Beijing airport taxi scam attempt at taxi information desk
Apr 9, 2019, 11:59 pm
#31
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: SPG Platinum
Posts: 1,689
The company you are referring to, offers private cars as an alternative to taxis. It’s not a scam. I have used them quite often and they are reputable, honest and transparent. Their fees are based on your destination and usually is around 250-300 rmb for central BEIJING + 10 rmb in cash for the motorway. You can see the fare coming up in the screen as they input your deatination. Taxis are generally fine, but the line can require waiting up to 1 hour at the airport, also private cars are often vans and you can fit 6 people with luggage, whereas taxis are generally for 2 people 2 suitcases. The desk understands basic English and you can agree on the destination, so there is no further need to explain to the driver where you want to go. Most drivers in Beijing would not be able to read an English address and even if you have the Chinese they may not be able to read Chinese either. Remember that even Hilton, Holiday Inn, etc all have achinese names so just saying the hotel name in egliah won’t help. Taxis are super cheap in Beijing, compared to other major cities such as London, New York, Rome, etc. So paying 250 rmb for what’s often a 45 min ride is pretty good.
Apr 10, 2019, 7:55 am
#32
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: China and Canada
Posts: 1,886
Well, I have never met a taxi driver who could not read an address but these guys don't have the highest level of education otherwise they would not be driving taxis. The problem is usually with adresses written in pinyin as this is unreadable.
Apr 10, 2019, 8:45 am
#33
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,016
Pinyin is not good when attempting to communicate with Chinese speakers. If your spoken Mandarin is decent, that works. Otherwise, print out the address in Chinese.
Apr 10, 2019, 11:18 pm
#34
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: SPG Platinum
Posts: 1,689
Who would be stupid enough to give an address written in pinyin as opposed to characters?
Apr 14, 2019, 9:27 pm
#38
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
I can imagine someone asking for the address and being told "here, tell the driver this -" and then writing the address in pinyin so the non-Chinese speaker can try to tell the driver. Of course, then the person provides the written pinyin to the driver, figuring they can sort it out.
Apr 20, 2019, 5:07 pm
#39
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ORD, LAS
Programs: AA-EXP, BAEC Silver, Hyatt-Globalist, Hilton-gold, SPG-gold
Posts: 855
The company you are referring to, offers private cars as an alternative to taxis. It’s not a scam. I have used them quite often and they are reputable, honest and transparent. Their fees are based on your destination and usually is around 250-300 rmb for central BEIJING + 10 rmb in cash for the motorway. You can see the fare coming up in the screen as they input your deatination. Taxis are generally fine, but the line can require waiting up to 1 hour at the airport, also private cars are often vans and you can fit 6 people with luggage, whereas taxis are generally for 2 people 2 suitcases. The desk understands basic English and you can agree on the destination, so there is no further need to explain to the driver where you want to go. Most drivers in Beijing would not be able to read an English address and even if you have the Chinese they may not be able to read Chinese either. Remember that even Hilton, Holiday Inn, etc all have achinese names so just saying the hotel name in egliah won’t help. Taxis are super cheap in Beijing, compared to other major cities such as London, New York, Rome, etc. So paying 250 rmb for what’s often a 45 min ride is pretty good.