Taxi Driver Online

I do hundreds of transfers to BHX every year and getting totally cheesed off with having to pay £1 for setting down and pick up. As far as I know all other airports let taxis drop off freely as it's obvious that they are bringing customers to the terminal.

On average I am in and out of the car park within 3-5 minutes so why should I be hit with this charge which was only brought in after the problem at Glasgow airport.

Interestingly black cabs from Brum/Solihull seem to be exempt as do private hire cars from Emirates.

Any one enlighten me?

this is more a money making scam than a security issue, if your cars gonna have a load of terrorists in it is the paying of a quid aint going to deter them..not likely. Glasgow has a free drop off...but not a free pick up, edinburgh has free drop off but you need to pay to park for pick ups, Newcastle give you 5 minutes free grace to Drop off or pick up...sadly that 5 minutes can disappear by the time you get thru the queue to exit the gates then your caught high and dry with a ticket you have to pay before leaving...even though your clogging up one of there exit gates..then it gets ugly!! however some like newcastle offer swipe cards you can prepay and these just take off what parking youve used on any given visit..if its under 5 minutes its still shown as free..and if you do incur parking costs you get a handsome Taxi/Ph drivers discount, well worth getting, dont know how many other airports that do this though.

I suspect they pay a lot directly to BAA for the rights to do what they do, and I would bet it's a lot more than £1 a time.

TBH if drivers were charged only a £1 parking fee each time them picked up at Gatwick or Heathrow, then they would be very happy.

Thankfully some nice fella invented the mobile phone, so I pay £0 to pick up my punters.

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IDFIMH

BHX have also introduced a £1 fee to use a luggage trolley - thats to USE, not like Tescos where you get it back....

so if i drop and collect 7 passengers (£1 in/£1 out) plus 3 trolleys each way adding £6 = £8 im making for BHX....

twice a week.... £16 x 52 = £832

and not so much as a thank you

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

When you drop your punters, have a quick look at the very front of the taxi rank; there are usually a few there ..... for free.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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im not bothered, my case has wheels and if the passengers want a trolley let them look.....

im all heart

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

That sounds like at least one a day; good business.


The £1 per 15/20 minutes to drop off will not change. The airport have found that this system is infinitely more orderly & with the passenger volume set to double in the next 5 years, they are very happy with the system; with new colour coded signs including the 'Drop & Go' facility having been recently installed, not to mention the reputed £3.5million extra revenue each year.

Before 'Drop & Go', what used to happen is that there were at least two police personel, employed full time, moving vehicles on, issuing tickets or even impounding unattended vehicles parked outside the terminals. What they now have is vehicles coming in to drop-off or pick-up & going asap to avoid extra charges, which is what they want. And at least two police personel can now be more usefully employed.

It's a similar situation when you go into a city centre coffee house; have you ever noticed the abundance of hard chair/seats in these places? That's because if you sit on them for too long your ar*e starts hurting & you leave quickly as soon as you have finished your light refreshment, so that your seat/table is ready for the next customer.

Your alternatives to 'Drop & Go' are;
Birmingham International Station & get your passengers to use the free mono-rail from there straight into the airport building.
OR
Long Stay Car Park 1, where you have 15 minutes free & get your passengers to use the free shuttle bus to the airport teminal building; they run every 3-7 minutes & there are plenty of pick-up points in LSCP1.


Brum & Solihull black cabs & PHVs all pay the same fees at the 'Drop & Go' car park as everybody else when dropping off or picking up PRE-BOOKED FARES. The only exception is for black cabs that work there under the PTS franchise & stand at the airport taxi rank. Emirates is a different thing; they do have access to the inner road used by buses & PTS taxis. But you will find Emirates have similar concessions at other airports.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

You have a PM.

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Grandad,

and if i pull upto the barriers but have my way blocked by some t**t on the phone who has realised it costs to get in i may just push em through the barrier

must get bull bars on the bus...


and the ones at the exit barrier who havent paid, cant back up and cant get through....




i do like the look of suprise on thier faces when the machine wants £12 though

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most