Caring
- 2016-02-23
You're talking about high official rates, while the messages on the board are about cabbies fixing their own fares. So, unofficial surprises aren't the same as the legal once we know about ahead of time. Moreover, the debate is about the organization of airports which may have us all "by the balls" like in some Chinese airports where there's little in a sense of a customer service follow-up/feedback.
San Migs
- 2016-02-22
I do know that the coach fees from Heathrow are insane, and booking on the internet does not really save much. Short of taking a taxi, they have you by the balls in london.
Caring
- 2016-02-22
Yes, but here is the main point. The airport in Guangzhou looks quite good except that you may have to take only one out of the 4-5 exits built for the other doors aren't in service (bottleneck culture) which means you may have to walk too much and for the taxis wait and overpay much as well; Changde (Hunan) has just got a well finished new terminal too and it does have new seats 
, however, there're the rules of cabbies in front and that with the authorities supporting them.
As for the UK, although Heathrow may not look as nice as the newly built Chinese airport, you will likely be allowed to get out of any of its public exits and get a cabbie worth the price. Is it your experience that the licenced London airport taxi drivers negotiate in front of the terminal doors under the supervision of the security guards there? And, do they so blatantly ask for a double fare?
San Migs
- 2016-02-22
Methinks you have never been to Manchester airport, or god forbid, London (sic) Luton. I may bash the chinese in the past for a lot of stuff, but I generally tend to think the airports are pretty good, certainly better than the UK, excepting the newer Heathrow Terminals. Gatwick can be a dump and looks like it belongs in the 70s in parts, damaged seats and just bland.
Max Walsh
- 2016-02-22
Guangzhou airport is a boring, overpriced, and extremely poorly designed airport. Food is also crap. Whoever designed it is a moron. One of the worst in Asia, avoid!
Caring
- 2016-02-21
Paul, although Chinese holidays are expensive, taxis out of (or even to) airports are the issue regardless. Not only in Guangzhou which I experienced similarly to Sharp but in other cities cabs take advantage of the incompetent enforcements all year round 24/7. In Changde (Hunan), for example, you either pay the flat 100 Yuan to or from the airport, or you are stuck. Having taken a taxi from downtown to the Changde airport on meter before, I know it is exactly twice as much just as in the OP's case in Guangzhou. The Hunan city is uncomparable to the giant Canton international metropolis, so it sucks to see all the people there ripped off and forced to have to accept what China has to offer. Clearly, local services are based on poor customer feedback in Peoples Republic just about everywhere.
Paul Fox
- 2016-02-21
That's the problem with Chinese New Year! Open-season on everyone to charge what they like
I usually try to escape from China during CNY and this time I shot off to Vietnam for 2 weeks of sun
I bought my return airfare ticket from Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh a few months ago and paid RMB1600 in total
By the time the Chinese New Year arrived, that SAME TICKET had a price tag of RMB7260 plus tax (that's FOUR times more than I paid)
The short answer is if you don't want to be ripped-off by taxi drivers, then try not to travel during CNY or take buses and trains instead. If it can't be helped then it's just one more thing in China that we have to live with I guess
The building has a few doors (exits) but only one may be open, and awaiting taxis may be picky as well as outrageously overpriced.
With heavy lagguage I had to walk from one end to the other by all but one exit that was open, and in front of authorities I was refused a 20 miles fare by a number of cabs out of which one finally double charged me.
The disgraceful and unaccountable customer service seems endless here.