In Reply to: some of the nasty ones want to charge posted by Cat on Friday, 1. July 2005 at 07:16 Bali Time:
What I was saying is that you can haggle for a price cheaper than Blue Bird's argo price (which is consistant), but the price you get won't be much cheaper. Which is why most people can't be bothered and just use Blue Bird.
There's no limit to how high the price can go. From Jakarta Airport to downtown is usually around 55,000rp. I had one guy offer to take me for 170,000. I just laughed and gave him my version of your "I'm not Japanese" line -- I use "Aku bukan turis". But once I did get charged only 40,000 for the same trip, with a guy who didn't use the main roads (so I saved on tolls, too).
The last time I went from Jk airport to my hotel, the poor guy driving the taxi fell asleep during the traffic jam. I gave him a big tip and told him to get a coffee and go home. I hope he made it... haven't seen him since...