Paris taxi/uber rip off

The flat rates from CDG to Paris are 50 or 55 euro so your lesson only cost you 10 euro max. Now you know ...... always go to the official taxi rank where no one will "take advantage of" you, no matter where in Europe you land.

Just to confirm, was this a taxi or Uber? Don't beat yourself up too much. Our minds aren't at their clearest when we hit the ground after the long flight over. Enjoy the rest of your visit!

What is the purpose of the reference to Uber in the title? Was this an Uber driver? Why call it a Uber rip off when it appears it had nothing to do with Uber.

It doesn't sound as if it was a taxi driver, either.

"a nicely dressed man offered us a ride" lol
it can happen anywhere when you are tired vulnerable and they can read that
and you 'dissed' Uber who had nothing to do with it

Thank you so much for the warning! I am flying into Paris on Sunday and will be taking a cab to my hotel and this is a good reminder.

I feel like the headline of this post is off. There is no indication that the car that was taken was either a taxi or an Uber. It could have been some guy with a car who was hanging around the airport and ripping people off and it wasn't even that much of a rip off because private car services often charge 70 or more euros for a trip in a nice car from Paris to CDG or vice versa. From the headline, I expected to read about some taxi driver who did not charge the flat rate or took a circuitous route to a spot. With a car with no meter and no markings, this guy was neither a taxi driver nor an Uber driver.

This wasn't a rip off. You got to skip the taxi queue (which cost you 10 or 15 euro) and took a ride to your hotel. You happily got in the car and rode to your hotel. The only accurate word in the title is "Paris".

In this case, skipping the line cost you about €10. Not bad.

When all is said and done, you only paid an additional 10 Euros at the most. And you avoided waiting in line with hundreds of others. Not only did you gain a valuable bit of experience, you got a bargain.

No problem losing 5-10 Euro on a trip, it happens.

Thank you for all of the feedback. I realized that I neglected to say we were staying at an airport hotel, maybe a mile from the airport. But we sure did learn a lesson.

So the "shuttle" you were initially expecting would have been a free hotel shuttle? Yup, you got taken for a ride alright. I would change the title of your posting (just use the "edit" function) and remove the word "uber" since you are maligning Uber rather unfairly. Uber drivers don't seek out random people at the airport; nor do they accept cash payments.

Also, remove "taxi" because you don't state that the vehicle had a taxi light or meter. It was just a driver with a vehicle.

There are special taxis that serve the hotel area next to the airport for people who don't want to or can't wait for a shuttle. However, the rate is 20 euro and serve only the airport area.

FYI: Taxis that serve Paris and surrounding areas typically have a two-hour wait in line to pick up customers at CDG. That's two hours out of commission while they wait to pick up a fare. They wait in an area downstairs, park, hang out, visit and wait their turns. It's a tough way to try to earn a living and I have a lot of respect for them.

Addition: after waiting two hours, taxi drivers would refuse to accept passengers for such a short distance when others in line need to get to Paris. So, it's either wait for the shuttle situation to normalize or pay this illegal driver.

My husband and I landed in Paris a week ago and I was ready to be extra vigilant about walking straight to the taxi stand after reading this post. I didn't have to be. There were several people directing us to the official taxi stand along the way. Maybe there have been recent issues with unofficial drivers soliciting customers.

Paris taxi drivers have a bad reputation so let me tell a good story. My wife and I went to Versailles in 2013 and because of a boat accident she ended up falling in the water. We decided rather than take the train we’d opt for a taxi instead. I approached a cab driver at the train station who said it would be €50 for a ride back to our Paris hotel. He said nothing about my wife being wet and off we went. When we got near the hotel the cab driver discovered that the street directions had changed and we need to make a 10-minute detour to get to the hotel. About this time the meter hit the €50 mark and he reached over and turned it off! When we got to the hotel he apologized for the roundabout route and refused a tip, twice! So there are some good Paris cab drivers out there :-).

Never let tiredness get the better of you always get a taxi from a rank and make sure the taxi number is clearly displayed. You didn't get ripped off to much ten euros max not to bad could of been much worse