Card-only riders who hate haggling usually end up using Gett
At Ben Gurion Airport (mainly Terminal 3 arrivals), Gett works as an app-based way to call a licensed taxi, not a private Uber-style car. The app shows a price range before you confirm, so you’re not debating meters in Hebrew after a 4.5-hour flight from London or an 11-hour flight from New York. Figure on paying slightly more than the official taxi rank rate in exchange for app control and automatic card payment.
Trips into central Tel Aviv from TLV typically run around 25–30 minutes late at night and closer to 40–60 minutes in rush hour, but the Gett app doesn’t lock in a fixed time, only a price band. You’ll see your driver’s name, plate number, and estimated arrival time in minutes. Regulars say the in-app receipt is gold for expensing rides to offices in Rothschild, Ramat Gan, or Herzliya.
From the airport, Gett dispatches standard yellow taxis that are already licensed at TLV, so you’re still inside the regular taxi system, just booked via your phone. Compared with walking straight to the rank on Level G, you’re paying a small premium on the meter but skipping cash, card terminals that sometimes glitch, and any “fixed price” debates for runs to neighborhoods like Florentin or Jaffa.
How to use Gett at TLV: step by step
- 1. Install and set up the app before landing; add a credit card or PayPal and switch currency to ILS if you want to match local prices.
- 2. After baggage claim at Terminal 3, walk out to the public arrivals hall on Level G and head to the signed taxi area near Gate 01.
- 3. Open Gett, set your pickup to “Ben Gurion Airport Terminal 3” (or Terminal 1 if that’s on your boarding pass), and drop your destination pin exactly, including full street number in Tel Aviv.
- 4. Check the fare range the app shows in shekels and compare it to the posted taxi tariff boards in the hall; expect Gett to come in slightly higher than the rank in many cases.
- 5. Confirm the order and watch the ETA; typical waits are under 10–15 minutes off-peak but can stretch much longer after Shabbat ends on Saturday night.
- 6. When the driver calls, confirm the exact lane number or pillar near the taxi area; some drivers prefer specific lanes and won’t pull directly to the closest curb.
- 7. Verify the plate and driver name in the app before loading bags, then pay automatically in-app when the ride ends; you’ll get an emailed or in-app receipt within seconds.
What regulars do and watch out for
Frequent TLV flyers often eyeball the taxi rank queue: if it looks like a 20–30 minute wait, they open Gett; if the line is short, they just join it and pay cash. A lot of locals pre-schedule Gett rides from Tel Aviv into TLV for 4:00–6:00 a.m. departures so they’re not hunting a street cab in Dizengoff at 3:15 in the morning.
Peak-traffic complaints are real: during storms or right after Shabbat, riders report drivers canceling when they see longer runs to suburbs like Rishon LeZion or Kfar Saba. Build in extra time, watch for repeat cancellations in the app, and have the official airport taxi rank as a backup plan if your pickup hasn’t materialized after 20 minutes.
One last tip: save a screenshot of your hotel’s Hebrew address from Google Maps before boarding, and paste it straight into Gett at TLV; fewer address corrections in the app means less back-and-forth with the driver and a cleaner receipt for your records.