Taxis in the USA are hard to get

Now I’m not sure this is the norm in the USA, but we certainly found we had bad luck on this trip with getting Taxis.

In New Orleans the taxis are actually very hard to identify. Soe are big yellow and black checkered things, some look like cop cars and others are large SUV’s which you can’t believe would be a cab.

We found the best bet was to get the cabs booked by the hotel or to get the numbers of them and call them when you’re out. Trying to hale one off the street proved difficult. One night we looked out for one and ended up walking home 40 mins as we just couldn’t find one. Another day we did a similar thing where we kept our eyes open and walked to an area where they should be but failed miserably. Our first experience if actually getting a cab – we had a Horror incident where our cab driver got into a fight with two guys we’d met on the street. Perhaps walking is safer?

In Austin, Texas we tried to hale cabs to save ourselves walking home a couple nights but they just didn’t seem to want our business or we weren’t doing it In the right place? We found it hard identifying if they were free or not, they always seemed to be taken or on their own agenda.

Last but not least, I’d ordered a cab for the last morning at 5am in Austin to get to the Airport. I had done this with the counter at my Motel. They never showed. Fortunately my new friend Chris had offered to drive me so I no longer needed the cab- lucky or I’d have been late.

So, Taxis in the USA. Tricky. My recommendation would be to read up about the city before you get there and identify a few taxi companies. When you arrive, speak to your hotel about the best way to approach them.