Cost of Uber Taxi From Istanbul Saw Airport to City Center

Yesterday, we arrived at Istanbul SAW airport. I booked an Uber taxi and chose the first option of taxi, as that was the quickest according to the app. It was a Yellow Taxi.

Usually, when I book an Uber taxi it shows a fixed price. But this time it showed an estimate of around 350-475 TRY.

I was a bit confused about this but thought maybe the price is adjusted depending on traffic in the area.

While in the taxi, I notice some numbers on the rearview mirror. I assumed this was the taxi meter price, but as I had booked with Uber I didn’t think it was relevant.

I noticed near the end of our journey it was showing around 550, so shouldn’t have been more than 600 by the time we got dropped off. I’m also not sure that it started at zero, because when I first noticed it, it was quite high. It rose slowly after that.

When we got dropped off, I didn’t think I needed to check anything because Uber usually sorts everything out.

But I then got an email confirmation of the trip that shows a total cost of 875 TRY? This includes a meter fare of 812.75. There’s no way that the meter fare should be that high, so I feel like I’ve been scammed but don’t know for sure. Maybe it was an honest mistake.

Surely Uber knows the likely cost from the airport so why would they show a maximum of 475 TRY if the final cost was 875 TRY. It doesn’t make any sense at all.

I’m going to contact them to check and see what they say.

UPDATE: Uber siad the driver entered the wrong amount and have adjusted the fare to 575 TRY.

So, be careful if booking an Uber in Istanbul. Check the meter at the beginning and end and take a photo.

I use Uber because so many taxis in Europe scam passengers. I don’t expect to be scammed by Uber. Maybe I wasn’t, but something doesn’t feel right.