Originally Posted by
jimbo99
The tip about the broken meter cover is a good one. In general its best to flag down a passing taxi on a main road or get to know where the taxi companies have their ranks. Learn to recognise the companies by their colour and phone number. The yellow Vinataxis (8 111 111) are probably the easiest to spot.
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Finally, for anyone who is in Vietnam for more than a few days, its well worth getting a local pay-as-you-go mobile SIM card. You'll need a GSM900 phone that isn't locked to a particular network.
All good tips from
jimbo. One I'd like to add... if you find a particular taxi driver you like, ask for his cell number... he'll usually have it already printed on a company card. He will be at your beckon call, and will appreciate the business. One particular driver was with us for 2 weeks, and in that time I learned alot about how they actually make the money, and it's hard. Our guy even told us it's ok to call 24 hours a day if we needed.
Also, most don't mind if you ask them to wait... it's just easier to keep you as the fare than to find another one.
And personally, I usually flag down cabs from Petrol Limex (white with blue/orange logos) or Saigon Taxi (white with green... I think)... they seem to have the newest vehicles with working A/Cs.