Questions About Booking a Cab

A meter starts with a flag fall, $5.40 on the day rate, and then charges either on distance or on time, never both at once. Above about 21km/h it charges per kilometre, at $2.10 on the day rate. Below that, crawling in traffic or waiting, it charges per minute instead, at $0.70.

Our estimates follow the three Safe Transport Victoria tariffs. The day rate applies 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. The evening and overnight rate, a $6.75 flag fall and $2.30 per kilometre, applies 5pm to 9am. The highest rate, a $8.00 flag fall and $2.55 per kilometre, covers 10pm to 4am Friday and Saturday nights, and public holidays.

Yes. Tolls are charged on top of the metered fare, and the fare calculator adds them into the estimate. Where a real toll figure can be looked up for your route it uses that, otherwise it allows about $10.00 for a run that uses CityLink.

Melbourne Airport charges a $5.26 fee for taxis picking up at the rank. It applies when the airport is your pickup point, not when it is your destination, and the estimator only adds it in the direction it genuinely applies.

Yes, $18.00. A very short trip is charged at the minimum rather than the metered figure, which is why the fare calculator will not estimate below it.

Cards and cash are both fine, and the driver takes payment at the end of the trip. Nothing is charged when you book, and there is no deposit or account needed for a normal booking.

Not in the way rank and street fares are. Safe Transport Victoria sets maximum fares for taxis hailed in the street or taken from a rank, but a booked trip is not capped by those maximums. When you book, the booking service must give you on request either an estimate of the fare or a fixed fare. Our fare calculator gives the estimate, worked out from those maximum rates, and a fixed fare can be agreed by phone or email before you travel.

No. The fare calculator gives an estimate, shown as a range, based on the driving distance and time of travel, including tolls and the airport fee where they apply. Traffic, route changes, waiting time and extras can change the final fare. If you want a fixed price, call 0449 076 826 or email info@silvercabsmelbourne.com.au and we will agree a fixed fare before you travel.

Yes. Cabcharge cards, digital passes and eTickets are accepted on any trip and in any car. Pick Cabcharge as the payment option when you book so the driver knows before arriving.

Our fare is worked out the same way whichever way you pay. Any charge your Cabcharge issuer applies is between you and them.

Yes. The fare, the toll where the route uses it and the airport fee on a terminal pickup all go on the one Cabcharge payment.

It depends where you start, so the estimator prices it properly rather than quoting one number for the whole city. Tolls and the $5.26 airport pickup fee are already counted in the estimate, and the fee only applies when the airport is where you are picked up, not where you are dropped off.

Yes. Call 0449 076 826, email info@silvercabsmelbourne.com.au or use the fixed quote form with your pickup address, date, time and number of passengers, and we will agree a fixed fare with you before you travel rather than leaving it to the meter on the day.

By default at the taxi rank outside your terminal. If you would rather be met inside at arrivals with a name board, add the meet and greet option when you book and the driver will be waiting there instead.

Give us the flight number when you book. Pickup is set against the flight rather than the clock, so a delayed landing does not leave you paying for waiting time or arriving to no car.

For a domestic flight, allow two hours between pickup and departure. For international, allow three. The estimator shows the drive time for your suburb, and it is worth adding a buffer on weekday mornings when the Tullamarine Freeway is slow.

Yes. A fitted seat is $29.90 on top of the metered fare. Ask when you book and tell us the age of the child so the right seat is fitted before the car arrives, rather than hoping one turns up on the day.

A maxi taxi seats up to 11 people with room for 8 large bags. It is the right call for a group heading to the airport together, since splitting across two sedans usually costs more and arrives at different times.

Up to 11 people, with room for 8 large bags. If your group is larger than that we can send two cars on the same booking so everyone leaves together.

The metered rate is the same. A maxi carries a $17.80 surcharge on top of it, which is almost always cheaper than sending two sedans to the same place.

Yes, and for a group it is worth doing. Maxi taxis are a smaller part of the fleet than sedans, so booking ahead is the reliable way to have one waiting rather than hoping one is free nearby.

A maxi seats 11 and carries 8 large bags. For a full group with a full case each, tell us when you book and we will make sure the right van is sent rather than one already carrying a child seat setup.

Usually yes. One maxi runs one meter plus a $17.80 surcharge, where two sedans run two meters and two flag falls, and the two cars rarely arrive at the same time.

Yes. Book it ahead rather than joining the rank, since the maxi queue at Tullamarine is not always short. The $5.26 airport fee applies to pickups, and it is already in the estimate.

Yes, a fitted seat is $29.90 on top of the metered fare, the same as on our airport service. It has to be asked for at the time of booking so the driver has it fitted before arriving rather than trying to sort it at the kerb.

Rear facing capsules for babies, forward facing seats for toddlers, and boosters for older children. Tell us the age when you book and the right one is matched to it.

Victorian law exempts taxis from some of the child restraint rules that apply to private cars, but a properly fitted seat is still far safer for a small child. Booking one costs nothing, so it is worth doing.

Yes, and the driver will help fit it. If you are flying out and need the seat at the other end, that is often the simpler option.

It is Melbourne's premium taxi tier: a better car, usually a late model sedan, and a driver in a suit. It still runs on the meter, with a $11.00 surcharge on top, so it is a long way short of hiring a chauffeur car.

Client pickups, airport runs where you are meeting someone you want to impress, and events where arriving in an ordinary cab feels off. For a normal trip across town a sedan does the same job for less.

Yes. Pick silver service when you book and add the meet and greet option if you want the driver waiting inside the terminal with a name board rather than at the rank.

Yes. A silver service car for the couple and maxi taxis for the guests can go on one booking with one point of contact, so nobody is left coordinating four separate drivers on the day.

As early as you can, and certainly once the venue and timings are confirmed. Saturdays through spring and summer are the busiest days of the year for this and the good cars go first.

Ribbons and simple decoration can be arranged if you ask when booking. Anything more elaborate is best supplied by you, and the driver will fit it before the run.

If your plan includes transport funding, yes. It usually sits in Core Supports under a transport budget. Your support coordinator or plan manager can confirm what your plan covers.

Yes, at no additional charge. Tell us when you book so the car has room, particularly if mobility equipment is coming too.

Yes, if TAC has accepted your claim and approved transport to your treatment. What is covered is decided by TAC and your claim manager, so check with them if you are not sure. Then call us and we will set up the trips.

Yes. Tell us the schedule on the first call and we set up a standing booking for the whole course, with the same driver wherever we can manage it.

Yes, if WorkSafe has approved transport for your treatment. Your case manager can confirm that. Then call us and we will set up the trips.

Yes. Call us and we will set the whole schedule up in one conversation rather than booking each trip separately.

Yes. Call 0449 076 826 and we will set up billing so staff and clients can travel without paying at the end of each trip, with one invoice instead of a pile of receipts.

Yes, and this is where the meet and greet option earns its keep. The driver waits inside arrivals with a name board, which is a better first impression than sending a visitor to find the rank.

Yes. Standing bookings for the same time each week are straightforward to set up and mean the car is allocated in advance rather than being found on the morning.

The driver collects the parcel from you and takes it straight to the destination, with no depot and no sorting in between. It is the fastest way to move something urgent across Melbourne within the same day.

It is charged on the meter for the trip, the same as carrying a passenger, with a $18.00 minimum. Put the two addresses into the estimator to see the figure for your run.

Anything dangerous, illegal, or too large for the car booked. If it is bulky, book a maxi and it will almost certainly fit.