The advantages of taking a taxi for passengers: what to do when you land at Barajas

When you land at Barajas, the order is always the same: get off the plane, go through passport control if you are arriving from outside the Schengen area, collect your luggage from the carousels and go out into the arrivals hall. From there you can head to your terminal's official taxi rank or meet the taxi you have booked. If your suitcase does not turn up, the time to report it is before you leave the baggage hall.

For a tired passenger, a taxi has a clear advantage at that moment: after a long flight, with luggage and perhaps not knowing the city, there is no need to look for platforms, buy tickets or change lines. But it is worth getting to it without any slip-ups. These are the steps.

Do not leave the baggage hall without reporting it. Go to the baggage desk of your airline or its handling agent in that same hall, with your boarding pass and the baggage tag receipt, and ask for a written report of the incident with its reference number. They will ask you for a delivery address: if you are going to a hotel, have its name and address to hand.

If someone is waiting for you with a booked taxi, let them know you will be longer. That is why it is useful to save the phone number or the taxi service's WhatsApp before you fly.

Both options are fine and each has its moment:

• Official taxi rank: it is signposted at the exit of each terminal. You take the first taxi in the line, with no booking. If you want to know how it works in each building, we explain it in getting a taxi at Barajas.
• Booked taxi: you arrange it before you fly, at a fixed price by area. With your flight number the terminal is checked and the meeting point confirmed, and if your flight changes you just let us know. It is the most convenient option if you are arriving in the early hours, with children, as a group or with lots of luggage. The details are on the airport pickup page.

What you should not do is accept transport offers from people who approach you inside the terminal. An official Madrid taxi is white with a red stripe and is taken at the rank or booked through an identified service.

Your first hours in a city shape the trip, and the first journey is part of them, as we explain in why your taxi driver matters in your first hours in a new city. If you are staying outside the centre, check the price for your destination in the fares by area, and if you want to know more about the journey into the city, read taxis from the airport to Madrid.