KEY POINTS:
You've pored over the internet and scored a cheap deal on air travel. But if you're catching taxis to and from the airport, you could end up spending more than you did on your flights.
A survey of 19 cab firms found that while some offered cheap set prices - as low as $35 for the 20km trip from SkyCity to the terminal - passengers could pay at least double that during peak hours when heavy traffic made journeys longer.
But tough times in the taxi business means that a canny customer looking to snare the best deal can negotiate a cheap set price with a particular driver or company.
Some firms offer airport specials during off-peak hours, while others use a meter but also offer a maximum price at the time of the call.
Discount Taxis and Budget Taxis were the cheapest, both promising a set rate of $35 at any time, providing the job was booked beforehand and the passenger paid in cash.
Economy, Reliable and Payless were the next lowest, offering $40 quotes over the phone.
Bigger firms, such as Alert Taxis, Auckland Co-op, South Auckland Taxis and Western Cabs, said $60-$65 was more likely to be the final charge and offered no set rates or specials.
One traveller spent $35 on the trip to the airport last weekend, a reasonable $1.75/km. However, the same traveller had to fork out $75 for the return leg with a different firm, a whopping $3.75/km.
"It got so expensive I decided to get out [in the city centre] and walk the rest of the way home," he said.
Compare these rates with the charge for flights available from Air New Zealand's grabaseat website on Friday: Wellington to Hamilton for $49 and Auckland to Taupo for $39.
The New Zealand Taxi Federation revealed that, technically, the companies offering set prices were breaking the law which required drivers to use a meter at all times.
The federation's Tim Reddish also said Auckland Airport charged taxi drivers a fee every time they entered the premises, which could make the return trip more expensive.
He also said there were "cowboys" who preyed on the "captive customers" at airports, he said, and warned passengers to check advertised rates, which were required by law to be displayed inside and outside a taxi.
Customers should also watch out for a high "flagfall" - some companies charged $6 or more for an "airport flagfall" while others had extremely high "waiting rates" that clicked in during heavy traffic when the vehicle slowed to 14km/h or less.
"There are drivers who exploit the [airport] situation," said Reddish.
"People who are not regular taxi passengers are the most vulnerable, because they don't know which companies are the expensive ones."
Reddish said he got several complaints a month from people concerned about overcharging.
"They don't realise, though, that taxi drivers are allowed to charge what they like - it's an unregulated industry - as long as the fare schedule is advertised."
A survey of 10 firms in Wellington found the 11km trip from Lambton Quay to the airport cost about $30 or $2.72/km.
There drivers did not appear to offer airport specials or set rates, and said the trip could be more expensive during peak traffic, when the 11km journey could take up to half an hour.
