The Ongoing LHR Taxi/Minicab (Car Service) Discussion
 

Hi everyone,

After doing some research on here, but not finding exactly what I was after, I figured I would open a new thread.

I'm looking for recommendations on what taxi service to use to pick me up from Heathrow and get me to my flat in Islington. I've come across Addisson Lee and Airport Direct, Just Airports and Airport Executive. The prices seem to be all over the place, as does the level of service. Some companies meet you at arrivals, some wait at a pre-determined area, etc.

I figured I would ask those of you who have used these services yourself. I'm not looking for anything overly fancy (i.e. i dont really need a driver dressed up in a uniform with white gloves on), but I do want them to be there on time to be reliable.

Thanks !

I use LHR Express Cars for work travel. They offer whatever you want in terms of either meet & greet or pick up at specified location. Always found them to be pretty reasonable rates and not once in over 3 years of use have they been unreliable.

Recommendations on taxi service from LHR to N7 in London
 

Hi everyone,

After doing some research on here, but not finding exactly what I was after, I figured I would open a new thread.

I'm looking for recommendations on what taxi service to use to pick me up from Heathrow and get me to my flat in Islington. I've come across Addisson Lee and Airport Direct, Just Airports and Airport Executive. The prices seem to be all over the place, as does the level of service. Some companies meet you at arrivals, some wait at a pre-determined area, etc.

I figured I would ask those of you who have used these services yourself. I'm not looking for anything overly fancy (i.e. i dont really need a driver dressed up in a uniform with white gloves on), but I do want them to be there on time to be reliable.

Thanks !

I highly recommend the north london firm Expressways.
http://www.expressways.co.uk/

You can book online, and you can track your car online - once the car has been allocated, so you know exactly how far away it is.

Drivers are smart. Very reliable. And a fraction of the cost of Addison Lee or black cabs.

On arrival, they will stand with a sign, where you exit customs. No additional parking fee, it's included in the price you pre-pay.

a cheap choices: http://www.airports247.co.uk/

cheapest will always be a local firm to your destination in N7; they charge more to collect because of the wait time/parking.

addison lee is consistent and never disappointing. almost as good as a black cab, frequently more comfortable, and occasionally cheaper. (not always!) :D

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I definitely looked into Addisson Lee and a few other firms, but they were extremely pricey ! I do like the fact that they are reliable and offer good service, but I cannot really afford the cost.

I've been using Fairway & Kenwood lately - www.fairwaycars.co.uk. About £35, if I remember correctly, from NW postcodes to LHR, an extra fiver for the return journey. Nothing fancy but they've always been reliable and are cheap.

Mind you, one recent driver started a conversation with "Now, I'm not a racist, but..." before laying into the least-favoured ethnic group of the day. But generally they've been fine (and I've been subjected to far more such tirades by black cab drivers than by minicab drivers).

Thank you ! Anyone else ?

OK, Addisson Lee is charging 76 pounds for the trip. Another firm called Airport Executive is quoting me 35 pounds, plus any car park fees. However, the pick you up in a regular saloon car, but can get me in a VIP car (E-Class, BMW, Jag) for a price of 65 pounds. I'm really debating whether the difference is worth going with Addy Lee ...

It's what, 45-60ish minutes of your life? So - £30 difference divided by 60 minutes = 50p per minute for a nicer car and diminishing the risk of having to endure odd odours/air fresheners. Or a bit more than that per minute to sit in an MPV with the Addy Lee branding on the back.

Whether that's worth it to you is another question. I'd just pay the £35 and enjoy the feeling of having saved some money. But then there are evidently people who find it worthwhile to pay for an upgrade to first class on the HEX too, because 15 minutes - 20 from T5 - in the same carriage as other people must be too great a horror to contemplate.

I've been using The Chauffeur Group for 15 years and very happy with them. Don't know how they'd compare on price to N1, but very good for trips to/from Hampshire

You can't cross-post :td:. Pick one forum and stick with it. Cross-posting is against FT rules.
You started this exact same thread in the UK and Ireland Forum yesterday too:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...islington.html

There's a UK and Ireland Forum? Who knew?!?

Shurely there'sh shome mishtake. Everyone knows the BAEC Forum should have been named the General UK/Other Places/Off Topic Things Forum.

:D

Batting this over to the UK and Ireland forum for further innings

Prospero
Moderator: BAEC forum

Caught. Umpire rules duplicate, merges innings, overstretches metaphor.

stut
Moderator
UK & Ireland

Mornington Crescent!?

Hardly. The Whipps Cross convention - yes that one - of 1954 makes it quite clear that a pre-emptive cross-hatch manoeuvre such as that is barely tolerable. I think you should retreat to Totteridge & Whetstone to consider your options.

As I discovered last week, Addy Lee charge a premium for credit card bookings. If you've not tried getting a quote for paying by cash, you might find they're suddenly a bit more competitive.

Lawks! If we're playing a post-1987 rule set, I might try playing Star Lane.

I think you're mistaken - the Lowry ruling of 1961 clearly indicates that there is small gap at Ongar that allows the reverse switch, without entering downloop upline. It is within the rules, though maybe unpalatable to a purist.

More recent LHR car service recommendations?
 

Please. Going from LHR to NW7. I checked out Airport Direct recommended in the London Airports FAQs, but the only reviews out there are not flattering.

Also, is it possible to have the driver meet us 2 hrs after landing time, and by the Arrivals Lounge?

Thanks!

I would like to point out I havent used this firm but appear to have a good review.

http://www.airportexecutive.co.uk/

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/airport-executive-london

More recent LHR car service recommendations?
 

We use embarque (division of Carey limo) their hybrid vehicles -you can get quote online, you meet them curbside

It's been about a year and a half (so not the most current), but we used Green Tomato Cars and they were fine. Note that they drive Priuses, so if you have a lot of luggage, that might not be the best option.

How about Airport Transfer? Are they any good?

I will stand by London Heathrow Cars, never had any issues, new or newish top-end cars and cheap. They will pick you up by depatures unless you want to pay for meet-and-greet.

I have a couple reservations booked with Tristar in September (I decided on them after reading through the older threads on this topic).

I always use Addison Lee - large Ford Galaxy occasionally subbed for an E class - driver meets at time you set either x minutes after flight landing or set time (and you can book them about 40 minutes out if you don't want to do it until you are safely in the arrivals lounge). You can pay by card online and they have a good iPhone app to order cars when you are out/about in London (with typical maximum wait in central London being 20 minutes).

Addison Lee are fine; they are the largest private car operator in London, and pretty reliable. Drivers are a mixed bunch, but if you need a quick pick-up anywhere, they are a good choice.
Annoyingly, they've stopped doing child booster seats, which means I've stopped using them. Also, the one time they provided a baby seat, it was filthy.

I now use Savile; drivers are very professional, they use S-Classes and 7 Series, and prices are not OTT.

Side question: Do you tip Addison Lee/Tristar drivers?

Often I've prepaid by card and don't have cash for a tip. I'd normally round up to around 10% with black cabs and mini cabs.

I have a fantastic recommendation for London transfers. Available through Celebrated but you must book through a travel advisor. I've used them and the drivers and vehicles are top. Itch, slight better priced, as well

These are the guys I use every time. Nothing special, just normal cars in good condition - about 68 GBP from LHR to Park Lane.

Never tip and they don't expect it - one of the side benefits of using AL and booking online with a card prepayment. One of my pet peeves is the expectation of cabbies of a tip.

I would definitely avoid Airport Direct - I had a bad experience with them and their customer service (for the journey itself and when following up on the phone after) was pretty much non-existent. Terrible.

+1 for Addison Lee. They can be more pricey but generally reliable. As to whether to tip, I do actually tip them if they were on time and drove reasonably well, i.e. not like a bat out of hell followed by harsh braking. Not a huge amount - £5 for a journey from my home in North London (N1) to LHR - but I think it's appropriate.

Who has the nicest cars though?

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. I just posted in another thread that I went with Airport Direct over AdLee, whom I'd normally choose, for a difference of almost £40 return plus the availability of a car seat.

Would you be able to elaborate on what went wrong for you? If you'd prefer not to, of course, I unedrstand.

Don't mind at all. I posted about it in another thread somewhere but it was just over a year ago. In a nutshell I booked their premium service but it was far from that: tired, old, unclean car and a driver who neither drove well nor dressed for a premium service (jeans and a crumpled half-untucked shirt). This last point is very minor but it added to the experience being sub-par.

So they didn't provide the service I'd booked, and neither did they inform me that they couldn't provide it beforehand. They had my mobile number so could have. Had they done so, I'd have cancelled and booked with another provider, or got the Heathrow Express. Bit late standing in the multi-story car park at 9pm after a long-haul flight, which is when we found out about the car.

I contacted their office the following morning to ask for a refund, given they didn't provide what I'd booked and paid for. They passed me from pillar to post and never got back to me despite me following up multiple times in the weeks that followed. I therefore gave up and put it down to a poor experience. If I'd wanted a backstreet minicab-style service, I'd have booked one.


PS I'm well aware of how this issue stacks up in the scheme of things...

Back from my trip and to answer my own question on how Airport Transfer was the answer is: choose someone else! The pickup was okay, driver was waiting at the terminal with name sign on time. Didn’t offer to help with the 2 luggage carts we were pushing tho. After the elevator ride and the short walk to the waiting area we were off. No words were spoken other than a confirmation on him knowing where we were going. He did help unload the luggage and only smiled when I handed him a tip. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

The trip back to the airport did not go well. I booked a car for 5:00pm, didn’t see anyone after 10 minutes so I called the number they gave to call if you didn’t see your driver. Was told that driver should be there, asked for the make and color and was told a grey VW sedan was my car. Looked around some more and waited for another 10 minutes than I called again. The guy that answered told me to hold and then the line was cut. He did call back in about 5 minutes to tell me that the car that was to pick me up broke down and cannot make it. I asked if a replacement was on the way and he said they cannot allocate another car at that time. I hung up before he finished as I was pretty pissed by then. :mad::mad::mad:

Anyway, I ended up just flagging down a taxi off the street which cost me 20 pounds more than what I should have paid. Will delete Airport Transfer off my list! :td::td::td:

I chose Humming Bird cars when I came here in late May with a ton of luggage. Competitive price (£65 LHR to Canary Wharf) for a slightly larger vehicle, as I had a ton of luggage.

Their price starts at £35 to central London, depending on time of day.

Flight was a bit early, so I had to wait for the driver in T4 for about 10 min, but he showed up with a sign. Car was big and new VW.

anybody know amy info on Meadway or airport executive??