Taxis

[iveivan]

I had my first holiday since the pandemic recently and took a taxi to the airport. I don’t live too far from Heathrow. The local taxi on the way there cost £60. I got a black cab on the way back and that was almost £100.

The taxis cost more than the plane ticket. I didn’t get a budget airline.

Have taxi prices risen massively? I’m sure it was no more than £40 previously.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

taxis are not quite my thing, but there's a report that london hackney carriage ('black cab') fares went up in 2022 and "fares to Heathrow Airport will rise as well." - I think that heathrow charge taxis a fee for picking up or dropping off there, so of course that gets added on. (hackney carriage fares are set by the local licensing authority)

hackney carriage fares are a mix of distance and time, so even if you're stuck in a traffic jam, the meter will tick on.

private hire vehicle (minicab) fares are not regulated at all, they can charge what they like and vary their fares depending on how busy it is. My understanding is that there are less minicabs / minicab drivers around than there were before the pandemic (there's a lot of lines of work short of people at the moment - most bus operators are struggling to get drivers at the moment) so that may have pushed fares up a bit. And again, if they get charged for going in to Heathrow, that will add to the price.

Without knowing just where you are, is it worth looking at bus and train services next time? (or were you travelling on a strike day?)

I don't think it's quite as comprehensive as it was before the plague, but there's quite a network of bus routes in to Heathrow both from inside London and Bucks / Berks / Surrey - trains from the west is a slightly different matter. And most of those buses run quite early and late in the day, and many of TFL's run all night (Slough - Heathrow did run all night before covid, not sure if it came back) - even if you're somewhere obscure, would taxi to / from somewhere like slough or staines or ealing or hounslow work?

 

[iveivan]

I live in Berkshire, about 18 miles from Heathrow. It’s not in the middle of nowhere but buses are few and far between. The journey is possible by train though it’s much less convenient and will take over twice as long. I’ll probably do that next time.

 

[Elpenor]

Taking a black cab from Heathrow going out of London is not subject to the London black cab rates IIRC - they’re unlikely (perhaps unable / not allowed) to get another fare as they would for a central london plus they also have to queue up again at Heathrow which apparently takes ages

Petrol has obviously gone up a bit

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I live in Berkshire, about 18 miles from Heathrow. It’s not in the middle of nowhere but buses are few and far between. The journey is possible by train though it’s much less convenient and will take over twice as long. I’ll probably do that next time.

again, without knowing where in berkshire, but maybe reading then the railair coach? (its principal purpose is to get rail passengers from the west to / from heathrow, but you can travel on it without being a rail passenger - it's a bit pricey, but less so than taxis, and probably not relevant, but don't think that concessionary bus passes are valid on it.) Think you can just turn up and travel - not sure if you pay the driver, there used to be an office / departure lounge arrangement at the south east corner of Reading Station.

or reasonable selection of buses (not all the same operator) from slough to both central and terminal 5 - including reading buses 703 bracknell - windsor - slough - heathrow, first berkshire 4 maidenhead - slough - heathrow - both run quite early and late and 4 is all night between slough and heathrow.

or if you're on the south western railway bit of the berkshire patch, train to feltham then bus up the road.

Taking a black cab from Heathrow going out of London is not subject to the London black cab rates IIRC - they’re unlikely (perhaps unable / not allowed) to get another fare as they would for a central london plus they also have to queue up again at Heathrow which apparently takes ages

Petrol has obviously gone up a bit

yes - hackney carriage drivers can usually decline a run over X miles (that's a long established law based on the welfare of the horse) and the fare is negotiable rather than set. but will be expensive on that basis, as they can't ply for hire outside their own council area so you'd be paying for their time and costs of driving back empty.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Berkshire is outside of the Metropolitan area so the black cab can charge whatever they like.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Btw, use Uber when arriving at Heathrow.

 

[iveivan]

Btw, use Uber when arriving at Heathrow.

Uber is banned where I live. So, I can’t get one to Heathrow but I guess there would be no issue getting one from Heathrow. Hadn‘t considered that.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Uber is banned where I live. So, I can’t get one to Heathrow but I guess there would be no issue getting one from Heathrow. Hadn‘t considered that.

Hackney Carriages can't ply for hire outside their own council's area, so if (for example) I get a Reading Borough 'black taxi' home from Reading in to Wokingham borough, that taxi can't legally be flagged down on the street on its way back until it gets back in to Reading borough.

But there's nothing in law to stop me from phoning for a minicab from anywhere I like to take me from Wokingham to Reading (obviously in practical terms, it would probably cost more with the dead mileage if I booked one from - say - a Slough operator, but I'm fairly sure it would be legal if we both wanted to and agreed on the price.)

So while your local council may not licence Uber to be based on their patch, you might be able to book one locally anyway (whether they find it worth their while to offer their services in your patch is different matter.)

 

[T & P]

Black cabs have always been very costly from Heathrow, let alone the other London airports. Even with relatively sparse traffic, a ride to Tulse Hill, which I only took because work was paying, cost me nearly £70 about 12 years ago- fuck knows how much that’d be nowadays.

My OH paid £45 plus tip for the same fare last week with Uber. There was no surcharge at the time though.

 

[not-bono-ever]

I have mentioned this before, I used to get the red eye into Hrow from the states. Cab home was on expenses. they just laughed at me when I said Peckham and fucked me off. I bleated to the rank fuhrer and he shrugged and said they can't get a ride back, so will come up with a reason for not accepting the fare ( I think they used the max mileage one to me). As an aside, we were quoted 120 quid to gatwick from peckham this summer from the one local mini cab firm that were actually able to confirm they would do it- the rest were not interested/ didnt have the drivers etc. I have never used Uber BTW but i can see why people do

 

[T & P]

I’ve mentioned this aplenty before, but if you have a driving licence and a Zipcar account, you can just drive yourself home on a zipflex car. There’s a £7 airport surcharge but even so it’s ludicrously cheap. An hour long journey would be £23 all in.

Annoyingly the cars are no longer kept at the airport, but at a nearby hotel (less than 10 minutes on the free shuttle bus, though). Which might be the last thing you want to do after a red eye.