Two questions come up on almost every airport booking: what will it cost, and how do I pay. This page answers both plainly — including the parts most taxi websites leave vague, such as which costs on the journey are not ours at all and what happens to the price if your flight is late.
Why We Quote Rather Than Publish a Rate Card
A published rate card has to pick one version of every journey: one vehicle, one hour of the day, one amount of luggage, one terminal, one set of airport charges. The moment any of those differs from your actual trip, the figure on the card is wrong — and figures on cards go stale quietly, without anybody noticing, until a passenger arrives at a booking with the wrong number in their head.
So we quote each journey instead, and the quote holds. The full reasoning, including why a cost-per-mile figure is a poor guide to any fare, is in our guide to what actually decides a taxi price.
How a Quote Is Built
There are only five things the office needs:
- Where you are being collected from and where you are going — a postcode at each end, or the terminal
- The date and time of the pickup
- How many passengers are travelling
- How much luggage is coming, including anything awkward
- Anything particular: a child seat, step-free access, a pet travelling, a meet and greet inside the terminal
From those answers the price reflects the real work: the distance and route your postcodes dictate, the hour and the day, the vehicle the luggage requires, any waiting or flight tracking, and any charge the airport levies. Nothing is added later for something you have already told us.
A Quoted Price and a Meter Are Not the Same Thing
This is the distinction that matters most on an airport run, and it is a legal one rather than a marketing one.
- A hackney carriage — the kind of taxi you can hail or take from a rank — runs on a meter against a tariff set by the licensing council. It climbs with distance and with waiting time, so traffic costs you money and you do not know the total until the meter stops.
- A private hire car must be pre-booked through a licensed operator. Because the operator sees the journey before the car moves, it can price the whole thing in advance. Delay then sits with the operator rather than with you.
Clocktower Cars is a private hire operator, licensed as Epsom & Ewell Cars T/A Clocktower Cars, with drivers and vehicles licensed across Epsom and Ewell, Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley, Elmbridge, Guildford, Waverley and Transport for London. Every journey is booked in advance; we cannot be flagged down and we do not work ranks.
The Three Ways to Pay
Card when you book
By phone or online. The journey is settled before the car arrives, which is useful if you are booking for somebody else, or arranging a car to collect a relative.
Cash to the driver
Handed over at the end of the journey. One thing worth knowing, because it is the commonest misunderstanding we deal with at the roadside: our cars do not carry card terminals. If you have not paid by card at the booking stage, please have cash with you.
Monthly invoiced account
For companies, schools, care providers and regular travellers. One invoice a month covering every journey, with your own references on each line, so nobody pays at the kerb and nobody collects receipts. Our corporate travel accounts page covers how that works, and airport transfers in corporate reimbursement policy goes further into the policy side.
Waiting Time and Flight Tracking
On a collection booked against an inbound flight we track the arrival and set the pickup against the actual landing time, not the scheduled one. A delayed flight does not strand you and does not generate a wasted journey. There is a free grace period after landing to cover immigration and baggage reclaim, with waiting chargeable beyond it. Ask what the period is when you book — it is a fair question and it should get a plain answer.
Charges That Belong to the Airports
Some costs on an airport journey are not a taxi firm’s at all. These are the airport operators’ own published charges, correct as at October 2026.
- Heathrow: £7 for each entry into a terminal drop-off zone, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, at Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5. Re-entering charges again. Source: Heathrow Airport — drop-off charge.
- Gatwick: a minimum of £10 for up to ten minutes in a drop-off zone, then £1 for each further minute up to twenty, with a thirty-minute maximum stay and a £30 daily cap, at both terminals. Source: Gatwick Airport — dropping off.
- Blue Badge holders can claim exemptions at both airports, registered against a vehicle registration rather than a person — so a passenger registers the plate of the car bringing them. We give you that number.
- Tolls and London road charges — the Dartford Crossing on an eastbound run, and the Congestion Charge zone and ULEZ in London. Where any apply to your route we say so when we quote.
Changes, Cancellations and Receipts
If a booking needs changing or cancelling, tell the office as soon as you know, on 01372 747 747. A change made in advance is straightforward. The closer it gets to the pickup the fewer the options, because by then a driver has usually been allocated to the job — so ask about the terms when you book rather than discovering them later. Card payments and account journeys both leave a record, and accounts get a single monthly invoice with your references on each line.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Clocktower Cars price an airport transfer?
From five details: where you are collected and where you are going, the date and time, how many passengers, how much luggage, and anything particular such as a child seat or step-free access. Those five answers produce one figure for your journey in the vehicle that actually fits it, and that figure is what you pay.
Do you publish a price list?
No. A fixed list has to assume one vehicle, one hour of the day and one luggage load, and it quietly goes out of date. We quote every journey instead. Our guide to what decides a taxi price explains the reasoning in full.
Is the quoted price fixed?
Yes, for the journey as you described it. It changes only if the journey changes — a different pickup point, extra passengers, luggage that needs a bigger vehicle, or waiting beyond the agreed grace period. Traffic is our problem, not an addition to your bill.
Can I pay the driver by card?
Our cars do not carry card terminals. You can pay by card when you book, by phone or online, or in cash to the driver at the end of the journey, or on a monthly invoiced account. If you have not paid by card in advance, please bring cash.
How do business accounts work?
One invoice a month covering every journey, with your own references on each line — cost centre, project code, department or traveller name. Nobody pays at the kerb and there are no receipts to chase. Call the office to set one up.
What happens if my flight is delayed?
On a booked collection we track the inbound flight and set the pickup against the actual landing time rather than the scheduled one. There is a free grace period after landing to cover immigration and baggage reclaim, with waiting chargeable beyond it — ask what the period is when you book.
Are airport drop-off charges included?
They are the airports’ charges rather than ours, and we tell you when a route incurs one. Heathrow charges £7 for each entry into a terminal drop-off zone; Gatwick charges a minimum of £10 for up to ten minutes, then £1 a minute to twenty minutes, with a £30 daily cap. Blue Badge holders can claim exemptions at both, registered against the vehicle registration.
Do I need to tip the driver?
No. Tipping is discretionary in the UK and nothing in a quoted price assumes one.
What if I need to change or cancel a booking?
Tell the office as soon as you know, on 01372 747 747. A change made in advance is straightforward; the closer it is to the pickup, the fewer options there are, because by then a driver has usually been allocated to it. Ask about the terms when you book so there are no surprises either way.
Can I get a receipt or an invoice?
Yes. Card payments and account journeys both generate a record, and accounts receive a single monthly invoice with your references on each line, which is what most finance teams want.
Get a Price for Your Transfer
Call 01372 747 747, or 01483 422 222 for our Godalming office, with the postcodes, the date and time, the flight if there is one, and the passenger and bag counts. You will have the figure on the call. Or send the same details through the online booking form. The airport pages themselves are Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, with everything together on our airport transfers page and the rest in our FAQs.