We are 4 people looking for a car service from the cruise port in Southampton to Heathrow in a couple of months. Plenty of luggage. I’ve already scoped out Blacklane, blackberry, west quay. Not seeing great reviews and some of them are either taxis or self employed and don’t work for those companies. Any other suggestions please. Thanks so much for taking your time to answer.
Posted by
UK
767 posts
Well, I would always choose a taxi firm based in Southampton which offers airport runs as part of its core business. They will be well used to the journey and have a set price for you. They will generally have a range of car sizes. Also being local they are more likely to arrive on time. I don’t understand why you’re dismissing firms for being “taxis” because that’s literally what you’re after. Maybe it’s a language difference?
West Quay Cars are the one I’d usually recommend. They have a range of cars and limos and do airport runs as a core part of their business (as do many taxi firms in the UK). Although weirdly their website seems to be down.
Try googling Southampton taxi firms and find one that prominently offers airport runs on its website, is what I’d suggest.
A lot of former local taxi firms now seem to be operated by Veezu - my mother has always used Aqua Cars in nearby Portsmouth for her airport trips, and it’s always a nice car and driver rather than a scruffy taxi. But they are now operated by Veezu which I believe is like a national consolidator taxi firms. Have a look at their offer maybe?
Alternatively (although I suspect pricier) look at Addison Lee, which is one of the big car service firms nationally.
Posted by
Singapore
589 posts
What's wrong with a taxi? As Golden Girl suggests, a local taxi or minicab is tour best bet.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5466 posts
A large proportion of private hire car firms operate a self-employed model these days, mainly for the tax advantages (all round, including for the customer). The old style firms that didn't, with company employed drivers mostly went to the wall during COVID. Those that still exist are generally towards the high-end.
Posted by
242 posts
Here is a local company out of Southampton:
https://vikingcars.co.uk/southampton-to-airport-prices/
Posted by
3458 posts
In September 2023, we used Blacklane get from London to Portsmouth, and from Portsmouth to Windsor. Both cars and drivers were fine. One thing I liked about Blacklane is they made it clear on the website that gratuities were included in their rates. And at the time, they had a liberal cancellation policy.