Getting around Kuala Lumpur by taxi is not the cheapest options - nor is it the fastest - but it gets you right to the doorstep. All taxis have meters, but during the evening rush hours, it is often trying to get them to use. If you are unfamiliar with where you are going, by all means, insist that the driver use the meter or take another taxi. A metered journey is almost always cheaper than a fixed price.
Within Kuala Lumpur itself, there are some 200,000 taxis - more than what you will find in the rest of Malaysia combined. If you have to, you can call up a cab to come fetch you (I'll provide you the numbers below). Expect to pay a service charge of RM1.00 above your metered fare for the convenience. However, be forewarned that the taxi might not appear if you call during rush hour.
The flagfall is RM3.00, and then RM0.90 for every kilometer thereafter. The meter calculates the fare through a combination of distance and time. So if you get caught in a jam, expect the meter to continue running. Appearing confident and street-smart go a long way in convincing unscrupulous taxi drivers that you are no easy kill. It wouldn't hurt to do your homework with regards the best route to take, to prevent drivers from literally taking you for a ride.
After midnight, there is a surcharge of 50% on top off the metered fare. That's perhaps the only time when it may be cheaper to agree on a fixed price.
Call a Taxi
Here are the numbers you've been waiting for, in alphabetical order. Drop the "03" when you are calling within KL itself.
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.