$40 range in Auckland airport to city taxi fares

A trip in a Black Cabs taxi from the airport to Sky City cost $91.00. Photo / Dean Purcell

Herald test finds app-based services much cheaper but traditional firms held the edge for ease of booking.

Taxis in Auckland are charging differences of up to $40 for trips between the city centre and the airport.

A Weekend Herald test of four cab companies found a marked difference between at least two of them; with one charging $91.60 and the other $50.83.

Four staff members travelled from Auckland International Airport to Sky City on Thursday afternoon. The traffic was flowing well enough.

A ride in an Uber taxi proved to be the cheapest fare; charging our staffer just over $50. The driver was polite and his vehicle tidy. He used a direct route and even offered recommendations as to where to get a good meal.

"My only gripe was that it took a while to book a car - I spent about 10 minutes trying before one became available," the staff member said.

CabChooze - which connects existing taxi drivers with passengers via a mobile app - was the second cheapest fare: $60.

However, the Weekend Herald worker in this vehicle waited 20 minutes before her phone call was answered after trying to book a cab through the site's app, which failed to load properly.

She was initially charged a set $55 fare but the eventual cost was $63, as the driver did not have enough change for the final fare of $60.

CabChooze's app director, B.K. Sharma, apologised, saying the operator answering calls had been in another room watching the cricket at the time of the phone call.

The Auckland Co-op Taxi vehicle arrived quickly and cost $73.60, while Black Cabs - which falls under Co-op - was the most expensive, with a fare of $91.60.

The new fares follow a similar test the newspaper carried out last May, after a local businessman paid $198 to travel from Auckland Airport to the North Shore.

In the test back then, the fares from the airport to Sky City ranged from $78 to $95. Again, in that test, Black Cabs was the most expensive.

Black Cabs mainly services jobs from the airport, meaning its exclusivity and $10 airport pickup fee bumped up the price.

Co-op chairman Jacob Patel said the fact the cabbies and their companies had to pay airport pick-up fees starting from about $6 meant some of that cost had to be passed on to passengers. "We have to pay for every [vehicle] standing at the airport entrance. We pay over $1 million every year for 100 of our vehicles to have the right to be on that free-flow rank."

There are other cheaper ways to the airport from the city; including taking a train from Britomart to Onehunga and then a bus to the airport.

That trip will cost $9, according to the Auckland Transport website, and will take just over an hour.

The Airbus from the city to the terminal costs $16.

Auckland Airport spokesman Richard Barker said they continued to work with taxi companies to try and bring down fares for passengers; including finalising set fares for as little as $49 with some companies.

How they fared

Black Cabs:

$91.60 Fare included a $10 airport charge. Very good service, friendly driver who took shortcuts to avoid traffic. Took $91.00 in the end. Arrived in good time.

CabChooze: $63. Initially quoted $55, but on arrival charged $60. Final cost $63 as driver did not have enough change and tried to give Australian coins. The app did not work properly. Had to wait almost 20 minutes before someone picked up the phone to take the booking. Arrived in good time.

Co-Op Taxis: $73.60. Polite and friendly driver. The ride was smooth and he used a direct route. Arrived on time.

Uber: $50.83 Friendly driver recommended restaurants to check out. Clean vehicle and driver used direct route. Arrived in good time, but the wait to book a car was 10 minutes.

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