JEDDAH: Anyone who has arrived a few times at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport can tell you about two popular ways to cost arriving passengers money.
The first method encountered immediately after leaving the immigration gate is workers with carts accosting passengers. By the time a traveler reaches the luggage belt he or she may have been asked a dozen times if they need cart service. New arrivals may not be aware the carts are freely available.
These low-income workers are certainly in their right to offer a service to earn a living, but if passengers do not establish a price beforehand they may end up being pressed for as much money as possible later. In those cases cart-pushers might demand up to SR50, and they will be more than happy to take more from a disoriented foreign traveler still getting accustomed to the exchange rate. It’s best to wait until you are near the luggage belt to see if carts are available, and to negotiate a price beforehand should you hire the service of a cart-pusher.
A standard fee for cart service is between SR10 to SR20 for service to the taxi line outside. The fee will be higher at peak times when carts are not easily available. A little sleuthing may lead you to a stray cart lingering abandoned in the area — if it hasn’t been whisked away by a cart-pusher.
The second method of costing travelers more than they should pay is being offered a ride into the city by men who wander the airport foyer before you get to the authorized taxi line.
Some of these men are affiliated with the authorized cabbies and will walk with you to the taxi line. Others, however, are free agents who will attempt the same ruse as some of the cart-pushers: get you to commit to the service without pre-negotiating the fee.
It’s best to avoid all free-agent drivers and use authorized cabbies. It is important to ask if the man is taking you to a taxi at the authorized taxi line just outside of the exit. Be assertive that you will not go to a car in the parking lot, and make sure to establish a price for the ride.
Prices will vary depending on distance, but as a “captive customer” expect to pay a little more than usual for hiring a taxi from the airport.
