Heathrow to Marble Arch Transportation Question

[markeb]

I've done this multiple times, pretty much always using HEX. We're arriving in London for a non-cruise visit on Sunday, December 23rd. By our sheer bad luck, HEX and the TFL Train service are both down for track maintenance that day. A mini-cab is the obvious alternative, but we're flying business on this one, and plan to take our time in the United arrivals lounge cleaning up and having breakfast as we have no expectation of our room being ready until 2-3 in the afternoon at the earliest.

 

We're due in at 6:40 in the morning. I can probably explicitly request a 9-9:30 pickup and add a note not to overly follow the incoming flight as we're going to be taking our time. I'm assuming a mini-cab is still more likely than not to be the more comfortable and affordable option over a black cab? Last time we did this we booked through minicab it and were perfectly happy with the service. I'm open to specific transfer options as well. We leave on a Saturday, so we may well just do a round trip by car.I'm a big HEX fan, but a car to the airport door versus the long walk from HEX is inviting, and probably doable on a Saturday morning.

 

Appreciate thoughts and any reality checks I'm missing!

 

Thanks!

[Morgans]

We like Addison Lee - have a look at their website. They are very good.

[Globaliser]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:45 AM, markeb said:

We're due in at 6:40 in the morning. I can probably explicitly request a 9-9:30 pickup and add a note not to overly follow the incoming flight as we're going to be taking our time. I'm assuming a mini-cab is still more likely than not to be the more comfortable and affordable option over a black cab?

 

Opinions will differ about comfort, but certainly a minicab will be cheaper than a black cab. If you are specific about when and where you want to be met, and that you are not expecting to be coming straight out of customs to meet the driver at that time, then it should be fine. I'm sure that the usual suspects have seen all possible permutations. But it would still be a good idea to let them know which flight you're on, in case you are very delayed and you do end up coming straight out of customs into the waiting arms of your driver.

[Bob++]

Most hotels will allow you to drop your bags early and come back later.

 

I think that when you are ready to leave LHR, you should simply phone for a car. There is no advantage to booking in advance so use Uber or similar and call them when you are ready to go.

 

Being met means that the driver has to park and wait for you which is expensive, so calling when you are ready, should make the trip cheaper.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Bob++