Review: Blacklane airport transfer with a child

When I was asked to review a private driver service, I gently pointed out that I write a family travel blog rather than a luxury one (alas). But then Blacklane pointed out that they wanted to let people know they weren’t a luxury car service but high quality yet affordable.

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So in that case, I decided I could forgo the chance to take the tube or train with a suitcase, a buggy and a tired toddler at rush hour. All in the name of research, obviously.

Firstly, was Blacklane really as affordable as the claims? A ‘Business Class’ one-way journey from Terminal 4 at Heathrow to my house, including a child car seat was around £40 – so the price of a Blacklane airport transfer was pretty much what you’d expect to pay in a black cab from the airport.

EDIT: Checking prices in 2024, it will now set you back closer to £80 one way

Checking local minicab firms, a similar ‘executive car’ also worked out the same, although a standard saloon would have saved around £10 if you booked in advance.

I’ve heard too many tales of drivers turning up without car seats (including one where he nipped to the shops and returned with a baby bouncer strapped into the seatbelt as a solution) to rely on it though.

Plus, I got someone to meet me at arrivals with my name on a board. I love that.

In reality, we landed and got through earlier than expected so my driver was still in the car park, but was with us in minutes and we were whisked through to the car in just a few more minutes. No waiting for a taxi, no trekking to a distant car park.

The promised car seat was there and in pristine condition, while I got a bottle of water, aircon and a comfy seat in a swish Mercedes E class.

The journey home was then extremely smooth, dodging a traffic jam and taking the back streets I’d have chosen myself to get me back faster than expected.

So that’s the good. The not so good? The booking process. For starters, it took days and a flurry of emails to book – the culprit turned out to be the fact that the system hadn’t recognised my exact address. Once I tried with a slightly different one (and a note to the driver saying I’d direct the final street), it went through smoothly.

Blacklane has said the company is looking into this and our address isn’t recognised by a few online systems, so it might be that I was unlucky.

What I found more off-putting was the fact that even after the booking was accepted by the system, I didn’t get a confirmation until two days before. While the site says the booking is normally provided within a day or two, and no later than 48 hours beforehand, apparently 48 hours is not uncommon as it depends on the driver accepting the job.

In a city like London, where a lot of drivers are available, it’s unlikely to be an issue – the company covers 50 countries and 180 cities at present. But the thought that I might have to make alternative plans was always at the back of my mind until I did finally get the email.

Fortunately I was in Europe with access to messages and only had a short flight home too. On a much longer flight, it doesn’t leave a lot of time between email and boarding – or if you’re without data, you might not find out if your ride will be waiting until you actually touch down.

I don’t know how often the company can’t confirm a booking – it may be a tiny tiny number. But when I’m travelling with my daughter, I want to know well in advance that I won’t be left high and dry.

Even if I’m travelling alone, if I’ve gone to the trouble of booking a car to make the home stretch hassle-free, I’d like to know that’s what will happen.

My journey was a breeze. Utterly stress-free and a lovely slice of child-friendly luxury – it’s just as shame that the booking process isn’t quite the same.

 

Disclosure: My booking was courtesy of Blacklane for the purposes of review. All opinions and unexpectedly complicated addresses are my own.

Images courtesy of Blacklane

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