We are traveling to London Heathrow in June and will have a car service take us to our hotel in London. The service wants to know what time to pick us up. So how long might it take to deplane, get luggage, and go through customs at Heathrow? We have Global Entry from the US if that makes a difference. The car service recommended 60 minutes but that seems too short. Any advice?
London Heathrow Timing
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Gotadimple
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2 hours. Deplaning and picking up luggage isn't the issue - Customs and Immigration can get backlogged when multiple overseas flights arrive at the same time.
A lot of factors, such as time of day and day of the week, all of which can be compounded by other things that might be going on at the airport (or even your departing ariport) on your particular days of travel.
For the majority of trips I've made to LHR where I left the airport in London, 60 minutes has usually been about right, but there have been exceptions. When I've used drivers, their HQ usually monitors flights anyway...
Cheers.
Ian S
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On our first trip to London via Heathrow 5 years ago, we arranged for a car service. As luck would have it we got in much earlier than scheduled due to tailwind and wound up waiting and waiting until our car arrived. Then, it was a bit of a trek to get to where the car was parked. Earlier this year, we got into Heathrow from Rome on a weekday afternoon and decided to just go with a black cab. For about the same amount of money as the car service, we didn't have to worry about flight timing, just went to where the taxis were outside the terminal and had one in less than five minutes. The driver was friendly and knew the way to get to our hotel in Westminster. Traffic was heavy but it was all in all more relaxing than fussing about a car service.
Accidental Retiree
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I’ve used Blackberry drivers to pick me up and they monitor flights.
On my 2 most recent flights, it took me longer to walk from the plane to border control than it did to go through.
I pretty much walked up to an open machine, scanned my passport and looked at the camera, and I was in.
I’ve also caught a cab from the taxi rank. That was easy, and I’d do that again.
On my 2 most recent flights, it took me longer to walk from the plane to border control than it did to go through.
I pretty much walked up to an open machine, scanned my passport and looked at the camera, and I was in.
I’ve also caught a cab from the taxi rank. That was easy, and I’d do that again.
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Texas Proud
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It might just be me but I have used the subway and Heathrow Express to get to London.. IMO much faster..
With this the question would be where in London are you staying?
With this the question would be where in London are you staying?
I've only used Heathrow Express for at least the last decade or two. Quick and easy into Paddington Station. And a snap to get anywhere from there, whether tube, bus, or cab.
I've also done the tube into town... But if you don't travel light, it can be less than optimal. But sure I've done a cab or car service in London.
OP - since the car service recommends an hour, if assume that's a good number.
Thanks for the advice. Our hotel is near Victoria Station in London, about a 15 minute walk. As far as using the Tube, we considered it but with 3 suitcases we thought that wasn't going to be a good option.
If Taxi's cost about the same as a car service, why would one use the car service? The price quoted by the car service was 96 Pounds. Don't know if you have to tip them as well, when I suspect you would tip a taxi driver 15%?
The car service does track our flight, but only allows one hour of wait time. Don't know what happens after that hour if we arrive late. Maybe their "one hour" means after the flight arrives??
If Taxi's cost about the same as a car service, why would one use the car service? The price quoted by the car service was 96 Pounds. Don't know if you have to tip them as well, when I suspect you would tip a taxi driver 15%?
The car service does track our flight, but only allows one hour of wait time. Don't know what happens after that hour if we arrive late. Maybe their "one hour" means after the flight arrives??
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Heathrow customs is currently pretty bad and has been for a while now. You could be hours waiting, unrelated to flight arrival. No way to schedule for that. Just BTD on a taxi or the express train.
A black cab should cost you roughly the same for that trip. 10% is a typical tip for them. If you are concerned about carrying the bags, you might want to consider just getting a cab at the airport and canceling the car service. That way you would have one less thing to worry about.
If you've never used Heathrow Express, it might be better than you think. Not an ordinary tube train, it goes straight from Heathrow to Paddington, without all those stops at regular tube stations. Plenty of room for your bags, and much nicer seating.
So if I were to use the Express service, how would I get from Paddington to my hotel? Do you catch the Express train inside of Heathrow?
Seems odd that a pre-reserved car service would cost you same as a taxi, but maybe the taxi would be the best choice.
We used Heathrow Express a couple months ago. Super easy & built for suitcases & people. We use either Google maps or City Mapper for directions.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PvhnzwBS2y2mpY94A
2 years ago we took a cab into London from Heathrow to your general area. It was about 100-125 GBP. So probably 120-140 USD. We were tired so elected to take a cab tnto town. Now that we have used the tube a few times that is what we will do in the future. Google maps says 1 minute to the Circle line in Paddington then 16 minutes to Victoria. We loved the Westminster neighborhood.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/PvhnzwBS2y2mpY94A
2 years ago we took a cab into London from Heathrow to your general area. It was about 100-125 GBP. So probably 120-140 USD. We were tired so elected to take a cab tnto town. Now that we have used the tube a few times that is what we will do in the future. Google maps says 1 minute to the Circle line in Paddington then 16 minutes to Victoria. We loved the Westminster neighborhood.
Closet_Gamer
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We lived there until 2022.
Car services at Heathrow are pain in my opinion. They are frequently late due to traffic, often hard to locate and then you have to hike to the garage to get their car. Then enjoy the traffic yourself while you grind it into London.
I'd suggest Heathrow Express into the city and the a black cab or Uber to the hotel.
Alternatively, just take a black cab from the airport itself.
Both of these options avoid any drama with customs or other delays that get you a grump driver.
Best of luck and enjoy your trip!
Car services at Heathrow are pain in my opinion. They are frequently late due to traffic, often hard to locate and then you have to hike to the garage to get their car. Then enjoy the traffic yourself while you grind it into London.
I'd suggest Heathrow Express into the city and the a black cab or Uber to the hotel.
Alternatively, just take a black cab from the airport itself.
Both of these options avoid any drama with customs or other delays that get you a grump driver.
Best of luck and enjoy your trip!
Accidental Retiree
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It’s definitely less expensive to take the tube or Express, but then unless you’re staying near the tube/train station, you still have to schlep bags to wait in the taxi rank to catch the cab to your hotel. I’d rather just do that all at the airport and sit back and take a load off.
I travel alone, and I just make it as easy for myself as possible after 11+ hours on a plane from the West Coast in addition to all the airport time at each end.
I’m pretty much a black cab kinda gal.
Yes, the Heathrow Express is clearly marked and easy to get to in both terminal areas of Heathrow. When you get to Paddington, it's a big station and easy to grab a cab from there to your hotel. Or if it's not a crowded time of day you could just take a Circle Line tube train (every 10 minutes) and take it to Victoria Station. London is really easy to navigate, especially with Google Maps or Apple Maps to help.
Ian S
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Why would one use a car service? After using both, I really don't know. I was thinking that the cab would be far more than the car service but since we had had the experience of arriving early and then having to wait for the car service (our driver couldn't get to us early), we decided to just BTD on the black cab. But it really wasn't BTD! IIRC, we paid just over 90 GBP for the cab and we threw in another 10 for tip. I think the car services I looked at would have been 85-95 GBP. The driver was able to take a credit card and seemed pleased with the tip.
If you travel light with a carry-on, I suppose the Heathrow Express and a taxi to get to your final destination is lots cheaper but we had suitcases and wanted the easiest way possible with the minimum fussing with suitcases. So it's BTD and black cabs for us!
Lsbcal
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We used Uber and it worked nicely. Just know where to go to the pickup point. We were very tired from our SFO flight and I wanted it to be *easy*.
The pickup point was the "LHR waiting area" and we took an elevator to get to it. Look this up "uber waiting area at LHR" in google.
HarveyS
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I walked thru passport control and customs last month after landing from Denver on UAL. No lines, no waiting. I took the Heathrow Express and then a cab to my downtown hotel. No problems.
If you don't want to take the train, the easiest option is to get a cab at the curb. Cost of a cab should be a bit less than a black car, and easy-peesy.
If you don't want to take the train, the easiest option is to get a cab at the curb. Cost of a cab should be a bit less than a black car, and easy-peesy.
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