Originally Posted by
richarddd
FreeNow lists €50 FCO to StR at the moment. It can be misleading to compare different days and different times, but that's consistent with bostontraveler's experience and suggests 98 was a large mark-up.
That's for a taxi. 98 euro was for a Mercedes E Class.
While some people may not consider it worth it to pay up for either (i) a Mercedes or (ii) a private transfer, it is not accurate to say they are the same thing.
Originally Posted by
bostontraveler
But objectively you will pay more.
It's not the same service. You're not just paying for the transport, you're paying for confirmed private transfer in a particular type of vehicle. Also, 5* hotels tend to book higher quality cars and drivers than you will get simply by booking through an app or at random at the taxi stand. Many on this forum are sophisticated consumers of travel services, who understand that cheapest is not always best. Please keep in mind that this thread is for the PH Milan, not the Ibis.
And for the record, I also recommended UA-NYC consider just taking a taxi. But it's simply not accurate to say that booking a private transfer through a luxury hotel is the same as taking a taxi.