Asia - Taipei Taxi

Okay, the last 2 times I visited Taipei I've always had a private shuttle pick and drop me off from the Airport to the Hotel arranged by my company. But when I come back for another visit at the end of May it will be different and I am going to resort on local taxis to transport me. I am most likely going to be staying at the Imperial Hotel located near the Minquan MRT station on Lin Shen Rd N. In the my taxi experience in the city has been limited to inner-city small block journeys. Never have I taken it for Airport-Hotel-Airport transfers. Knowing that the trip from CKS to town can take an hour or more depending on traffic this is going to be somewhat of a new thing for me. My flight will likely arrive into TPE at around 11 pm and with the immigration formalities proceeding that afterwards, it may be until midnight before I make it out landside.

My question is how safe are taxi rides in Taipei during the late night hours? Is there anything to be concerned about? Mind you my Mandarin is average at best (I'm a HK native w/ Cantonese as a mother language) and wondering if the driver notices my broken & accented tone, will he be taking me for extra distance rides as to increase the meter for extra $$$ knowing that I am not a local? Will most driver know of the Imperial Hotel location if I pinpoint the location and address? I also noticed that there will be a 50% surcharge in addition to the meter rate for airport rides. Does this mean if the meter reads 1,100 NT at the end of the journey, it will be 1,100 + 50% = 1650 NT as my total charge? Also on the way back from the Hotel to the Airport, do I have to pre-book a taxi in advance or can I just hail them from the street near the hotel and tell the driver that I am heading to the airport? And is there a specific one (i.e. taxi colour, signs, etc) that I should be on the lookout if I want one that goes to the airport or are they all the same. For example in HK, if I were to head to CLK from the New Territories, I would have to hail the red one as oppose to the green one because the green one is strictly limited to the NT areas only whereas the red one can go anywhere.

I have plenty of Taxi experiences in HK for airport commutes and hope extensive cab rides in TPE is more or less the same as that in HK. Looks like on average, Airport taxis are slightly cheaper for TPE. In HK it would cost me a minimum of 350 HKD for a single journey.

Appreciate all your help.

taxis from TPE to downtown Taipei should be around $1000NT. They are safe and plentiful. They easiest route into the city will be the main freeway and an exit off at either the Chungking N Rd interchange or the Sungkiang interchange (just past the Grand Hotel). One right turn at Mintsu E Road and you're practically at the Imperial.

You should have no problem in the event of a "rip-off", as you can always engage the hotel staff on your side in a polite argument with the driver over a disputed fare. Most reputable hotels have doormen that know the reasonable fare.

Pre-book a taxi on the way back. They are all yellow...

I suspect the charge will come to more than NT1000--perhaps $1,500. Yes, as the sign in the taxi will say, they charge 1-1/2 what the meter says for rides from the airport into the city. Of course, cheaper if less traffic. Any taxi driver should know the address if not the hotel, and the odds of being taken out of your way are very small. All taxis can take you *to* the airport but only those with special licenses can pick people up there. But anyway, it's just as easy to order a taxi for the airport ride back rather than take the risk (however small) of not finding one on the street. ...As for night taxis, some women are a little wary of them, but I've *never* heard of a man being hassled (well, except for the occasional political harangue).

(dup post)

Agree with the comments so far. Its almost a mantra you hear here... all taxi drivers are criminals and if you're female and its after midnight, you're bound to be raped.

I've never had a problem - I've often taken taxis from central Taipei to the suburbs after midnight. I'm obviously foreign and have next to no Chinese. I've never had a problem and none of my female friends who've "risked" it have come to grief. I think these days of mobile phones make life safer. I know some "text" the number through to their friends and make this known to the driver. Really I think Taipei taxis are fantastic. In my experience, they always go the best way, always have change and are generally pretty clean. I've even had them give me back cash if they realised they didn't go the best way. Its hardly their fault because I live out in the suburbs and my place isn't easy to find.

Despite this, if you're not up for the hotel pickup because of the cash, I really would recommend the airport bus rather than mess around with yellow taxis at the airport. I note your SQ membership - so you would be arriving at T2. The bus terminal is on the right as you exit customs. Take the Evergreen bus. You pay the guy at the counter - they speak English and will give you a ticket and leaflet with the drop off points. From memory the fare is NT$135 - a bargain! If you arrive at T1, I think the Evergreen bus counter is to the left as you exit customs. The buses stop at both terminals.

Once you've got your ticket you wait in the room. When the bus comes they call it. You go out and the driver will give you a baggage tag and put the other half on the suitcase. Use the leaflet to show him which stop you're getting off at because they put the luggage into different cages depending on destination. He takes half of your ticket and you get on. Often the guy will come out from the counter to take care of you... foreigners are pretty rare. But its all pretty obvious and I've always found the staff helpful (not to mention curious Taiwanese fellow pax).

Buses depart every 15-20 minutes from 06:30 to 00:30. They are comfortable and air conditioned. They won't take you much longer than the taxi as they are non-stop from the airport to central Taipei. In my experience they always leave on time and are never full.

The best thing is, the second stop is near Minquan West Road MRT (its on Chengde road) so you could walk to the Imperial from the stop. You can use the leaflet they give you to orient yourself - just walk along Minquan West Road until it becomes Minquan East Road and then left into Linsen N Road. (Linsen N Road is not marked on the leaflet as its "too small"). But as you know, it is still a little far with luggage so it would be better to get a taxi - it would probably be the NT$70 from there. I would have the Imperial's address written down in Chinese for a yellow taxi.

For going back to the airport, I would just hail a taxi on the street. NT$1000 is pretty standard - no tipping. Just agree the price - or wave the NT$1000 note and say airport (for NT$1000 they will know you don't mean the nearby domestic airport!). Some locals seem to get NT$900 and my book-in-advance service is NT$870. So NT$1000 is pretty fair. If they say no, there are always plenty of alternatives driving along Linsen N Road. If the bell boy negotiates for you, it could be a bit more as often the taxi driver will give something back the bell boy.

A couple of other points. Rather than the bus, you could use the airport Limo service. (Also right as you come out of departures, but before the bus area). From memory its NT$1300 for the basic limo (anywhere central Taipei area) NT$1600 for a Mercedes.You can pay by credit card. The only problem with this service is sometimes they run out of cars and/or push you to take the Mercedes. If they haven't got the basic car, they'll usually do the Mercedes for NT$1400.

By the way, before getting an apartment here, I settled on the Riviera Hotel (http://www.rivierataipei.com/), practically next door to the Imperial. I met a few Imperial refugees there who thought the Riviera was a better deal. Well I can't compare because I've not stayed at the Imperial. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you a contact name you can email there for a quote. Their limo pickup used to be NT$1470 (can't remember if they added 10% to that).

Agree with the comments so far. Its almost a mantra you hear here... all taxi drivers are criminals and if you're female and its after midnight, you're bound to be raped.

I've never had a problem - I've often taken taxis from central Taipei to the suburbs after midnight. I'm obviously foreign and have next to no Chinese. I've never had a problem and none of my female friends who've "risked" it have come to grief. I think these days of mobile phones make life safer. I know some "text" the number through to their friends and make this known to the driver. Really I think Taipei taxis are fantastic. In my experience, they always go the best way, always have change and are generally pretty clean. I've even had them give me back cash if they realised they didn't go the best way. Its hardly their fault because I live out in the suburbs and my place isn't easy to find.

Despite this, if you're not up for the hotel pickup because of the cash, I really would recommend the airport bus rather than mess around with yellow taxis at the airport. I note your SQ membership - so you would be arriving at T2. The bus terminal is on the right as you exit customs. Take the Evergreen bus. You pay the guy at the counter - they speak English and will give you a ticket and leaflet with the drop off points. From memory the fare is NT$135 - a bargain! If you arrive at T1, I think the Evergreen bus counter is to the left as you exit customs. The buses stop at both terminals.

Once you've got your ticket you wait in the room. When the bus comes they call it. You go out and the driver will give you a baggage tag and put the other half on the suitcase. Use the leaflet to show him which stop you're getting off at because they put the luggage into different cages depending on destination. He takes half of your ticket and you get on. Often the guy will come out from the counter to take care of you... foreigners are pretty rare. But its all pretty obvious and I've always found the staff helpful (not to mention curious Taiwanese fellow pax).

Buses depart every 15-20 minutes from 06:30 to 00:30. They are comfortable and air conditioned. They won't take you much longer than the taxi as they are non-stop from the airport to central Taipei. In my experience they always leave on time and are never full.

The best thing is, the second stop is near Minquan West Road MRT (its on Chengde road) so you could walk to the Imperial from the stop. You can use the leaflet they give you to orient yourself - just walk along Minquan West Road until it becomes Minquan East Road and then left into Linsen N Road. (Linsen N Road is not marked on the leaflet as its "too small"). But as you know, it is still a little far with luggage so it would be better to get a taxi - it would probably be the NT$70 from there. I would have the Imperial's address written down in Chinese for a yellow taxi.

For going back to the airport, I would just hail a taxi on the street. NT$1000 is pretty standard - no tipping. Just agree the price - or wave the NT$1000 note and say airport (for NT$1000 they will know you don't mean the nearby domestic airport!). Some locals seem to get NT$900 and my book-in-advance service is NT$870. So NT$1000 is pretty fair. If they say no, there are always plenty of alternatives driving along Linsen N Road. If the bell boy negotiates for you, it could be a bit more as often the taxi driver will give something back the bell boy.

A couple of other points. Rather than the bus, you could use the airport Limo service. (Also right as you come out of departures, but before the bus area). From memory its NT$1300 for the basic limo (anywhere central Taipei area) NT$1600 for a Mercedes.You can pay by credit card. The only problem with this service is sometimes they run out of cars and/or push you to take the Mercedes. If they haven't got the basic car, they'll usually do the Mercedes for NT$1400.

By the way, before getting an apartment here, I settled on the Riviera Hotel (http://www.rivierataipei.com/), practically next door to the Imperial. I met a few Imperial refugees there who thought the Riviera was a better deal. Well I can't compare because I've not stayed at the Imperial. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you a contact name you can email there for a quote. Their limo pickup used to be NT$1470 (can't remember if they added 10% to that).

Great Post Jimbo. I wanted to add that if I am traveling alone, I usually take the Bus in both directions. I wanted to put in a warning, the return to the airport WILL take a bit longer than the outbound because most companies swing through downtown Taoyuan before heading into the airport. This usually takes 15 min, but I've been stuck on traffic for well over a half an hour before because it was rush hour. If traveling with a group, I have a service I use which is a VW Vanogon, which costs 1000NT all inclusive.


As for Taxi's, I've only had one bad experience where the driver drove us in a large meandering circle back to my apartment. During the whole trip I just repeated you're taking the wrong road and upon exiting, I simply threw out what I felt the average price was for the return, 200NT (normal charge between 170-190 )vs the 320NT on the meter and walked away. He simply drove off.

Thanks for all of your help for asserting confidence! ^ Sorry if I sounded like a coward at the beginning.

Despite this, if you're not up for the hotel pickup because of the cash, I really would recommend the airport bus rather than mess around with yellow taxis at the airport. I note your SQ membership - so you would be arriving at T2. The bus terminal is on the right as you exit customs. Take the Evergreen bus. You pay the guy at the counter - they speak English and will give you a ticket and leaflet with the drop off points. From memory the fare is NT$135 - a bargain! If you arrive at T1, I think the Evergreen bus counter is to the left as you exit customs. The buses stop at both terminals.
I will be arriving by myself off a CX flight as oppose to an SQ one at 10:50 pm. CX operates out of T1 and hope lines at Immigration are quiet during this time of the night that will get me out as quickly as possible. I was seriously contemplating bus services but with a 10:50 pm arrival, not sure if the buses would still be operating by the time I've exited customs as reading from the airport's website, last service is 30 min past midnight. Again I don't know how long the Immigration formalities will last. But not sure if I can make it from plane to bus curb in 1hr 40 min. $135 NT is a steal if not a bargain. Kinda like bus rates in HKG from CLK.
For going back to the airport, I would just hail a taxi on the street. NT$1000 is pretty standard - no tipping. Just agree the price - or wave the NT$1000 note and say airport (for NT$1000 they will know you don't mean the nearby domestic airport!). Some locals seem to get NT$900 and my book-in-advance service is NT$870. So NT$1000 is pretty fair. If they say no, there are always plenty of alternatives driving along Linsen N Road. If the bell boy negotiates for you, it could be a bit more as often the taxi driver will give something back the bell boy.
I have not contacted the Imperial. But was wondering if they could assist in reserving a cab for me on the way back to the airport.

Thanks for all of your help for asserting confidence! ^ Sorry if I sounded like a coward at the beginning.

I will be arriving by myself off a CX flight as oppose to an SQ one at 10:50 pm. CX operates out of T1 and hope lines at Immigration are quiet during this time of the night that will get me out as quickly as possible. I was seriously contemplating bus services but with a 10:50 pm arrival, not sure if the buses would still be operating by the time I've exited customs as reading from the airport's website, last service is 30 min past midnight. Again I don't know how long the Immigration formalities will last. But not sure if I can make it from plane to bus curb in 1hr 40 min. $135 NT is a steal if not a bargain. Kinda like bus rates in HKG from CLK.

I have not contacted the Imperial. But was wondering if they could assist in reserving a cab for me on the way back to the airport.

1h 40 min should be plenty of time to catch the bus. The hotel may be able to provide transport, but may charge a fee to arrange it. There are a couple cab companies that charge either 900-1000NT from anywhere in Taipei to the airport if you call them before hand. If you need me to, PM me and I'll dig out my taiwan sim card to give you the telephone number of the cab company.

I've used the taxi's many times with no problems. My last trip a couple weeks ago, I paid NT$1200 from central Taipei (near the 101) to the airport. I've found that the cabs are suprisingly clean and the drivers don't dawdle.

Again I don't know how long the Immigration formalities will last. But not sure if I can make it from plane to bus curb in 1hr 40 min.

....

I have not contacted the Imperial. But was wondering if they could assist in reserving a cab for me on the way back to the airport.

Should be plenty of time. If you are "bus curious" then I'd plan to get the bus with the airport limo service as a backup. In the unlikely event your flight is so very late that both have finished, I'm sure airport information would help you out, or the airline rep, or a call to the hotel would fix things.

For the return, if you're looking to save the money, then take up party_boy's invitation. My own company only speaks Chinese - but charges $870 from Chungho (in the suburbs) - probably the same from central Taipei. $900 to $1000 is pretty common. If during your stay in Taipei you meet a friendly guy that speaks English you could always ask him for a quote and his mobile number.

You really will have no problem getting a cab on the street at the Imperial. Linsen N Road is always busy. Even in the middle of the night its no problem because of all the karaoke bars further down. The "worst" time is during the morning rush when its raining - because of heavier traffic and Taiwanese using taxis instead of scooters. The longest I've had to wait is 5 minutes. For a while I "lived" in the nearby Riviera and commuted daily.

Not sure about the Imperial, but Riviera used to offer 3 options for going back to the airport. One was the "hotel car" ($1470 or whatever). "Private car" - basically they'd make a phone call to a local private company to book a car. You pay the driver. I don't know what this costs - but it would have been cheaper. Always seemed strange to me that they would happily help another company compete with their own in-house service. Or just ask the bell boy to get a yellow taxi. It was usually $1000 or $1100.

No tipping is necessary or expected in Taiwan. Before I've got my $900 ready for the $870 service, the driver already has the $30 change ready... But if I'm late and keep the guy waiting, then I'll give them something for that.

I also found taxi drivers who can speak "English" is really helpful.
They advertise the fact they are "fluent" in English on the passenger side window. You will see a sign that says "I SPEAK ENGLISH"

When I first arrived in Taiwan, with no chinese at all. I found them quite useful.

They advertise the fact they are "fluent" in English on the passenger side window. You will see a sign that says "I SPEAK ENGLISH"


It would be great if they had a different coloured light or something so you can see them coming....

To the OP, if you need the address of the Imperial before leaving, it is:
台北市中山區林森北路600號

If you don't see Chinese characters, then maybe you need to update your browser/add a language pack or whatever (all downloadable for free - I use UK Windows here in Taiwan and have no problems).

Or you could try their Chinese home page:
http://www.imperialhotel.com.tw/about.htm

If you arrive at a taxi without the address in Chinese, it can be a bit tough. Often hotel names are different in Chinese and taxi drivers don't always recognise them. In this case you can use your mobile to ring the hotel and ask them to tell the taxi driver. If staying a while its worth getting a SIM (you need an unlocked GSM900 phone) - I've seen them for sale at the airport.

One time I was lost in the middle of the night. I rang a mainland Chinese friend living in London who'd never been to Taiwan. She spoke to the driver and I was "sorted out". In some countries not far from here, it would be a great way to lose your phone.

Wow! All of you have been so wonderfully helpful. ^ I assume 10:50 pm should be rather quiet at immigrations. So barring any interrogations or delayed flight, I should make it out in time to catch the evening bus. So in summary, I'm going to go with bus service and use the taxi as a secondary back up. Jimbo, if I read your replies correctly, there should still be plenty of taxis around midnight in the area where I get off the bus near Minquan West Road MRT to hail? And this is the Evergreen Bus? For the service (http://www.cksairport.gov.tw/CKSeng/transportation/taipei_e.jsp) hours posted at the airport website, I see:
TTY Airport
06:00-00:30
Taipei City 05:00-23:00
Is the 06:00-00:30 time for buses heading towards the city or the other way around?

And oh yes, I do have the Chinese address with me on hand as I can read chinese characters myself. :)

Again thanks for all the wonderful help and advices.

If I read your replies correctly, there should still be plenty of taxis around midnight in the area where I get off the bus near Minquan West Road MRT to hail? .....

Yes... Its not far from "the zone" - there's always taxis about. Should you not see one after a few minutes then I'd walk towards to MRT station (which will be in the direction of the bus you just got off). Or if you are lightly loaded you could just walk to the hotel. (Actually I have been known to grab a beer in the zone on the way to the hotel...). Taipei is pretty safe, but I'd take care when stepping off the bus to keep obvious valuables out of sight just in case.

And this is the Evergreen Bus?
Yes. I've not paid attention to the other buses (Ubus etc) because its the one that works best for me. As it arrives in Taipei, the driver will turn the lights on. You can follow the progress on the map. You want the second stop. The drivers seem to stop anyway - but Taiwanese often press the button to confirm they want it to stop. After the first stop, you might want to press the button anyway, just to be sure! If you miss it, it doesn't really matter - the next stop is near Shuanglian MRT and a taxi from there won't cost much more.

Is the 06:00-00:30 time for buses heading towards the city or the other way around?
Yes that's for departing the airport towards Taipei.

I would just make sure you have hotel's phone number with you in the highly unlikely case your flight is so late that everything has stopped.

BY the way my average time form landing to being outside at CKS is around 15 minutes even with luggage, Jimbo I will be in Taipei for the bike show, we need to build the booth so should be there around 22nd through 27th if you fancy a beer and comparing lounges etc !!! alias your friend hugh Nohoo

Okay, provided that my flights are punctual, I'll go with bus into town and cab back to the airport. Would be carrying a couple of extra cash for the cab just in case I am over-delayed past midnight. Again thanks to everyone for their help. ^

Sorry to bump this again, but have another question. Going from aiport to hotel, how early should I check-out? My flight (CX461) departs at 11:20 am. Not having been to Taipei frequently enough to know if rushour traffic spills over to the highway towards the airport but knowing how messy traffic can be within the city, I am contemplating perhaps a 7am wake up call from the hotel desk and an 8am taxi departure towards the airport. Don't know if this is too early, about the right time, or even too late. This will take place on a Tuesday Weekday. I'm not concern about not having enough time for breakfast at the hotel as I can get breakfast at the CX lounge after an early check-in. So any recommendations on the best time to head to the airport given the schedules above?

Given you have lounge access, I'm guessing you have priority check-in - either as a C class pax or as a FF.

In this case, that's plenty of time. I regularly leave at 6.45am for a flights at around 9.15am. Recently they tightened up security (no liquids etc) and suggested people should allow 3 hours for checking in. Crazy... people seemed aware of the rules, had less to hand carry, security was faster and the lounges became crowded as people arrived too early.

I typically get 45 to 60mins in the lounge on this basis by leaving 2.5 hours before the flight. Until about a year ago, I always allowed 2 hours. But a couple of times immigration queues were very long and I got a bit stressed. Both times I went straight to the gate - only to then sit on the plane whilst we waited for many others who'd got caught the same way.

Anyway, so 2.5 hours would be enough, 3 hours even safer - especially if you don't have priority check-in and risk heavier traffic on departure from your hotel. This would mean a departure of 8.20am for a 11.20am flight.

Depending on exactly where you are Taipei, here are a couple representative times for my recent airport runs, starting point primarily Sherwood Hotel, Min Sheng E. Rd vicinity:

1. 4 pm flight to HK, drove myself (taking a friend to airport), no traffic, speed under 100 km entire way, left 1 pm, got their 1:45 pm. Friend flew coach.

2. 1 pm flight to KL, take taxi to old airport, then caught bus, left 10 am, got to old airport 10:10, bus fortunately arrived 10:25 am and got to airport 11:40 am. Was on business class.

3. 10 am flight to Shanghai, take taxi to old airport, then caught bus. Left 7:15 am, got to old airport 7:25 am, bus came 5 minutes later (again lucky?), arrived airport 8:30 am. Flew coach.

4. Worst - Sunday after CLNY, 10 am flight to Vietnam, had car service at 7 am, got to airport 7:45 am and had him drop me off at arrival as huge traffic jam to departure terminal. Wait for C class looped around terminal, so got in line with economy class, took about 25 minutes to check in. Did not go to lounge, thank god, immigration and security q were busiest I've ever seen in 30 yrs travel to Taiwan.


The three hour rule has been rescinded, like every other stupid rule they make up from time to time in Taiwan :(. Two hours before flight time, regardless of class of travel is more than enough. And 1 hour drive to airport is enough - Yes, there will be that one time when traffic jams for some silly reason but......

Wonderful. Thanks again!

Any suggestions for a good car service from the airport in Taipei? Would be helpful if they spoke a little English (my mandarin is rusty) and took credit cards.

I'm looking for a service I can book in advance as am traveling with wife and a lot of luggage. Will they meet you just outside of immigration/customs?

Thanks.

Notwithstanding what you said about booking in advance, I think you might as well just use the limousine counter.

It's a year since I used this service. Always was NT$1300 for "a car" (ie perfectly decent sized volvo/jap car), or NT$1600 for a Mercedes. That's all-in - ie inc toll. No service/tip expected or necessary. Pay on credit card if you like, no extra fee. (Except what your bank might charge.) Completely reliable. The driver probably won't speak English, but the girl (or guy) at the counter will and will check very carefully the address and ensure the driver knows. Cars are spotless, as you'd expect for such a service in Taiwan.

Generally they will "push" you to take a merc at NT$1600. Sometimes they will say they don't have a normal car available. I tend to believe them, because in this case they are perfectly happy to do the merc at NT$1400.

There are bigger vehicles if you really do have a huge amount of luggage. I've had 50Kg in the merc with two people (+driver!) with no problem.

Prices might have gone up a little since I used the service, but they are clearly on display.

You can't miss the limo counter at T2. Not sure where it is in T1, but from memory it's also unmissable. Beside, TPE is friendly, and hassle free.

As for bookable services, they charge a bit less and this is what I do. I pay NT$1290 for a decent sized Camry. (They charge more to pick up than drop off, allowing for waiting time I suppose.) But I suppose if you're concerned as to your Chinese, then you've got complications of making it clear what size car you need, and directions etc. Plus you said you wanted to pay by credit card and I think that that could be a complication you could do without. I wouldn't recommend the one I use because English is non-existent. Gives you an idea about price though. Bear in mind that even if you book in advance and require an English speaking driver, you might find that on the day something different happens!

No doubt someone will chip in with a reliable bookable-in-advance service. Those guys always stand with a sign as you exit customs. No problems there.

http://www.world-airport-transfer.com/airport-transfer.php?airport_transfer_city=Taipei