport since I would be off the road before 7 PM. Wrong! “Today is Sunday. Taxis cost more on Sunday. It will be 90 euros. Oh, and you just missed the last bus that would have dropped you off on time.”
Car Rental
I am against car rentals in general. First, I do not want to drink and drive (see Mount Etna, Sicily Wine Tour: Fun & Games Until Police Stop). Second, I am terrified of driving manual (see TPOL’s Biggest Fears: Some Conquered, Some Endure). Third, car rental companies are the biggest thieves. Try putting in a claim with your credit card company. You’ll end up calling Bachuwa Law when the claim is rejected or not promptly processed.
Here, I assume renting a car for two days, if only for the ride to and from the airport, would have been cheaper.
Unaffiliated Taxes
Everyone knows there is a taxi mafia at the airport that is basically impossible to avoid. My question is how do i get a hold of the Toyota taxis that i saw dropping people off at the airport.
Overall
Money burnt on taxis is the worst. Or as they say in French, trés mal. Or as they say in Corsican, trè male.
It’s almost always cheaper to rent a car and much more convenient than than relying on taxi’s anywhere in the world other than major cities. We rented a car in Corsica and had a lot of fun exploring the island on our own timeframe.
TPOL in a manual? https://thepointsoflife.boardingarea.com/tpols-biggest-fears-some-conquered-some-endure/
I’ve (un?)fortunately come to the same conclusion. Often even in a small town I’ll rent a car just to go to/from the hotel (which never has a shuttle when the only flight for 6 hours is a CRJ/ERJ) as it’s cheaper than a taxi. Which will often be on a fixed rate. And it is fixed high. A few places the rental car companies and the taxis are in cahoots. Valdosta, GA…. Avis is a franchise. Won’t do any coupons or take corporate rates. $135 for a compact for one day. They’re only rental authorized to set foot on airport property. Cab is $80 round trip to a hotel 8 miles away. And it’s a Toyota van with NYC Taxi logos and a JFK/LGA rate sticker half peeled off the door. Uber? Hahahaha, no, they turn the app off and are taxi only when it’s airport time. Flint, MI? Same deal.
I rent a car when I fly out of one Charlotte airport and back into the other. One way car for $40 plus a gallon or two of gas? Get a rental credit, get out of airport faster half the time, and save $10-20 versus even an Uber.
Rental car companies are the worst at many things. But I’m almost okay with putting up with it as long as their rules are so loose (in the US anyway) that I can screw them and screw the cabs at the same time.
Rental car companies are the worst. Taxis are the worst. Where is my private chauffeur?