Taxi question

[notalandlover]

I’m hoping to take a taxi from Heathrow to my London hotel and then from the Southampton cruise port to Heathrow. I seldom make taxi reservations in advance. I don’t like being pinned to an exact pick up time. Are there lots of taxis at these locations or is it advisable to reserve in advance.  Thanks everybody.

[wowzz]

No problem in getting a taxi from LHR to London (at a price)

Yes there are lots of taxis at Southampton,  but they are mainly used for local runs.  Using one to get to London will cost you an absolute fortune. 

Ask on the Ports of Call forum for recommendations about a car service.

And as to being pinned down to an exact time - the window for disembarking is only around two hours, so you are already being pinned down to a certain extent anyway.

 

[ziggyuk]

If you want a taxi I would book a private hire from Southampton in advance as a walk up cab will be very expensive.

This private hire charge from £125 for the 90 minute journey.
https://westquaycars.com/southampton-to-heathrow/

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by ziggyuk

[John Bull]

A pre-booked private transfer LHR to central London will cost you £45+

A taxi from the rank at LHR will cost you £70+

 

A pre-booked transfer LHR to central London is at the fixed booked price, altho some may charge for excess waiting time eg if your flight is late.

A taxi from the rank at LHR will be metered and the fare is a combination of distance & time - if you're in a traffic jam (you're likely to be in several) the cost will rack up - and up and up and up and up.

 

A pre-booked private transfer to LHR from your Southampton cruise terminal will cost in the order of £130+ (up significantly from about £85 pre-Covid due to fuel price-hikes)

A metered taxi from the terminal rank will cost you an arm & both your legs. Probably £250+. Since you'll be leaving the taxi's registered area you can negotiate a non-metered rate for the 65 miles to LHR, mebbe even walk up & down the taxi line at Southampton trying to get the best price - but don't expect a lot less than the meter cos the taxi will be returning empty. (Private transfer operators can mainly tie in times to LHR with bookings back from LHR, so no empty mileage.)

 

Like you, I'm a bit of a free spirit - but there's no reason you'd want to hang around LHR, and every reason you'd want to be back at LHR  by a certain time.

 

I see this as no-brainers. Pre-booked transfers are the way to go.

Or train or tube or Nat Express bus LHR to central London, Or Nat Express bus Southampton to LHR..

But leave hailing a cab for just short city journeys of a mile or three.

 

Lots of LHR private transfer operators.

For Southampton to LHR try 

https://westquaycars.com/

https://aquacars.co.uk/

https://www.blackberrycars.com/

http://www.southamptontaxis.net/

https://www.trustedairporttransfers.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

Edited July 7, 2022 by John Bull

[island girl 99]

Hi, We used Blackberry Cars, we spent a week in London before our June 24,2022 Southampton cruise and few days after our cruise.

Excellent & very reasonable we had a great driver Petru, safe and dependable. They are very accommodating, and answer e-mails in a timely manner,

We used them a total of 4 times during our time in London,  they came highly recommended from other cruise critic members, I would definitely use them again when in London.