Manila

[QUOTE=Pablo; 1196707]Henry, what's the reasoning behind this? I always take a taxi from my hotel. I let the hotel guys get the taxi for me and tell the driver where I'm going since there's a better chance it'll be understood. They always make sure the driver uses the meter because I hear the word "meter" a few times when they're taking. Then they fill out the form with the drivers cab number in case they shut the meter off and give it to me. I seem to have better odds that the driver uses his meter for the whole trip than if I get a taxi off the street, although I have to say I usually don't have much issue with that since they usually start it up after I ask for it a few times.

What's the downside of using a taxi from in front of the hotel?[/QUOTE]Ya usually this is my experience also. However, some hotels use a taxi service that doesn't use a meter, they negotiate an inflated price on the spot, and the door guy gets a cut of the inflation later. The Pearl Hotel, corner Gen Luna / Taft / UN streets does this. There is a taxi waiting in front of the hotel all the time, just for Pearl guests, but not metered. I was looking for a laundry, I told the door guy. He chatted the driver and said he would take me to one for p150. Fair price it seemed. The laundry was less than two blocks. Could have walked it faster than taking the taxi. P150 was too much, even considering the driver wanted to wait and drive me back (and asked for 200 when I was getting out of the cab to go into the laundry). At that hotel, its better to walk a block and aim for a metered taxi. The door guy will hail you a metered taxi, but even if you ask for one, he will try and steer you to the private taxi. The front door of the hotel is on Gen Luna (college across the street) , where there seem to be damned few metered taxis (prime pickings for private taxi, waiting on your beck / call). Better to walk out the back door on to Taft, where there are oodles of metered taxis.

i prefer not to use hotel taxis either, but it depends on the hotel and / or situation. sometimes, drivers sit there waiting. and of course they expect more. it's a kind of an in-house deal. some hotels, and i'm thinking the higher class hotels, take care of their guests. i suppose the taxi drivers bow to the rules because they hope for those long rides to the aiport or laguna or ac or whatever.

pablo could help us answer his question if he told us what hotel and any other details (tips to hotel staff?). henry could also help us by telling us what hotel, and any other details.

and we can all use isg to figure out what is the going rate and bargain from there. call me a wuss if you want to, but i fly into manila less often because there is so much unpleasantness. and mnl taxis are one of the things that especially displease me. walk a block down mabini, and you will have taxi drivers blasting their horn at you. try to cross the street, measure the speed of the cars, and some fkwit taxi driver will slam on the brakes. honk is horn, and ruin your chance to cross the street.

x.

[quote=pablo; 1196707]henry, what's the reasoning behind this? i always take a taxi from my hotel. i let the hotel guys get the taxi for me and tell the driver where i'm going since there's a better chance it'll be understood. they always make sure the driver uses the meter because i hear the word "meter" a few times when they're taking. then they fill out the form with the drivers cab number in case they shut the meter off and give it to me. i seem to have better odds that the driver uses his meter for the whole trip than if i get a taxi off the street, although i have to say i usually don't have much issue with that since they usually start it up after i ask for it a few times.

what's the downside of using a taxi from in front of the hotel?[/quote]

[quote=x man; 1196765]i prefer not to use hotel taxis either, but it depends on the hotel and / or situation. sometimes, drivers sit there waiting. and of course they expect more. it's a kind of an in-house deal. some hotels, and i'm thinking the higher class hotels, take care of their guests. i suppose the taxi drivers bow to the rules because they hope for those long rides to the aiport or laguna or ac or whatever.

pablo could help us answer his question if he told us what hotel and any other details (tips to hotel staff?). henry could also help us by telling us what hotel, and any other details.

and we can all use isg to figure out what is the going rate and bargain from there. call me a wuss if you want to, but i fly into manila less often because there is so much unpleasantness. and mnl taxis are one of the things that especially displease me. walk a block down mabini, and you will have taxi drivers blasting their horn at you. try to cross the street, measure the speed of the cars, and some fkwit taxi driver will slam on the brakes. honk is horn, and ruin your chance to cross the street.

x.[/quote]good points x. i'm usually at the better hotels, right now i'm at the shangri-la makati. there seems to be a pretty constant stream of taxis dropping off people since there are a lot of guests and there always seems to be a function here. so i have never seen a "stand by taxi" and so far across 4 visits in 18 months i'm batting 100% on taxis using the meter leaving the hotel. however, off the street it sometimes take a few requests to get them to turn it on, but this trip at least in maybe 6 rides they've all used the meter.

i have never tipped the staff except for my maid when i make a mess of room and the valet for dragging up my 70 pound suitcase. they take 10% service charge every day which is supposedly shared among the staff so that is no small fee. that is supposed to cover our tips for the staff.

i agree with the taxis behavior of slowing down and honking, but they're just trying to get a fare. i know what you mean about crossing the street too. it's not enough of an annoyance for me to not like coming here though.

the shangri-la does have private cars but you have to not care about money to use it. their one way airport rate in their "low end" camry is a ridiculous php 2, 790, if you want the mercedes it's 3200 or 3600. crazy when a cab is just over 300 php. but i'm sure there are guests here either on expense account or who just don't want a cab and it's worth it to them to pay those rates to not have to worry.

Have a manila trip coming in two days time and full of the exuberance that an imminent "wheels up" can produce. However as I konw that such exuberance can often be misplaced (I thought you said we meet tomorrow","what do you mean I shouldn't have bought my mother" or "the subscriber cannot be reached LOL") I have long learnt its better to scratch the itch before take off.

As such, the planets have aligned and I'm free for next two nights wherby two OFW Filipinas in Taian will hapily service my needs pre take off. One sweet gal who gave me a fantastic blow even texted me thus " ok no prob on that I'm going to serve you my King "

Maybe she thinking my new name is Fu. LOL

The downside is they learn your habits, I. E, where you go, who you come back with, etc.

They also learn about you, your name, where you may be from, etc. Over the years, I have had people call my room already knowing my name, where I was, and who I was with. One time, I got a call from a person in the lobby who claimed they worked at a club the driver took me to earlier. He claimed he had tickets to a "gala club opening" for me, just because I was a nice guy. He offered to drive me to it, wonder what that was all about. Had a friend one time who went shopping at Greenville, day or two later some items were missing from his room.

The less these people know about you, your habits, where you go, etc, the better. Walk a few blocks, then take a taxi.

As for the meter, I never have a problem on the street. Before I hop in I ask if they have a meter and gas. Yes, gas. One driver ran out of gas on Roxas, while I was on my way to catch a flight.

[QUOTE=Pablo; 1196707]Henry, what's the reasoning behind this? I always take a taxi from my hotel. I let the hotel guys get the taxi for me and tell the driver where I'm going since there's a better chance it'll be understood. They always make sure the driver uses the meter because I hear the word "meter" a few times when they're taking. Then they fill out the form with the drivers cab number in case they shut the meter off and give it to me. I seem to have better odds that the driver uses his meter for the whole trip than if I get a taxi off the street, although I have to say I usually don't have much issue with that since they usually start it up after I ask for it a few times.

What's the downside of using a taxi from in front of the hotel?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Amavida; 1194905]Hi Guys, I'm coming 'home' to Manila in October to relive the madness for a month.

One of my girls there is trying to tell me the fares are like 1500php now. This sounds like complete bullshit to me.

I'm thinking of hiring a van with driver, what sort of daily rate are we looking at in Manila now?

Thanks to anyone who is on the ground there.

AV[/QUOTE]Taxi rates have gone up some, but not much. The airport yellow metered taxis are your best bet. Once you exit the arrivals terminal, look to your left. You'll see a series of newish yellow taxis queued up. Approach the podium, tell the gal where you want to go, and they'll issue a receipt for the deal. In a couple of seconds a yellow metered taxi will pull up, and you'll be off. The cars are relatively new, and the drivers are young guys with good manners. I imagine a trip to Makati will cost you no more than p250 with these airport metered taxis. You pay when you arrive at your destination.

As a side note, the coupon taxis that cost between p600 and p700 are passe, a thing of the past for the informed traveler. They still do exist at the same places outside the arrivals terminal. Obviously, people still use them, but unless you need a van, there is no need for that added expense.

[QUOTE=X Man;1196765]I prefer not to use hotel taxis either, but it depends on the hotel and / or situation. Sometimes, drivers sit there waiting. And of course they expect more. It's a kind of an in-house deal.[/QUOTE]Similarly, don't ever grab a cab outside the EDSA Complex. They will try to stick you in a crappy taxi without a meter. I'm with you in that I'm spending less and less time in Manila these days.

[QUOTE=Henryv;1197833]The less these people know about you, your habits, where you go, etc, the better. Walk a few blocks, then take a taxi..[/QUOTE]
Excellent advice! Always keep them guessing! :D

[QUOTE=Docwiltro; 1197946]Taxi rates have gone up some, but not much. The airport yellow metered taxis are your best bet. Once you exit the arrivals terminal, look to your left. You'll see a series of newish yellow taxis queued up. Approach the podium, tell the gal where you want to go, and they'll issue a receipt for the deal. In a couple of seconds a yellow metered taxi will pull up, and you'll be off. The cars are relatively new, and the drivers are young guys with good manners. I imagine a trip to Makati will cost you no more than p250 with these airport metered taxis. You pay when you arrive at your destination.

As a side note, the coupon taxis that cost between p600 and p700 are passe, a thing of the past for the informed traveler. They still do exist at the same places outside the arrivals terminal. Obviously, people still use them, but unless you need a van, there is no need for that added expense.[/QUOTE]You will wait upwards of 40 minutes for a metered taxi. Makati will be 220-275 in the day traffic. 180-200 evening. The coupon taxi, where you tell the guy out front where you are going, are much faster to get into (immediate) , but will run you p500-700. In one sense, the coupon taxi is a ripoff, but if you are not into waiting outside in the tropical heat in a long line for a metered taxi, the coupon taxi can be worth it. Also, metered taxis are almost always the small toyota corollas (or similar) , but the expensive coupon taxis are often larger vehicles, including vans and SUV's.

That metered airport taxi cost me Php 520 to get to St. Giles in Makati (next to P. Burgos) but it may have been that high because it was so late. Didn't have to wait for one because they kept on coming and zooming off with passengers.

Coupon taxis are still around and are a bit further beyond the metered airport taxis. A bunch of Westerners wanted one and the guys at the metered taxi lineup kept waving their arms around to show them where to go.

[QUOTE=Docwiltro; 1197946]Taxi rates have gone up some, but not much. The airport yellow metered taxis are your best bet. Once you exit the arrivals terminal, look to your left. You'll see a series of newish yellow taxis queued up. Approach the podium, tell the gal where you want to go, and they'll issue a receipt for the deal. In a couple of seconds a yellow metered taxi will pull up, and you'll be off. The cars are relatively new, and the drivers are young guys with good manners. I imagine a trip to Makati will cost you no more than p250 with these airport metered taxis. You pay when you arrive at your destination.

As a side note, the coupon taxis that cost between p600 and p700 are passe, a thing of the past for the informed traveler. They still do exist at the same places outside the arrivals terminal. Obviously, people still use them, but unless you need a van, there is no need for that added expense.[/QUOTE]

The taxi I got into last week had a meter but he wouldn't turn it on. He wanted Php 200 to get to my hotel in Makati. I insisted, he wouldn't budge. I hopped out and grabbed a cab in the next lane. .

[QUOTE=Mattrick;1197977]Similarly, don't ever grab a cab outside the EDSA Complex. They will try to stick you in a crappy taxi without a meter. I'm with you in that I'm spending less and less time in Manila these days.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Danibbler;1198098]The taxi I got into last week had a meter but he wouldn't turn it on. He wanted Php 200 to get to my hotel in Makati. I insisted, he wouldn't budge. I hopped out and grabbed a cab in the next lane. .[/QUOTE]I understand it's the principle but if the fare was 200p, I'm curious as to how much you saved by doing this Dan.

I saved Php 50. The fare from my hotel to EDSA was less than Php 150 (140?) so I knew the price. If he had put the meter on, I would have given him Php 150 and tell him to keep the change. It was also my third day there and I was very fed up with drivers trying to rip me off. One of them even had to nerve to blame me for him not having enough change to break a Php 50 note!

[QUOTE=Run Mann;1198125]I understand it's the principle but if the fare was 200p, I'm curious as to how much you saved by doing this Dan.[/QUOTE]

Ok, so here is my report for my one and only visit to EDSA on Sept. 9:

I can only remember two clubs but I went into four.

Arrived at around 9 pm and the place was all lit up! I had really high hopes after my Burgos' street experiences and after what I had read on various forums.

First stop was Cotton Club. Pros. Good selection of girls and some were actually attractive. Drinks were cheap. Cons. Not much dancing going on up on the stage. A few other girls hanging around asking for drinks and this was a bit of a turn off. Very few other punters. The whining about buy-me-a-drink drove me out of there.

Second stop was Firehouse, I think. Lot of girls! LOT of girls! Unfortunately, for me, they all looked really young or not attractive. Not pushy about drinks but I did buy the mama-san a hot tea. .

Third stop was probably Bullets and Arrows. Oooo. Not so good. The takeout / bmd girls were ugly. The dancers up there weren't too bad but the place was dead.

There were a couple more but it was a bit of a let-down. Cotton Club probably had the best looking girls there and I would have spent a lot more time and money if it wasn't for the pushy BMD girl.

I don't get this problem that some guys appear to have with taxi drivers. I've lived in the country for eight years, get to Manila about twice a month and frequently take taxis. I could probably count on one hand the number of times in those eight years I've had a driver refuse to use the meter. I have a good friend who is a member of this board, who takes taxis several times a day, and he doesn't have this problem either.

GE

Dude. I've never experienced a problem with any of the taxi drivers before. It basically cost me around 100 pesos for each of my rides for some reason LOL. I suggest carrying around smaller bills and coins though because some of the taxi drivers won't have change and it could lead to a situation.