Traveling from LHR to downtown London best transportation options

[DMP609]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:46 PM, shofer said:

We took the National Express bus from LHR to London.  Pre-paid 5 pounds/pp-Senior rate plus 1 pound service chart.  Our hotel was only 0.3 miles from the Coach station so we walked.   Used the same bus to Southampton to take our cruise.

How was it managing your luggage with the bus service? Did you have many suitcases?

[phabric]

43 minutes ago, DMP609 said:

How was it managing your luggage with the bus service? Did you have many suitcases?

I have used National Express Coach from LHR to Southampton a few times.

 

You hand your luggage to the driver and he puts it under the Coach. At the end, he unloads the luggage beside the Coach and you take it.  We had 4 pieces of luggage plus 2 small carryons.

 

If going to Southampton on embarkment day, check out - 

www.internationalfriends.co.uk

 

They pick up from certain London hotels with a stop at Stonehenge before dropping you have at Southampton dock.

Edited July 31, 2022 by phabric

[DMP609]

3 hours ago, phabric said:

I have used National Express Coach from LHR to Southampton a few times.

 

You hand your luggage to the driver and he puts it under the Coach. At the end, he unloads the luggage beside the Coach and you take it.  We had 4 pieces of luggage plus 2 small carryons.

 

If going to Southampton on embarkment day, check out - 

www.internationalfriends.co.uk

 

They pick up from certain London hotels with a stop at Stonehenge before dropping you have at Southampton dock.

Thank you for the recommendation!  I would really love to go to Stonehenge. 

[phabric]

1 minute ago, DMP609 said:

Thank you for the recommendation!  I would really love to go to Stonehenge. 

I took Princess post cruise excursion to Stonehenge as I had a 5:05pm flight home in June.

 

I have taken International Friends post cruise stopping at Salisbury, Stonehenge and Windsor then we were dropped of at my London hotel.

[shofer]

7 hours ago, DMP609 said:

How was it managing your luggage with the bus service? Did you have many suitcases?

Just like phabric said:  the driver loads and unloads your luggage.  It helps if you can just push it on four wheels if you have to walk a bit to the hotel.   At the airport, we had to check in at the bus desk, show our reservation and the clerk put a sticker on it before directing us to the correct location.  Coming back from London, I stood in a line w/25 people ahead of me passing the departure time (!) to have a clerk scream at me that I only had to show the paper code.  Luckily for us, the bus was over sold and there was a lumber of people waiting for them to bring up another bus for the trip to Southampton.  It was a 2 hour, 10 minute trip and after we arrived, we just lined up to wait for a cab to take us the <5 minutes to the ship.

 

[DMP609]

10 minutes ago, shofer said:

Just like phabric said:  the driver loads and unloads your luggage.  It helps if you can just push it on four wheels if you have to walk a bit to the hotel.   At the airport, we had to check in at the bus desk, show our reservation and the clerk put a sticker on it before directing us to the correct location.  Coming back from London, I stood in a line w/25 people ahead of me passing the departure time (!) to have a clerk scream at me that I only had to show the paper code.  Luckily for us, the bus was over sold and there was a lumber of people waiting for them to bring up another bus for the trip to Southampton.  It was a 2 hour, 10 minute trip and after we arrived, we just lined up to wait for a cab to take us the <5 minutes to the ship.

 

Thank you!

[southernbreezes]

On 7/22/2022 at 11:33 AM, cruisegal415 said:

So would pre-booking a car service be preferable to taking a taxi from Heathrow?

I stopped pre booking and just take a taxi its faster and cheaper. My last trip to Milan my car service I pre booked was 55.00 euros the driver was not there and no one answered the phone (Sun Transfers). Wasted 30-45 minutes. Walked outside got a cab for 20 euros in minutes.

[Globaliser]

26 minutes ago, southernbreezes said:

I stopped pre booking and just take a taxi its faster and cheaper. My last trip to Milan my car service I pre booked was 55.00 euros the driver was not there and no one answered the phone (Sun Transfers). Wasted 30-45 minutes. Walked outside got a cab for 20 euros in minutes.

 

I think that cruisegal415 was asking about Heathrow, which is a different airport, city and country altogether.

[southernbreezes]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

I think that cruisegal415 was asking about Heathrow, which is a different airport, city and country altogether.

yes I am well aware just giving a example this is true at all airports. Just walk out and get a taxi its easier and faster. I spend $15,000 at least on each trip the least of my worries is what a cab costs.

This year we have traveled 28,000 miles and been to 8 airports, 5 in Europe.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by southernbreezes

[Globaliser]

26 minutes ago, southernbreezes said:

yes I am well aware just giving a example this is true at all airports.

 

I can pretty much guarantee that the advice you have given would be thoroughly bad for Heathrow.

[southernbreezes]

27 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

I can pretty much guarantee that the advice you have given would be thoroughly bad for Heathrow.

Why do they not have a taxi stand? Would love to know why because we are gong there in April.    Below is the information from the airport web site...  

 

Taxi. London taxis are available outside each terminal. The cost to central London is £45–£70 and the journey time is approximately one hour. Or, book a minicab or chauffeur in advance.

Edited October 5, 2022 by southernbreezes

[Globaliser]

44 minutes ago, southernbreezes said:

Why do they not have a taxi stand? Would love to know why because we are gong there in April.    Below is the information from the airport web site...  

 

Taxi. London taxis are available outside each terminal. The cost to central London is £45–£70 and the journey time is approximately one hour. Or, book a minicab or chauffeur in advance.

 

That's now a substantial underestimate of the fare for a licensed taxi (a "black cab") from the cab rank. Those figures have been quoted on that web page since at least 26 July 2015, and the page has not been updated to take into account any of the price increases in the intervening years. These have been substantial because of a number of structural changes to taxi fares during that time. To true central London (eg Trafalgar Square), the taxi fare is now likely to be more than the top end of that range.

 

However, you can get a pre-booked car (a "minicab") to take you to central London for a price within that range. The usual suspects do this hundreds (if not thousands) of times a day and the rate of pick-up failures or delays is small - there are very few complaints here, for example - so you can be pretty confident that the driver will be there, in accordance with a well-tested system for picking up.

 

A black cab may be a little faster than a minicab for two reasons. First, black cabs can use many bus lanes, but minicabs can't, so black cabs can sometimes jump some traffic queues. Second, black cab drivers have passed a stringent navigational exam, so if you are going to a standard destination (including all of true central London) from Heathrow the driver is unlikely to need a satnav as they will be able to navigate better with their brains than their ears, including knowing all the feasible routes around traffic jams that satnavs often don't. But the difference in journey time is likely to be small.

 

Also, if you arrive at a busy time and there is a significant queue at the cab rank, it can take some time before you actually get into a cab. The minicab driver is likely to be already waiting for you inside the terminal. So this can erode any time advantage in a taking a black cab.

 

This is why the advice to just take a taxi because it's "faster and cheaper" is thoroughly bad for Heathrow. Heathrow is not Milan; all airports, cities and countries are different; and any truly experienced traveller would know what the situation is at any of their regular destinations.

[Turtles06]

FWIW, we flew into LHR last week from the U.S. and had booked Blackberry Cars for the transfer to our hotel near Westminster.  Our flight was nearly an hour early thanks to a huge tailwind, but the driver was at LHR waiting for us when we arrived.  😊

 

[RNRcruisers]

We, a group of 4, used Uber both ways. Very efficient and cost about 60 pounds each way. We considered the tube but with luggage it was nice to be dropped off and picked up at the hotel door.

[southernbreezes]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

 

This is why the advice to just take a taxi because it's "faster and cheaper" is thoroughly bad for Heathrow. Heathrow is not Milan; all airports, cities and countries are different; and any truly experienced traveller would know what the situation is at any of their regular destinations.

Well we travel more than most. Stop with Milan it was a the example I know my advice is good, this year we used the cabs outside the gate in Milan, Venice, Barcelona, and Rome. By the way, we always got a van not a car because of the amount of luggage and there were 4 of us. I know it's cheaper because we still use a car service back to the airport. The reason I hate the car service at the airport is you walk down with all your bags there are 50 guys holding small signs you have to find your guy, then he walks you out to a parking area he then has to run and get the car because it's not waiting for you just outside like the taxi is. Going back to the airport is fine the car pulls up to the front door of the hotel off you go. I will never prepay again. We travel 2-3 times a year to Mexico and South America we always use a car service because of safety concerns. 

[Globaliser]

4 hours ago, southernbreezes said:

yes I am well aware just giving a example this is true at all airports.

 

1 hour ago, southernbreezes said:

Stop with Milan it was a the example

 

The problem with the example was the words that you then used: "this is true at all airports".

 

It isn't.

[southernbreezes]

46 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

 

The problem with the example was the words that you then used: "this is true at all airports".

 

It isn't.

I am going to be in London soon I guess we will find out.

[wowzz]

17 hours ago, southernbreezes said:

I am going to be in London soon I guess we will find out.

Will you let us know how you get on ?

[dodger1964]

On 10/5/2022 at 9:31 AM, southernbreezes said:

Why do they not have a taxi stand? Would love to know why because we are gong there in April.    Below is the information from the airport web site...  

 

Taxi. London taxis are available outside each terminal. The cost to central London is £45–£70 and the journey time is approximately one hour. Or, book a minicab or chauffeur in advance.

What would be typical tip for that taxi ride?  Say fare was £70.  

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, dodger1964 said:

What would be typical tip for that taxi ride?  Say fare was £70.  

Personally,  I would give £5, less if the driver was a grumpy git !

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

7 hours ago, dodger1964 said:

What would be typical tip for that taxi ride?  Say fare was £70.  

 

Personally,  I would give £5, less if the driver was a grumpy git !

 

One of the recent structural changes to taxi fares is that they now basically allow for what the drivers used to expect by way of a tip. This has been brought about by the fact that all taxis are now required to accept card payment, which itself has become almost universal now for everything since the beginning of the pandemic, and the increase in the limit for contactless payments from £30 to £100. That means that for almost all journeys passengers just tap and go, seldom leaving any tip.

 

What has become quite common in parallel is the "negative tip": a taxi driver who insists on taking less than is actually on the meter. Obviously, if the meter says £65 and the driver tells you he only wants £60, then he really only wants £60, not £60 plus a tip.

[wowzz]

31 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

One of the recent structural changes to taxi fares is that they now basically allow for what the drivers used to expect by way of a tip. This has been brought about by the fact that all taxis are now required to accept card payment, which itself has become almost universal now for everything since the beginning of the pandemic, and the increase in the limit for contactless payments from £30 to £100. That means that for almost all journeys passengers just tap and go, seldom leaving any tip.

 

What has become quite common in parallel is the "negative tip": a taxi driver who insists on taking less than is actually on the meter. Obviously, if the meter says £65 and the driver tells you he only wants £60, then he really only wants £60, not £60 plus a tip.

Sorry, you have totally lost me.

Why would the cabbie only want £60 when the meter says £65 ?

[Globaliser]

13 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sorry, you have totally lost me.

Why would the cabbie only want £60 when the meter says £65 ?

 

Presumably because he thinks that he's asking for too much if he sticks to what the meter says. Black cabs are acutely aware that the appeal of services like Uber is primarily on the basis of price. The longer-term sustainability of that model is highly debateable, but everyone in the business has to deal with current circumstances.

 

Anyway, whatever the reason, it's happening too often for it to be a mere fluke.