Ballpark figure for private transfer Bournemouth Airport to Southampton

[FionaMG]

I'm doing some very early reconnaissance for a cruise out of Southampton next September. 

 

We'll be flying in from Faro and although BA has a non-stop flight from FAO to SOU, it's weekly on Saturdays, which doesn't work for our cruise, which starts on a Friday and ends on a Wednesday.

 

We can get non-stop flights to Bournemouth with the dreaded Ryanair but it would still mean spending two pre-cruise nights in Southampton rather than one and it looks like it's a bit of a pain to use public transport to get from BOH to Southampton. 

 

So could someone who knows the area please give me a rough idea of the price we might expect to pay for a private transfer (cheapest vehicle type, we don't need a fancy limo)? I'm trying to work out whether the cost/hassle ratio justifies flying into BOH and spending the extra night as against flying into LGW or LHR the day before the cruise and travelling down to Southampton by National Express, which would potentially be cheaper but more than double our travelling time since it'll take longer on the coach from London to Southampton than it will on the flight from Faro to London!

 

Thanks for any insight.

[PORT ROYAL]

3 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I'm doing some very early reconnaissance for a cruise out of Southampton next September. 

 

We'll be flying in from Faro and although BA has a non-stop flight from FAO to SOU, it's weekly on Saturdays, which doesn't work for our cruise, which starts on a Friday and ends on a Wednesday.

 

We can get non-stop flights to Bournemouth with the dreaded Ryanair but it would still mean spending two pre-cruise nights in Southampton rather than one and it looks like it's a bit of a pain to use public transport to get from BOH to Southampton. 

 

So could someone who knows the area please give me a rough idea of the price we might expect to pay for a private transfer (cheapest vehicle type, we don't need a fancy limo)? I'm trying to work out whether the cost/hassle ratio justifies flying into BOH and spending the extra night as against flying into LGW or LHR the day before the cruise and travelling down to Southampton by National Express, which would potentially be cheaper but more than double our travelling time since it'll take longer on the coach from London to Southampton than it will on the flight from Faro to London!

 

Thanks for any insight.

For a standard vehicle work on £75.00 including tip without any traffic congestion.

There is ÜBER but have no idea on price.

[John Bull]

Port Royal's £75 is on the high side, but "without any traffic congestion" suggests that's for a taxi from the rank.

Better value pre-booked, but still around the £55+ mark.

But £50 to £75 is good enough for a ball-park figure.

 

Bus from airport to B'mouth rail station plus rail fare to So'ton is about £17 per person.

And the 45 minutes for just the convoluted bus route from airport to station takes longer than an entire taxi ride from airport to Southampton 🙄

 

Yes, Southampton to LHR is about 2 hrs by Nat Express, or to LGW it's 2 hrs by train (no direct train service on Sundays, when Nat Express is a better option).

Flight time from Faro is about 3 hours - travel to airport plus airport formalities can take just as long, so I don't see the extra hour-and-a-bit to fly from Gatwick as worth worrying about - and as you know there's far better frequency, and probably lower airfares.

 

One add-on. 

A couple of weeks back  we considered a short-notice break in the Algarve. There were direct flights (BA ?) from Southampton airport to Fare but the latest flights were in late Sept / early Oct. At a guess this is probably a seasonal route - it might be worth asking BA. 

 

JB 🙂

 

[FionaMG]

@John Bull, thanks for this. It's very helpful.

 

I'd already spotted that terrible bus journey from the airport, which is what prompted me to ask about the price of a transfer. I suppose, though, it would be possible to get a taxi to the station and a train or coach from there. Do you know roughly how much that shorter taxi ride might cost?

 

It's going to be a delicate balancing act between how much extra cash my thrifty Scottish upbringing will let me pay out to counterbalance my increasingly low tolerance to hassle.  Flying into a small airport like BOH and simply jumping in a waiting car sounds so much more appealing than going into one of the big London airports and dealing with immigration queues, walking miles to get to the coach stop or train station and then waiting around until it's time for the coach or train to leave.

 

Of course, the cost of the flights will have a part to play too. I haven't really looked at that aspect yet since we're still so far out. I'll probably hold off till around Black Friday and then maybe see if there are any half-way sensible prices.

 

That BA Southampton-Faro route is indeed a seasonal one. It used to be served twice-weekly by FlyBe until their demise and it looks like BA is only interested in doing it once a week instead of twice. Unfortunately, the fact that it operates on a Saturday means it doesn't align even one-way for this particular cruise. Pity. 😞

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by FionaMG

[John Bull]

29 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

It's going to be a delicate balancing act between how much extra cash my thrifty Scottish upbringing will let me pay out to counterbalance my increasingly low tolerance to hassle. 

 

 

 

Yep, I frequently suffer from the same dicotemy.

And I usually say the hell with the grief. 🙃

 

Bournemouth airport to station is about 6 miles, 20 minutes. Much the same as  Southampton airport to central station and the sort of distance where the savings from pre-booking vs taxi from the rank is quite marginal. I'll hazard a guess at £18 vs £22. Plus £3 airport charge for pick-up.

Nat Express from station to So'ton coach station takes a very acceptable 50 minutes. It costs £6.50 pp, so for two the total cost would be in the order of £33. But frequency is approx every 3 hours. 

So I'd say the hell with the grief.

 

Yes, little provincial airports like BOH and SOU are a dream compared to the zoos. We've flown from both - very laid-back, no long queues for everything, and treated like human-beings..

But arrivals at LHR and LGW aren't too bad.

 

I reckon BOH and pre-booked taxi all the way

Or LHR/LGW and public transport.

But not my problem 😜 😏

 

JB 🙂

 

 

[FionaMG]

@John Bull, food for thought. Thanks very much for taking the time to help out like this. Appreciate it. 

[Harters]

My nephew was at university at Bournemouth but needed to get to Southamption (airport or train station, depending on how he was getting back to Manchester). My recollection was he used the train without problem.

[John Bull]

16 hours ago, Harters said:

My nephew was at university at Bournemouth but needed to get to Southamption (airport or train station, depending on how he was getting back to Manchester). My recollection was he used the train without problem.

 

Yes, very easy from central Bournemouth Almost all uni campuses are easy walking from the station, and a direct train service to Southampton central, or stay on the train to Southampton Parkway (2 minute walk to So'ton airport terminal).

 

The problem is the location of Bournemouth airport - it's nowhere near a train line, by taxi it's only 15 - 20 mins from B'mouth station, but by bus it's a convoluted 45-minute ride.

Hence consideration of a 30-mile 45-minute pre-booked taxi ride from B'mouth airport to So'ton cruise terminals.

 

JB 🙂

Edited October 20, 2021 by John Bull

[Dorset cruise fan]

I'm sure it didn't cost us more than £40 from Southampton to near Bournemouth last time we got off a ship. Bournemouth Airport has very expensive parking which everyone has to use so that may add a bit to your fare. I think there are a couple of Taxi firms that are allowed to use the Taxi  rank and therefore don't have to pay the parking charges. Looking on the Bournemouth Airport website there is a link to PRC (used to be known as Poole Radio Cabs) who it says have a desk at the Airport so they may be worth contacting for a quote.