This is more out of curiousity, since hopefully I won't be in this situation again!

Is there a fixed price for a taxi from the Dusseldorf train station to the airport? According to the airport website, it is 16 euros from the airport to the city center, but it doesn't say anything about the reverse. Due to poor planning on my part, I arrived at the train station < 1hr before my flight (without having checked in), so I decided to take a taxi to the airport since I figured that would be the fastest way. Anyway, the driver used the meter (21.50 euros), and played dumb when I asked him about the fixed rate of 16 euros. Since I was (1) in a rush and (2) not totally sure that there truly was a fixed rate I just handed him 22 euros (and also noted his cab #). Luckily, I was able to checkin for my flight (it's a good thing DUS has a 30 min cutoff--I think I made it with <1 min to spare!).

Anyway, I was just curious if the taxi driver was lying, and whether it is worthwhile to report him to the authorities in charge. It isn't that big a deal to me, but it simply reinforces my habit of limiting taxi usage whenever possible. For example, in Houston I used to routinely take the taxi to the airport, but the driver would never use the fixed rate and I never remembered to argue about it (these are early morning trips). However, after a while, I simply switched to hotel park and stay rates instead.