Cab cost into London
 

Can anyone advise the estimate cab cost from LHR into London?
If going in during rush hr, how much would that be compare to regular hr?
Also, is there an subway or some sort that will take me into London? Or should I stick to a cab ride? Been a long time since I visit London :)

Thanks!!!!!

Not sure about cab rates but the HEX which is expensive will get you into paddington station very quickly.Cheaper is the picadilly line of the tube which will take you into town slower but costs around 4 quid if i remember correctly.
-howie

Before I knew of Flyertalk, I once took a taxi from LHR to Trafalgar Square and due to arrival time, hit the morning rush hour. Fare came to £70!!! Most of the journey, we simply did not move. Of course, the driver did his best to "miss" every traffic light he could!! :mad: :td: I had quite a bit of luggage (moving from North America to London to start school) and thought I would "save" money by cabbing it as opposed to arranging for a car company pick-up. (What was I thinking?) :o

The next time, with a lot less luggage, I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington but made a mistake and purchased a First Class ticket. (Got upgraded on the flight and the champagne had quick yet longlasting effects!!) Why the HEX have First Class on a 15 minute journey is beyond me!! :confused: From Paddington, cabs fares within Central London are about £10 - £20 depending upon traffic. .. . and there are several tube lines accessible from the station.

I have not taken the tube yet -- Piccadilly Line -- to Central London. Apparently it is quite easy, but not always problem free. If there are track maintenance going on, there can be service disruptions --usually these take place on weekends.

Sorry for the long-winded story to your simple query!! :o

Mostly depends on where you are going, and how much luggage you have with you.

Usually (I live in London), I use a combination of Tube to Paddington and HEX, or Tube all the way. Tube is almost always fine - even the replacement bus services are well organised. My normal way into London is to get the HEX to Paddington, and a taxi from there home.

I would not consider using a taxi from Heathrow unless it were late at night, I had a considerable amount of luggage or, as in my current state, have a slipped disc. If you do want to get a taxi, pre-book one. The black cabs at LHR will charge anything between £50 and £80 to get you into Zone 1. A company like http://www.airportdirect.uk.com/ will charge in the region of £30.

Traffic is relatively unpredictable (even at night, you can be hit with M4 motorway closures). But, at peak times, I've had journeys of over 2 hours to get into Central London in a car.

A black cab will cost around £45-50 into the centre of town, plus tip. This really is about the most uneconomical way to get into the centre of London.

The Heathrow Express + cab option works out at about £35. Others seem to like this option; I dislike having to lug my bags through two stations. Seems too much like hard work.

Tube option is the cheapest, and can be nearly as quick as a car if you're headed somewhere along the Piccadilly line. When I travel from my office (Green Park) to Heathrow, the Tube is nearly as quick as a cab (about 45 minutes) and much cheaper.

Final option is a minicab, which is my preferred option to-and-from Heathrow. I prefer Addison Lee. I normally ring them when I arrive, and they have a car and driver waiting for me when I exit the baggage claim. They charge by the mile (£1.60 per mile when I last checked) based on the GPS route, although they do charge a £7.50 "meet and greet" fee for airport pickups which covers parking charges and 30 minutes of waiting time. You can pre-book these cars to meet your flight, although I find calling from arrivals is enough notice to get a cab. Addision Lee charge about £40 into the centre of London (including tip and meet-and-greet fee) -- the return journey to the airport will only cost you £32.

One further option is to try a local minicab firm -- they tend to leave their cards on the payphones at Heathrow. On the upside, this is the cheapest car service you'll find -- typically £20-25 into central London. On the downside, the cars are often tatty, the drivers are occasionally uninsured, speak limited English, and have a rudimentary knowledge of London geography.

You pays your money, you makes your choice...

I usually use a car and driver who waits for me in the arrivals hall (very nice after a long flight). Charge is about 40 GBP to central London, we've used him for years.
One alternative is Heathrow Express, 13 GBP to Paddington, cab to So. Kensington about 8 pounds, fairly easy to do.
I imagine a black taxi would run 45-50 pounds, absent being held up in traffic.

I can second MatthewClement's comments regarding Addison Lee. They're incredibly efficient most of the time, the price of journey is pre-determined so it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to where you are headed, drivers usually know their geography (and a GPS to fall back onto if they don't), and the cars are always an MPV (7-seater) so you can probably carry half of Britney's wardrobe with you, if you so wished ;)

They don't accept internet bookings if you don't have a corporate account with them, so whilst you can get general information on their website, you have to still call them on their number +44 20 7387 8888 to make a booking. The reservationist will tell you how much your cab will cost, and if you have a UK mobile, they will send you an SMS to advise you of the car model, colour, registration (!) and the exact price that will be charged.

They're also useful when going around central London, where they will usually be with you in about 10 minutes and most journeys will rarely cost more than GBP7.50. A very good alternative to the usual questionable minicabs with no assurance of quality and, more importantly, no assurance of personal safety.

(FYI, if you're in a real rush, they have a "LimoBike", which is a taxi on a motorcycle driven by specialist-trained driver. Good way to beat the traffic, and apparently you can even bring a small holdall bag with you)

(BTW, after reading my post again, I realised I'd written a major pitch for Addison Lee... as it happens, I'm quite a fan :D If anyone has any violent objections to this, let me know)

You and me both. They're a good service that deserves the endorsement.

As another option, I have used "Just Airports" for minicabs in the past. I am not sure what their current rates are, you would need to ring them: 20.8991.2865

Extremely old thread, but since I found it via google figured I'd reply in case someone needed cab help in London in the future! I found the lowest price to be http://www.ukairportcars.co.uk

I'd be very interested to know, what is the current (2011) cost of a black cab, off the front of T5, to (let us say) Trafalgar Square.

Minimum of £60. Or £5 if you take the direct Tube to Leicester Square and walk a few hundred yards

I'm a tube girl - cheap, easy, and a fairly easy to estimate journey time (not traffic dependent).

Or £2.70 if you use an Oyster card for said Tube!

when i slammed the door of the cab, the owner/operator was most irate. his new cab cost £38000.