Taxi!

DD2 lives under the flight path of her nearest airport. Taxi home was £25! Needless to say there was no tip. Wondered if the excessive charge was down to the driver being ‘out of the queue’ so missed out on a longer run? Maybe just greed.

Goodness, how long ago was the £2.50 fare?

I paid £8-9 for a 5 or 6 minute drive not long ago - having walked into town (a good 20 minutes but downhill - hadn’t realised the buses were on strike and had neglected to take my phone - could otherwise have phoned dh for a lift! It’s a fairly steep walk back and I had some heavy shopping - though having said that I don’t mind admitting that I always get the bus back anyway.

Congrats on the PB win!

After a recent very nasty accident I’ve needed hospital visits. This has been £20 each way for a drive that I could do in about 20 minutes. The next visit will be in London so I will book hospital transport for that. DH no longer drives and I’m reluctant to ask favours. I’m just really surprised at how mini cab costs have risen.

Every month I go to the Eye Clinic for my injections so need to book a Taxi as I can't drive myself due to eye drops blurring my vision.
Twelve months ago the fare was £8 each way last week it had risen to £12 each way according to the drivers they have to charge this to make a living after the huge rise in fuel.

I use taxis regularly and until last year the fare already on the clock was £1:90, it is now £3.
My journeys are mostly local costing £6/7.
We find for longer journeys using Uber is cheaper, a reverse from a couple of years ago.

From our home to Railway Station is approx 25 minutes, 3 years ago it was £38.00 I dread to think what it is now.

Taxi to next town 3 miles away single journey £8.50 here south east

Where do you all live to have such cheap taxi fares? A 4 mile trip home from our local station now costs around £20.

I am on a research project at the 'local' hospital, 15 miles away. This entitles me to a free taxi both ways. The one of the drivers told me that the round trip cost the project £90.

DD flew into Newcastle on Thursday and the taxi to Gateshead cost £33, one straight very main road and their flat backs on to said road.

I live less than 5 miles from Heathrow I can get an express bus which is free from the bottom of my road but as my flight was 7am I needed to be there by 5 didn’t fancy getting the bus at 4.30 am the cab cost £30. I suppose I’m paying for convenience.

I'm not sure what parking costs over there in the UK these days, but when you deduct what you would pay for parking (especially at an airport) these prices sound OK to me. Also the inconvenience and time involved in the actual parking is averted.

I compare it to the cost of a hire car. I decided a while back that hiring a car for a week as opposed to taking a taxi for the couple of trips I needed it for whilst staying with my sister was just not worth it.

I believe many hospitals have a bank of volunteer drivers for medical trips. You just pay for the petrol at a specific rate. It might be worth asking about this service.

We went out on Good Friday with some friends to our nearest town - 6 miles or so, and decided that as we all wanted a couple of glasses of wine we would take a taxi (one of friends also has breathing difficulties and a taxi would get us much closer to the restaurant than the nearest car parking) - we could NOT believe how much it was - £44 (each way!!!!) Apparently our local Council set a 50% premium for taxis on a Bank Holiday. Thank goodness we were not out till after midnight - goodness knows what they add on for that.

Fuel, insurance, maintenance costs, have all increased; the taxi drivers - independent or not - are naturally going to increase fairs aren't they?

The cost of fuel and cost of living hasn’t helped, most taxi drivers have to work stupid hours to make ends meet. They have lots of costs to cover and most are self employed so do not get paid for any time they’re not working or ill. It’s often an unpleasant job too. But it’s so expensive, I pity anyone who has to take taxis.

Longdistancegrnny

We went out on Good Friday with some friends to our nearest town - 6 miles or so, and decided that as we all wanted a couple of glasses of wine we would take a taxi (one of friends also has breathing difficulties and a taxi would get us much closer to the restaurant than the nearest car parking) - we could NOT believe how much it was - £44 (each way!!!!) Apparently our local Council set a 50% premium for taxis on a Bank Holiday. Thank goodness we were not out till after midnight - goodness knows what they add on for that.

Were you sharing the fare?
If so, it can’t have been that prohibitive.
It was a holiday weekend after all . But I agree that’s quite a lot for 6 miles, I would pay £20-30 here, and recently paid £30 for a 10 mile trip to return home from the station on Easter Sunday early evening. I wish I could have found 3 others to share with me!
In the light of that, split 4 ways , it’s not that bad.
We’re all feeling the pinch, taxi drivers too.

Here in S.W Scotland i paid £8.70 for 2.4 miles. If i had had time i would have walked.

We’re (SE UK) 2 miles from town - possibly a little more. For a local taxi firm it’s now £8.
A few years ago the local radio asked to check the drivers taxi license/permit.
We did and the driver was the permit holders son. Be careful as some families just use one permit.

About a month ago I had to go to our local A&E Dept (4.3miles door to door in Birmingham), I would normally drive but couldn't on this occasion.

Granted, it was a little after midnight but that really shouldn't make any difference but I was shocked when the driver said "£26.10, but we'll call it £27.00!". Needless to say, my reply was "No we won't, even £26.10 is robbery".

It goes without saying that I got on the bus coming home at 10am, for the princely sum of £4.

Longdistancegrnny

We went out on Good Friday with some friends to our nearest town - 6 miles or so, and decided that as we all wanted a couple of glasses of wine we would take a taxi (one of friends also has breathing difficulties and a taxi would get us much closer to the restaurant than the nearest car parking) - we could NOT believe how much it was - £44 (each way!!!!) Apparently our local Council set a 50% premium for taxis on a Bank Holiday. Thank goodness we were not out till after midnight - goodness knows what they add on for that.

I think the taxi driver adds a price for each person in the taxi. So if 4 of you £8 before you move.

I need to transport my Mother in her wheelchair 2 miles up the road from where she lives with a return journey a couple of hours later. Unfortunately, the nearest taxi rank is about 6 miles away so the clock starts when the taxi leaves the rank. It will cost my mother £30 each way. And so endeth her trips out from the Nursing Home and the stimulation her mind got from attending her lunch club. 😢

People forget that the driver also has to get to them, or if they are from say a station taxi rank they have to get back there. They can’t do that for nothing. The cost has to be paid. And how many who complain know the maintenance, insurance and licensing costs taxi drivers have to pay?

When I visit my son I will jump in a taxi at train station to his house I was getting charged anything from 22-39 my son said mum use Uber I now pay about 15-18 for the same 35 min journey. I prefer them you know where taxi is who driver is and Reg number so I would say it depends on who you use for your taxi too

interesting messages
My husband.....recently sent home from hospital after a 3 month's stay had an jnjury caused in part by negligence on the ward/ He was so distressed that he was considering using the services of Dignitas in Switzerland

The journey to the hospital was about 18 miles each way. He was distressed and I wanted to support him daily. My own visual capacity is variable so I cannot always drive; hospital transport was not available; local charities would only support me if it were for my own appointment; I could not ask for daily help from friends. This left resorting to a taxi
The fare was £45 each way. I could have chosen to pay waiting time for the driver during my visit An hour's wait allowed the total return fare to be over £115 a day. Needless to say, the idea of paying ..... about £800 a week was horrendous

My offspring are in full time work, live in other countries and have their own families and problems Nevertheless I could not have visited daily without the aid of these 'children' who flew in to the UK using up their leave entitlement to do so
On the other days I had to explain to my husband ( aged over 90) that I would visit if at all possible

Had this occurred during the Covid era, I think outside help would have been available to me