[sammyboy]

Hi Guys,

Need some advice from you. I have some relatives coming over to my place in Blr. We will be going on a 3 day trip from here, 1 night stay at Bandipur and then the next night stay in Ooty, back on third day.

We are 5 adults and 3 children (5-6 yrs).

I am planning to hire an Innova (7+1 seater) so that all of us can travel together. (personally I would have loved to drive but ...)

Anyways, can anyone suggest a reliable cab service and the kind of rates I might have to pay?

I checked online and the prices are about Rs 12/km for the Innova + allowance for the driver. Are these okay?

Can anyone recommend a good cab company/individual I could look at hiring?

Also, I have never really needed to book a cab for outstation travel (from Blr) so what are the things I need to be careful about?

Please help guys.

Thanks, as always

[quadra]

check with your local area taxi operators, you would at least get a fair idea on how things work.

We took a qualis (7rs per km) last year - 5 adults and no issues at all.

Treat the driver with respect, offer him food - you would not like to be stranded at an unknown place.

[Spinnerr]

+1
I think you should be able to get an innova for Rs9/km + driver charges + permit cost when crossing the border.

For Rs 12/- you will get a tempo traveller.

Try these #, we had used their some time back
Mas Travels, Madivala - 25521569 Aneesh - 9448 29 29 02
Universal Travles, Madivala - 25535923

I would recommend Universal over Mas Travels.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by quadra

check with your local area taxi operators, you would at least get a fair idea on how things work.

We took a qualis (7rs per km) last year - 5 adults and no issues at all.

Treat the driver with respect, offer him food - you would not like to be stranded at an unknown place.

Thanks Quadra. I had an interesting episode when one of my relatives who had come over decided to take a local cab as no meru cabs were available. The driver was in his 4th day of job and 5th day in Bangalore, he had no clue about where to go and how to go. My uncle told me that the driver stopped every 100 meters to ask then before hearing the full directions raced to the next and so on. So after 2.5 hours on the road they couldnt reach Jaynagar from Indira Nagar Finally my uncle got down and asked his clients to come and pick him up. Paid the driver extra as the poor guy was hungry as he hadnt had anything to eat since the morning as well.

So a little wary of the local guys around. I understand its a one off experience though so will try.

I completely agree on the respect part.

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

+1
I think you should be able to get an innova for Rs9/km + driver charges + permit cost when crossing the border.

For Rs 12/- you will get a tempo traveller.

Try these #, we had used their some time back
Mas Travels, Madivala - 25521569 Aneesh - 9448 29 29 02
Universal Travles, Madivala - 25535923

I would recommend Universal over Mas Travels.

Thanks Spinnerr. Rs 12 /km did sound a lil high
WIll call Universal tomorrow for sure and check.

How much is the border permit though? SHouldnt be over 500 bucks right?

[Spinnerr]

^^ Well, for a TT to Waynad it is around Rs 700/- so for an Innova, it ought to be around Rs 500/- assuming KL and TN taxes are more or less the same.

Tip: if you go with the driver into the Tax collection counter, you will know the exact rates. These guys usually say +100/200 cuz they have to bribe to get it done in a jiffy. That is what they say.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by Spinnerr

^^ Well, for a TT to Waynad it is around Rs 700/- so for an Innova, it ought to be around Rs 500/-

Tip: if you go with the driver into the Tax collection counter, you will know the exact rates. These guys usually say +100/200 cuz they have to bribe to get it done in a jiffy. That is what they say.

Thanks man, that makes sense. Will try to keep an eye on that one.

[rajshenoy]

I just came back from ooty(hired an innova 7+1)
we were 7 adults and a baby though.

Charges for the vehicle are typically 10-11 rs/km and driver allowance 150-175 rs. they also demand interstate tax 500 rs.

And per day minimum is 250 kms. (we had hired it for 4 days and total journey came up around 900 kms but had to pay for 1000 kms)

I had taken an innova with 3 row AC ducts and felt it to be pretty comfortable for 7 people(but might be very tight if you have more than 7 people).

It is raining pretty badly and during my stay it rained almost all 4 days(12th-15th) though it was clear in places like conoor or bandipur

If you need cab details, drop me a PM

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Charges for the vehicle are typically 10-11 rs/km and driver allowance 150-175 rs. they also demand interstate tax 500 rs.

And per day minimum is 250 kms. (we had hired it for 4 days and total journey came up around 900 kms but had to pay for 1000 kms)

This seems like a more realistic price rate for an Innova.
At least I have never seen quotes in the range of 9 Rs/Km.
It was always 11-12.

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I just came back from ooty(hired an innova 7+1)
we were 7 adults and a baby though.

Charges for the vehicle are typically 10-11 rs/km and driver allowance 150-175 rs. they also demand interstate tax 500 rs.

And per day minimum is 250 kms. (we had hired it for 4 days and total journey came up around 900 kms but had to pay for 1000 kms)

I had taken an innova with 3 row AC ducts and felt it to be pretty comfortable for 7 people(but might be very tight if you have more than 7 people).

It is raining pretty badly and during my stay it rained almost all 4 days(12th-15th) though it was clear in places like conoor or bandipur

If you need cab details, drop me a PM

Thanks rajshenoy, we have a 3 day plan but I am guessing that even though first 2 days will be under 250, they will charge for it so will come to about the same number of kms as well. Pming you.

Originally Posted by ampere

This seems like a more realistic price rate for an Innova.
At least I have never seen quotes in the range of 9 Rs/Km.
It was always 11-12.

hmm thats the confusing part, well let me see what rate i get at the end.

[samartz]

Almost all the travel guys has more or less the same rates. I advise you to pick the one which is near to your residence cos they count kms from their office. Even we (7 adults + 1 child ) are also planning to go to ooty this weekend. Earlier thought to hire Innova / Tavera but then I didnt want to miss on the driving pleasure. So now finalizing on hiring 1 indica and I will be driving my i10 . Although going in 2 cars is bit more expensive but really nothing in front of the driving pleasure. you can also try with geo travels website : geotravelsindia.com. They have increased the rates by 1 rs i guess, better check with their 24 hrs helpline.

[rajshenoy]

Rate also depends on AC/ non AC, typically 1 rs less for non AC.
But trust me, without AC, it will be quite stuffy for the back row.

[sammyboy]

Thanks a lot for your help guys. Thanks specially to rajshenoy for recommending Cabsden. I called them and booked the Innova 8 seater with AC at Rs10/km

The driver they sent was Jagdish and I have nothing but praise for him.
Being a Tbhpian, its needless to say that it is difficult to sit on the passenger seat but I never felt unsafe at any moment with the way he drove. He maintained a constant speed of 80-85 kmph, touching 100 in very few places and for very brief durations. No jerks, no jumping over speed breakers just relaxed driving. The Innova was very well maintained and absolutely clean.

I was charged Rs 7500 for the 3 days (Rs 10/ km for 3 days with 250 km minimum limit) plus 175 per day for his stay and Rs500 as interstate tax. I ensured that he was rewarded with a good bonus at the end.

Thanks everyone for your help . BTW Ooty was freezing

[KESriram]

BTW - if you wanna drive, why don't you hire a self drive vehicle instead? You get MPVs like Innova, Xylo etc., for self drive as well. In a big city like Bangalore, am sure there must be plenty of options. It'll be on the costlier side, but worth for the driving fun it brings with!

One tip if you decide to drive on self drive - when you get the vehicle, make sure you take photos from all angles covering every inch of the vehicle. This way, when you get back and the company inspects the vehicle, they can't fleece you for existing dents, saying you did it.

[joslicx]

I also had an Ooty trip last weekend and we had hired an Innova (my in-laws were here so there were 4 and a half of us - half being our little daughter). Booked the Innova for the comfort factor. Chose services of Fast Track. Charges were:

Rs. 10/KM (AC Vehicle) + Rs. 250/day driver fee + Rs. 150 night stay charge + any permits etc. Minimum hire was for 250 KM per day. In fact I had negotiated a charge of Rs. 9.50/KM for AC few days back but not booked at the time. However when I booked it (one day before travel) I was told Rs 10 non-negotiable as fuel prices had gone up!

Ours was a three day trip and we returned on Sunday night. The car they sent was in good condition (clean etc.) The driver was really good - he always made sure we were comfortable and kept showing us things on the way and drove well keeping in mind our little one. While driving he was always dressed in proper white with fasttrack label on the front pocket! The car was also labeled Fasttrack in huge (on both front and back windscreens) and also had a cab number. The car was available at our place dot on time and they sent us a SMS confirmation of our booking (with driver and cab details) 30 mins before departure time. KM reading (odometer) was set to zero at our place and KMs counted for the travel from and to the house was only taken into consideration! That was a very good thing.

One interesting thing was while coming back on Sunday (started from Mysore at 8pm after the lights show at the Palace), we encountered a huge jam on Mysore - Bangalore highway. There was some accident (apparently three people had died on the spot). We were stuck there for more than an hour and I geniunely feared that cab will start the counter for 4th day (midnight to midnight is what they take for their 1 day calculation that was intimated to us earlier while booking). Anyway we reached our place precisely at 12 pm!!! Dot to the minute! I really appreciated our driver's effort as he could very easily have delayed us and asked for 4th day charge!

Totally recommend Fasttrack services.

One tip for Ootygoers: Dont hire AC vehicles! Its hardly used. If you leave early enough in the morning then just roll down your windows. After Mysore its just fantastic... Once you enter Bandipur forest area it would be a crime not to roll down windows and appreciate the fresh air and rather sit in the AC. And AC is not required in Ooty at all! It was freezing out there last week!

[ampere]

On the comment on AC: I beg to differ. Its only within Ooty you may not need.
But for the route all the way till Ooty, cometimes it becomes very hot. Esp for late afternoon returns.