Cab Fare in Montreal

[Garmed]

Does anyone know what the cab fare is from Old Town to the Port? Also cab fare from the Airport to Old Town? From the airport, I have googled $25, 37.00 and 47.00. I also read that Montreal charges a Fee of $10 to leave the airport. Do they take credit cards or US $'s for this or should you have Canadian money ? Thanks

[Ephraim]

Does anyone know what the cab fare is from Old Town to the Port? Also cab fare from the Airport to Old Town? From the airport, I have googled $25, 37.00 and 47.00. I also read that Montreal charges a Fee of $10 to leave the airport. Do they take credit cards or US $'s for this or should you have Canadian money ? Thanks

 

1. Please don't use the term "Old Town" in Montreal... for us "Old Town" is about 3 hours east of us, in Quebec city. We only use the term Old Montreal. You are likely to confuse us locals if you do.

 

2. The port is in old Montreal. No need to take a taxi. http://goo.gl/maps/99Zh for the map.

 

3. The airport from Old Montreal is a flat rate of CAD$38. http://www.admtl.com/Passengers/AccessAndParking/TaxisAndLimousines.aspx We Montrealers would normally flip them $40 for the trip, but they are likely to expect $45 to $50 from you, depending on the amount of luggage. There is no extra charge for a Mini-van.

 

4. There is no separate fee payable to leave the airport. The AIF is included and charged as part of your ticket, as it is with almost all other airports in Canada. Canada does not subsidize the airports, each airport charges a fee called the AIF (Airport Improvement Fee) that offsets the cost of running the airport. Montreal's fee is $25 plus GST and it's collected on your ticket.

 

5. Most taxis, especially those travelling to the airport should have machines to process credit cards and Interac (Debit, but only if on the NYCE network.) They will take USD, likely at par or below par.

 

(Please understand that in a commercial bank account, the bank charges us CAD$0.95 to use a teller and CAD$2.50 or more to deposit up to USD$1000 in a bank account, because the transaction cannot be completed electronically. The merchant will therefore pass on those costs to you by giving you a low exchange rate. They are being courteous to accept USD, they are under no legal obligation, since it's about as useful in Canada as CAD are to you in the USA (and USD are not legal tender in Canada.) Also, you will be given change in CAD, since most merchants don't keep a float of USD on hand. You may just find it easier to pay with a credit card and avoid the problems.)

[Garmed]

I answered your post once but it didn't get up there. Anyway, thanks for all the great hints and information. I realize that our hotel(Marriott Springhill Suite) is close to the port but not really in walking distance for us with all of our luggage. Will a cab even pick us up then? I googled our hotel from your map and it is 500 m!