Driver service - their house to mine- is this a thing?

Addison Lee were very helpful when we were trying to avoid public transport when relocating long distance. They also had very reassuring Covid precautions.

Do they need the hotel stop if someone else is driving? Might be easier to organise without the overnight if so. You could arrange a decent stop for a meal break at services with the taxi company.

You’ve made your point clear, you can probably go be condescending elsewhere now. I am sure there are many threads which are eager for you to treat them like idiots.

Yes to a taxi firm who do lots of airport runs. Mum used to do this with my Grandmother - all be it for a shorter journey.

I was assuming the parents are very NW making the journey a 7 or 8 hour one by car each way?

Local taxi firms were amazing with both of my grandmothers in their final years and my grandmothers lived in totally different bits of the country so I like to think of it as typical.
If you want to do the hotel stop, I'd do local taxi from near them to the hotel and then get a local taxi from near you to go & collect them. It may we worth asking the taxi companies to stop at services and whether that's just for a loo break or for a coffee too. One of my grandmothers used to get sat at a table in Starbucks and the driver would go & get a coffee for her (and him), the other grandmother would get parked in the most scenic bit of the car park so she got a nice view whilst they ate their sandwiches (she made ones for him too (meat obviously as he was a man and had a hard day's work to do!!)).
However, I would question whether the hotel might add too much faff, uncertainty and complexity to the whole thing and if it's easier for them to just come straight to yours.

What about sharing the ride liftshare.com/uk

Definitely worth asking a taxi company for a quote. I used one a few years ago so we could attend a wedding with my wheelchair-user husband without having to try and change stations in London. It's pricey but given the state of the trains at the moment definitely worth thinking about. To save the driver having to cross London, could you meet them at a Thameslink station to the north of London and get them the rest of the way by train?

Many taxi companies do long distance as well - you may have wondered how people in the North still manage to fly from Gatwick, now you know

I'm so pleased to be able to explain to you the concepts of 'trains', 'coaches' and 'their own cars', as you seem to be labouring under an odd misapprehension here that the only way to get to Gatwick is to pay someone to drive you.

This is such a good idea.

I have given up trying to spend Christmas with my parents in the NW-I’m London.
It’s difficult enough on a normal year when the tickets sell out quickly one way but the returns are not available. Then there are always engineering works meaning you can’t easily come back on 27th but have to commit to the whole week.
This year it’s so much worse. If you get in anyway anxious or have restricted mobility it would be so easy to get into a state with the cancellations and changes.

I have often said to my mum we should ask Eddie Stobart to give us a lift.

To be clear, you'd probably need a few unless you are planning on getting them to stay at the hotel as well. That would be harder to find someone.

So.

One to hotel.
Different one from hotel to house.
Different one from house to hotel.
Different one from hotel to parents house.

You arrange it in advance. There are alternatives to uber if you want to go local. Many taxi companies do long distance as well - you may have wondered how people in the North still manage to fly from Gatwick, now you know

I did use a minicab firm near Liverpool who were lovely last year, will look for their name on my bank statement (paid by bank transfer) was very reasonable

Prebooked mini cab, if you have an office near you, nip in and talk to them, most have the option of dbs checked drivers too. Expect to need to pay at least a deposit. If there's a form near your parents that's another option and may be cheaper as based up north.

I paid £200 for n midlands to sw 2 years ago, different circumstances but same sort of thing

You've obviously never read the stories in the papers where people accidentally get an uber to the other end of the country by mistake.

Taxis. Google them. They do this kind of thing. You get a driver in their own car and they take you places. Including outside your own town. You book them in advance usually.

Blacklane cars? Not used them in the UK but have overseas and they were great

just had look at recent UK trip I made and they are twice the price of an Uber though

You'd be able to find someone, but I imagine that the cost would be eye-watering.

Blacklane if you want a high end service.

There are definitely companies that do this, we used to provide them for visiting execs who had to go to lots of different locations in a few days. Not sure how to search, maybe chauffeur services?

Sorry, I wasn't the one who organised them, but I do know they exist. Doubt they are cheap though.

I think any taxi company would do it - its just like an airport run or 'executive transfer'. You'd be best ringing round a few near them for a quote.
A coach might be a good and far cheaper option though - they are very easy to take as no moving luggage around, have a toilet on board, and then you could meet them at your end

My mum took a taxi from her house in Devon to Birmingham airport. I’ve no idea how much it cost but I’m sure there’s a company that can help you.

I booked a private car hire for a trip after the first lock down for a treat - proper Chaeuffeur- was cheap because obvs business has been slow. I then kept using him for lots of trips until I moved.

he quotes £300 for somewhere that was and out two and half hours away.

is look up airport transfers and go from there

aftrr you add in ALL the costs for train it can be not that much more

No need to be arsed. I doubt very much you’d find an Uber to do this, but Addison Lee would. They get very booked up at this time of year, though, so it’s worth asking sooner rather than later.

I'd get assistance from the rail company to take them onto the train and to a taxi rank or meeting point at the other end.

No need to be a twat. You’d be hard pushed to find an Uber driver that would drive the length of the country and then another to do a return journey.

There are taxi companies that specialise in airport runs, so long distance of you're flying from Heathrow and live in be north, they're often independent, just one man and a car, you'd be more likely to get someone like that to do what you're looking for.

Alternatively I'd look at booking a taxi from home to the hotel then a second taxi for the second leg and the same on the way back, so four separate taxi trips.

Or, my elderly mother in law uses national express coaches when she goes to visit BIL, they are very comfortable/have a toilet on board/wifi. That might be worth looking at.