Originally Posted by
margarita girl
OMG, it just happened again, but in SGN this time. I must have SUCKER written on my forehead. Anyhow, I'm almost glad the BKK cabbie got me warmed up with his mere 100% mark up. In SGN, the meter read 760K VND (US$32) from airport to hotel! The driver conveniently "missed" the entrance to the hotel and wanted to drop me off at the street. I said no, take me to hotel. I refused to get out. So he started dropping his price. He went to 250K, then 200K, then 150K. I offered him 100K because he was a criminal, but he wouldn't go any lower than 150K (US$6) which I knew was in the right ballpark so I paid it. Sheesh! 500% mark up. That's not greedy is it?
No you just don't look (or sound) like a local. When I was last in Vietnam I found Grab to be a great value (IME much better value/price than Thailand). One trip the hotel car was the same price as a taxi (advised by concierge and confirmed from online data) so I had the hotel pick me up - but this isn't usually the case
