Hello John,

In addition to being a poster here on FT, I also happen to be a Traveler's Aid Volunteer at EWR. After reading your post, it concerned me greatly. While I will not be at the airport until Sunday, I will definitely look into some specifics when I am there, and will follow up with you. If you could send me a PM, just to remind me, that would be great!


I will address the airline side of taxi first. As was already stated, CO/UA has nothing to do with the "surcharge", be it just or unjust. I would reccomend you contact them, however, and explain that the voucher did not cover the cost of transit (do not go into detail with them, just explain that you had to spend money out of pocket because the taxi was more than the voucher. rember again, it is not their surcharge).

I had a similar issue, getting bumped from IAD-DCA, and was given a taxi voucher that did not cover the cost of the trip. I called, and was told that while they cannot issue me a cash credit, they would issue me a $250 voucher to make up for the difference.


Now, onto the issue you had with the Taxi. You seem to indicate that you did the "right thing" by going to the taxi stand outside of the terminal. (I assume this because you indicate you got one of those yellow cards from the taxi stand, where they write your fare, destination, etc. before assigning you to a taxi).

If this is the case, there should be a number you can call to resolve the Taxi situation on that yellow card. Keep in mind that the quoted $81.00 by the taxi stand DOES NOT include any tolls or driver gratuity. In addition, you would be responsible for tolls for the driver in both directions.


Looking at the most logical route, this would have been:

US1/9 (Pulaski Skyway) - Free
Holland Tunnel - $12.00 Cash Peak Toll (O/W Only)
(Your total would have been 12.00 in Tolls)

However, the driver may have gone:
NJ Turnpike (13A) to NJ Turnpike Extention (2.60 EACH Way)
Holland Tunnel - $12.00 Cash Peak Toll (O/W Only)
(Your total would have been 17.20 in Tolls)


Either way, it does not add up to the $30 "surcharge" which you were charged.




So I have everything that I need before going in on Sunday, if you could please provide me with the taxi number, the approximate times of your trip, and if possible (would be super if you could) scanned copies of both your reciept and the yellow card you were given at the taxi stand. From there, I will speak with the Taxi supervisor, and see what I can find out. Once you PM me, I will reply with my e-mail address.



I hope that I will be able to help you out!



PS - I am assuming that both the AC flight from EWR, and the later CO/UA flight were not suitable solutions for you, that is why you went to LGA?