Family Transportation from Heathrow- justairports or Express?
 

Hi! Our family of 6 is flying into Heathrow in December. We are working on booking a hotel and I am trying to factor in cost and convenience of airport transportation. Here in the forums it seems like people overwhelmingly recommend using a car service like justairports. However, in looking into it, it seems like that would cost our family almost $100 one way and we could ride the Heathrow Express for $22 total one way if we book our tickets 30 days in advance.

Having never traveled to London before, is there something I'm missing that would make it that much preferable to use a car service? I realize that we would have to get from Paddington Station to our hotel. We are looking at either the Premier Inn County Hall , Premier Inn Blackfriars, or Kings Cross Travelodge. Would the travel from Paddington Station to those hotels add a significant cost/hassle?

Thanks in advance for any advice! I admit that planning this trip to London has been more difficult than I thought it would be, and I'm starting to feel clueless!

it seems like that would cost our family almost $100 one way and we could ride the Heathrow Express for $22 total one way if we book our tickets 30 days in advance.<<

OK -- where are you getting £100? Their smallest vehicles cost £35-£38 and hold 4 people so you could book two of them and still not be close to £100. For a group of 6 if you all want to be in the same vehicle, you'd have to book by phone.

The HEX only gets you to Paddington and then you'd have to take two taxis. The cost to County Hall or Blackfriars would easily be £60 (for the 2 cabs) and likely more if during heavy traffic times. OR -- you could take the tube from Paddington, but that would be a huge hassle w/ 6 people and luggage.

Plus there is quite a schlepp at both the LHR and Paddington ends of the HEX journey, whereas a car service is door to door. They meet you as you exit arrivals and drop you at the front door of your hotel.

Helpful input- thanks! 70 Pounds is equivalent to $94 USD according to my currency converter, which is where I got the $100.

It is helpful to know that the walk is long to get to the HEX station at the airport. We are flying into terminal 3, and from the HEX interactive map it is hard to tell just how long it would take to get to the station. We plan to travel with just one large suitcase and one carry on, so I'm not overly concerned with carrying our stuff around, but just hard to know if the convenience of door to door service and avoiding the tube is worth that much extra cost.

Thanks for your help!

(And janisj, I just want to thank you for all your help- you gave me great suggestions to look into on my thread where I was asking about hotels too!)

Oh -- I misread it as £100 (not $) £70 is very reasonable for 6 people into central London - don't you think?

The taxi cost from Paddington to the hotels you mentioned (especially County Hall and Blackfriars) could cost nearly as much as the car service all the way in from LHR.

Just one suitcase and one carry on for six people? Are 4 of you really really small :)

But in any case, do you really want to start your trip hassling w/ a large suitcase, jet lag, on no sleep for at least some of you, and all the walking/stairs (if you take the tube)?

70 pounds may be very reasonable to get into central London, I just have no idea having never traveled there before. You might gather from my various threads that we are trying to save as much money as possible while still making the most of our time in such a cool city (the London trip is just a small part of a 3 week trip to South Africa, which is turning out to be expensive for 6 people!). You can see that I'm becoming convinced that the more expensive but central hotels are probably worth the cost, and just wanted to explore my options in this area as well.

And yes, 4 of us are rather small although not tiny. We do travel quite a bit within the US (and have a fairly high tolerance for hassle since we are often needing to trade hassle for less expense). Traveling really light makes the hassle more tolerable and gives the two adults more hands with which to hold little hands. :)

What do you think of just taking the tube straight into central London as a cost-saving alternative to HEX? Still a major pain?

Thanks again for your help!

What are the ages of the 'little ones'? Are car seats required, etc.

>>What do you think of just taking the tube straight into central London as a cost-saving alternative to HEX? Still a major pain?<<

OK -- you can decide -- 2 adults, 4 children, large suitcase, potentially long walks holding little hands, stairs, looooong escalators, transfers, crowds on the tube . . . and the possibility of bad/wet weather for the walk to the hotel.

Is that worth the savings for you?

BTW -- I'd call or e-mail justairports for a personal quote since you have an unusual party - 6 people but only one suitcase. You very likely could fit in a people mover (mini van) which might only cost about £45.

Meant to add -- In your situation -- I would ONLY consider a car service or the tube. Not the HEX + taxi or tube. If you take a taxi the queue at Paddington can be enormous (it is a major commute station) and getting down to the tube from the train station will be a slog.

The tube all the way in from LHR is certainly doable but w/ four small children after an overnight flight I sure wouldn't look forward to it.

Great advice- you've convinced me! I inquired with justairports about a week ago but never heard back, so sent a second inquiry this evening. Online it looks like their biggest car (MVP) which still only holds 4 people is 58 pounds, but sounds like it would still be worth the cost even if the cost is more than that. The way you describe the other options causes all sorts of miserable images going through my mind!

The kids are ages 5-12, so I should probably look into car seat laws in England for the youngest two.

I can't tell you how helpful it is to talk to someone who knows what it is like to get around there- I usually feel like a pretty savvy traveler and have lived in big US cities where I relied completely on trains/public transit (with the children), but London with 4 kids has me stumped!

Thank you again!!

Totally agree with Janisj about the car service. You may save a little by taking the tube, but it will be a lot more hassle, especially after a long flight with small children.

You can save money in other ways. Many museums in London are free, and you can find good deals in restaurants, particularly early evening when they often have a good offer.

For the sake of completeness, I should add that to Blackfriars by tube means only one change, at Hammersmith to the eastbound District Line, which is only a matter of walking a few steps across the platform. County Hall would mean walking from Westminster tube station across the bridge. But there would be some corridors and stairs to be navigated at either end, and after a long flight with children who would be various combinations of tired/bored/fractious, I agree that wouldn't be the most ideal start to your trip.

From either Blackfriars or County Hall, there would be plenty of free entertainment just taking the children for a stroll along the South Bank, by the way.

slightly off-topic here, but I would encourage you to re-think the "one large suitcase".

We've traveled all over with kids - now they are taller than I am, sadly (for me). I've always encouraged them to carry something. Certainly, the 12 yo can carry a backpack of clothes that will be no heavier than he or she carries to school if like my kids.

Where I am going is that it is much easier to deal with smaller bags than the large suitcase - which gets overwhelming and large. Also, consider putting a change of clothes for each kid in a ziplock bag in that backpack that one of the kids carrying it needs. I've learned never to be surprised when we did into that "emergency" change of clothes - whether it be that someone spilled, someone was sick, someone was hot/cold/uncomfortable/had an itchy tag... and having each kid with a gallon sized ziplock of their own keeps them organized.

I also do that with underwear and socks - each kid has their own gallon ziplock with their name written on it. When they get to the point of one pair left, they have to tell me so I can get some washed overnight. Beats digging around in the bottom of the suitcase for the random sock!

Think creatively about how to pack light. No need for pj's... girls can wear leggings (usually worn overnight on the flight over) and boys in sweats. Worse case scenario is that those clothes can be worn or even carried home as the "emergency" set. If you are carrying long underwear or going somewhere cold, they make great pj's. Saves one extra set of clothes.

good luck! click on my name and there are some old trip reports - including London and Paris with kids and most recently Kenya. May give you some thought starters!

>>slightly off-topic here, but I would encourage you to re-think the "one large suitcase".<<

I was going to mention the same thing . . . but was fixated to get them off the HEX idea :)

I totally 100% agree, One large suitcase for 6 people is really difficult. Besides being likely HUGE and extremely heavy, what if it gets lost or delayed? Plus - don't know your plans in South Africa, but many of the transport options in SA don't allow massive bags. The kids (at least some of them) can carry at least some of their own stuff.

And Patrick I correct re the tube from LHR to Blackfriars or Westminster --- change at Hammersmith. The walk from Westminster is about equivalent to 4+ blocks from the station, across Westminster Bridge and around County Hall to the hotel.

Those are great suggestions! We tried the individual backpack thing on a long trip we took this summer and it felt chaotic to me, but maybe I should give it another shot. Our big suitcase isn't huge (just a medium checked bag size), but you both give really good points to consider. Like I said, we travel a lot within the US, but this will be our first foreign trip with more than one child. I take any tips from veteran travelers very seriously! In fact, we have another trip coming up next weekend- I'll try your packing tips!

surfmom, I will definitely be checking out your trip reports. Thank you both for your help- I love how willing you are to help out. It is like having a friend who I can ask for advice! It is much appreciated.

Oh- and I don't want to leave out Tulips and PatrickLondon- any amount of advice and help is so very appreciated to try to make this a wonderful and seamless trip!

I, too, vote for keeping your transportation into London as stress free as possible. You can try to economize in other ways but this is a worthwhile splurge after a long flight. I also think centrally located hotels are well worth a little extra money.

Have a wonderful trip!

With the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science museum, National Gallery, National Portrait gallery, Imperial War Museum (don't be put off - most kids really enjoy the IWM), both Tates, the V&A and more being free you can rationalize spending a few bucks getting in to town.