How early do you really need to book an airport taxi? Rather than guess, we counted. We looked at 4,614 airport journeys we completed for customers between January 2024 and October 2026, and just over half (53%) were booked the day before or on the day itself.
All figures come from our own completed bookings. How we counted is at the end.
At a glance
| When the journey was booked | Share of journeys |
|---|---|
| On the day | 19.6% |
| The day before | 33.5% |
| 2 to 6 days ahead | 27.4% |
| A week or more ahead | 19.5% |
Within that last group, 11.3% of all journeys were booked two weeks or more ahead and 5.4% a month or more.
What changes the answer
| Journey | On the day | The day before | A week or more ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Going to the airport | 10.6% | 39.1% | 19.5% |
| Coming from the airport | 25.7% | 29.4% | 19.2% |
| Pickup between midnight and 6am | 3.9% | 45.1% | 21.0% |
| Pickup between 6pm and midnight | 45.5% | 21.6% | 15.5% |
| 1 or 2 passengers | 20.4% | 33.6% | 18.5% |
| 5 or more passengers | 14.8% | 28.0% | 26.9% |
| One-way trip | 21.2% | 35.4% | 17.0% |
| Return booked at the same time | 2.7% | 14.5% | 45.2% |
Flying out, people plan. Coming home, they decide later. Only about one trip in ten to the airport was booked on the day, against one in four from the airport.
Nobody leaves the small hours to chance. For pickups between midnight and 6am, just 3.9% were booked on the day. The day before was the most common choice, at 45.1%. Evening pickups were the opposite: 45.5% were booked on the day.
Groups and return trips book earlier. With five or more passengers, 26.9% booked a week or more ahead, against 18.5% for one or two. Customers booking a return at the same time were the most organised of all: 45.2% booked a week or more ahead, against 17.0% for one-way trips.
The airport made little difference. At Heathrow, Luton, Gatwick and Stansted, between 19% and 24% of journeys were booked a week or more ahead.
Nor did the season, much. In June to August, 21.6% booked a week or more ahead, close to the rest of the year. May was the highest month at 30.6% and January the lowest at 14.1%.
So when should you book?
Those figures show what people do, not what you have to do. Here is what we would suggest.
- Book once you have your flight times. Booking early doesn’t cost more, so there’s no reason to wait.
- For an early flight, book the day before at the latest. You will sleep better, and our guide to early-morning and late-night flights covers the rest.
- Need a child seat or a bigger car? Book early. Child seats are free, subject to availability. Our guide to choosing a vehicle will help you work out what fits.
- Coming back too? Book both together. Add a return journey when you book and give your flight number. We track the flight, so if you land early or late your pickup moves to your actual landing time.
- Left it late? You can still book online up to 45 minutes before your pickup.
Get a price for your journey, or see our pages for Luton Airport and Heathrow transfers.
How we counted
We counted completed trips booked between 1 January 2024 and 30 October 2026, comparing the date of booking with the pickup date. Cancelled and no-show bookings are left out. Each journey counts once: where a return was booked at the same time, we counted the first leg only, because the way back is always booked further ahead. The figures include online and phone bookings.
These are our own customers, and 84% of the journeys were to or from Luton or Heathrow, so they show our customers’ habits rather than those of everyone in the UK. The airport comparison leaves out 13 Manchester journeys, too few to judge, and journeys whose airport we could not read from the address.
You are welcome to quote these figures. Please link to this page if you do.
