Short answer, as of August 2026: a black cab from Heathrow to central London runs £70 to £120 and takes 30 to 60 minutes. In town, the minimum fare is £4.40 at any hour, two miles costs roughly £12.60 to £20.40, and four miles roughly £21 to £35 depending on the time of day. Those are Transport for London’s own published figures, effective 25 April 2026.
The number most people get wrong is not the fare. It is what sits on top of it — and in London, unusually, the answer is: almost nothing. There is no charge for luggage, no charge for extra passengers, and no charge for paying by card. What can be added is short and specific, and it is listed further down.
The three tariffs, and when each one applies
London black cab fares are regulated by TfL and run on a meter. Which tariff you are on depends purely on the clock.
| Tariff | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Tariff 1 | Monday to Friday, 05:00–20:00 |
| Tariff 2 | Monday to Friday 20:00–22:00, and Saturday and Sunday 05:00–22:00 |
| Tariff 3 | Every night 22:00–05:00, and public holidays |
Tariff 4 no longer exists as a separate rate — from 25 April 2026 it was folded into Tariff 2. The whole schedule rose 2.88% on that date, taking the minimum fare from £4.20 to £4.40.
What a journey actually costs
These are TfL’s published bands, not estimates. The spread within each row is the difference between a clear road and heavy traffic, because the meter charges on distance or time — whichever is greater — and the time element engages whenever the cab drops below 10.4 mph.
| Distance | Typical time | Tariff 1 | Tariff 2 | Tariff 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mile | 6–13 min | £8.40–£13.00 | £8.40–£13.20 | £9.00–£13.20 |
| 2 miles | 10–20 min | £12.60–£20.20 | £13.40–£20.40 | £13.60–£20.40 |
| 4 miles | 16–30 min | £21.00–£31.00 | £23.00–£32.00 | £23.00–£35.00 |
| 6 miles | 28–40 min | £33.00–£42.00 | £41.00–£45.00 | £41.00–£45.00 |
| Heathrow to central London | 30–60 min | £70.00–£120.00 | £70.00–£120.00 | £70.00–£120.00 |
Journeys over six miles are charged at a higher per-mile rate at all times. That is why the six-mile row is not simply three times the two-mile row.
Everything that can legitimately be added
This is the complete list of extras TfL authorises. If a driver adds something that is not here, that is worth querying.
| Extra | Amount |
|---|---|
| Luggage, extra passengers, or paying by card | No charge |
| Booking by phone, app or online | Up to £2.00 |
| Journeys starting from a Heathrow taxi rank | £1.60 |
| Dropping off in a Heathrow terminal drop-off zone | £6.00 |
| Dropping off at the London City Airport forecourt | £6.00 (new for 2026) |
| Christmas and New Year period | £4.00 |
| Soiling that takes the cab out of service | Up to £60.00 |
The Christmas surcharge runs from 20:00 on 24 December to 06:00 on 27 December, and from 20:00 on 31 December to 06:00 on 2 January.
Compare pre-booked transfer prices
A pre-booked transfer is a different product from a metered cab: you agree the price before you travel, and the driver meets you. It is usually the better choice arriving on a long-haul flight with luggage, and the worse choice for a short hop across town.
Compare pre-booked transfer prices
The charge you never pay in a black cab
This is the single most useful thing to know about London ground transport costs, and almost nobody spells it out.
- Licensed black cabs are exempt from the Congestion Charge while actively licensed with TfL.
- Licensed black cabs are exempt from ULEZ.
- Minicabs are exempt from neither. Private hire vehicles have paid the Congestion Charge since June 2020, and must meet ULEZ emissions standards or pay the daily charge.
The Congestion Charge rose to £18 a day on 2 January 2026 (£21 if you pay late). ULEZ is £12.50 a day for non-compliant vehicles, running 24 hours a day every day except Christmas Day, across all London boroughs and the City of London.
What that means in practice: those charges can never appear on a metered black cab fare. A minicab operator, on the other hand, may well have built them into the price you were quoted. If you are comparing a cab against a minicab for a central London journey, that is up to £30.50 of daily cost sitting inside one quote and not the other.
Airport drop-off charges, which are not the driver’s doing
Every major London airport now charges vehicles to stop at the terminal. This is billed to whoever is driving, which means it reaches you either as a fare extra or as a friend’s grumble.
| Airport | Drop-off charge | Max stay | Free alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | £7 per entry, from 1 January 2026 | 10 minutes | — |
| Gatwick | £10 for 10 minutes, then £1 per minute; £30 daily cap | 30 minutes | Long Stay car parks, free for two hours, with a shuttle |
| Luton | £7 for 10 minutes, then £1 per minute | 30 minutes | Long Stay car park, free for two hours |
| Stansted | Express Set Down — price not published online | 30 minutes | Mid Stay car park has a free drop-off area with a shuttle |
Three things worth knowing. Heathrow’s charge must be paid by midnight the next day, and non-payment becomes an £80 parking charge, reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days. Luton’s equivalent penalty is £95, reduced to £55. Stansted’s is £100, reduced to £60.
Blue Badge holders are fully exempt at Heathrow and Gatwick with registration. Luton offers no Blue Badge concession in the drop-off zone — use Terminal Car Park 1, which gives 30 minutes free.
We have not published a figure for Stansted because Stansted does not publish one. Its own terms point drivers to the signage at the barrier. Any number you see quoted elsewhere is somebody’s guess, and we would rather say so.
Is this cab legal? The two-second check
Touting — approaching or picking up a passenger who has not booked through a licensed operator — is a criminal offence under section 167 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. TfL will normally revoke a driver’s licence on conviction. Here is how to tell in a few seconds what you are getting into.
| Licensed black cab | Private hire (minicab) | |
|---|---|---|
| Can you hail it in the street? | Yes | No — must be pre-booked through a licensed operator |
| Can it use a taxi rank? | Yes | No |
| The fare | Metered, set by TfL | Operator must give an accurate estimate before you travel |
| What to look for on the vehicle | White licence plate on the rear, showing licence number, expiry, registration and passenger capacity | Licence discs on the front and rear windscreens |
| What the driver wears | A green or yellow badge — proof they passed the Knowledge | Photo ID showing name and licence number |
| Wheelchair accessible | All of them | Only designated vehicles |
For a minicab there is a further check that takes no effort at all: the operator must send you a booking confirmation before the journey starts, and it must contain the vehicle registration, the driver’s first name, the driver’s licence number and the driver’s photo. If what pulls up does not match that, do not get in.
TfL also runs public licence searches for drivers, vehicles and operators through its Taxi and Private Hire portal, so a licence number can be checked directly rather than taken on trust.
When a driver is allowed to say no
A licensed London taxi driver is obliged to take you — but not anywhere, and not indefinitely. A driver may lawfully refuse a hiring if the journey is more than 12 miles, or more than 20 miles if it starts at Heathrow, or would take more than an hour, or ends outside Greater London.
Related, and a common cause of arguments: outside Greater London the metered tariff does not apply and the fare is negotiable. Agree it before you set off. That is why a cab from Gatwick or Luton is a different proposition from one at Heathrow or London City, both of which sit inside the meter area.
Tipping
Neither TfL nor any UK government source publishes a customary tip for London taxis, and we are not going to invent one. What is officially true: the fare is metered, there is no surcharge for luggage or card payment, and therefore anything above the meter is entirely voluntary. Rounding up is common. Nothing obliges you to do more.
If something goes wrong
- For a minicab, complain to the operator first. That is TfL’s own instruction, and it is the fastest route to a refund.
- Then escalate to TfL through its taxi and private hire contact form, or by phone on 0343 222 4000.
- Record the driver’s licence number or the vehicle registration. Without one of those, TfL has very little to act on. A screenshot of the booking confirmation covers it, because it carries the company, driver and vehicle details.
- For touting or an illegal cab, TfL wants the nature of the offence, the date, time and location, the vehicle registration or driver licence number, and a crime reference number if you have reported it to the police.
- If there is danger to life, violence or a crime, call 999. That is a police matter, not a licensing one.
Accessibility
Every licensed London taxi is wheelchair accessible — the fleet is 100%, which is not true of any other major city on this site. Drivers must carry a passenger seated in their wheelchair at no additional charge, and must provide reasonable help loading and unloading.
Two meter rules exist specifically to stop that assistance costing you money: the driver must not start the meter until you are in the cab and your mobility aids are secured, and must stop it on arrival, before you get out.
Assistance dogs travel in both taxis and minicabs at no extra charge. Under the Equality Act, as amended by the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022, a driver must also take reasonable steps to help a disabled passenger find the vehicle on a pre-booked trip, again without charge. Licensing authorities can exempt a driver from the physical assistance duties on medical grounds — but never from the duty to carry you, and never from the ban on charging extra.
Related guides
More on getting around London: black cab vs Uber, compared honestly, Heathrow to central London with every option priced, and how to check your driver is licensed.
Sources and currency
Fares and extras are from TfL’s taxi fare card effective 25 April 2026 and TfL trade notice 04/26. Congestion Charge figures are from TfL notice 02/26, effective 2 January 2026. Airport drop-off charges are from each airport’s own published terms. Licensing and accessibility rules are from TfL’s private hire abstract of laws, the London taxi driver handbook, and the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022.
One honest caveat. TfL’s own web pages were still serving the April 2024 tariff and the old £15 Congestion Charge while we compiled this, months after both changed. The dated PDFs were current; the HTML was not. If you are checking a figure here against TfL’s site and it disagrees, look for the dated fare card rather than the web page. Fares last verified August 2026.
Sammie O publishes Germ Trips, a travel guide covering hotels, restaurants, airport transfers and chauffeur services. The guides aim for practical detail and a clear recommendation rather than an undifferentiated list. Where a town has no good option, the guides say so and point to the nearest one that does. Guides are AI drafted. A small number have been checked against official listings, and those say so on the page.
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