NOL station transportation

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margo

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
279
Location
Louisiana
Our last several experiences with New Orleans taxis taking us to and from the station have not been pleasant ( no meters, charge what they want-$17.00 for 1/2 mile at 9:00 pm, and insist on high tip, and a hostile attitude). How do other travelers handle this? Thank you.
 
Uber or Lyft or walking.



I do everything I can to avoid spending one cent on the belligerent taxi mafia.

It's not just New Orleans. In my experience taxi drivers are lousy people all across the country and in fact all over the world. They drive poorly, treat their customers like trash, and make threats if you don't play along with their fraudulent scheming.
 
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Took taxis from NOL station twice and got ripped off both times. Both drivers did not use the meters and just told us the price. As the OP said $17 for less than a mile ride is highway robbery. Next time we will use Uber. The trolley also stops near the station so if you do not have too much luggage with you that is a good choice.
 
I've switched to using Lyft whenever I can after hearing some of the controversies and misgivings around Uber and its executive staff. Still probably better than the taxi companies, but since both are an option in most places (usually it's either both or none) and Uber has also added tipping (the one advantage it had was there was no explicit expectation of tips) I'll use Lyft over Uber whenever practical.

In Vancouver, BC neither of them were available, so for my early-morning bus departure from Pacific Central I drove a Car2Go from my hotel over to Pacific Central. Not much cheaper than Uber or Lyft normally are, but very convenient and still not having to feed the taxi companies.
 
If you are talking about transfer from MSY to NOL, I only used the airport taxi's once. After that I would call a Yellow Cab to pick me up on the upper (departure) level. The taxis that queue at the airport are bandits.

There is an RTA bus that runs directly between MSY and NOL.

Otherwise, avoid hailing a cab on the street. Either use Uber or call a known-good taxi company.
 
I took a taxi from NOL station to Place D'Armes (French Quarter) and back and it was $6-8 each way I think. It was 3 years ago so I don't recall exactly. I just gave $10 as both experiences were very pleasant.
 
I was ripped off by a Taxi driver who took us from King Street station to the Westin which is only 1.3 miles after getting off the Coast Starlight in 2015. Been Uber / Lyft since then and have ZERO sympathy for the Taxi drivers. You can only charge so many "Special Rates" before people tell you to f%^& off. $20.00 for the 1.3 mile drive. Hotels such as Starwood encourage the use of Uber by giving users Star Points and the drivers can pickup and drop off at the Portico and the Taxi's can't do jack about it parked across the street or on the street waiting for their non existent customers.
 
We just used an Uber to go from the Nola station to Hyatt Centric in the French Quarter last week.

As we exited the station, a taxi driver tried grabbing bags from my husband.

He said, no thanks, we have an uber coming. He had to grab his bag back! This guy was right in his face!

We were approached by several more taxi drivers while waiting the 4 minutes for our uber car to arrive.

The Uber was about $9.

We ubered the whole trip. We like knowing what the price is before we get into the car.
 
I have used Uber and Lyft a number of times in the US, including a trip to O'hare Airport and had excellent service. Also, recently took Uber several times in Milan and Rome. Uber did not operate in Naples and a taxi ripped me off from train station to hotel.
 
We just used an Uber to go from the Nola station to Hyatt Centric in the French Quarter last week. As we exited the station, a taxi driver tried grabbing bags from my husband. He said, no thanks, we have an uber coming. He had to grab his bag back! This guy was right in his face! We were approached by several more taxi drivers while waiting the 4 minutes for our uber car to arrive. The Uber was about $9. We ubered the whole trip. We like knowing what the price is before we get into the car.
Never tell a taxi driver you're waiting for an Uber or Lyft car. They've been known to get belligerent, to intentionally block Uber/Lift vehicles (and all other traffic) with their taxi cabs, make aggravated threats, and even become violent toward Uber/Lyft drivers and passengers.
 
We just used an Uber to go from the Nola station to Hyatt Centric in the French Quarter last week.

As we exited the station, a taxi driver tried grabbing bags from my husband.

He said, no thanks, we have an uber coming. He had to grab his bag back! This guy was right in his face!

We were approached by several more taxi drivers while waiting the 4 minutes for our uber car to arrive.

The Uber was about $9.

We ubered the whole trip. We like knowing what the price is before we get into the car.
Those aggressive taxi drivers sound like what this American experienced when detraining at Xian, China. I sought out the only taxi driver who was NOT in my face to take me from the train station to my hotel. And I told him why I chose him. His rate was very reasonable and I gave him a nice tip. Took the hotel-to-airport bus on my departure (recommended by the front desk), which was 1/4 of what the taxi drivers were asking.

This was about 20 years ago. Don't know if Uber or Lyft have made it to Xian yet.
 
Re: the comments about high rates for short trips. As I recall from making a short trip to transfer hotels for work (Marriott convention to Pere Marquette) I think they are permitted to add a steep surcharge of 5 or 10 bucks to the initial fare for some short trips
 
Re: the comments about high rates for short trips. As I recall from making a short trip to transfer hotels for work (Marriott convention to Pere Marquette) I think they are permitted to add a steep surcharge of 5 or 10 bucks to the initial fare for some short trips
In most major cities in the US any special minimums, flat rate fees, or special surcharge times/areas must be clearly posted somewhere on the cab exterior. If it's not on the exterior rate sticker then they're probably just making it up. Unfortunately cabbies will often use threats of aggression and violence to ensure you pay up even when they're committing obvious fraud.
 
Never tell a taxi driver you're waiting for an Uber or Lyft car. They've been known to get belligerent, to intentionally block Uber/Lift vehicles (and all other traffic) with their taxi cabs, make aggravated threats, and even become violent toward Uber/Lyft drivers and passengers.
What he said. Just say "A friend is coming to get me."
 
My 1st experience with Uber was this January in TPA and it was a great experience! (Much better than the taxis I've used.) I plan to use Uber whenever I can. (I haven't used Lyft yet.)
I love Uber, as well. Have been meaning to try Lyft out, but haven't yet. I'm sure I will soon, though. Screw cabs, they too often provide horrible service, their fares aren't as competitive as Uber and Lyft, and though I hate to agree, cabbies have rightfully earned their fate of being in decline!
 
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