Luxurious accommodations lining a turquoise beachfront, buzzing buying streets, tropical vibes all through, and low cost flights galore: it is no marvel Americans love Cancun, most likely the best-value sunny vacation spot year-round.
As beautiful as it could be, no journey to Cancun is precisely a stroll within the park.
Traveling internationally comes with its fair proportion of challenges, from totally different border guidelines to language boundaries, and in Cancun’s case, the widespread scamming tradition has been identified to trigger issues for newcomers not but conversant in the modus operandi south of the border.
There are some ways you possibly can really feel cheated on a Mexican Caribbean trip, however this main rip-off has been grabbing headlines currently.
What Are Tourists Faced With Landing In Cancun?
The Cancun taxi saga is well-documented, with vacationers being caught within the crossfire between registered drivers and rideshare platforms for years now.
If you have by no means been to Cancun, you need to know transportation choices out of the airport should not precisely restricted, however they might be thought-about suboptimal if you happen to’re used to North American or European requirements.
Though there’s a Maya Train now, and buses can be found. Usually the quickest approach out of the primary terminal and into the Hotel Zone is taking a taxi, with journey instances of roughly half-hour to 1 hour, relying on visitors and ill-intentioned drivers working within the neighborhood of the airport understand it.
There have been various incidents involving non-registered drivers posing as licensed professionals: they may often overcharge vacationers, turning the taximeter off and charging them lots of of {dollars}.
The official price begins at solely $24, and in sure circumstances, Americans (who’re usually seen as simple prey) will probably be charged over $100, or much more absurd quantities, for a half-hour experience.
If you do not comply with the exorbitant price, and you may’t argue your approach out of it, you possibly can rely your self fortunate if you happen to’re not pushed to a distant location and compelled to withdraw cash beneath risk.
Even if you happen to’re a frequent customer or a seasoned traveler, if you happen to’re not cautious, you would possibly fall sufferer your self:
What Is Cancun’s New Scam Affecting Tourists?
The Cancun Sun notes that ‘some vacationers’ who not too long ago visited Cancun got here throughout a brand new rip-off.
We have at all times inspired our readers to pre-book their airport switch, ideally by way of their lodging supplier, prematurely with the intention to keep away from going by way of the so-called Cancun Airport Shark Tank.
Unfortunately, malicious drivers at the moment are resorting to mendacity to vacationers who had booked transportation by way of their lodge, basically appearing as a alternative for the precise driver, and belief us, they are often very convincing and can do their greatest to get you within the automotive with them.
The predominant incident that gave rise to those new issues refers back to the Xcaret visitor case:
In sum, one in every of these drivers advised a vacationer booked to remain on the world-class Cancun resort that their switch was unavailable and the lodge had despatched a alternative.
The driver tried to cost the vacationer a cripplingly-expensive price and advised the lodge would ‘reimburse them’ later.
The most stunning half? The scammer went to such lengths as pretending to name the lodge to ‘confirm’––and if you happen to do not communicate a phrase or two in Spanish, that is the place it will get trickier.
At that time, the vacationer began noticing one thing was off and refused to proceed with the motive force, avoiding a monetary headache proper initially of their much-needed vacay.
So how will you keep away from it too?
This Is How You Avoid It
One necessary issue to at all times consider is your communication along with your lodge, journey firm, or exercise supplier.
If they are a severe enterprise, and all of Cancun’s five-star visitor properties are, they may by no means ship a alternative driver with out letting you realize prematurely, in addition to informing you on the brand new driver’s particulars.
Additionally, even when a alternative is required, the brand new driver is prone to nonetheless be ready exterior the terminal, holding up a placard along with your identify on it for clear identification.
In order to be on the safer aspect, contact your lodge to inquire concerning the driver’s identify––in that case, you possibly can ask them for that very related piece of knowledge and verify their identification forward of coming into the automobile.
Again, that is simply if you wish to be on the protected aspect––often a placard along with your identify is indicative sufficient of a dependable driver.
Cancun is a comparatively protected vacation spot, with only a few vacationers being affected by violence, not like different elements of Latin America––then again, the great outdated sham firms and fraudsters are endemic, so taking additional precautions is critical.
Here’s Why You Should Be Careful Taking Official Taxis Too
Lastly, even when taxis are legit and licensed to function, there have been situations the place they harassed vacationers for preferring to make use of rideshare apps, like Uber when commuting to and from the airport.
In one case introduced up by The Cancun Sun, a driver who observed feminine vacationers have been trying to find their Uber driver adopted them across the airport to try to stop them from boarding.
There have been extra severe circumstances, together with full-fledged automotive chases and drivers smashing automotive home windows with vacationers inside mistakenly believing it was an Uber: it wasn’t.
Unsurprisingly, Uber presently doesn’t function on this route attributable to strain from taxi drivers, who want to maintain exercising a monopoly on airport operations.
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This article initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed listed here are the creator’s alone, not these of any financial institution, bank card issuer, lodge, airline, or different entity. This content material has not been reviewed, accredited or in any other case endorsed by any of the entities included inside the publish.