The difference is not really price — it is whether you know the price. A metered fare from this district to Sydney Airport is a 60 to 110 kilometre run with no ceiling until you arrive, and the meter keeps moving while you sit in the M5. A fixed fare is settled before the car leaves your driveway.
The meter
NSW taxi fares are built from a flagfall, a distance rate and a waiting rate that ticks over whenever the vehicle is below a threshold speed. On a short suburban trip those components are small and the total is predictable enough. On a run of 60 to 110 kilometres from Wollondilly, Macarthur or the Southern Highlands to Mascot, they compound.
The waiting-rate component is the one that catches people. A clear run down the Hume and through the M5 behaves one way; the same trip at 7:30am on a weekday behaves quite differently, and the meter is running for the entire difference. You are, in effect, paying for the traffic.
There is also the return-leg problem. A taxi that takes you from Bowral to the airport has to get back, and depending on the operator and the distance that can be reflected in what you are charged. Ask before you set off rather than at the kerb.
None of this makes a taxi a bad service. It makes it a service whose price you learn at the end, which is a poor fit for a long, pre-planned journey with a flight at the other end.
Side by side
| Metered taxi | Fixed-fare transfer | |
|---|---|---|
| Price known before you travel | No | Yes, published |
| Effect of traffic on what you pay | Increases the fare | None |
| Effect of a delayed flight | You pay waiting time or rebook | None — tracked |
| Booking in advance | Possible, not guaranteed | Confirmed in writing |
| Availability at 4am from the Highlands | Unreliable | Standard booking |
| Child restraints | Rarely carried | Fitted and included |
| Vehicle sized to your luggage | Whatever arrives | Chosen at booking |
| Payment | At the end, amount unknown | At the end, amount known |
| Short local trip in town | Better choice | Not what we do |
We are a booked, fixed-fare service rather than a rank service. For a five-kilometre trip across Camden a taxi is the right tool and we would tell you so.
When each one wins
Anything within a town or between neighbouring suburbs. A taxi is designed for exactly that and we are not — our pricing is built around airport and terminal runs.
If you need a car in the next fifteen minutes and had no idea an hour ago, a rank or a phone booking to a local taxi is the realistic option.
Long runs to an airport or cruise terminal, anything with a flight at the other end, any unsocial hour, any journey with children in restraints, and any trip where you would rather know the number in advance than discover it.
Most taxis top out well below eleven seats. One minibus at one published fare is usually far cheaper per head than the two or three taxis it replaces.
Everything else
Sometimes on a good run, and considerably more on a bad one — that is precisely the problem. Over 60 to 110 kilometres the metered total depends on traffic you cannot predict when you book. Our fare is published per suburb and does not move.
You can book a pickup, but booking a taxi does not fix the fare — the meter still decides at the end. It also does not guarantee a vehicle sized for your luggage or fitted with the child restraint you need.
Rarely, and you generally cannot rely on one being available. Under NSW road rules children under seven need an appropriate restraint, and in practice that means carrying your own seat to the airport and back. Our restraints are fitted before the car leaves and cost nothing.
Nothing good. A taxi is not tracking your flight, so a late arrival means either a driver waiting on the meter or no driver at all. Our arrival bookings track the flight number and include free waiting from touchdown.
No. We are a booked, fixed-fare transfer service authorised under the NSW Point to Point framework. We do not work ranks and we do not take street hails; every job is arranged in advance with the price agreed first.
A transfer, without much argument. Eight people need two or three taxis and two or three meters; they fit in one eleven-seat minibus on one published fare.
Keep reading
The pages people usually open next.
Your suburb has a published fare to each destination that covers tolls and GST, and it does not change because the M5 is slow. Nothing is charged until the trip is done.
Available every day of the year, at any hour; set fees apply for pickups before 6am or after 8pm. See the full fare list, the fleet or our frequently asked questions.
Private, fixed-fare airport and cruise transfers from 75 suburbs across Wollondilly Shire, Macarthur and the Southern Highlands. A published fare per suburb for each destination, tolls and GST inside it, no deposit and no weekend loading — you pay the driver on the day of travel.
Sister services run by the same local team.