Hello - I will be travelling to Prague by train from Budapest next week. I will then also be leaving from my hotel to Prague airport a few days later. I am travelling alone and would like to find out the best way to go about finding/ reserving a taxi. What is the best, safest and fairest priced way to go? Thanks!!
I would also say AAA taxi as you can look up approximate price on their website. They speak English and will tell you price again when you call. I like that. Are you aware that you can use public transportation very easily and inexpensively going to airport?
If you will arrive at Hlavni nadrazi (Main Station), then do not use cars waiting on "taxi stops" there! These guys are well known for huge overpricing. AAA Radiotaxi (www.aaataxi.cz), Profi Taxi (www.profitaxi.cz), Citytaxi (www.citytaxi) and Sedop (www.sedop.cz) are largest companies offering radio taxi services in Prague. I used all of them but Sedop and CityTaxi looks to me like the best of them in quality of services and AAA Taxi in availability. I think that cheapest Taxi service is provided by Taxi Praha (www.taxi-praha.cz) now - good choice for long drives outside Prague. Big recomendation Unfortunately. If you catch taxi on the street then you will risk overpricing. So it is highly recomended to use only radio taxi companies. Taxi drivers will face penalties from radio taxi companies if they overprice you but this apply only to orders given them through such company. Best practice Call/mail/sms radio taxi company, ask for estimated price and order the drive. In car: state your name and destination and say that you will need the bill.
It is true you can get overcharged if you hail a taxi on the street. During my first visit to Prague, I hailed a cab to go to a local nightspot. The fare was 250CK (about 10USD at the time) and compared to prices in the States, I found it quite reasonable. The next year I made approximately the same trip with a Czech friend who called the cab on his cellphone. It was 75CK. Even though I had clearly been "ripped off", I never really felt like I had been taken advantage of because of the differences in costs between Prague and my home town. I guess it all just depends on what you are used to.
