September 25, 2026
El Dorado is a big, busy, modern airport, and the terminal is not what the travel advisories warn about. Read the advisories that make people nervous about Colombia and you will find almost nothing about the building: what they warn about is the ride out, the cash machine and the stranger who offers help. That is good news, because all three are within your control from the moment you land. We meet our own guests at this airport and send them home through it, so this is the airport the way we explain it to them: what the British and American governments say in 2026, what to do inside the terminal, the three safe ways out and the one to refuse, the first night, and departure day.
The short version
Yes, Bogotá’s airport is safe, and the ride out is the part to plan. Leave the terminal in one of three ways: the authorized taxi lane between Doors 8 and 10 of Terminal 1, where uniformed staff assign the cars; an app ride at the meeting point the app gives you, with the plate checked before you get in; or a transfer booked in advance, with someone waiting for you inside the terminal. Refuse every ride offered by someone who approaches you, however official they look. Change only a little money, at a bank or an authorized exchange, and keep cash and phones out of sight. Accept nothing to eat, drink or smell from a stranger. After dark, book the car before you land.
What the 2026 advisories say
The United States keeps Colombia at Level 3, “reconsider travel,” in the advisory it updated on March 31, 2026, for crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping and natural disasters. The Level 4 areas, where it says not to travel at all, are Arauca, Cauca outside Popayán, Valle del Cauca outside Cali, Norte de Santander and the ten kilometers along the Venezuelan border; Bogotá is not among them. The same advisory prohibits American government employees in Colombia from hailing taxis on the street or using public transportation, which tells you where Washington sees the risk.
The British government’s travel advice, updated in September 2026, is the more specific of the two about the airport: it notes that El Dorado only allows authorized taxis to pick up passengers at its terminals. The rest of its warnings are about what happens once you leave: express kidnappings, assaults and robberies in unlicensed taxis, with criminals often posing as taxi drivers; drugs such as scopolamine given through food, drinks, cigarettes, aerosols and even paper flyers; and cash machines at night. Its advice is to use licensed telephone or internet-based taxi services, or to book through your hotel, and never to hail a cab on the street. Every rule on this page comes from those warnings.
Inside the terminal
The formalities between the gate and the curb, from Migración Colombia’s Check-Mig form to customs and the Biomig gates, are in our El Dorado airport guide. The risks inside are the ones of any busy airport, made sharper by jet lag and altitude: a bag left on a trolley while you look at your phone, a phone left on a café table, a wallet opened in a crowd. Keep the bags touching you, the phone in a pocket and the passport in a zipped pocket until you reach the hotel safe.
The one risk particular to Colombia is the stranger. In the arrivals hall you may be approached by people offering a taxi, a better exchange rate or help with your bags. Say no and keep walking: the authorized taxis are assigned outside, at the lane, by staff in uniform, and the only person who should be waiting for you inside is one you booked in advance. The same applies to anything offered to eat, drink or smell, however kind the person seems; the British advice lists paper flyers among the ways scopolamine is given, so do not take leaflets from strangers either.
Money at the airport
You will need a few pesos for the first day, and the airport is a reasonable place to get them if you take only that. The British advice is to exchange dollars or euros at banks and authorized exchange houses and never on the street, and to use cash machines during business hours in places you can step inside, like a bank, a supermarket or a shopping center. A machine inside the terminal fits that rule; a man in the parking lot offering a better rate does not. Withdraw or change a day or two of spending, put it away before you walk out, and do not count it on the sidewalk. For the city’s cash machines, our guide to what locals do to stay safe at the ATM has the specifics.
The three safe ways out, and the one to refuse
The authorized taxi lane. The airport’s own site puts the taxi pickup on lane 1, between Doors 8 and 10, with staff in uniform on the first floor between Doors 7 and 10 assigning the cars, and names Taxi Imperial as the company authorized to carry travelers from the terminal. The British advice describes Bogotá’s authorized taxis as yellow, with white plates and the plate number painted on the doors and the roof. The airport’s site also has a fare calculator and a tool to check a plate. The taxis run on the meter under the city’s 2026 decree, with an 8,000 peso airport surcharge; the full tariff is in our airport guide.
An app. Uber, DiDi, Cabify and inDrive all pick up at El Dorado, at a meeting point the app gives you rather than at the taxi lane. Match the plate, the car and the driver’s photo before you open the door, and share the trip with someone. The legal side of the private-car apps, and what it means for a rider, is in our guide to Uber in Bogotá.
A transfer booked in advance. A driver who has your name, your flight and your hotel before you land, with someone waiting for you inside the terminal, removes every decision from the curb. Ours are operated by Safe Transfers by Cielo.Travel, our transfer company, with a host inside arrivals holding a Safe Transfers sign.
The one to refuse is any car you did not choose: the driver who approaches you in the hall, the “taxi” waiting at the wrong door, the friendly stranger who knows a colleague with a car. That is the setting the advisories warn about, and the three options above exist so you never have to consider it.
Book the private transfer
A host meets you inside arrivals with a Safe Transfers sign, and the driver goes straight to your address. Flights are tracked, so a delayed landing does not cost you the car, and the price is fixed before you land.
Every road out of Bogotá is on Bogotá transfers; the airport detail is on Safe Transfers.
Arriving at night
A night arrival changes the arithmetic. The British advice notes that express kidnappers often choose their victims at night and near cash machines; the arrivals hall at midnight is when you are most tired and least able to judge a meter, a route or an offer. Our rule is simple: if you land after dark, book the ride before you fly. If you have not, take the authorized lane rather than walking to an app's meeting point with your bags, and go straight to the hotel; the city, the dinner and the cash machine can wait until morning.
The ride into the city
From the terminal the road into Bogotá is Calle 26, a wide, straight avenue to the center. The things to do in the car are the ones you would do anywhere a phone is worth stealing: bags in the trunk or at your feet, the phone out of sight at traffic lights, and the hotel's address written down in case your battery is dead. If you are in a taxi or an app ride, keep the app's map open so you can see the route; a detour you did not agree to is a reason to ask the driver to stop somewhere busy. The authorities' alert in February 2026 on the "paseo millonario," the taxi crime in which accomplices board a street-hailed cab, named Modelia, on the city's west side, along with the Zona T and Galerías; our guide to whether Bogotá is safe covers the city beyond the airport.
Departure day
The airport asks passengers to arrive three hours before an international flight and two before a domestic one, and it repeated that advice in the high seasons of 2026. Order the car from your hotel, not from the street, and leave earlier than the map says, because the road to the airport shares the evening rush. Colombia's airports screen closely for narcotics, so pack your own bags, keep them with you, and never carry anything for anyone, not a gift, not a package, not a bag for a friend of a friend.
What we do differently
We cannot make an airport risk-free and do not pretend to. What we do is remove the curb: our transfers, by Safe Transfers by Cielo.Travel, put a host inside the terminal with a Safe Transfers sign, the driver has your flight and your hotel before you land, and the price is fixed before you arrive. If the connection is long, our private layover tour picks you up at arrivals, takes you up Monserrate and through the Old Town, and brings you back to the terminal. Either way, nobody in our care is negotiating with a stranger at the door at midnight.
Questions travelers ask
Is Bogotá airport safe?
Yes. The terminal is not where the advisories see the risk; they warn about unlicensed taxis, cash machines and strangers. Leave by the authorized taxi lane, an app at its meeting point, or a pre-booked transfer, and refuse any ride offered to you inside.
Is El Dorado airport safe at night?
The terminal is, and the ride out needs a plan. Book a transfer before you fly, or take the authorized taxi lane between Doors 8 and 10 of Terminal 1, and go straight to the hotel.
Is it safe to take a taxi from Bogotá airport?
From the authorized lane, yes: the airport assigns the cars, with uniformed staff between Doors 7 and 10, and the British advice says only authorized taxis may pick up at the terminals. Never take a taxi offered by someone who approached you.
Is it safe to use Uber from Bogotá airport?
Yes, with the usual checks: go to the meeting point the app gives you, match the plate and the driver before you get in, and share the trip. For a night arrival with luggage, a pre-booked transfer is simpler.
Where should I change money at Bogotá airport?
At a bank or an authorized exchange, or a cash machine inside the terminal, and only enough for a day or two. Never change money with someone who approaches you, inside or outside.
What should I avoid at Bogotá airport?
Rides offered by strangers, money changers outside the official counters, anything to eat, drink or smell from someone you do not know, and carrying a package for anyone on the way out.
Plan it with us
Our transfers from El Dorado are operated by Safe Transfers by Cielo.Travel, and every tour we run in Bogotá is private, with a guide who lives here. Write to us on WhatsApp with your flight and your hotel, or start with our Bogotá tours page.
