How much does a chauffeur cost in London?
The short answer: £85 to £115 an hour for hourly hire, £110 to £225 for a fixed London transfer, and £143 to £208 for an airport run - all quoted in writing, with waiting time, parking and road charges already inside the figure.
What a London chauffeur actually costs
Chauffeur pricing in London works one of two ways: a fixed fare for a journey with a known start and finish, or hourly hire when the car stays with you. Everything else - waiting time, parking, the Congestion Charge, the ULEZ, tolls, water, Wi-Fi - should already be inside the number you are given. If a quote looks unusually low, it is usually because one of those has been left out.
Fixed fares start at £110 for a central London journey in a Mercedes E-Class and £225 in a V-Class. Airport transfers run from £143 for London City to £208 for Stansted, quoted on the E-Class. Hourly hire starts at £85 an hour with a three-hour minimum in central London, and a full day from £690. Flagship vehicles - Rolls-Royce, Maybach, Range Rover and the V-Class Jet Class - are quoted on a bespoke tariff because the date, the duration and the movement all change the figure.
Everything on this page is priced for London journeys - central postcodes, the City, Canary Wharf and the five London airports. If your travel starts in Croydon, South London or East Surrey, the figures are lower and are published on our Croydon chauffeur cost guide.
Chauffeur rates by vehicle
- Hourly
- from £85/hr
- Half day (up to 5 hrs)
- from £390
- Full day (up to 10 hrs)
- from £690
One or two passengers, business days, airport runs
- Hourly
- from £110/hr
- Half day (up to 5 hrs)
- from £490
- Full day (up to 10 hrs)
- from £850
Board-level travel, client hosting, UK tours
- Hourly
- from £115/hr
- Half day (up to 5 hrs)
- from £520
- Full day (up to 10 hrs)
- from £890
Families, up to six passengers, luggage-heavy travel
- Hourly
- on request
- Half day (up to 5 hrs)
- from £565
- Full day (up to 10 hrs)
- from £980
Groups of 8 to 16, roadshows, event shuttles
- Hourly
- bespoke tariff
- Half day (up to 5 hrs)
- bespoke tariff
- Full day (up to 10 hrs)
- bespoke tariff
Weddings, principals, close-protection movements
All prices shown are indicative lead-in fares for the vehicle named and are subject to change - your final quote is confirmed in writing at the time of booking.
What an airport chauffeur costs from London
Lead-in fares are quoted on the Mercedes E-Class. The V-Class figures below are the published fixed fares for the most-requested destinations from each airport, including meet and greet, 60 minutes of waiting and all parking and road charges.
- Esher & Cobham£225
- Mayfair£235
- Croydon£255
- City of London£265
- Croydon£255
- Esher & Cobham£270
- Mayfair£280
- Canary Wharf£300
- Canary Wharf£215
- Mayfair£225
- Croydon£250
- Esher & Cobham£280
- Mayfair£265
- City of London£270
- Esher & Cobham£290
- Croydon£300
- City of London£285
- Mayfair£295
- Croydon£325
- Esher & Cobham£345
What is included as standard
- The chauffeur - TfL-licensed, enhanced-DBS checked, suited
- Meet and greet inside the arrivals hall with a name board
- 60 minutes of complimentary waiting from actual touchdown
- Live flight tracking, so a delayed landing costs you nothing
- Congestion Charge, ULEZ, tolls and airport drop-off charges
- Short-stay parking at every airport we cover
- Still and sparkling water, Wi-Fi and phone chargers
- Full insurance, VAT shown clearly, and a written fare before you travel
What costs extra, stated plainly
Charged in 15-minute increments at the vehicle's hourly rate, and only after the complimentary 60 minutes has run out.
Quoted as extra mileage on the day. If you know in advance, we build it into the fixed fare instead.
Mileage beyond the hire radius is added at a per-mile rate agreed at booking, never applied afterwards without notice.
Applies on multi-day UK tours where the chauffeur stays with you. Quoted as a flat nightly figure.
Heathrow's Windsor Suite, Heathrow VIP and equivalent private terminals are billed at cost, at your instruction.
Free until 12 hours before pickup on standard bookings. Weddings, flagship vehicles and multi-day hires carry their own terms.
Chauffeur vs black cab, app and self-drive
Fixed written fare, same vetted chauffeur, executive Mercedes, waiting and tolls included, dispatch desk 24/7.
No fixed price, no flight tracking, meter runs in traffic, no meet and greet, vehicle and driver unknown until it arrives.
Surge pricing at exactly the hours you need it, gig drivers, no waiting allowance, no accountability if the car does not turn up.
You absorb parking, fuel, congestion and ULEZ charges, and you cannot work, take calls or arrive fresh.
Six ways to reduce what you spend
Three or more movements in one day almost always costs less as a half or full day than as individual fixed fares - and the same car and chauffeur stay with you throughout.
A booked return is priced as one job rather than two, which removes the empty repositioning leg from the second fare.
Two passengers with cabin bags do not need a V-Class. The E-Class carries the same chauffeur standard for around half the flagship figure.
Monthly consolidated invoicing, agreed rates on your regular routes, cost centre reporting and no card payment per journey.
An 11:00 airport run out of Croydon takes far less road time than an 08:00 one, and hourly hire bills the time you actually use.
Flight tracking means we absorb the delay. A booking made against a clock time is the one that ends up paying for waiting.
London chauffeur cost questions
How much does a chauffeur cost per hour in London?
Hourly chauffeur hire starts at £85 per hour in a Mercedes E-Class, £110 in an S-Class and £115 in a V-Class, with a minimum hire of three hours in central London. Rolls-Royce, Maybach and Range Rover are quoted on a bespoke tariff. The rate covers the chauffeur, the vehicle, fuel, insurance, congestion and ULEZ charges.
Is a chauffeur more expensive than a black cab or an app?
On a metered London airport run the headline figures are closer than people expect - a black cab to Heathrow is commonly £90 to £140 and a ride-hailing app can surge past £200 at the hours you actually fly. The difference is that our figure is fixed in writing before you travel and includes waiting time, parking and tolls, so it does not move when the M4 does.
Why is a fixed fare better than a meter?
A meter transfers the traffic risk to you. Our fixed fare transfers it to us: if your journey takes 40 minutes longer than planned because of a closure on the M25, the price on your confirmation is still the price on your invoice.
Do you charge extra for night, weekend or bank holiday journeys?
No. There is no night surcharge, no weekend uplift and no bank holiday premium on standard bookings. A 04:00 Gatwick departure is priced the same as a Tuesday lunchtime one.
What happens to the price if my flight is delayed?
Nothing. We track your flight from wheels-up and the complimentary 60 minutes of waiting starts at actual touchdown, not your scheduled time. Immigration queues and baggage delays are covered inside that allowance.
Is VAT included in the prices you quote?
Every figure we confirm in writing is the total payable, with VAT shown separately on the invoice so it can be reclaimed through your accounts or corporate account.
How much is a chauffeur for a wedding?
Wedding hire starts at £565 and is priced by the day rather than by the hour, because the car is held for you across the ceremony and reception. Rolls-Royce Phantom and Ghost are quoted on a bespoke tariff depending on date, duration and whether you need a second vehicle for the party.
What does a full day with a chauffeur cost in London?
Full-day hire starts at £690 in an E-Class and £850 in an S-Class, typically covering up to ten hours and a set mileage inside the M25. If your day involves several meetings across London, day hire is usually cheaper than booking each leg as a separate transfer.
Do I pay for the chauffeur's parking and the Congestion Charge?
No. Short-stay airport parking, airport drop-off charges, the Congestion Charge, the ULEZ and any tolls on the route are all absorbed into the fare quoted at booking. Nothing airport-related or road-related is added afterwards.
What is the minimum hire for a chauffeur in central London?
Three hours on hourly hire inside central London. Anything shorter is better booked as a fixed-fare transfer, which is priced on the journey rather than the clock - a Mayfair to City run at £110 costs less than a three-hour minimum.
Are fares different for pickups outside central London?
Yes, and usually lower, because a fare reflects the road time and the repositioning involved. South London and Surrey work is priced from our Croydon base - those figures are published separately on our Croydon chauffeur cost guide.
Tell us the journey and we will quote it properly.
Give us the route, the date and the number of passengers and you will have a fixed figure back - inclusive of waiting, parking and road charges - not a range.