Hi,
fortunately my plane lands in Beirut at the very handy time of 2.10am on a Friday night.. As what I read reminds me a bit of Chennai airport or rickshaw stand Agra train station: What's the best options - wear a helmet and haggle with the taxi sharks or are there official airport taxis with official rates, possibly prepaid? And what's the going rate?
I can do all this but I am not so keen on a fight on whether usage of passenger seat, luggage, any random mystery charge was included in the fare or not in the middle of the night...
larsen99
1
south_of_60
Hi,
I just had the hotel get me a car and driver to pick me up.
Bit of a rip off but I was not about to argue at 2:00 am!
US$25.
There will be taxis at the airport exit if you want to go that way.
2
gingerbeirut
Insist on a max of 20 USD before you get in. If they ask for more just look for another one, they'll soon come down. That's the usual rate for visitors arriving at the airport, but you can get cheaper from the city to the airport. The fares are a flat fee, a total for door to door service. Not a bad idea to check if the taxi driver seems confident about your destination before choosing to go with him. Good to have a couple of nearby big landmarks to tell him.
Prepaying is not big here, it's a cash culture for everything.
3
cyafa
Hi
I will come across something similar, and my arrival to the airport will be at around 4am. Wondering how early the airport bus would be available. If not too late, probably I can stay around in the airport for a few hours, reading some books, sticking to the internet, etc.
thanks
4
gingerbeirut
Be aware that for the bus you have to walk out the airport to the nearest roundabout and wait for a minibus (it may have a no 5 on a bit of paper stuck in the windscreen) to come honking past. It goes into town but I don't know about times. It'll cost only about 2,000 LL.
See this terrible route map: http://lccworld.com/routing.asp
You have to click to show Route 5, zoom in and navigate using the compass.
If it's a question of cost I believe you could similarly walk out the airport and get a passing taxi on the highway which would be a bit cheaper than an airport taxi. Getting a taxi from Beirut back to the airport can be done for under 15 $.
Pro tip
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