We were going to take the bus from Gatwick to Oxford but we are a party of three and the bus is totaling out at 84 pounds and 2.5 hours. I see many private car services. This one is 76 pounds - https://www.airport-pickups-london.com.
Blackberry Cars is 114 pounds. Does anyone have a service that they use and like?
My recommendation, based on no real personal experience, is that you look for companies based in Oxford. They are bound to know their way to and from Gatwick, but will also know the best routes to take in Oxford. A London-based company may not be so good when closer to your final destination. You may also find the London based companies are more expensive.
I also think the £76 quote is a little on the cheap side. I would expect the price to be closer to £100.
£76 sounds more like a Heathrow price. When I run an Oxford address into the site you list I get £115. Still this might be worth it for the convenience.
However, note that by train it is only £65 even at peak time if you get a 'Gatwick Flyaway' ticket. This obscure special is sold as a return originating from Oxford, but it is perfectly legitimate to use the return portion before the outward (although you could not then use the outward later). Valid for travel not via London, changing at Reading. You would need to buy it online from GWR and collect it at Gatwick.
If your journey from Gatwick starts after 9:30 then simply buy off-peak singles with Groupsave and that would cost £51.15 as 3 go for the price of 2.
Last May we used Airport Pickups London to take us from Gatwick to Canterbury. It worked out well, saved time, and only cost a little bit more than two walk-up train tickets.
Thank you all for this! Just for added clarification - we arrive on June 23rd on a nonstop from Seattle. 7am. The buses are are 8:15 and 9:15 and I was thinking we may well miss the 8:15 and have to wait for the 9:15 and so it started seeming like a car service would cost each of us about 15 dollars US more and might save us a lot of time and hassle.
You are wise to consider a private car service. After a long flight, jet lag, not being familiar with the area, there is nothing like having a private driver meet you in the terminal and take you to your destination. It is one of our few indulgences and while it may cost a little more, we definitely think it's worth it. We've had very good luck using services based in our destination cities since they seem to know the best way "home". Do a google search for car services in Oxford, send an email with your needs and request a quote.
We used https://www.airport-pickups-london.com/ for a pickup from Heathrow to Bath and it worked great. Very convenient and worth it for us.
Hello Valerie,
I suggest that you mainly concentrate on the combination of unfamiliar roads and driving in a foreign country, along with the likely jet lag / sleepiness. While the private car service may be somewhat more money, it will be well spent. In fact, it is likely to be able to get you to your final destination so you don't have to figure out the last few miles from the bus/train station.
