"Fixed price" is one of the most abused phrases in airport transfers. Plenty of quotes described that way still grow a parking fee, a waiting charge or a night uplift by the time you pay.
So it is worth being precise about what it means here, which journeys actually get one, and — the part nobody explains — why the identical route can cost different amounts depending on which direction you travel.
Everything below reflects how our pricing works as of September 2026.
A fixed fare is all-in, or it is not fixed
When a journey qualifies for a fixed fare, you see one exact price, not a range. That price already contains everything:
- no airport surcharge
- no night uplift for early or late travel
- no per-passenger or per-bag fee
- no separate meet-and-greet charge
This matters because a mileage-estimated journey does carry those as separate lines. On a fixed fare they are not discounted or hidden — they were never added, because the price list already accounts for the airport, the direction and the vehicle. Adding them on top would charge you twice.
The practical test for any operator: if the number you are quoted can move for a reason other than you changing the journey, it is an estimate wearing a fixed-price label.
Which journeys qualify
Three conditions, all of which have to hold:
- Exactly one end is Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton or Stansted.
- The other end sits in a covered postcode district — 72 of them across south-west London and Surrey: KT, SW, TW, SM, CR, RH and W.
- We hold a listed price for that airport, district and vehicle combination.
Anything else is quoted as a mileage estimate and shown as a range. That is not a failure — it is the honest answer when there is no list price to give. An E1 pickup, a Birmingham Airport run or a point-to-point journey across town all price by distance.
Two consequences worth knowing:
Terminals do not change the price. Heathrow Terminals 1 to 5 price identically, as do Gatwick North and South. Tell us the terminal so the driver goes to the right door, but it will not move the fare.
Airport-to-airport is deliberately not fixed. A Heathrow to Gatwick run has an airport at both ends, so it falls outside the list and is priced by distance instead.
Why an airport pickup costs more than the same run in reverse
This is the question we get most, and it looks like an error until you see the cause.
An airport pickup — airport to your postcode — is priced above the same journey run the other way. The gap is consistent and it exists because collecting from an airport is a genuinely different job:
- the driver parks and comes into the terminal rather than pulling up outside your door
- the car park is paid for
- the flight has to be tracked, because the pickup time is whatever the aircraft decides
- there is waiting built in, from landing through baggage reclaim to arrivals
A drop-off has none of that. You come out of your front door at an agreed time and the car goes to a terminal forecourt.
It also means a return booking is not simply double a one-way. It is one leg in each direction, priced separately, which is a different number from twice either one.
When the range is the honest answer
If your journey falls outside the list, you see a low-to-high estimate instead. Worth knowing what actually moves it: distance and time make up most of it, an airport at one end adds a surcharge, travel between 10pm and 6am carries an uplift, and larger vehicles scale the whole thing — estate around 1.15×, executive 1.45×, eight-seater 1.85×.
A range is not vagueness. It is the difference between the good version and the bad version of the same route, and the traffic decides which you get. How much a London taxi costs breaks the components down further.
Getting the fixed price rather than the estimate
One practical thing makes the difference: pick your address from the suggestions rather than typing it freehand. The fixed-fare lookup is keyed on the postcode district, and that postcode only arrives when you select a real suggested address. Without it, the system cannot tell whether you qualify and quietly falls back to a mileage estimate.
So if you are in a covered area and seeing a range where you expected one number, that is almost always the reason.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What does a fixed price airport transfer include? A: Everything. No airport surcharge, no night uplift, no per-passenger or per-bag fee, and no separate meet-and-greet charge. The list price already prices by airport, direction and vehicle, so nothing is added on top.
Q: Which airports have fixed prices? A: Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, when the other end of the journey falls in one of 72 covered postcode districts across south-west London and Surrey — KT, SW, TW, SM, CR, RH and W. Everything else is a mileage estimate.
Q: Why does an airport pickup cost more than a drop-off? A: Because it is a different job. The driver parks and meets you inside, the car park is paid for, the flight is tracked so the pickup moves with the aircraft, and waiting through baggage reclaim is built in. A drop-off involves none of that.
Q: Does the terminal change the price? A: No. Heathrow Terminals 1 to 5 all price the same, as do Gatwick North and South. Still tell us the terminal so the driver meets you in the right place.
Q: Is a return journey exactly double a one-way? A: No. A return is one leg in each direction priced separately, and because the airport-pickup leg costs more than the drop-off leg, the total differs from doubling either one.
Q: Why am I seeing a price range instead of a fixed fare? A: Either the journey falls outside the covered airports or postcode districts, or the address was typed freehand rather than picked from the suggestions — the fixed-fare lookup needs the postcode that comes with a selected address.
In short
A fixed fare here means one number with nothing added later, on the four main London airports into south-west London and Surrey. Pick your address from the suggestions so the lookup can find it, and expect the pickup leg to cost more than the drop-off — that is the parking, the flight tracking and the wait.
Get a fare estimate and see which price you get. We provide the journey directly with our own licensed drivers — no third parties, no forwarding.