Tipping and payment methods in London?

What is the tipping protocol in London now? For restaurants and taxis? How about for a service like Smiths? Do the cabbies accept credit cards or must we have "cash"?

Thanks.

Expectations will be based on nationality! People in service industries know Americans tip well, everyone else much more moderately if at all.

 

Most restaurants in London add a 12.5% service charge, and if they do nothing else is required. In the very unlikely event they don't, feel free to add a tip if you think the service deserved it.

 

Black cabs in London now have to accept credit/debit cards. Personally I would never tip a black cab driver, but if they have done something above and beyond for you.

 

Booked transfers, some people will tip, some won't. If the guy did a good job, didn't keep you hanging around, etc, a couple of pounds wouldn't go amiss.

Thank you.

Have you used Uber in London? Dependable?

Be aware that black cabs add a surcharge for paying by credit card. It is usual to tip a black cab BTW - about 10% or a roundup to a convenient figure. Never used Uber (and never will so cannot help there).

Be aware that black cabs add a surcharge for paying by credit card. It is usual to tip a black cab BTW - about 10% or a roundup to a convenient figure. Never used Uber (and never will so cannot help there).

Sorry but that is incorrect.

 

Black cabs used to charge a surcharge for credit cards, but since they have been legally required to take cards they are not permitted to charge a surcharge. To recompense the drivers, the minimum fare for everyone was increased by 20p.

 

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/october/all-london-black-cabs-to-take-cards-and-contactless-payments-from-mond

 

I use Uber in London frequently and in preference to black cabs.

 

Perfectly reliable, sensible routes set by live traffic information, half the price, and no driver offering a political opinion. What is not to like.

Sorry but that is incorrect.

 

Black cabs used to charge a surcharge for credit cards, but since they have been legally required to take cards they are not permitted to charge a surcharge. To recompense the drivers, the minimum fare for everyone was increased by 20p.

 

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/october/all-london-black-cabs-to-take-cards-and-contactless-payments-from-mond

 

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My bad - shows how long it is since I took a cab!

No problem.

 

I suspect the card machines have had a significant impact on tips, since the machines are in the passenger compartment and contactless, all someone has to do is touch and go.

 

Fair enough rounding up so the driver isn't fiddling around with change, but with a card, why would they delay the driver messing around with adding a tip to the meter fare on the machine.

Thanks to you both...I have used Uber here in the states and the rate is less than taxi service. Two of us will be traveling from Central London to Gatwick and Smith's quote is 76 GBP. I wondered if Uber would be less than that. In town, I will be using Uber but what about to the airport? Opinions?

Smiths is based in Portsmouth so unlikely to be competitive for a London-Gatwick run...and that sounds uncompetitive. Look for some of the London based car services such as Simply Airports, Just Airports, Blackberry etc. Many mentions on this board.

Uber scrapped flat rates to London airports some time ago, so you can't really say if they will be cheaper - my sense is that they will be about the same, but I have not used one to an airport.

Driving to Gatwick from town is not simple, so I'd probably rather rely on a firm who do it regularly than a random driver with his iPhone :) Actually, I wouldn't think of taking a car to Gatwick at all, but that's another discussion....

 

 

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Much quicker and cheaper if only two people travelling to take the train to Gatwick.

Central London to Gatwick Airport in an Uber is around £50 to £60, train (for two) £20 to £30.

UberX is quoted @ £38-48 if that's what you would use.

Uber Lux which is what we would use is 25% more than our hotel limo service.

Depending on the location of your hotel, the train is the obvious choice - inexpensive, frequent, and quick (roads from central London to Gatwick are slow & laborious). The Gatwick stop is actually inside the airport's South Terminal.

 

As per the Eagle's comment, although Smiths are excellent for journeys to/from Southampton or Portsmouth, London to Gatwick is waaay out of their area so they won't be competitive - in fact they may decline to quote.

 

JB :).

Thanks again to all...I know from all the CC threads about transport in the UK that the train is a favorite. Maybe it is because we are just not used to that type of travel here in Florida (and at our age not inclined to attempt it with luggage and the unknown), we will probably stick with car service. Simply Airports seem to be our best bet. Am sure it is to our economic disadvantage but peace of mind rules out:)

Getting to Gatwick by train is not just saving money, but time too. The journey is monotonous and journey time is totally unpredictable due to traffic, but a good couple of hours. When you arrive the taxi will drop you outside the terminal. You then need to find a luggage trolley and check in desk.

 

If you take the train they depart every 15 minutes and journey time is half an hour. Easy enough to find a porter to put luggage on/ off train. As train stops within airport the porter will take you and luggage to check in.

 

For me a no brainer. Train every time.

...Perfectly reliable, sensible routes set by live traffic information, half the price, and no driver offering a political opinion. What is not to like.

 

Yeah, what's with that?! Our first trip to London in a black cab and we got berated by the driver about our president and his politics. DH insisted on tipping him 20% anyway. I just about blew a gasket!! :mad:

Thanks again to all...I know from all the CC threads about transport in the UK that the train is a favorite. Maybe it is because we are just not used to that type of travel here in Florida (and at our age not inclined to attempt it with luggage and the unknown), we will probably stick with car service. Simply Airports seem to be our best bet. Am sure it is to our economic disadvantage but peace of mind rules out:)

 

I really want to reiterate how much easier the journey to LGW is by train. The journey by car isn't a nice, straight highway drive - over half of it is through city streets, with the ensuing traffic. The train, on the other hand, is so very user-friendly - at Victoria station, you can roll your luggage cart right to the door of the train, with a very small step up to enter. Then, at LGW, while I can't remember if luggage carts can be brought right onto the platform I do know there are plenty at the entrance/exit of the train station. Much easier and faster than a car trip, believe me!

 

If you want to check out the 'unknown', get on Google maps and you can 'walk' the stations using Google Street View - really great for getting one's bearings.

Perfectly reliable, sensible routes set by live traffic information, half the price, and no driver offering a political opinion. What is not to like.

Minimally competent drivers sometimes doing it as a spare time hobby to earn a bit of extra cash on the side (with the company actively recruiting from that demographic), relying on satnav to wayfind around a road network of which they have little embedded knowledge, when even with live traffic information satnav is poor way of getting around central London when compared to the routes and tricks learned through the accumulated experience of years/decades of actually driving in the city?

 

The latter is how I learned to navigate around central London in a car, and I know that can reliably do at least as well as a satnav.

 

Though switching off the cabbies' attempts at conversation is a skill that has to be similarly learned by passengers over years/decades.

If you want to check out the 'unknown', get on Google maps and you can 'walk' the stations using Google Street View - really great for getting one's bearings.

 

Search on YouTube and you can experience almost anything related to travel. I found videos from LHR to Victoria Station via the Underground including the connection and how many stairs and escalators. Videos showing how to take the National Express to LHR, or Heathrow Express. Video showing the inside of Pimlico Station which is the station we'll be using.

Minimally competent drivers sometimes doing it as a spare time hobby to earn a bit of extra cash on the side (with the company actively recruiting from that demographic), relying on satnav to wayfind around a road network of which they have little embedded knowledge, when even with live traffic information satnav is poor way of getting around central London when compared to the routes and tricks learned through the accumulated experience of years/decades of actually driving in the city?

 

I would have expected words like that to come from a black can driver!

 

Have you ever actually used Uber? Your comments about the ability of satnav to route you round traffic are woefully out of date, with most of the drivers using the excellent Waze app as well as Google maps.

I use Uber Black at home and the fantastic reliable BLACK TAXIS in London. You can't beat them for experience. It's worth a few extra £ to us.

Have you ever actually used Uber? Your comments about the ability of satnav to route you round traffic are woefully out of date, with most of the drivers using the excellent Waze app as well as Google maps.

These days I don't have much need to use Uber, other minicabs or black cabs. But I do spend a bit of time with other drivers who rely on super-duper satnav systems to get around central London, and I see them (and their satnavs) making the same mistakes that I see minicabs making when I am driving around myself (which I still do a lot of at weekends). I can't tell if those minicabs are Ubers or not, but I do know that some of the best routes around London are routes that never even show up as an option on satnavs because they involve so much that appears on a map to be out of the way and utterly counterintuitive.

 

In addition, IME satnavs don't do much more than tell you when to make turns. But navigating around central London is so much more than that. For example, how can you know the lane layout at every major junction, and which lanes go in which directions? Which lanes tend to move faster, at which times of the day and in which circumstances, and why? Which lane is going to get you through the queue at the next lights one cycle faster? How do you make the most of the different traffic light phasing at junctions on your different alternative routes? Which junctions tend to pose the most problems from being blocked or slowed by turning cars, and which junctions don't suffer from these problems? Satnavs won't tell you this stuff. You can only get on top of this by actually driving yourself and actively learning it. (And that's before you get into tricks like how to queue-jump most effectively, which I personally only deploy in extremis.)

 

And then look at the pool from which Uber is trying to recruit as drivers. They've been running advertising campaigns here. Looking to make a bit of extra cash to save up for your next holiday? Wanting a bit of financial help towards buying your new car? Want to having a little something to give your kids a bit of a treat? Drive for Uber! With a recruitment policy like that, it's no surprise that they get minimally-competent drivers who don't know their A from their Z and would be totally lost without the inadequate technological crutch provided by a satnav.

Fair enough, but my experience is the complete opposite.

 

Navigation technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of years and many of the points you make are now dealt with.

 

None of the Uber drivers have failed to deliver me to my destination in a time I would take issue with, and even if you are stuck in traffic the meter is ticking over at a fraction of the cost of a black cab.