We met friends who had arrived in Rio the day before us. They went to the yellow taxi kiosk at the airport and got a ticket with a price for their ride to Copacabana. But, after being escorted to their waiting taxi the price was crossed out and a new price written on the ticket. The man who had escorted them to the taxi then handed the ticket to the driver who crossed that price out and added his own price! Essentially they ended up paying 95 Brazilian Reals,(US50) for a journey that should have cost a lot less. Of course, like us, they don't speak any Portuguese which makes it very difficult to argue in these situations.
We had read about these sorts of problems on a few different travel sites and my husband booked our transfers to Copacabana with Rio Airport Transfer, who he had seen comments about on this site, and paid 50 US for a smooth journey to our hotel in a very nice car.
I'm sure everyone has different experiences and there's always a few people who get conned by opportunists, but for the sake of convenience we prefer to book in advance and know what we're getting for our money. We would recommend Rio Airport Transfer for those like us who prefer less stress.
Happy Travels!
Jan
Such humans exist on all sides of this Earth (hopefully not in Heaven). I had a similar experience at Minneapolis Airport. In spite of everything being arranged/organised, and I speak English pretty well, the taxi driver took a long route, did not accept credit card and charged $25 more. I had similar experience in Minneapolis with hired ,well known taxi operator. I landed up paying $25 more despite myself and my daughter knowing the place.Now we prepare a checklist and read or cross check all the points before getting in any transport anywhere in the world. Do not forget to up date the check list and post on this site.
Is this your business?