SamD wrote
The airport is a 'closed shop' as far as taxis are concerned. I'm talking about pick up at the airport, Bluebird and Grab are banned as far as I know. So you can either pay the asking price or go through the hassle of trying to find an alternative. The last time I flew into Ngurah Rai in 2019 I paid 200,000 for a ride to Seminyak, about 15 minutes, using the airport taxis. So if it's 250,000 now it's not such a big hike. My experiences are different from yours. And having lived here since, I have not noticed any significant increase in prices for anything that I buy regularly. There are greedy people everywhere mate, but I haven't come across any in Bali. Desperate, yes. Greedy, no.
And I ALWAYS tip.
Cheers.
Alternatives WERE easy, just walk outside and be besieged by offers, always starting high, of course.
Pre covid, I never paid more than Rp 50,000 to central Kuta, and frequently 40, but this is 2+ years later, and there are VERY few flights, and even less offers from hustlers outside, but better days will return.
I'll differ on greedy Balinese, many desperate and just trying to get by, but amongst them there are the greedy, most often the already well off. If a foreigner thinks he's being screwed, just take a look at how they treat their own.
