Less expensive taxis from SFO

If you take a taxi from the taxi stand at SFO, be prepared for a shock. In addition to the metered fair, the airport charges a a surcharge. Even worse, if you need to go outside some zone (such as south of Millbrae), the meter will be doubled!

I hate being taken advantage of. The airport runs a monopoly and exploits it for all it's worth. $8 crappy sandwich anybody? $10 to use wifi? Double the taxi meter!?

I figured out a better way. You can call a neighboring taxi company, such as Yellow Cab Company of South San Francisco (650-588-2131) and ask them to pick you up in 7-10 minutes. Apparently they'll meet you at the taxi stand (at the front of the line), take you where you want to go, and charge you what's on the meter. There don't charge the airport surcharges nor the doubled fares. You'll pay $2.75 meter flag drop fee, $2.60/mile, and a $.75/trip fuel surcharge.

I say apparently because I didn't quite do it this way. In my case, I had taken a courtesy shuttle to my car, parked at an off-airport parking lot. At that point, I couldn't find my car key. I called the above cab company, they picked me up at the parking lot very quickly, and drove me home to Los Altos (30 miles) for about $80. The best part is that they then took me back to my car (my having retrieve a spare key) for an additional $20.