Korean Taxi

A special feature of our K-Town taxi services is our flat-rate LAX pricing policies. In addition, we make bookings in anticipation, either through our on-line booking forms or through our advanced shipping services. That means you can arrange your Korean taxi from Koreatown to LAX well in advance, so you can take off the floor transport from your mind check list before you fly from Los Angeles.

Taxis in Korea - Using South Korea

Taxes are abundant and relatively cheap everywhere in Korea, especially in the city. KORYO has two main kinds of taxis: The Ilban ( also known as gray cabs, which can also be either pure whites or blue) and moon (luxury or dark cabs - blacks with amber details ), although generally only bigger towns have moon-cabs. Luxustaxi also has a range of vans that are perfect for large groups or taking baggage with you to the airports.

May 2009 saw Seoul introduce the Haechi blue and yellow taxi. Then a new bright green special purpose vehicle for aliens was started - the measured price for the alien taxi is 20% higher than the gray or Haechi make taxi when you call them. However, if you pick them up from the road, the price is the same as for illegal cabs.

Please be aware that there are no longer foreign cabs in the color blue just because a directive was passed to make all Seoul cabs colorless. Most commonly used way to take a taxi is to mark one on the road (stretch out your hands, put your hands down and move your hands towards you.) Available cabs are marked by a flashing white spot directly in the windscreen on the front seat passengers side or by the hat lamp on top.

They can also go to a taxi rank (usually with a sunroof with a TAXI inscription clearly visible above) or order a call taxi by phone. It is best to mark a taxi pointing in the right directions (if you can find out) - if not, it can take up to 15 or 20 min. for the rider to get around the pad, as bends to the right are often not permitted.

A few riders will not take you with them if they go in the opposite directions you need. More and more taxi riders are speaking English and some taxi operators are offering a free interpreting services for English, Portuguese and Mandarin by cellular phones. Call 02-1330 (if you don't have a cellular you can ask the taxi for his " han-deuh telephone ") if your taxi doesn't have a "free interpreting signal" or if you have difficulty persuading the taxi attendant that you need one.

The driver knows places of interest, but is generally not familiar with the road addresses (if any). So before you leave for your final destinations, get someone to show you the sights near you (since many riders don't know English, it's also useful to have the information in Korean). The majority of chauffeurs know a hotel, but may not like you.

In " new " hotel, many riders still carry the old name, such as the Grand Hilton, which used to be the Swiss Grand. Get help and/or interpretation: When everything else goes wrong, you can try the free taxi interpreting services (the taxi will call you) or 02-1330 (1330 from the landline), where an English-speaking speaker will help you interact with the taxi rider.

Luckily, most taxi riders will try to get you where you want to go, and even stop to ask for help from road users if the location is unclear. In some big hotel, the gatekeeper will help call a cab. They can also give you the taxi number so that you can file a claim if necessary.

The tariffs measured are calculated on the basis of the taxi category, the travelled route and various supplements for daytime or busy periods. If you get into the car, it is a good suggestion to make sure that the rider has vacated the counter after the preceding passengers (should show 0, then 3000 - the basic tariff in Seoul from 12 October 2013).

Taxis start at W3000 in Seoul and rise by 100 depending on time/distance (every 142 meters), while taxis start at W5000 and rise by 200. Tariffs will rise by 20% at 12:00 a. m. until 4:00 a. m. and from October 2013 there will be a 20% supplement for non-Seoul travel (cities outside Seoul).

A few riders reject a ticket price if the passenger only covers a small stretch - they would prefer to continue without a ticket price for mysterious reasons. They can also be rejected because your target is too far away or in the opposite directions if the rider soon leaves the shifts or wants to take a lunch hour out.

In addition, for the sake of linguistic anxiety, riders will sometimes pass by aliens trying to greet them. However, the vast majority of taxi riders are comfortable and willing to help. From October 2013, taxi riders in Seoul may be fined 200,000 W for denying pick-up of a passenger or for denying a passenger a shorter commute.

Taxisharing (hapseung) still takes place occasionally, although it is not legitimate. Hapapening means that your chauffeur can stop for more people to get in your way. They seldom do this when transporting overseas travellers, but if they do, you can tell them not to take more people. The taxi is usually entered from the passenger's side, even if you are in the back seats.

Taxi can accommodate up to 3 adult passengers. Riders will sometimes demand to tell you the precise modification, even if you try to tip them. Vouchers are now available for all cabs. In case the rider does not hear the reception, you can say it in Korean: yong-su-jung choo-say-yo. If you have missed something in the cabin, you can immediately turn to the operator.

Vouchers all have a telephone number for the rider, usually a mobile number, although some only display a fixed number. You can also use your voucher to help you ID the chauffeur if there was a difficulty and you were not able to get the chauffeur ID before leaving the cabin.

Just call (or have a Korean spokesperson do it) and give the corporate ID number. Tourist congestion has become a problem in Seoul. Anybody who has been overloaded by a taxi cab rider can file a claim in English (and 4 other tongues + Korean) through Seoul City's Dasan 120 hotline.

For those who report taxi driver who have charged too much, a compensation of up to 500,000 W can be given. It also plans to set up a tourist restitution scheme for those who fell victim to such riders in mid-2013.