You have landed, you have your bags, and the driver you booked is not there. This is the most common way an airport transfer fails — not overcharging, but a no-show or a long wait — and almost nothing written about ground transport tells you what to do in that specific moment.
Here is a plan, and then the city-specific detail for London, New York and Los Angeles. Checked August 2026.
The first ten minutes
- Check where you are actually supposed to be. More no-shows are geography than absence. Arrivals halls have several meeting points, and at some airports the pickup area has moved — at JFK, rideshare for Terminals 5 and 7 has been relocated to a lot at Howard Beach AirTrain station because of construction. At LAX, taxis and standard Uber and Lyft collect from the LAX-it lot, not the terminal.
- Re-read the booking confirmation. It should name the exact meeting point, and it should carry the driver’s details.
- Call the operator, not the driver. The operator can see the job; the driver may be in a queue with no signal. In London, contacting the operator first is what TfL instructs you to do.
- Start a timestamped record. Photograph the arrivals board showing your flight landed, and note the time. If you end up arguing about a free waiting period, that photograph is the evidence.
- Set a deadline and a plan B. Decide now what you will do at, say, 40 minutes, and what it will cost. Then you are not making that decision while stressed and tired.
Do not solve it by accepting a ride from someone who approaches you
This is exactly the moment the touts wait for, and every regulator on this page says the same thing about it.
In New York, the Port Authority states that soliciting ground transportation is illegal and that many of the people doing it are unlicensed and uninsured. In London, a private hire vehicle must be pre-booked and cannot legally pick you up on the spot — touting is a criminal offence, and TfL’s position is that unbooked minicabs are not insured to carry passengers. In California, rideshare drivers are strictly prohibited from accepting street hails.
Being stranded is annoying. Getting into an uninsured car with a stranger because you are annoyed is worse. The official taxi rank is always the safe fallback, and in every city on this page it is metered or flat-rated, so you cannot be gouged.
Compare pre-booked transfer prices
If you are rebooking on the spot, do it through a proper booking rather than a conversation at the kerb — you get a confirmation with the vehicle and driver on it.
Compare pre-booked transfer prices
Your fallback, city by city
| City | Fallback that cannot surge | Cheapest fallback |
|---|---|---|
| London (Heathrow) | Black cab from the rank — £70–£120 metered to central London, plus £1.60 for starting at an airport rank | Elizabeth line, £13.90 to zone 1, under 45 minutes |
| New York (JFK) | Yellow cab from the official stand — $70 flat to Manhattan, about $79.75 with surcharges | AirTrain + subway, $11.75 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Taxi from LAX-it — $51.15 flat to Downtown plus $4.00 airport surcharge | Metro rail, $1.75, or FlyAway to Union Station, $12.75 |
The reason to know these numbers before you travel is that they cap your downside. A no-show stops being a crisis and becomes a known cost.
Getting your money back
Claim from the operator first in every case. That is both the fastest route and, in London, the one TfL explicitly directs you to take before escalating.
What you will be asked for is consistent, so gather it while you are still at the airport:
- The booking reference and confirmation
- The flight number and the actual landing time
- The times you called, and who you spoke to
- What you paid instead, with the receipt
If the operator will not resolve it, escalate to the regulator.
| Where | Escalate to | Note |
|---|---|---|
| London | TfL — taxi and private hire contact form, or 0343 222 4000 | Have the driver licence number or vehicle registration. A screenshot of the booking confirmation carries both |
| New York | 311, or the TLC on (212) 639-9675 from outside the city | The TLC takes no action against a driver unless you agree to attend a hearing — you can testify by phone |
| Los Angeles, taxi | 311, or LADOT on (213) 473-3231 | — |
| Los Angeles, limo or rideshare | CPUC, 1-800-649-7570 | Quote the TCP number. Allow 30 business days |
| Anything on LAX property | LAX Helpline, (855) 463-5252 | — |
A card chargeback is worth remembering as the backstop if an operator simply stops replying. It is a slower route than the regulator, but it does not depend on their cooperation.
What we are not going to tell you
How long your particular operator waits before treating you as a no-show, and whether they track your flight automatically. Those policies vary enormously — free waiting periods of 45 minutes and 60 minutes both exist — and they are published only inside each company’s own terms, where they can change without notice.
So rather than repeat a figure that may not apply to your booking, here are the four questions to ask before you pay, which take a minute and settle the whole thing:
- How long do you wait free after the flight lands? Note whether it runs from landing or from your scheduled pickup time — that difference can be an hour at a busy airport.
- Do you track the flight automatically, or must I notify you of a delay?
- What happens if the flight is cancelled or diverted?
- What is the cancellation window, and what do you charge outside it?
Get the answers in writing, in the booking confirmation. If an operator will not answer them plainly before taking your money, that is itself the answer.
Related
Before you get in the replacement car, check the driver is licensed. For every option and price at each airport: Heathrow to central London, JFK to Manhattan, LAX to Downtown LA.
Sources
Complaint routes and the licensing position are from Transport for London, the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, NYC311, the California Public Utilities Commission, LADOT and Los Angeles World Airports. Fallback fares are from the TfL taxi fare card effective 25 April 2026, Heathrow Airport, the TLC, the MTA, LADOT and LAWA. The JFK terminal relocation is from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and dates from May 2025 — construction arrangements change, so confirm on the day. Last verified August 2026.
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