Hello,
i would like to know how much cost a taxi from the airport to hotel "MAYORAZGO"?
thanks.

Interesting info here. I usually take the bus from the airport to Plaza Colon and although I can speak Spanish have never taken a taxi in case it was to get stuck in a traffic jam.

Now after reading here, the best bet looks like the subway. Where does it leave from exactly and where does it stop?

When we were in Madrid and went from the airport to Atocha (was it Atocha? it was to get the Ave), we took the airpot shuttle to Plza. Colón, crossed the street (sort of diagonally), and took a city bus to the station. It didn't take that long and for two of us, it was about 900 pesetas. That's about $3 apiece! Not bad, but also, we didn't mind schlepping our stuff down the street, on the bus...

Hi Machi!
A taxi ride from the airport to Hotel Mayorazgo should be 2.750 - 3.500 ptas. That is the "official rate".
If you finally decide to take a taxi, do not pay more than 4.000 ptas. They are trying to rip you off.
By the way, please check out our rates for airport shuttle service at our web site www.aerocity.com We can offer you very competitive fixed rates without surprises.
Best regards.

Well, well, well...If I hadn´t lived in Madrid so many years, I really don´t know if I would have "the guts" to travel to this amazing city after reading all these comments. Ripoff, ripoff, ripoff and ripoff, Pickpockets, pichpockets, pickpockets and pickpockets.
What I think is the following (I think I´ve already read this above: Don´t take a cab before asking the driver how much a drive to ??? is going to be!! Is it that difficult? And if you get to your destination and the taximeter reads 5000 or 12000 or ??? ptas. and you KNOW yore being ripped off, do what a spaniard (and definitely myself) would do: Throw whatever amount of cash you think is right for this trip on the back seat, get out and say "el resto, que te lo pague tu padre". Olé!

I did that. Asked the taxi driver how much it would be. Depends on traffic, he said. If they want to rip you off, they will: they wil rip off espanyoles, extranjeros, etc. You can protest, you can pay them less, and you can also risk being hassled greatly in the process. I think Aerocity will teach the taxi drivers a lesson or two. In cities where the taxis are rip-offs, people seek alternatives.

As for the 'que te lo pague tu padre," you had better be RUNNING when you say it!

And yes, at first glance, you may be surprised to see that the city you move around in has lots of pickpockets and taxi rip offs. They may not impact on YOU, but they certainly impact on those tourists whose experience of Madrid are marred by such matters. In the NYTimes yesterday, there was an article on tourists being assaulted-- OLD PEOPLE, being thrown to the ground, at Colon. We should all be concerned about this. And the gobierno in madrid should be concerned.


[This message has been edited by rgf (edited 09-18-2000).]

Ok! I’m going to take the taxi challenge when I arrive in Madrid in October. That is take a taxi and agree a max. price and if they want to argue on arrival then so be it.

I still think the rip-offs have been exagerated. If it was like that, why are there such long queues in the airport waiting for a taxi? People would have chosen other alternatives if it was so evident. They are a few nasty taxi drivers who are giving a bad name to the rest of them.

Anyway, the initial charge should be something about 200 pesetas plus about 400 for the airport supplement. A normal fare to Madrid could be from 2000 up to 4000, but it depends on the traffic and where exactly you're going. All supplements and also the average cost for kilometer are written in a sticker on the taxi's window.

Finally, if you don't agree with what the counter shows (I don't think there's a different counter for foreigners and locals), just write down the driver's name and his license number (they're in front of the copilot seat)

You´re right rgf: they always say that it depends on the traffic and they have the right to say so. If you have bad luck and get stuck on the M-40 because of an accident and it takes you two hours to get to your destination it´ll cost you more than taking the usual 25-30 minutes ride. The thing is, that they should be able to say: ok, usually the ride costs about 1800 Ptas. + 500 Ptas for each suitcase. In that case you know what you can expect.
What I´ve done a couple of times when arriving in Barajas is ask the first taxi-driver in line, how much he´s going to charge me. If I do not like the price I just go: nonono thanks, I´d rather take the next one. Then I wait until someone else takes this first cab. Then I go and ask the second one. This works, believe me! Usually the second one goes like: what? he wanted to charge you 5.000 Ptas. for a ride to Colón? I´ll take you for 2.500 Ptas. which is the regular price!!
The thing is, if you tell the first driver to sort of "get lost" the second one knows that you definitely know what you´re doing. Give it a try!
And if it´s already too late, you´re infront of your hotel and the driver starts telling you that the fare that appears on the taxameter is for each passenger or that he´ll have to charge you another 1000 Ptas. ´cause it´s full moon;-)) or some other sort of crap, tell him that you are not willing to pay unless the Policia Municipal shows up. Remember, he might get pissed and start saying some horrible things but he is not going to insist on ripping you off if you are the "right opponent" and have the "not-with-me-dude"-attitude. Neither is anybody going to beat you up for being right.
Un saludo

There´s one very important thing I forgot: Taxi-drivers are usually very friendly and open to all sorts of chatting during the trip. They often know things not even a Madrilenio (cago en la leche, mira que no tener "enie") knows, cause they talk to so many diferent people everyday.
Regarding the airport thing I forgot to mention, that more than once I´ve heard drivers say all kinds of "not very friendly" things about their colleagues who rip off tourists.
Hasta la próxima!