Watch Out for This When Arriving in New York City

Times Square, New York, USA
Times Square, New York, USA. Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

New York City is one of the most popular cities in the entire world, but it certainly has its quirks. If you’re new to the city, you may not know which things you need to look out for, but eventually, you’ll figure it out. However, there’s something that every tourist needs to know before they’ve even left the airport. It’s probably the most common “tourist trap” there is, so if you can avoid this, you’re already off to a good start in navigating NYC.

Hailing the “Right” Cab

You may have heard that New York City is iconic for its abundance of taxis. So if you don’t have any transportation when attempting to leave the airport, you’ll be more than happy to catch a cab from the airport. This is an excellent idea, but there’s something you need to watch out for: car service.

If you need a cab, there’s only one place to get one, and that’s in the official yellow taxi line that the airport provides. You may have to wait in line for a bit, but this is the cheapest and most legitimate cab option to get. If you’re not careful and don’t know where this line is, personal drivers with their black cars will come out of the woodwork to try and convince you to take a ride with them.

These people aren’t dangerous or anything—but they’ll charge you a fortune. Getting into an official yellow taxi will be a fraction of the price, and they’ll get you to your destination in exactly the same amount of time (if not sooner!).