Getting bags to rented apartment

why not take a pre-booked car service to your apartment - or is this a treat for your bags while you rough it on public transport?

e.g. justairports and blackberry cars are popular services

Take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and hop on a taxi or an Uber to your apartment.

To answer what you asked: Best way to get from Heathrow to London (and back):
It depends upon where you are staying.
1. Heathrow Express or Connect. Into Paddington Station.
2. Tube Piccadilly Line into London. Goes directly into several places which are good locations for your hotel or apt.; South Kensington, Covent Garden, Russell Square, King's Cross/St. Pancras.
3. Bus from Heathrow airport bus (coach) station into London. Puts you out at Victoria Coach Station, right across the road from Victoria Train Station. If you go this way, the bus driver puts your luggage under the bus in the stored locked compartments. He gets it out for you when you reach London. If you insist on taking the large checked bags, this is the way to go, in my opinion. You could then take a taxi from London Victoria Coach (bus) station to your apartment or hotel. It wouldn't be far. Bus into London for you and your bags; 6 pounds per person, just walk up at the bus station window at Heathrow and buy your ticket.
4. Just Airports car service, as Ramblin' On suggested.

Transporting your luggage on any of the above will be doable. No need for separate transportation for your luggage.

We manage quite well with two back pack carry ons plus two small day bags and sometimes one rolling carry on bag on transit all the time. Most public transit especially to and from airports will handle luggage pretty wekk.

I'm not clear on how the luggage-transfer service would work if you're staying in an Airbnb-style apartment rather than a staffed apartment building catering to tourists. When the driver arrives with your bags, where does he put them? Or is the plan that you would arrive before your bags?

Like the others, I manage fine on public transportation with my bags. I have a checked bag that's about 23", a purse and a tote for travel-day supplies.

I know people make it work with just a carryon, but it depends on how may days your are traveling and dealing with laundry or washing your stuff in the sink.

I know England has Launderettes, but with a carryon you probably will need to find one about every 5-6 days, unless you wash in the sink and can hand clothing to dry for several hours.

The poster did not ask how he/she could pack lighter so most of these answers are useless. The person asked for recommendations on how to get their described bags to and fro. Not everyone needs to pack extremely light all the time. It strikes me that each has a suitcase or carryon, and purses. That's reasonable. If you each have one suitcase and one personal item inbound, and then an extra each on the way back...I would suggest a car service like JustAirports or plain old taxi. I'm into taking a car service lately anyway, as I've gotten into making things as easy as possible these days.

For the cost of having the service deliver two bags, and the cost of transportation for the two of you from the airport to the apt., you can probably get a private car service for just a little bit more. Be worth checking out that possibility as that might be the best way overall.

The website link that the OP gave for this baggage delivery service, quotes delivery to a London address FROM 30 GBP. Not $20. That is, if I am reading it right.

I agree that, rather than paying a service per bag, plus paying separately for the people in your party to get to the apartment, just take a "minicab." That's Brit-speak for a prebooked car service, which is much cheaper than getting a black cab at the airport, and much more convenient than other methods. As I recall from you other posts, you have three people, making it an even better deal (the minicabs charge by the car, not by the person).

Three that are often recommended are Just Airports, Simply Airports, and Blackberry Cars. Look at their websites for prices (you will need an exact apartment address to get a price). Note that Just Airports charges substantially less for cash compared with credit card.

I do know of people who have used it in London - they were however getting their bags dropped off at home whilst they went into London for work before going home themselves in the evening. It worked out fine for them. It may do for you if you don't intend to go directly to your flat but somewhere else then have them delivered later on when you are there. If you are going directly to the flat though from Heathrow (and on return) then a car service would probably be better all round.

Thank you for all the helpful info. We have been on many trips in the US and to Oslo once. We understand it is better to pack light. I enjoy bringing stuff home from my travels and that is what most of the extra suit case space is for. (We had NO extra space in our bags to and from Oslo so I only got to bring home a few small things like Jewelry--I was pretty disappointed.) With IcelandAir the two of us are allowed to bring one checked bag each. And we paid in advance for one extra bag each and it's non-refundable. (Word of warning--we paid IcelandAir $152. for two extra bags [$76. each]. I thought this was A LOT to pay but was willing to do it because that is way less than shipping things home. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a few days ago that it was $152. to bring our bags to England BUT it was another $152. to bring them back HOME again! If I had realized this I would have paid for 2 extra bags to come home and that's it! I have bought suitcases at second-hand stores in my destination city several times while on trips in the past and used them to bring my treasures back home and then donated them to a thrift store once I got home. It's not fun to pay $150. to send two empty bags to England. :( In my experience in big airports and trying to get on buses with luggage it is going to be difficult for two older people to move two (and especially four) suitcases, two carry on bags and two back packs. We will only be traveling around with all this baggage when we arrive and leave London. We would, and probably will hire a car but my husband is concerned that European hired cars are small and may not have room for our luggage. Thank you for your suggestions. I will look into all of them.

PS: Thank you Wray from Boston, Mass. You are exactly right. We are not packing extra things to wear. We are packing what we need and want the extra suitcase space to bring our travel treasures home. I like old things and I want some extra room in my suitcase to bring them home. And even a suitcase doesn't really hold that much anyway but we aren't wealthy enough to ship things home like rich people do.

Rebecca from Nashville, TN. Thanks for the suggestion for the bus. That does sound doable. Do you know what the name of the bus company is? Also, I should mention, I got 2 carry on suitcases in Nashville (secondhand) to bring my treasures home in, after a three week stay there. (Loved the Nashville area!!) One was so nice I kept it. In Memphis another time, I got a $2200. Burberry carry on suitcase to bring my treasures home in, but passed up the larger Burberry suitcase the store had because it was too big for my needs. REGRET!! Both suitcases were in new condition. I still have the Burberry suitcase I bought. I think I paid less than $20. for it and maybe less than $10. I LOVE Tennessee BTW!!

"my husband is concerned that European hired cars are small and may not have room for our luggage. "

First, it's important to use the right terminology to avoid misunderstandings. When you say "hire a car" in England, you mean what we in the US would call a rental car - one you are driving yourself. The correct term for what I was speaking of is a "minicab" - a prebooked taxi that someone else drives.

Second, at least for Just Airports, they have various sizes of cars, of course at various prices. If you go to their website, you will see the different car sizes and names for them (which again are different from the ones we use in the US). They indicate how many bags each size car can hold, so you can book one big enough for all of your passengers and all of their stuff. I assume other minicab services are similar.

The legal name for a minicab is a private hire vehicle, distinguishing it from a taxi. Not to be confused with hiring a car to drive yourself.

You will if you book online have the opportunity to specify the type of vehicle you want appropriate to the number of people and baggage, which is why in general you are required to give this information. Minivans, luxury cars even stretch limos are all available at a price.

Hello Eg Sharp. The name of the bus company is National Express. Follow the crowd at Heathrow after you get off your plane, down the many hallways. You will see several signs that say "Heathrow Bus/Coach Station", with an arrow pointing down or left or right. Follow these. Somewhere along the way, you will pick up your checked luggage. Continue to the Bus/Coach Station, you will see a window that says "Tickets". Buy your tickets at this window. Tell the attendant you want two tickets on the budget bus to London Victoria Coach Station. They take credit cards and it will cost about 12 pounds total for two people. If you are seniors, do mention that. It saves you two pounds or so on each ticket.

Be sure to ask the attendant your bus number, if she doesn't volunteer it. Exit through the double glass sliding doors. Many buses will be sitting pulled into the parking stalls. Check and make sure your bus isn't already sitting there. If not, take a seat on the benches provided, and watch for your bus to arrive. When it pulls in, go to it immediately. They don't sit and wait very long. The bus driver will take your luggage and place it in the closed storage bin under the bus.

You will arrive at Victoria coach station in London where your bus driver will give you your bags. Take a cab to your apartment.

Just to add my two cents, I agree that a private hire taxi will be your best bet for the money. I moved to London for two years to complete my Masters, and I routinely flew solo with 2-3 large bags from LHR during that time, exchanging clothes/belongings, bringing presents home, etc. I am not a light packer, even to this day. If you let the company know your needs, they can accommodate you.

Rebecca from Nashville,
Just an update: I printed out your directions/suggestions for getting from Heathrow to London, and our rented flat. We followed them exactly. There were a few changes, for example the bus company no longer gives discounts to seniors ;( (you have to buy a card for 20 pounds now to receive a discount of 1/3rd the cost) and the fare is now 20 pounds for two adults. We rented a black traditional London cab at Victoria station (the cab driver is now my Facebook friend!). The cab ride was about 33 pounds. We arrived at Heathrow at about 7:55 AM and arrived at our rented flat in London at about 11:30 AM. London traffic is a NIGHTMARE! Both car traffic and people/foot traffic! The cabbie told us we saved a lot of money (because of our bags) by doing it the way you suggested, so THANK YOU! The cabbie also told us that a train ride to Oxford for a day trip could run hundreds of pounds but a (slower) trip on the same type of coach we used for our airport trip could be done for as low as 20 pounds. We are checking into this. We want to THANK YOU for ALL of your help. It really has changed the way we will be taking our vacation. We are also going to try to get the same cabbie to give us a ride back to Heathrow when we leave. Thank you. Hopefully, I can help you some day. Margie-- from highly visit-able Oregon. ;)

Hello Margie! You are welcome! Glad I was able to give some information that helped you on your trip! Hope everything is going well for you and that you are enjoying London and England! Happy travels! Rebecca