Jeddah airport taxi currency choices come down to two separate things: the currency you book and pay online in, and the cash you hand the driver. Jeddah Cabs lets you view and book in one of 13 currencies, including pounds, euros, US dollars and Saudi riyals, and may take only a deposit online. The balance is the cash due to the driver at pickup, and the checkout and your account show it in the currency you booked in. Before you travel, ask the booking team to confirm in writing which currency and exact amount the driver will accept, and carry that.
This guide is for travellers booking a transfer from King Abdulaziz International Airport, or to it, who want to understand what the currency selector changes and what it does not. It covers display and booking currency, what your card issuer may do, the deposit and the cash balance, the minimum booking value and the rescheduling fee in your currency, local cash, and a worked example. It does not give fares or exchange rates, which change; the checkout always shows the current figures for your journey.
What the currency selector changes, and what it does not
The currency selector changes how prices are shown and the currency your booking is made in. It does not change the journey.
| The selector changes | The selector does not change |
|---|---|
| The currency prices are shown in on the results | The pickup place, such as Jeddah Airport |
| The currency of the deposit and totals at checkout | The destination, such as your hotel in Jeddah or Taif |
| The currency the £5 rescheduling fee is converted into | The vehicle class, seats or luggage capacity |
| The currency the minimum booking value is shown in | The 48-hour notice rule or any other booking rule |
A result shown in pounds is still a quote for the Saudi journey you searched. Switching to euros does not move the airport or add anything to the trip. If you change the destination, run a new search and use its results; do not carry a total from an earlier search into a new plan. Our short guide on rechecking the airport and destination behind a result explains how to read the route summary before you compare prices.
Comparing like with like
When you compare vehicle classes, keep the currency the same. It is easy to think a result is cheaper when it is only shown in a different currency. Set the currency once, then compare the cards in that currency. Our guide to sorting results after setting the real journey covers comparing by price or by capacity.
Should you pay a Jeddah taxi in pounds or riyals?
The 13 display currencies include SAR, GBP, EUR and USD. Most travellers choose one of two approaches.
The currency of your bank card. If your card is in pounds and you book in pounds, the checkout figure and your statement should be in the same currency, which makes it easy to budget and check.
Saudi riyals. Whether to pay a Jeddah taxi in pounds or riyals often depends on which card you carry. If you have a card in riyals, or you want your figures in Saudi Arabia’s own currency, booking in SAR keeps everything in riyals, including the cash figure.
There is no single right answer; just check the checkout figures in the currency you chose.
What your card issuer may do
If the booking currency is different from your card’s home currency, your bank or card issuer may convert the amount and may add a foreign transaction or conversion fee. We cannot see or control those charges, and they vary between cards. Before you book:
- Check with your card issuer whether it charges for payments in a foreign currency, and how much.
- Keep the checkout confirmation, so you can compare it with your statement.
The same applies to refunds. If a refund is ever due, ask your card issuer how it handles a refund in another currency, because the converted amount may not match the original charge exactly.
Deposit online, cash due to the driver at pickup
Jeddah Cabs may take only a deposit online, with the balance paid in cash to the driver. The checkout shows both amounts before you pay: what you pay now, and what is due in cash.
| Type of booking | Share that may be taken online as a deposit |
|---|---|
| Single journey | 30% |
| Multi-leg booking | 40% |
| Return | 50% |
The rest is the cash due to the driver at pickup. The checkout describes it as owed in cash to your driver, a separate payment made directly to them that is not covered by any refund from us. It is shown in your booking currency, so if you book in pounds, the cash figure is in pounds too. That is why you should confirm how the driver is to be paid before you travel.
Finding the cash figure
The cash due appears at checkout and in your account, on a line reading “Cash due to driver” with the amount and a reminder to pay it directly to your driver. The account also shows the booking status, payment and, once assigned, the driver’s name. Write the figure down with the booking reference. Then ask the booking team to confirm in writing the currency and exact amount the driver will accept, so there is no uncertainty at pickup.
Carrying the right cash
- Have the balance ready before you meet the driver, separate from the rest of your money.
- Carry smaller notes as well as larger ones. Small denominations make an exact payment easier, whatever currency the booking team confirms.
- One envelope per journey helps if you have several bookings.
- Keep the cash with you, not in a case in the boot.
Jeddah airport taxi currency on arrival and on departure
The same rules apply in both directions, but the practical situation is different.
Arriving at Jeddah Airport
On arrival you may be tired after a long flight, and that is the moment most likely to go wrong. Sort the cash before you fly, in the currency the booking team confirmed, so the cash due to the driver at pickup is already in your hand luggage when you land. Put your flight number in the booking at checkout so the booking team can match the pickup to your flight. Our page on transfers from Jeddah Airport to your hotel covers the arrival journey itself.
Leaving for Jeddah Airport
On the way home, check the cash figure in your account before your last day and set that amount aside first, in the confirmed currency, before you spend or change any remaining money. If your flight time changes and an approved new pickup time adds the rescheduling fee, add that to the envelope too.
Onward journeys and multi-leg trips
Many Jeddah Airport journeys go further than the city. Our pages on transfers from Jeddah Airport to Taif and from Jeddah Airport to Yanbu describe those routes. For currency, the points are the same, with two additions:
- Each journey has its own cash balance. If you book an arrival to Taif and a later return to the airport, there are two balances, paid to two drivers, possibly days apart.
- The deposit share can differ. A multi-leg booking may take 40% online and a return 50%, rather than 30% for a single journey. Read the checkout for each booking rather than assuming the same split.
Keep a note of each journey’s date, booking reference, cash due and confirmed currency.
Can the balance be paid another way?
The balance on a Jeddah Cabs booking is set up to be paid in cash to the driver, and the checkout shows it that way. If you have a particular reason to need something different, ask the booking team before you travel and get their answer in writing; do not assume a driver can take a card.
Local currency for your first day
The Saudi currency entry on Saudipedia explains that the Saudi riyal is divided into 100 halalas and is issued by the Saudi Central Bank. Arriving with some local currency is sensible for small costs on your first day. If the booking team confirms that the driver will accept riyals for the balance, you will need that amount too.
You have three broad ways to get riyals:
- Before you leave home, from a bank or currency provider you trust. You arrive ready to pay.
- At the airport after landing, if you are confident there will be time and a working machine or counter before you meet the driver. We cannot promise either.
- From an organiser or relative already in Saudi Arabia, who can meet you with riyals.
For an airport pickup, the first option carries the least risk. After a long flight, looking for a cash machine while a driver is waiting uses time you may not have. Saudipedia lists Saudi banknotes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 riyals, so ask for a mix.
Large amounts of cash
Travellers carrying large sums should know the rule. The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority says travellers carrying cash worth SAR 60,000 or more, or its equivalent in other currencies, must declare it when entering or leaving Saudi Arabia, through the ZATCA app, the online form or at a customs office.
Reading the checkout before you pay
The checkout is where the Jeddah airport taxi currency, the deposit and the cash come together, so read it slowly before you pay. Check these points in order:
- The journey. The pickup, destination, date and time in Saudi local time, and the passengers and bags. If any of these is wrong, go back and search again; the currency cannot fix it.
- The currency. The symbol or code on every figure should match the currency you chose. If it does not, change it now, before paying.
- Any “Minimum booking amount” line. This appears when a fare would be below the minimum booking value, described below.
- The amount you pay now. This is the deposit that will be charged to your card in the booking currency.
- The amount due in cash. This is what the driver collects at pickup. Write it down.
The checkout also asks for contact details. A mobile number is required. If you are booking for someone else, the traveller’s name, phone number and an emergency contact are required, and there is an optional group leader phone field for parties travelling together. Use numbers that will work in Saudi Arabia, since the driver may need them at pickup.
If someone else is paying, or needs to agree the plan, use the option to email a secure review link from the basket before you pay. It lets them see the same figures without sharing your account. Remember that payment secures a provisional request; the figures are only for a booked journey once the status reads Confirmed.
The minimum booking value in your currency
Each journey has a minimum booking value equivalent to £40. If a fare would be lower, the checkout shows a “Minimum booking amount” line, converted into your booking currency. This mainly affects short journeys, such as a nearby hotel.
Two points follow:
- The line is shown in the currency you booked in. If you booked in riyals, the minimum appears in riyals; in euros, in euros.
- It applies to each journey. An airport arrival and a separate airport departure are two journeys, and each has its own minimum.
The rescheduling fee in your currency
If your flight time changes, you can request a new pickup time from your account for a paid booking, before the pickup time. An approved new time carries a £5 rescheduling fee, converted into your booking currency. For a booking in riyals, that is about SAR 25. The fee is added to the cash you pay the driver at pickup, not charged to your card. A rejected request costs nothing, and the booking team may waive the fee.
Only the time can be changed online. The pickup place, destination, number of passengers and vehicle cannot. If those change, contact the booking team, or make a new booking and send a cancellation request for the old one.
Worked example: the Mahmood family’s arrival and departure
Imran and Sana Mahmood are flying from Manchester to Jeddah with their three children for a week in the city. They have UK debit cards in pounds, and Imran’s brother, Tariq, who lives in Jeddah, is helping with the plans.
They search two journeys in the transfer finder:
- Jeddah Airport to their Jeddah hotel, on the evening they land. Five passengers, five large cases and three cabin bags. The search offers only seven-seat vehicles and larger, and they choose a family van.
- The hotel back to the airport, a week later, with the same party and bags.
They set the currency to pounds, because their cards are in pounds and they want the charge to match. Before paying, Imran uses the basket’s option to email a secure review link to Tariq, who checks the pickup times and hotel name. Imran then pays.
At checkout they see, for each journey, the deposit taken online and the cash owed to the driver, both shown in pounds. The status reads Confirmed in their account within the day. Imran writes both cash figures down and emails the booking team to ask which currency and exact amount each driver will accept. He keeps the written reply with the booking references, gets the confirmed cash before leaving the UK, and puts each amount in a labelled envelope.
Two days before their return, the airline moves their departure later. Imran requests a new pickup time for the hotel-to-airport journey. The request is approved, and the £5 fee, converted into pounds, is added to the cash due. He asks the booking team to confirm the new total in writing and adds the difference to the envelope.
Their card statement shows the two deposits in pounds, matching the checkout. Everything else was cash, paid directly to each driver as confirmed in writing.
Groups and families splitting the cost
When several people share a transfer, it helps to agree the money in advance.
- One person pays online. The basket can email a secure review link so another person can check the details before one person pays.
- Agree who carries the cash balance. Only one person needs to hand it to the driver; the others can settle up with them later.
- Use one currency for the whole trip. If an arrival, a Taif transfer and a departure are all booked in pounds, it is easier to add up and split.
For a longer trip with several journeys, such as the airport to Taif and back, our guide to the Taif to Jeddah Airport taxi covers how to plan the final leg.
Cancellations, refunds and currency
Bookings are subject to our cancellation terms (free cancellation with a full refund up to 48 hours before pickup; inside 48 hours the deposit element of the price is kept) if you cancel. If Jeddah Cabs or the transport partner cancels, or cannot supply the journey, and you do not accept a suitable alternative, you receive a full refund for the affected journey. The full terms are in the cancellation and refund policy. The cash paid to the driver is a separate payment made directly to them, and the checkout states that it is not covered by any refund from us. If a refund goes back to a card in another currency, ask your card issuer how it will be converted.
Payment secures a provisional request, and the booking team updates the status within 1 to 12 hours. Your journey is booked only when your account shows it as Confirmed. Online bookings need at least 48 hours’ notice before pickup, whatever the currency.
Common mistakes with Jeddah airport taxi currency
- Comparing prices in different currencies. Set the currency first, then compare.
- Assuming the whole fare was paid online. Read the checkout: Jeddah Cabs may take only a deposit.
- Not confirming the cash currency. Ask the booking team in writing which currency and amount the driver will accept.
- Forgetting the rescheduling fee. An approved time change adds to the cash, not to your card.
Checklist before you pay
- Search the journey and check the route summary shows the right airport and destination.
- Choose one booking currency for the whole trip, ideally your card’s currency.
- Ask your card issuer about foreign-currency fees if the booking currency differs from your card.
- Read the checkout for the deposit, the cash balance and any “Minimum booking amount” line.
- Send the review link to anyone who needs to check before you pay.
- Pay, and wait for the booking to show Confirmed in your account.
- Write down the cash due for each journey and ask the booking team to confirm in writing the currency and exact amount the driver will accept.
- Get that cash in mixed notes before you fly, one envelope per journey, plus some riyals for your first day.
- Keep the cash and your booking reference with you, not in the boot.
When you are ready, use the Jeddah Cabs transfer finder to search your airport journey, choose the currency that suits your card, and check the deposit and cash balance before you pay.