Heathrow-London transport

After reading glowing letters in ITN regarding London Shuttle (Sept. ’01, pg. 16), for a trip in July ’04 I tried unsuccessfully to contact them by phone. My husband finally reached them through their website, www.londonshuttle.com. Not counting the tip, they wanted £75 in cash to take the five of us from Heathrow Airport to our central London hotel.

My travel agent said that that was an exorbitant price and we could catch a taxi for much less, plus we could find one that took a credit card. My agent said that the black London cabs are especially reasonable when there are more than two people. We promptly canceled our reservation with London Shuttle.

When we arrived in Heathrow, after waiting a few minutes in the taxi queue we got a cab which took Visa. Our total fare, including tip and a 10% surcharge for use of a credit card, came to only £37 (near $70).

NANCI LUCERO
Santa Fe, NM