Airport transfer - Fooling foreigners?
I have been looking in amazement at the ad for airport transfer on Zona Taxi's cars. Since I travel to the airport quite often, I know that the transfer costs about HUF 5,000 or more. Now every Zona Taxi vehicle has a sign that says that "Budapest --> Airport 3600 Ft". But then there is the catch: the "-tól" suffix meaning "from," but this time it is oddly written in Hungarian. While there is nothing wrong with displaying ads in Hungary in Hungarian, in this particular case we should remember that the rest of the message is in English. "Airport" is not a Hungarian word, it never was. And, of course, the ad is directed at foreigners, as most Hungarians would either take public transport to the airport, or have someone give them a lift, or just book the door-to-door minibus.So basically, the ad in question tells you that you can travel from Budapest to the Airport for HUF 3,600. Period. The not so minor detail that you may actually be paying almost twice as much is added separately, in Hungarian: the price is "from HUF 3,600." And this is valid if you travel to the airport from something they call Zone 1, an area closest to the airport. But if your hotel is in downtown Budapest, or on the Buda side, you end up paying a lot more. Not only that, a transfer from the airport to the city is even more expensive. So if you, say, booked a hotel in the city center by the Royal Palace, you are actually charged HUF 5,400 without the customary tip. This is surely not 3,600, is it?
Now somehow I don't think that this mix of languages in this case is not an accident...
Labels: Budapest blues, Budapest traffic, Taxis, Tourists

1 Comments:
I don't think this could fool a tourist, especially when the transport to the airport is as easy as picking a train at Nyugati.
Interesting blog. I'm Spanish and I've been twice in Budapest, and I have good friends there.
It's an enchanting town. Hard to find a different word.
Viszlát!
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