In one city, should you take a taxi from the far-flung airport to the center, it will cost you more than $250.

In another city, taking a taxi from the airport to the center will cost you less than $5.

How much does that tell you about expenses in the destination?

Quite a lot. The first city is Tokyo, in many respects the most expensive in the world. The second city is Sofia, Bulgaria—one of the best values around.

This study put out by British foreign exchange company Moneycorp found a staggering variation in the cost of getting into the city from the airport in capitals around the world. Some of this can be chalked up to distance: the cab fare in Quito just doubled, for example, because the new airport is a lot farther away from the center than the old one.  Switzerland is crazy expensive, but the airport in Geneva is only 6km from the city.

In Quito though, you could hire a car and driver for days for less than it’s going to cost you for a taxi to your hotel in a place like Japan. The destination costs matter more than anything.

A taxi from the airport to your hostel bed in Cusco will cost less than a night’s lodging. In Madrid it’ll cost you five times as much.

““What our research into airport taxi costs reveals is the wide variation in taxi fares depending on which country you’re visiting.”

As the article points out, knowing this information in advance can determine whether you want to find an alternative means of transportation or not. When I arrived with my family in Bangkok at 4 am, jet-lagged, I was happy to pay the $18 it cost for a taxi there. When I arrive in Madrid next month after a week in Portugal, however, no way we’re shelling out $100 to ride in a car.

This is another case where reading a guidebook before you depart is a smart move. Instead of pecking around the web for an hour looking up answers to questions like this, it’s all there in front of you in one place, properly researched by someone on the ground.

Remember that some cities are far easier than others when it comes to public transportation alternatives. JFK airport in New York City is great, my other former home of Nashville is impossible. Mexico City has a subway, but you’re not allowed to take luggage on it. Bucharest has a great bus to the city, so does Salt Lake City (and soon it will have a train as well). The only way to know what the options are is to do some research.

Meanwhile, you can be sure that The World’s Cheapest Destinations also have reasonably priced airport taxis in their main airline gateway cities. Even in the honorable mention countries (Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Czech Republic) you’re not going to see a fare that makes your jaw drop except in rip-off resort areas like Cancun.

Have you encountered a particularly cheap taxi fare—or one that emptied your wallet?

[Flickr Creative Commons photo by bornin78]

Off-site parking in Los Angeles is not very “off”

I hate paying for parking anywhere and would hate to add up how much I’ve spent over the years leaving my car at airports. When you’re flying out for a week or two and it’s not convenient for someone to drop you off, you’ve either got to pay a taxi (if it’s from home) or to suck it up and pay to park. If you live far from the airport, or you’re in an area where it’s sometimes cheaper to go one city over, you’re really out of options.

Thankfully I don’t pay nearly as much as most other people do when this happens. Half or less most of the time.

See, I rarely park in the actual airport lot—even at economy one—because it’s usually dramatically less to leave my car in a private lot nearby. I’ve never paid more than $7.50 per day to park in Fort Lauderdale, for example, until recently when I had to park in the airport garage when running late for a flight. (Long story.) There it’s $15 per day. If you’re away for a week, that’s $105. In a major city, it can be even worse.

In Orlando a couple weeks ago, I paid $6 a night to leave my car in the lot of the Airport Marriott, where I caught an airport shuttle in a flash. That’s another advantage of these places: usually they have a more frequent shuttle schedule than the airport itself does. When I used to park off-site in Nashville (BNA), they would take you within 10 minutes even if nobody else needed a ride.

I usually use a site called Cheap Airport Parking because they’re on of my advertisers over at Perceptive Travel. Even if they weren’t they’re the second-largest consolidator of these off-site options, so it’s worth checking them out. Here are some sample rates available most days of the week.

MIA Embassy Suites – $5
LAX Premier Parking – $3.99
EWR (Newark) Premier Parking – $5.99
FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) Hilton – $6
TPA (Tampa) Memorial – $3.25
MCO (Orlando) – 3 parking lots are available under $3 per day.

They continuously ask customers to rate parking lots on 5 criteria: location, facility, wait times, shuttle experience and personnel attitude. Based on these ratings they calculate the overall quality score of a lot and sort parking lots based on this score to promote the best lots. Parking lots know about this algorithm and try to serve the customers better in order to be on top in the list and get more customers.

Off-site parking options at MIA I’ve used.

They don’t serve every market—nobody does—but you can usually Google “airport parking” or “off site parking” and the airport code/city to find the options if the market is not on the list of sites like this one. It doesn’t work everywhere, since some airports are too small or inconveniently placed, like the PIE one I have to use sometimes out of Clearwater/St. Pete, Florida.

Most of the small ones (not that one) have reasonably priced parking though. Where my father lives in Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina, the overnight charge is $4 and you can walk from the lot with your wheelie suitcase to the entrance.

Pardon the delay. I was feeding the llamas.

I’ve spent the past week in Quito and areas north and south of there, doing research for some articles, reviewing hotels, and updating the upcoming 4th edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations. While I mentioned in the last post that most prices haven’t changed much since the last time I was here, imported goods are being taxed at a rate of 100% or more. It’s gotten much more expensive here to spend a night at a bar or replace your dead camera/laptop/phone.

Otherwise, there’s more positive news than negative, so here’s a quick rundown on official developments and word on the street for travelers in Ecuador.

New Airport for Quito

There’s a lot of bureaucracy in this country, so often things take far longer than they should have to get moving. Quito’s new airport is by most accounts finished, but it won’t open until February 2013 (at least) because, um, the roads to it aren’t finished. You can fly in, but you can’t get out in a car. Once it’s done, you’ll pay far more for a taxi to the city than now, but there’s going to be a shuttle bus service from the get-go that should be reasonable.

Get Used to This President

Rafael Correa may be pegged as a power-grabbing socialist by some international press outlets and diplomats, but he’s extremely popular these days at home, with a 70% approval rating. He could be in office until 2017. As in Nicaragua, people seem to put up with a bit of screwing the constitution to run more than the allowed number of terms if life is getting better—especially the roads. Everyone here is talking about new highways and bypasses, rural roads getting paved, and potholes getting fixed. Note to politicians: help people get to where they need to go easier and many other problems can slide.

For travelers, expect more cheap subsidized gas, better highways, and…

The Rebirth of Ecuador’s Train System

The history of Ecuador’s trains is one of fits and starts, joy and disappointment. Building train tracks through the Andes Mountains and then keeping them from being covered by landslides takes a lot of resources. In the late 19th century, some 2,500 workers died just building the Devil’s Nose section that uses two switchbacks to get down the mountain. This government is pushing hard to get the longest part—from Quito to Guayaquil—going again. It is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2013. The first priority is a luxury service that will stop for the night several places along the way. But a tourist class one will follow and will be worth the splurge I’m sure. I went on two sections of it this week and was really impressed with the operation, both the restored and brand new coaches, and the scenery. I saw track improvements going on all over the place. Watch the Tren Ecuador site (in both languages) for updates.

Ecuadoran Food Getting Its Due

I’m amazed at the number of gastronomy, coffee, and chocolate tours now being offered in this country. As with Peru a decade ago, the cuisine of Ecuador seems to be finally getting its due. It’s not all that photogenic unless a chef does some magical reconstruction, but they grow just about everything here, all year long, so the profusion of fruits, vegetables, and herbs is astounding. Much of the street food and cheap market stall fare here is nothing to write home about, so splurge a few dollars more now and then and see what the fuss is about.

When you spend some time in Singapore’s Changi Airport, it kind of makes you sorry for everyone else. Just as Singapore Air is so superior to most others (especially in economy class) that it’s not really a contest, the country’s airport has no real competition. It’s so much more passenger-friendly than any other that it makes most other international gateways look like amateur hour.

On the basics alone it puts sad places like LAX, Heathrow, and JFK to shame. Luggage carts are widely available and free. Information kiosks are in every terminal section, they’re always staffed, and the people in them actually know what they’re talking about. The whole place is impeccably clean, including the bathrooms. There are mall-type directories everywhere pointing out every shop, restaurant, and airline lounge, plus there’s a printed map you can pick up and carry with you. Luggage arrives in a time period that shows you there have been no staff cutbacks and it’s the same at immigration. Wi-Fi is free throughout the airport and the drinking water is purified.

All that would be commendable, but it’s just the baseline of what should be expected anywhere. On top of that comes cake and icing.

This is the kind of airport you can spend six hours in, as I did recently, and be glad about it. You can actually go outside here and enjoy one of several gardens. There’s a garden that features cacti, one with sunflowers, one with orchids, and another with ferns. Two koi ponds are inside and there are lots of real plants. It keeps getting better though. There’s a movie theater, an MTV zone, and areas with Xbox and Playstation games. If you aren’t carrying a laptop or tablet, no problem—there are large computer kiosks all over the place. And all of this is free! 

Bring your bathing suit in your carry-on if you’ve got a long layover because there’s a rooftop pool outside and a whirlpool. There are plenty of other welcome features for parents, like a huge play area that has slides and TVs.

But wait, there’s more!

Many airports have charging stations, but the ones here allow you to put your gadget inside, set it to charge, then lock it up and go have a beer. You don’t have to hang out there while it’s juicing up. Go watch some big-screen TV in a comfy chair that has built-in speakers. Postcard kiosks allow you to shoot a photo of yourself and mail it off right there.

There’s one cool option that should be prevalent in lots of cities, but isn’t: a free city tour. If you have a long layover and want a taste of Singapore, you can get on a two-hour bus tour that hits the highlights and gives you a sense of the city. It’s a smart strategy as surely some of those people will say, “Nice place” and return someday.

If you don’t mind spending some money, you can get a day pass for a lounge with showers and snacks and while you’re there can set up a massage or a pedicure. The shopping choices are extensive and prices are normal: if you find a lower one in the city itself and bring back the proof, they’re refund twice the difference.

The pleasant experience doesn’t end when it’s time to go to your gate. Here’s a shot of what the seats looked like at mine. No cramped rows of pleather seats separated by armrests. Here you have serpentine seating that’s more like sofas, colorful and clean, with a sense of whimsy and style. Aesthetic beauty shouldn’t be so surprising in an airport, but others have set the bar so low that it usually is.

See the Changi Airport site for ideas and details.

You’ll usually find the best hotel deals in Singapore through Agoda.com.