Alternative to taxi fare from the Santo Domingo airport (las americas internacional)?

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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I do not take expensive taxis run by what I consider to be a mafia. Most airports have a cheap way of getting to/from as I don't believe the workers there all have cars or use taxis. A friend of mine says there is a bus from the airport going to Boca Chica but I have never seen it.

Do you think it is possible for someone light on luggage to walk to the gua gua stop on the main highway? Or just get a cab to there instead of into the city (Santo Domingo)? Or a colectivo? I arrive in the afternoon and speak Spanish.

Another airport question: I have seen these rip off currency exchange booths popping up at various airports giving tourists horrible rates of exchange, so I hope a legit bank still operates there. Am I right?

The more determined airports are to fleece us, the more determined I get to pay fair prices.

Thanks for any responses.
 

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
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Yeah you could walk to the main highway if you're helathy. You'd probably be drenched in sweat before you even got to the connector highway between the main highway and the airport, then you'd still have another mile or so to walk. Even if that's all that happens on your walk, I couldn't imagine you saving enough of the forty bucks US$ or less the cab would cost you to make it worth your while. If you change money at the airport you'll probably get about 33 pesos for what you'd get 40 for in the city, with a minimum transaction of about 4K-6K pesos.
 

Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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There is a lot off effort going into saving a minimal amount of money. day or night you are asking to get robbed wandering around from the airport.
Green tops are just as territory driven as the airport taxis so if you are not using them on principle then you will struggle to get anywhere by public car.
either way, have fun.
 

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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Thanks wuarhat and boricuaonline! Yes, I think I will try the walk to the parada de gua gua in order to save the rip off $40 taxi mafia fare. The $24 shuttle is more reasonable, but the gua gua is cheapest of all.


When I visit Guatemala, I spend about 14 cents on the bus from the airport. It isn't deluxe and everyone warned me of robberies but it turns out OK time and time again. People warn me of robberies just going to these countries so I take it all with a grain of salt and hope for the best. Over the years I have saved alot of money. Airports are often a big rip off charging high prices to fleece tourists with money to burn. Thanks everyone!
 

Patron

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Mar 17, 2010
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Another airport question: I have seen these rip off currency exchange booths popping up at various airports giving tourists horrible rates of exchange, so I hope a legit bank still operates there. Am I right?

I know that there is a Western Union at the airport and they usually give a pretty good exchange rate.
 

dropshort

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May 18, 2008
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The last time I took a taxi from AILA to Boca Chica the fare was $800RD.
I had $1000. The driver said he did not have any change! Who said anything about change.
The drivers take $US. I know AILA and the drivers very well.
I also have good friends in the PN.

DS
 

bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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....I think I will try the walk to the parada de gua gua in order to save the rip off $40 taxi mafia fare...............

Bring plenty of drinking water............Seriously, you really don't want to walk from the terminal to the main highway to catch the guagua. At least spend a few pesos and take a motoconcho which will be waiting under the shade tree just opposite the rental car parking lot.
 

Noballs

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May 27, 2012
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Why wouldn't you just ask a dozen people from the plane your arriving on where they are going and hitch a ride.
 

Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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It appears it is a moral struggle rather than a financial one. But why someone with tight morals against corrupt and illegally enforced rules would even bother entering the DR is beyond me. Morally you couldn't leave the house for fear of being surrounded by exactly that of what you prefer to stand against. Crazy!
 

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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It appears it is a moral struggle rather than a financial one. But why someone with tight morals against corrupt and illegally enforced rules would even bother entering the DR is beyond me. Morally you couldn't leave the house for fear of being surrounded by exactly that of what you prefer to stand against. Crazy!

No, crazy would be fearmongering. Telling me I am asking to be robbed by walking around by the airport is what is crazy. I don't have much in the way of fear. If we are going to stop being taken advantage of when we travel, someone has to say no. Please feel free to pay any price the taxi union decides you should pay to get to the airport while stopping anyone trying to offer a better deal. I'll do things my way, thank you.
 

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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And thank you Negro Americano for your useful information in your two private messages. Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions
 

Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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It is not fearmongering, some tourist hauling their ass down the road on the way out the airport is not advisable, anywhere. People ignoring pretty basic travelling tips is the reason people keep getting robbed, mugged or whatever, it is pretty basic know how and not to, but you go ahead, save yourself 10 bucks and have a blast with the savings, enjoy!
 

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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It is not fearmongering, some tourist hauling their ass down the road on the way out the airport is not advisable, anywhere. People ignoring pretty basic travelling tips is the reason people keep getting robbed, mugged or whatever, it is pretty basic know how and not to, but you go ahead, save yourself 10 bucks and have a blast with the savings, enjoy!

Hold your breath till I need your advice on travel safety or spending MY money. Like taxi drivers have never robbed tourists.

And, I would like to thank the senders of the PM's with the exact details on getting from the airport for a few dollars instead of 40. Glad to know others do it all the time.
 
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kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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I posted this topic to find out about fairer alternatives to the "taxi mafia" at the airport in transportation and also in exchange. To all those who took the time to write..either here or with a PM, my heartfelt thanks. I found out the info I sought. If you want to write to tell me to be afraid to walk down maybe the most guarded road in the country in daylight or tell me (as some do) I should worry about getting mugged or raped (or causing it by being around) just to travel at all...no thanks. I heard it all before and suspect many of the warnings reveal more about the nervous giver than the actual danger. Yes, no place is safe even at home. I have always made the right decisions for me and travel to some of the most dangerous cities. I sympathize with...do not blame...crime victims. We each will decide our own personal level of risk in life. But I can tell you that the man in my life would not be in my life if he had fear. Anyway, we have had our say so goodbye here and happy travels!
 

wuarhat

I am a out of touch hippie.
Nov 13, 2006
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To each his own I guess. Some things really are worth a few bucks to me. Like avoiding a long walk through the tropical summer sun when I've got better things to do, or wasting a whole afternoon muddling my way to wherever I'm going trying to explain to every passing moto driver that needs two bits that I'd rather walk. Regardless of whether it's dangerous or not there are alot people out there at the airport trying to scratch up a living, and the fact that their advances are a hassle to you is not going to enter into their consideration. As for your characterization of the expense of the local cab fare, I think it is way off base. A taxi ride from SDQ to the center of Santo Domingo costs less than the same length ride in most cities of the US. Considering that the conditions are more brutal than alot of US cities and the gas and car are more expensive in Santo Domingo, I consider a $30-$40 cab ride not only just, but a bargain.
 

edm7583

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May 29, 2007
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It's not a bargain. It's a ripoff and a gringo tax, plain and simple. If you pick up the phone and call a normal taxi, with gas being expensive as it is, you will be charged at the most 1000 pesos to go back to the airport from the capital. That's a lot less than forty dollars. It really irrelevant comparing what you would pay in the US, Europe, etc. It makes more sense comparing what taxi drivers charge on the same route in the same city going the same distance and with the same expensive gas. When one taxi driver gladly transports you for 800 pesos, and another for the exact same distance charges you forty dollars, then demands a $10 tip on top of it at the end of the trip, it has nothing to do with the cost of fuel!
 
Dec 26, 2011
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How I wish that saving ten or twenty bucks on cab fare from an international airport could matter this much to me.
 

kinostar

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May 24, 2012
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I was about to leave my thread when I saw this and want to comment. Edm is right, what is more is that the taxi union has prevented us getting what airports all over the world get: bus service. Maybe chickengringo and others have so much money that they can't be bothered saving it (yet, strangely, they are here to snub their noses at those who want to save money) but not everyone has money or is such a bourgeois tourist. Please feel free to put all your extra cash that you can't be bothered to save wherever. Spend it as you please and we will do the same. There are other people in the Dominican Republic who think $40 spent time and time again is a hardship. I know you can't even imagine that. No wonder some locals get the idea tourists can be ripped off cause they have so much they won't miss it. If you don't want a cheap way of getting to the airport, fine. Have Jeeves pick you up. This topic is not for you.