Heathrow taxi: black cabs, private hire, and how to choose

In British usage, "taxi" means a licensed Hackney carriage, which in London is the iconic black cab. They are metered, regulated by Transport for London, and the only vehicles that can pick up a passenger from the street or a rank without a prior booking. Their drivers have passed The Knowledge, a memorised street map of London that takes most candidates three to four years to learn.

"Minicab" or "private hire vehicle" is the other licensed category. These are also TfL-licensed, but they cannot legally accept a fare without a prior booking through a registered operator. Uber, Bolt, and the on-site WeKnow service all fall under this category, as do traditional minicab firms you book by phone. Some of those are very good; some are basic. They are all distinct from a black cab.

The distinction matters at Heathrow because the rules for each are different. Black cabs queue at the marked rank outside every terminal and you take whichever is at the front. Private hire vehicles cannot use the rank; they wait at the Authorised Vehicle Area on the Northern Perimeter Road and meet you at the short-stay car park after you book them. Anything offered to you inside the arrivals hall is neither, and is covered in the touting section below.

Every Heathrow terminal has a black cab rank directly outside the arrivals hall, open 24 hours a day. You join the queue, the next cab pulls forward, and you tell the driver where you want to go. There is no booking, no app, and no fixed fare to anywhere; the meter starts when you set off and the price is what it reads when you stop.

All black cabs at Heathrow are wheelchair accessible by law, take cards (contactless, chip-and-PIN, Apple Pay, Google Pay) without a surcharge, and accept cash. They can carry up to five passengers depending on the model, with luggage room for the airport-sized cases most travellers bring.

The £1.60 Heathrow rank surcharge

Every trip from a Heathrow rank carries a £1.60 rank pick-up surcharge, added to the metered fare. It is set by TfL, not by the driver, and the same charge applies at all four terminal ranks. It is separate from the £7 forecourt drop-off charge, which applies to taxis dropping you off at Heathrow but not to taxis collecting from the rank (the rank uses its own access, not the public forecourt). On a fare to central London the £1.60 is a rounding error; on a short hop it is more visible.

Tariffs and time of day

TfL fares run on three tariffs that step up the per-mile rate at evenings, late nights, weekends, and public holidays. The minimum fare is £4.40 since the April 2026 update, applied to the start of every journey. Same destination, same traffic, the actual fare can vary by 20% between a midday weekday and a Sunday evening, because the meter clicks faster on Tariffs 2 and 3.

Tipping

Tipping in London cabs is not expected, especially on an airport fare. Rounding up to the nearest pound is normal. If the driver helps with bags or does something unusually well, 10% is generous and welcome but not assumed.

Black cab fares are metered, so the price depends on distance, traffic, and time of day. The ranges below are typical for daytime, weekday journeys at the start of 2026, including the £1.60 rank surcharge. Evenings, weekends, and bank holidays cost more; the meter, not the driver, sets the fare.

All figures include the £1.60 Heathrow rank surcharge but exclude any tip. Tariffs 2 and 3 (evenings, late nights, weekends, holidays) push the fare toward the top of each range. M25 traffic is the largest single variable on the Gatwick run.

For trips outside London, the meter still applies but you can also negotiate a fixed price with the driver at the rank before you set off. Most black cab drivers will quote a flat fare for a long out-of-town run, often cheaper than the metered total. Get the figure agreed in writing on the receipt, not just verbally.

Private hire is a different category from black cabs. You cannot flag one down, you cannot join a rank, and the driver cannot legally take a fare without a pre-booking made through a TfL-licensed operator. The trade-off is a fixed quote in advance, often a lower price than the black cab meter, and a wider choice of vehicle sizes.

WeKnow: Heathrow's on-site operator

Heathrow's own licensed on-site service is WeKnow, a fully electric chauffeur transfer running a fleet of Jaguar I-PACEs. WeKnow has service desks in the arrivals hall of every terminal, fixed-rate fares to London destinations, and an on-the-day booking option for travellers who land without a pre-booking. The price is higher than a standard minicab but lower than a black cab on the longer trips, and the service is the closest thing to a turn-up-and-go private hire option at the airport itself.

Other TfL-licensed operators

Any TfL-licensed private hire operator can collect from Heathrow once you book. London has dozens of minicab firms, ranging from local two-driver operations to national chains, all bookable by phone or website. Quotes for Heathrow runs are usually fixed, so you know the price before you set off, and most operators include the £7 forecourt drop-off fee in the inbound quote.

Where pre-booked drivers meet you

Pre-booked private hire vehicles are not allowed on the terminal forecourt. The driver waits at the Authorised Vehicle Area (postcode TW6 2RL) on the Northern Perimeter Road, then comes through to the relevant terminal's short-stay car park once you signal you are ready. You usually meet inside the short stay, with the driver texting the level and space number. For a clean handover, agree the meeting point on the booking confirmation and use the meeting points page if you want a known reference inside the terminal. The wider forecourt rules, including why your driver does not collect you at the kerb, are on the Heathrow pick-up page.

Uber, Bolt, and other ride-hailing apps are TfL-licensed private hire under the same regulatory category as a traditional minicab. At Heathrow they operate from the same Authorised Vehicle Area and pick up from the same short-stay car park, with each terminal having its own designated ride-hail zone in the car park signposted from arrivals.

Off-peak, an Uber from Heathrow to central London is usually £40 to £70, which undercuts a black cab from the rank meaningfully. The catch is surge pricing on weekday peaks, weekend evenings, late nights, and any time the airport empties a wave of long-haul arrivals at once; on the wrong night, an Uber can match or exceed the black cab meter. Get a quote in the app on the day rather than relying on a range. The detailed walk-through, including the exact pick-up zone at each terminal, is on the Uber at Heathrow page.

The three categories solve the same problem in different ways. The short version:

The cleanest decision rule: if you have not booked and you do not want to deal with an app, take the rank. If you want a fixed price for a longer trip, pre-book a private hire. If you are a solo traveller with hand luggage and the surge is off, Uber is usually the cheapest.

Every terminal has a black cab rank directly outside arrivals, signposted in the hall and visible as you walk out. The exact location varies by terminal layout. None of them are far; the longest walk is a few minutes.

Terminal 2

The Terminal 2 rank is on the ground floor outside the arrivals hall, opposite bus stop 12. Walk out of arrivals, turn right, and the rank is in front of you. Most arrivals at T2 are on Star Alliance carriers (United, Lufthansa, Air Canada).

Terminal 3

The Terminal 3 rank is adjacent to Cromer Road West, next to bus stops 16 to 22. From the arrivals hall, follow the taxi signs out and to the left. T3 handles Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, and other oneworld carriers, plus several Emirates and Cathay Pacific services.

Terminal 4

The Terminal 4 rank is outside arrivals between the travel and help information point and the Costa coffee. Walk straight out of arrivals and the rank is signposted ahead. T4 is the SkyTeam hub, so most arrivals are on KLM, Air France, Korean Air, or Qatar Airways. T4 has the lightest passenger flow of the four terminals, so the rank is rarely a long wait.

Terminal 5

The Terminal 5 rank is outside the arrivals hall, opposite bus stops 10 to 12. T5 handles almost all British Airways and Iberia long-haul, so it sees concentrated waves of arrivals when several long-haul flights land together. The rank queue can grow briefly after a wide-body arrival, then drop back within a few minutes as cabs come forward from the Authorised Vehicle Area.

The single most important thing on this page. Never accept a ride from anyone who approaches you inside the Heathrow arrivals hall. They are not a real taxi driver. Real Heathrow drivers do not tout. They wait at the rank outside, or at the Authorised Vehicle Area for pre-booked work.

Touts target arriving passengers, especially those who look unfamiliar with London or are travelling alone. The pitch varies: they may say the rank is closed, that there are no cabs available, that they can offer a better price, or simply that they are "with the airport". None of those is true. They are unlicensed, uninsured, often unknown to TfL, and the fare is rarely cheap once you have set off. TfL and the Met have linked tout operations to serious crime, including assault and robbery, in cases pursued through the courts.

Heathrow's own help desks and TfL's Taxi and Private Hire Compliance team patrol the airport precisely to deter this. If someone approaches you with a ride offer inside the building, say no, walk away, and report it at the nearest information desk or to a uniformed staff member. The Mayor of London's Safer Travel at Night guidance is the underlying safety reference.

The safe sequence: walk out of arrivals, follow the Taxis signs to the marked rank outside, and take whichever cab is at the front. If you have pre-booked, go to the short-stay car park and meet your driver there. Never accept a ride from anyone offering one inside the terminal building, however convincing.

Two regulatory quirks are worth knowing before you arrive at the rank.

Wheelchair access

Every London black cab is wheelchair accessible by law, with a ramp, a turning space, and an intercom to the driver. You do not need to book ahead; the rank cab is the right cab. Drivers are required to help with the ramp and to secure the wheelchair. If you would prefer to pre-book to avoid the queue, several apps including Gett offer black cab pre-booking, and TfL's accessible taxi guidance covers the wider arrangement.

Children and car seats

London licensed taxis, including all black cabs, are exempt from the child car seat requirement. Children under 3 may travel unrestrained in the rear; children aged 3 and over must wear the adult seat belt if a child seat is not available. This is a legal exemption, designed around the practicality of an unbooked rank cab that cannot carry every size of seat. If you specifically want a child seat for your airport trip, pre-book a private hire operator that supplies one, or use WeKnow's pre-booked transfer.

Large groups and lots of luggage

A standard London black cab seats five and carries airport-sized cases without trouble. For six or more passengers, or for an unusually heavy luggage load, pre-book a larger private hire vehicle. The rank cannot dispatch a minivan on demand; it has whatever turns up next from the Authorised Vehicle Area.

Heathrow is well served by rail. The Elizabeth Line is £15.50 for a single fare to central London; the Piccadilly Line is £5.90 from a zone 1 station; Heathrow Express from £10 in advance gets you to Paddington in 15 minutes. A black cab to the same area is £75 plus. For most solo travellers in daytime, the rail option is the right call.

A taxi makes sense when:

• You are travelling as a group, three or four sharing the fare. Split four ways, a £90 cab is £22.50 a head, which is competitive with four Heathrow Express singles at £25 each.
• You have heavy or awkward luggage: skis, surfboards, a folded bicycle, multiple oversized cases. Wrestling that onto the Underground is a worse trip than paying for a cab.
• You are arriving very late or leaving very early, when the rail services start to thin out. Heathrow Express stops around midnight, the Elizabeth Line slightly later, and the Piccadilly Line runs through the night only on Fridays and Saturdays. The taxi rank runs 24 hours.
• You have accessibility needs that make the rail journey hard. Step-free access to all three rail services is now good, but a black cab door-to-door is sometimes the right tool.
• You are going somewhere not well served by rail: a suburb without a Tube stop, an out-of-town hotel, a distant business park. The rail saving disappears when you need a second taxi at the other end.

A taxi is the wrong call for a solo traveller with hand luggage going to a zone 1 or 2 destination in daytime, or for anyone weighing the £75 plus fare against a £15.50 train. For the full picture of how all the modes stack up, see the transport hub, including the local TfL bus routes that serve Heathrow, the longer-distance coach services from outside London, and the rail trio. Taxis are notably exempt from ULEZ compliance fees because all London-licensed taxis meet the ULEZ standard, so the cab fare you see is the cab fare you pay.