Heathrow and Customs

[cruisingdelt]

A quick question about customs at Heathrow. We are arriving at 8:25 PM on a Tuesday night in October. How long will it take to pick up our luggage and clear customs? Our night will be spent at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane in London. Are taxis available from Heathrow to the hotel, what is the travel time and cost? Thanks for your help.

[MATHA531]

A quick question about customs at Heathrow. We are arriving at 8:25 PM on a Tuesday night in October. How long will it take to pick up our luggage and clear customs? Our night will be spent at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane in London. Are taxis available from Heathrow to the hotel, what is the travel time and cost? Thanks for your help.

 

People never understand the difference between immigration and customs.....immigration at LHR is very very variable depending on how many planes come in at the same time and how many lanes they choose to open....if you do not hold an eu passport, you will be given a landing card on the plane to fill out....for Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, usually the immigration portion is very routine, a few quick questions and off you go....you then have to wait, again depending on how long it takes your airline to unload baggage but clearing customs is a breeze...there are two lines...a green line (nothing to declare) and a red line (things to declare); most likely as a tourist you will have nothing to declare and just walk through that line and there may be spot checks but most unlikely. I've been through in 25 minutes, I've been through in an hour...at 2025 probably but not definitely not that many planes come in at once and it should be relatively quick.

 

You should arrange a car service to your hotel.....taxis are very very expensive. If you're cheap, like I am, you can take the tube but that is vbery dependent on how much luggage you have and just how far your hotel is from a tube stop....or you can take the Paddington Express to central London Paddington station (easy and £14 and taxi from there.

[phabric]

For car service check out http://www.justairports.com and http://www.simplyairports.co.uk. To get a quote put in the 1st two letters and a number of the hotel postal code (our hotel in Victoria is SW1). We used Justairports last year and will be using them again on July 25.

[Globaliser]

We are arriving at 8:25 PM on a Tuesday night in October. How long will it take to pick up our luggage and clear customs? Our night will be spent at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane in London. Are taxis available from Heathrow to the hotel, what is the travel time and cost?

Which airline? Where from?

 

A taxi from Heathrow to your hotel will probably cost about £60. The advantage of planning to take a taxi is that there is no need to faff about trying work out meeting times and trying to find your driver, or being responsible for extra charges if your flight is late or you are unexpectedly held up in the arrivals process. You just exit from customs, walk over to the taxi rank and get in the first taxi in the queue.

[ab0si]

Issue 1: "faff about" roughly translates into American as "waste time bumbling around"

 

Issue 2: Note that Globaliser said "taxi rank" You really do not want to have anything to do with touts trying to get you into an unlicensed taxi -- and anyone trying to get you into a taxi falls in this category.

 

Globaliser is the expert here, but, for what it is worth, I agree. If you not going to take the tube or train, a taxi makes more sense at Heathrow than a pre-arranged car (unless you have some special needs). This is not true at all airports; there are some I routinely pre-arrange.

[Giantfan13]

Don't some of the 'car services' ask you to call them after you get off the plane. They usually have a general idea of how long it will take you to clear customs, immigration and such and should be able to meet you at a more set time.

You also can make arrangements to call when you clear whatever you need to clear and ask them how long before their car will be there to pick you up.

It shouldn't be more than 15 minutes and you could save 1/2 the cost of a taxi.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[cruisingdelt]

A very hearty thank you for all the replies, especially the British to American translation. My employer was bought out by a nice British firm and on occasion there are quizzical looks when reading memos.

[TLCOhio]

A quick question about customs at Heathrow. We are arriving at 8:25 PM on a Tuesday night in October. How long will it take to pick up our luggage and clear customs? Our night will be spent at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane in London. Are taxis available from Heathrow to the hotel, what is the travel time and cost? Thanks for your help.

 

From our experiences going through Heathrow in late June and last weekend, we were pleased with how well things worked and moved, especially at Terminal 5 for customs, etc. Our flight arrived early, too. Things worked in a nice manner. And, we like the size and feel on those cabs in London. If you're staying at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane, I'm sure you can make it all work out nicely.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences. This includes going to Windsor Castle and pictures there:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[daddyo]

From our experiences going through Heathrow in late June and last weekend, we were pleased with how well things worked and moved, especially at Terminal 5 for customs, etc. Our flight arrived early, too. Things worked in a nice manner. And, we like the size and feel on those cabs in London. If you're staying at the Grosvenor JW Marriot on Park Lane, I'm sure you can make it all work out nicely.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences. This includes going to Windsor Castle and pictures there:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

Terry - We booked the Cloud next July while we were on the 7/1 - Silversea Norway Cruise with you. We will be arriving @ Heathrow and staying at the Hilton Park Lane. Can you give me an idea of the taxi fare?

 

Thanks for your input, Jody

[Globaliser]

We will be arriving @ Heathrow and staying at the Hilton Park Lane. Can you give me an idea of the taxi fare?

Give or take a bit, it'll be somewhere in the general region of £60. Obviously, it can vary a bit depending on time of day and heaviness of traffic, and any diversions which the driver may have to make around roadworks (there's a really bad set of roadworks at the moment, but it's only until the end of August).

[daddyo]

Give or take a bit, it'll be somewhere in the general region of £60. Obviously, it can vary a bit depending on time of day and heaviness of traffic, and any diversions which the driver may have to make around roadworks (there's a really bad set of roadworks at the moment, but it's only until the end of August).

 

Thank you for your reply.

[Grumpy100]

Which airline? Where from?

 

A taxi from Heathrow to your hotel will probably cost about £60. The advantage of planning to take a taxi is that there is no need to faff about trying work out meeting times and trying to find your driver, or being responsible for extra charges if your flight is late or you are unexpectedly held up in the arrivals process. You just exit from customs, walk over to the taxi rank and get in the first taxi in the queue.

 

When you say take a taxi from Heathrow are you talking about the black taxi's or a regular cab. I really have no knowledge of England so need to ask alot of questions. When you say 60 is that euros and how much is that in US dollars.

I would rather take a taxi and not have to worry about meeting up with a private driver. Could you explain your above post. Thanks.

[TLCOhio]

Terry - We booked the Cloud next July while we were on the 7/1 - Silversea Norway Cruise with you. We will be arriving @ Heathrow and staying at the Hilton Park Lane. Can you give me an idea of the taxi fare? Thanks for your input, Jody

 

THANKS, Jody, for the question! Globaliser is great on these London and UK questions. That £60 sounds about right. I would also consider lining up a private vehicle that meets you as you're getting off of your plane and exiting through customs. That saves some of the hassle in waiting for a cab and maybe getting one that could be a little tight if you have lots of luggage. The cost is just a little more and can be nice. We did that coming into London after our Greek Isles cruise in 2006.

 

What cruise are you doing for 2011 in July on the Silver Cloud? Assume you loved your July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords cruise, right? Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Globaliser]

When you say take a taxi from Heathrow are you talking about the black taxi's or a regular cab. ... When you say 60 is that euros and how much is that in US dollars.

That's for a "black cab" -a proper licensed taxi which you get from the official taxi rank outside the terminal building.

 

We don't use the euro in the UK, so £60 = £60! At today's exchange rate, that's in the region of $95.

[financialgrl]

When you say take a taxi from Heathrow are you talking about the black taxi's or a regular cab. I really have no knowledge of England so need to ask alot of questions. When you say 60 is that euros and how much is that in US dollars.

I would rather take a taxi and not have to worry about meeting up with a private driver. Could you explain your above post. Thanks.

 

When you get ready to leave you can go to www.xe.com and see what currency rates are at the time to get an idea of how much you're really paying in US$. It constantly fluctuates up and down some but at least you'll have a close idea of what you are paying. Just back from London about 2 months ago and UK is not cheap (but currency rates were down considerably from the past - the pound was at about 1.52 and the euro about 1.21). Have fun!

[MATHA531]

Since then, the euro and pound have strengthened a bit....The euro is now $1.306 (US) and the pound is now $1.568 but you have to add to that just how you make the exchange....if you exchange cash in the USA add 12%, if you exchange cash in Europe add 10%, if you use most credit cards add 3%......if you use an ATM properly that is with a bank that does not charge to withdraw from a foreign bank ATM, which of course is the proper fee, you should pay at most 1% extra (although some near criminal banks add a 3% fee). Only your bank can charge a fee for using a bank ATM out of the country. In one of the few decent things they have done, the regulations of the two largest shared teller networks, Cirrus (MC) and Plus (Visa) prohibit a bank from levying a fee for withdrawals from its ATM for any ATM/debit card issued outside the country. But your bank may charge you and soe charge as much as $5 (Wells Fargo) for having the audacity to access your money at a foreign ATM. If you have such a bank, it's time to change banks.