Share your Heathrow experience using Airports Taxi Transfers company

We used Bolt last month. They were quick, reliable and friendly. The driver wasn't exactly sure where our drop off was but looked until he found it. It was around $80 from near King's Cross to Hilton Garden Inn at Heathrow.

Thank you. Bolt looks like it could work and seems reasonably priced when I checked just now. We were hoping more, however, to use a local company for our approx 90-mile trip (Folkestone CT20), which is why I particularly mentioned AirportsTaxiTransfers.com

I have also looked at Airport-Pickups-London.com, Daytrip.com, Voyahire.co.uk, wondering if anyone has used them and would recommend.

I know nothing about any of those companies and would start at a position of being very sceptical of anything being web based. The most frequently recommended transfer companies on this and other fora are Blackberry Care, Parker Cars and Just Airports.

if this is for your run to Folkestone, that is a very long way with the abysmal M25 and M20, complete with Operation Brock.

I understand you want to go with ease of leaving it all to the driver, but I will say that the train right from the airline terminal - Elizabeth Line - to Farringdon, trivial change for one stop on Thameslink (same ticket) to St Pancras International, then the high speed Javelin train right to Folkestone, and a local taxi to wherever in Folkestone you're going (you shared the first part of the postcode CT20, it is the second half that shows the actual part of town).

Almost certainly faster, not especially difficult (can be done with no stairs) with rolling luggage, and waaaaaay cheaper even for 3.

Tough for a car to outrun a train doing 140 mph.

Nigel, We originally planned train, etc. but realized 4 seniors with suitcases and some mobility issues was going to be too crazy.
So we’re looking for reliable car and driver

JohnNew, Thank you for the 3 suggested companies. I was not aware of the last 2 you mentioned. Will take a look at them.

this company is just another online booking agency, so who would actually come for you is a complete unknown.

90 miles is not local in the UK, it's a different world. I doubt anyone from the Heathrow area would know the streets of Folkestone, and many would have to look on map to find where it was - except they won't, they'll use Sat-nav and if Operation Brock (which will close the main route they are following) is suddenly ramped up they won't have a clue. Bolt and Uber could come from anywhere and not have a clue at any point in the journey

just google airport transfers folkestone and see what pops up. CT20 is simply Folkestone south of the railway line, CT19 is north of. Expect to pay close to $400

And the easiest (if not fastest) way by train is Underground Piccadilly LIne to Kings Cross-St. Pancras then up a few levels to St. Pancras Southeastern Highspeed for the fast train to Folkestone.

Not to flog a dead horse, are you aware of the very good Passenger Assist program - paid station staff and train crew provide boarding and leaving services, including ramps when needed and ensure passengers are settled in - free of charge, just book in advance or turn up in some circumstances?

My wife uses it with her multiple disabilities and they do a very good job.

They will help with up to 3 pieces of luggage.

Not only free but no tipping either

As a compromise you could get a taxi from Heathrow to St Pancras and then the train to Folkestone.
It should be very straightforward.
I have regularly used Passenger Assistance on the trains and it is a really good service.

If you do decide on a cab the whole way booking one from a firm in Folkestone is probably the best idea. Often firms will have dropped people off at the airport so will be happy for the return trip.

Reserving Passenger Assistance is a service I was not aware of. Thank you both! I will look into this.

Wow! You all have been enormously helpful and educational. Piecing together your various comments/suggestions, I think I’ve come up with a reasonable plan.
Once I make the final call, I plan to get back here and relate the decision we came up with.
Crowd-source wisdom saves the day!

Again, thanks all for the group wisdom. At one point it looked like the suggested option of splitting the travel in two: with car and driver to St Pancras and then train to Folkestone was how we would proceed.
Then, the magic suggestions: search “airport transfers folkestone” and “book in Folkestone.” I was so focused on London as the closest place to hire a company, it didn’t occur to me to see what might be available in Folkestone.
Did my research on that tack and found a local Folkestone company, family business, with good reputation, quick to respond to my inquiry, and quoting a most reasonable price.
We fly into Heathrow on June 30, so we’ll see how it all transpires but I am feeling good about this choice.
The company info, should it be of use to any one else: [email protected]; +44 01303 670370; WhatsApp number 07766824474.
Cheers!

the key thing in all those contact details is the 01303 area code in the landline number - because that is Folkestone. But you don't need the first 0 if using the +44 international prefix. The interesting thing about their website is that it shows genuine cars with what are obviously their own private registration numbers, this is comforting because some websites have generic pictures which immediately raises the question of why no real photos - and you can make up your own answers to that!

Ah, more good information, me.crewe! Overseas phone numbers have long flummoxed me. thanks for the tip about using either +44 or 0, but not both. Your eagle-eye analysis of the photos on the Folkestone web page adds another bit of confidence for choosing to book with an unknown company.
Probably can close this thread now, but I don’t know how that happens. Maybe just a function of amount of time with no new posts? Or can I actively close while leaving available the info gathered here?

we don't normally close topics here unless they have violated one of the Community guidelines or more, and that is done by the Webmaster.

Once people stop contributing to a thread It gently falls off the bottom of the first screens and can then be discovered by search.

it remains open for a certain amount of time usually between 3 and six months

you can of course as you say delete it yourself entirely. You cannot delete individual posts to a thread. When you delete it it goes forever And none of the work that was put in by anybody else will be saved

Thanks, Nigel. I’ll let the system do its thing and, as you say, that way the info will remain.