How to Book a London Taxi: The Complete 2026 Guide

Booking a taxi in London used to mean one of two gambles: hailing on the street and watching a meter climb through traffic, or opening an app and hoping the price hadn't doubled because it started raining. Fixed-fare private hire removes both gambles — but only if you know how the booking process actually works, what information to have ready, and which small decisions (pickup point, vehicle class, timing) make the difference between a smooth journey and a stressful one.

This guide walks through all three booking channels in detail, explains what happens after you confirm, and covers the special cases — airport transfers, theatre nights, group minibuses, accessible vehicles and corporate accounts — where a minute of preparation saves real time on the day.

The four steps of every booking

Channel 1: Booking online (fastest for most journeys)

The online booking page is the quickest route for anyone who knows their journey details. Enter pickup and drop-off, choose a date and time, pick a vehicle, and the fixed fare appears before you commit to anything. Three details are worth getting right:

• Use the full address, not just the postcode. Central London postcodes can cover several buildings with different vehicle entrances. The exact address lets us confirm the exact kerb — something our Central London taxi page explains in depth for red routes and pedestrianised streets.
• Add your flight number for airport pickups. This activates free flight tracking. Land early or late and your driver adjusts automatically — your 60 minutes of free waiting starts from actual touchdown, not the scheduled time.
• Choose the vehicle honestly. A saloon takes 1–4 passengers and 2 cases. A family of four flying long-haul with hold luggage each is an MPV job. Booking the right class the first time avoids a squeeze at the kerb.

Channel 2: Booking on WhatsApp (best for quotes and questions)

Message +44 7466 237870 with your journey in plain words — "Two adults, three cases, W1 to Stansted, Friday 4am" — and a real person replies with a fixed quote, usually within minutes, at any hour. WhatsApp is the strongest channel when:

• Your journey has a wrinkle. A dog travelling with you, a wheelchair, a stop en route, oversized luggage like skis or a cello — describe it once and the quote accounts for it.
• You're abroad. International visitors landing at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted can book over WiFi without a UK SIM, and keep the whole conversation — quote, confirmation, driver details — in one thread.
• You want a human sanity-check. Not sure whether to leave at 2pm or 3pm for a 6pm flight? Ask. We'd rather talk you into twenty spare minutes at the gate than watch you sweat on the M11.

Channel 3: Booking by phone (best for right-now and complex jobs)

Call +44 1474 554933 — answered by a person, not a menu, 24 hours a day. Phone wins when you need a car right now (our last-minute London taxi service dispatches in minutes at the same fixed fare), or when the job is genuinely complex: a wedding with three vehicle movements, a cruise transfer with a tight boarding window, or a multi-day corporate itinerary.

What information to have ready

Booking an airport transfer: the details that matter

Airport runs are where fixed-fare booking earns its keep, and where two included features do the heavy lifting. Flight tracking means a delayed arrival into Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City or Southend never strands you — the driver's arrival moves with the plane. Meet & greet means your driver waits in arrivals with a name board, and your 60 minutes of free waiting runs from actual landing, which comfortably covers passport control and baggage on a normal day.

For departures, tell us the flight time rather than just a pickup time and we'll recommend the pickup — building in honest slack for the hour and the route. A 6pm weekday departure from the West End needs a very different margin from a 6am Sunday one; our Central London and West London pages break down those timing windows area by area.

Payment, confirmation and what happens next

Once you confirm, payment runs through Stripe or PayPal over 256-bit SSL — Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or bank transfer, and card details are never stored. You'll receive a confirmation with your journey summary, fixed fare and driver details closer to pickup. On the day, your driver messages on approach so you can step out as the car arrives — no circling, no standing in the rain.

Changing or cancelling

Plans move; bookings can too. Cancellation is free up to 4 hours before pickup. Inside 4 hours a 50% charge applies, because by then a driver has been allocated and positioned for your job. Time changes are handled free wherever the schedule allows — message the same WhatsApp thread or call, and it's done in a minute. Full detail lives in our terms & conditions.

Booking for business: skip the checkout entirely

Companies booking regularly can open a corporate account: priority dispatch, executive vehicles, a single monthly invoice with journey-level reporting, and bookings made by name rather than card. Popular with firms running school runs, healthcare transport and daily airport shuttles.

Frequently asked questions

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