Solara Posted August 4, 2015 #1 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I'm looking for recommendations for a car service from Heathrow to our precruise hotel in London. Thanks! __________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted August 4, 2015 #2 Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) With over 4000 posts one would think you know haw to use "search " for the many many threads on this subject..... However,we use http://Www.totallydriven.co.uk and have for many years. Very good service at good prices. Edited August 4, 2015 by orchestrapal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted August 4, 2015 #3 Share Posted August 4, 2015 With over 4000 posts one would think you know haw to use "search " for the many many threads on this subject.....It's like Prime Minister's Question Time: "I refer the honourable member to the recommendations we gave a day or two ago." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted August 4, 2015 #4 Share Posted August 4, 2015 It's like Prime Minister's Question Time: "I refer the honourable member to the recommendations we gave a day or two ago." Lol ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 5, 2015 #5 Share Posted August 5, 2015 With over 4000 posts one would think you know haw to use "search " for the many many threads on this subject.....However,we use http://Www.totallydriven.co.uk and have for many years. Very good service at good prices. If you use Totally Driven, and you're arriving at Terminal 2, just be aware that they specify the meet-up point as the Information desk. In reality, there is no structure that I'd call an information desk. Even the map of the arrivals hall, (See URL below) confirms my comment, and my recent difficulty wasn't simply a matter of being sleep deprived. Looking at the arrivals hall map, there is a U-shaped area. That's a wall with the word "Information" posted there. Also, number five on the map, labeled the Information desk is in fact a clock on a pole. Now, a clock on a pole is a perfectly fine meet up point, but it is not an Information desk. In the important ways -- showing up on the agreed-upon date/time and a correctly sized car -- Totally Driven was fine. And, knowing about the Information desk issues in Terminal 2, you'll probably have no problems using their service. (I can't speak about the existence or lack of existence of an Information Desk in other Terminals.) http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Heathrow/Static/PDF/Transport_and_directions/Heathrow_T2_Map.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phabric Posted August 5, 2015 #6 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I have used http://www.justairports.com from LHR-London hotel, London hotel- LHR a few times. To get a quote use your hotel's postal code. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solara Posted August 5, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted August 5, 2015 If you use Totally Driven, and you're arriving at Terminal 2, just be aware that they specify the meet-up point as the Information desk. In reality, there is no structure that I'd call an information desk. Even the map of the arrivals hall, (See URL below) confirms my comment, and my recent difficulty wasn't simply a matter of being sleep deprived. Looking at the arrivals hall map, there is a U-shaped area. That's a wall with the word "Information" posted there. Also, number five on the map, labeled the Information desk is in fact a clock on a pole. Now, a clock on a pole is a perfectly fine meet up point, but it is not an Information desk. In the important ways -- showing up on the agreed-upon date/time and a correctly sized car -- Totally Driven was fine. And, knowing about the Information desk issues in Terminal 2, you'll probably have no problems using their service. (I can't speak about the existence or lack of existence of an Information Desk in other Terminals.) http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Heathrow/Static/PDF/Transport_and_directions/Heathrow_T2_Map.pdf Thanks for your help. So exactly where did they meet you in the U-shaped area or by the pole with the clock? We are arriving at terminal two Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmjnh Posted August 5, 2015 #8 Share Posted August 5, 2015 We just returned from our cruise and we used 247 Airport transfer to and from the cruise ship in Harwich. They met us at the Travelex in Terminal 2. They drove us to Harwich to embark on our cruise and 2 weeks later they picked us up in Harwich and drove us to a hotel at Heathrow. We have absolutely no complaints. The drivers were prompt, courteous and friendly. We received a 10% discount as first time users. Their pricepoint was less than many transport services I queried. https://www.247airporttransfer.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PORT ROYAL Posted August 5, 2015 #9 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I'm looking for recommendations for a car service from Heathrow to our precruise hotel in London. Thanks! __________________ Speak to the Cincierge at your booked hotel, as they will have an approved list, and will be happy to arrange a car for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FritzG Posted August 5, 2015 #10 Share Posted August 5, 2015 We were very happy with Simply Airports, and we're using them again in two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 5, 2015 #11 Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) Thanks for your help. So exactly where did they meet you in the U-shaped area or by the pole with the clock? We are arriving at terminal two Thanks! If you look at the arrival hall map, you'll see that the clock essentially lies along one edge of the U-shaped area. As to where we met, here's a link to a post in which I detailed our story. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47318607&postcount=30 You wrote "our" so I assume you're traveling with someone who, presumably, isn't blind and can help you look. That, combined with my advance warning and map, should make your meet-up easier. Edited August 5, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted August 5, 2015 #12 Share Posted August 5, 2015 This video has a panning shot of the area Pet Nit Noy describes in T2 (at about 1:30 to 2:20) - it may be useful for people to see beforehand if they are concerned about meeting places :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6pcQShDjtc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 5, 2015 #13 Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) This video has a panning shot of the area Pet Nit Noy describes in T2 (at about 1:30 to 2:20) - it may be useful for people to see beforehand if they are concerned about meeting places :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6pcQShDjtc This is a great resource for people arriving at T2. At the 2:00 mark, the camera pans off WH Smith, which I have been referring to as Smith's, if you look to the right, in the background, you can see the word "Information" -- along with the typical lower case "i" that is the symbol for information -- on the wall. Also if you're very sharp-eyed, you'll be able to see the clock peeking out to the left of one of the shiny metal pillars in the hall. (It's not the pillar that bisects the word "Information" but the one to the right.) I watched until the 2:20 mark and never found a better view of the clock. Edited August 5, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solara Posted August 5, 2015 Author #14 Share Posted August 5, 2015 This video has a panning shot of the area Pet Nit Noy describes in T2 (at about 1:30 to 2:20) - it may be useful for people to see beforehand if they are concerned about meeting places :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6pcQShDjtc Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solara Posted August 7, 2015 Author #15 Share Posted August 7, 2015 With over 4000 posts one would think you know haw to use "search " for the many many threads on this subject.....However,we use Www.totallydriven.co.uk and have for many years. Very good service at good prices. If you look at the arrival hall map, you'll see that the clock essentially lies along one edge of the U-shaped area. As to where we met, here's a link to a post in which I detailed our story. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47318607&postcount=30 You wrote "our" so I assume you're traveling with someone who, presumably, isn't blind and can help you look. That, combined with my advance warning and map, should make your meet-up easier. They give you 30 minutes of free waiting time would you think an extra 15 minutes would be enough waiting time? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 7, 2015 #16 Share Posted August 7, 2015 They give you 30 minutes of free waiting time would you think an extra 15 minutes would be enough waiting time? Thanks! If you're talking about Totally Driven, their on-line form asks about extra free minutes and then gives you choices ranging from 15 to 90 minutes. As I found out, if you specify 60 minutes, the driver doesn't show up until 60 minutes after you land. If you're NOT in the arrival hall at that point, you start eating into the 30 free extra minutes. It appears you're asking about scheduling a pick up 45 minutes after the plan lands. We landed at a non-prime time (7:45 PM) and it took us 70 minutes to go through passport control and to claim our luggage. If you'll be taking an overnight flight, many, many more flights arrive in that early morning time frame, and you'll find the lines are longer and the luggage pick up may be slower. If you want more advice, you'll have to provide additional details like arrival time and the country whose passport you'll be carrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solara Posted August 7, 2015 Author #17 Share Posted August 7, 2015 If you're talking about Totally Driven, their on-line form asks about extra free minutes and then gives you choices ranging from 15 to 90 minutes. As I found out, if you specify 60 minutes, the driver doesn't show up until 60 minutes after you land. If you're NOT in the arrival hall at that point, you start eating into the 30 free extra minutes. It appears you're asking about scheduling a pick up 45 minutes after the plan lands. We landed at a non-prime time (7:45 PM) and it took us 70 minutes to go through passport control and to claim our luggage. If you'll be taking an overnight flight, many, many more flights arrive in that early morning time frame, and you'll find the lines are longer and the luggage pick up may be slower. If you want more advice, you'll have to provide additional details like arrival time and the country whose passport you'll be carrying. We are arriving at 6:00 AM with a US passport. Last year when we arrived at that time we were thru customs really quickly as the airport was empty. Just wondering if that was the norm? The receipt I received states the driver will meet you 15 minutes after your plane lands & you have an additional 30 minutes of free waiting time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 7, 2015 #18 Share Posted August 7, 2015 We are arriving at 6:00 AM with a US passport. Last year when we arrived at that time we were thru customs really quickly as the airport was empty. Just wondering if that was the norm? The receipt I received states the driver will meet you 15 minutes after your plane lands & you have an additional 30 minutes of free wait time. Since 15 minutes is the minimum, I suspect you did not use the pull down menu to customize your meet up time with your driver. Totally Driven has a web form for contacting the company and having a real time live chat to discuss a problem. I recommend you get in touch with them ASAP and work this out. For your sake, I'm thrilled you once got through Passport control and luggage collection quickly and easily. However, I think of 6:00 AM as prime time so I'm a bit bewildered by your empty airport. YOu haven't heard from anyone else on this thread, I recommend you ask for my personal estimates. I can only provide a recommendation based on my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted August 7, 2015 #19 Share Posted August 7, 2015 There are a lot of variables in play, for example similar timed arrivals at your terminal, which stand you get to use (and therefore distance to immigration hall) and so on. But there are very few flights arriving before 6 am (that is, I think, still the cut-off for the Night Flying regime quota, which is limited to a small number of movements for the whole airport). So at 6 am you could well be among the first in and no delays will have built up. By 6-30 am half the world has landed at LHR :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted August 7, 2015 #20 Share Posted August 7, 2015 But there are very few flights arriving before 6 am (that is, I think, still the cut-off for the Night Flying regime quota, which is limited to a small number of movements for the whole airport). So at 6 am you could well be among the first in and no delays will have built up. By 6-30 am half the world has landed at LHR :) But if you're banking on this, then what you need to do is to book a flight that is scheduled to arrive before 6 am. Then you are on a quota flight, and it can land at any time from 0432 onwards. If you are not on a quota flight, then you cannot land until 0602. Whatever your scheduled arrival time, the actual time at which you enter the London terminal manoeuvreing area is a bit random - it will depend on how long it took you to get away from your departure airport, what the winds were like en route and whether they matched the forecast, etc. By 0602, the London stacks will already have quite a lot of aircraft that managed to reach the TMA early. The stacks are filled on a first-come first-served basis. So the same flight might one day reach the stack at 0545, hold for 15 minutes and be one of the first to land at or just after 0602. The next day, it might reach the stack at 0615 and be about number 30 to land, so not actually landing until 0645 or so. Then you have the completely random factors inside the terminal building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotswold Eagle Posted August 8, 2015 #21 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Indeed, I was trying to make the same point - certainly not suggesting anyone bank on anything. In fact, having once been on a quota flight that got delayed at the far end and found ourselves in the stack I wouldn't bank on 4-32 am either :) But one poster found themselves in an empty airport just after 6 am (so was clearly ahead of the pack) and someone else couldn't understand why - I was trying to shed some light. I have often wondered where the extra 2 minutes comes from - is it a compliance safety margin introduced by ACL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pet Nit Noy Posted August 8, 2015 #22 Share Posted August 8, 2015 But one poster found themselves in an empty airport just after 6 am (so was clearly ahead of the pack) and someone else couldn't understand why - I was trying to shed some light. Yes, thanks. I truly didn't understand the profound difference between the 6:00 and 6:30 AM arrival conditions. Except for the two times in thirty years we've taken a day-time flight and arrived at night, we've always arrived in "half-the-world" conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted August 8, 2015 #23 Share Posted August 8, 2015 But one poster found themselves in an empty airport just after 6 am (so was clearly ahead of the pack) and someone else couldn't understand why - I was trying to shed some light. I have often wondered where the extra 2 minutes comes from - is it a compliance safety margin introduced by ACL? I see what you mean. I suspect that they may have arrived on a quota flight. Because of the time that it usually takes to taxi to the terminal after landing, there's a gap in scheduled arrivals after 0555 - the next arrivals in the current timetables are at 0610. So if you were to disembark at 0600 exactly, the chances are that you have arrived on a quota flight and no non-quota flights have yet arrived. Quota flights might land slightly late, but non-quota flights will not land earlier than 0602. I've never had a straight answer about the 2 minutes. I suspect that it's probably because the last 2 minutes of the flight are the noisiest for those on the ground, so it means that if the first landing time is 0602, the noise nuisance begins at 0600 sharp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted August 8, 2015 #24 Share Posted August 8, 2015 To put some flesh on the bones, here's the list of a typical morning's arrivals at LHR up to and including 0700. The narrowbody aircraft are identified. Everything else is a widebody of some sort, including many A380s and B747s. Quota flights:- HKG 0445 A380 SIN 0505 B747 RUH 0525 B747 LOS 0525 B747 HKG 0525 B787 JNB 0525 A380 KUL 0525 B777 SIN 0530 B777 HKG 0535 B777 HKG 0540 B777 KUL 0550 A380 SIN 0555 A380 ORD 0555 B777 Non-quota flights to 0630:- DXB 0610 B747 AUH 0610 B777 DEL 0615 B777 CPT 0615 B747 ACC 0615 B747 HKG 0620 B777 JED 0620 B777 BAH 0620 B777 EZE 0620 B777 NBO 0620 B777 JFK 0620 B777 IAD 0620 B777 DXB 0625 B787 BAH 0625 A330 YYZ 0625 B777 JNB 0625 A330 DTW 0625 A330 JFK 0630 B747 NBO 0630 B787 BOS 0630 B777 EWR 0630 B777 Non-quota flights to 0700:- YYT 0635 A319 (narrowbody) JNB 0635 A340 YYZ 0635 B777 ORD 0635 B777 PHL 0640 B777 MIA 0640 B747 BOM 0645 B777 EWR 0645 B767 JFK 0645 A340 BOM 0650 B777 IAD 0650 A380 JFK 0650 B777 HAJ 0655 A319 (narrowbody) DXB 0655 A380 DFW 0655 B777 JNB 0655 A330 IAH 0655 B767 DXB 0700 A380 JFK 0700 B747 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peg013 Posted August 8, 2015 #25 Share Posted August 8, 2015 If you use Totally Driven, and you're arriving at Terminal 2, just be aware that they specify the meet-up point as the Information desk. In reality, there is no structure that I'd call an information desk. Even the map of the arrivals hall, (See URL below) confirms my comment, and my recent difficulty wasn't simply a matter of being sleep deprived. Looking at the arrivals hall map, there is a U-shaped area. That's a wall with the word "Information" posted there. Also, number five on the map, labeled the Information desk is in fact a clock on a pole. Now, a clock on a pole is a perfectly fine meet up point, but it is not an Information desk. In the important ways -- showing up on the agreed-upon date/time and a correctly sized car -- Totally Driven was fine. And, knowing about the Information desk issues in Terminal 2, you'll probably have no problems using their service. (I can't speak about the existence or lack of existence of an Information Desk in other Terminals.) http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Heathrow/Static/PDF/Transport_and_directions/Heathrow_T2_Map.pdf If you look at the arrival hall map, you'll see that the clock essentially lies along one edge of the U-shaped area. As to where we met, here's a link to a post in which I detailed our story. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47318607&postcount=30 You wrote "our" so I assume you're traveling with someone who, presumably, isn't blind and can help you look. That, combined with my advance warning and map, should make your meet-up easier. So is the clock to the right of the word Information where we are to look for the person from Totally Driven if we end up booking with them for October? We are supposed to arrive at 11:30 AM Sunday morning- how long after arrival should I tell them to meet us (specifically - what should I choose at the drop down box). I understand we will have 30 minutes after that time to actually meet them before they start charging more. Please anyone that has a clue, please give me an estimate of how long it might take us to clear Immigration, pick up luggage and clear Customs and get to the meeting place with 3 US passports and 1 Canadian Passport. I don't want to sit around forever waiting for them but I also don't want to pay for extra time if we are late to the meeting place. I realize it is only a guess depending on the actual day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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