Do you get a taxi to/from the airport or do you ask a friend/family for a lift ?

[Thefakeone]

If stupid o'clock and/or airport is miles away then assuming taxi.

My friend will always ask me for a lift, regardless of what airport. I think this is a piss take and if you are going away then you need to factor in the cost of a taxi ?

We get a taxi to and from the airport. There are a few taxi companies near us that will do the journey for a fixed rate if you book in advance.

I factor in the cost of a hotel room. So I get the train to the airport and stay over. There are overnight coaches from London but I have to get to Victoria first which is an aggravation unless the Night Tube is on. I never ask anyone to take me, that's silly.

If I lived 15-20 minutes from the airport and the timings weren't inconvenient then it would make sense to have some reciprocal lift arrangements to the airport.

If it's an hour or more each way and I was the only one giving the lifts or they meant I had to get up at 5am or take leave from work then no, I wouldn't be doing it.

We get a taxi and train mostly. Wouldn't occur to me to ask for a lift.

She sounds horrible op. Consider your excuse next time and see if she sticks around. She sounds like a user

Drive and pay to park with airport hotel if flight is too early.

Always drive myself. No family or friends who I could ask to drive me that far (1.5 hours to airport but family would have to drive at least another hour to get to us) and taxi would be way more than parking, never mind extra costs due to flight delays as they’d have to wait around hours for me potentially.

We drive and park at airport.

I get a taxi to the nearest national express stop and hop on to whichever airport i need

Your friend doesn't sound like much of a friend

I live in London and have always taken public transport to/from airports where it is available. Very rare for us to take taxis, we prefer to visit places that have a good infrastructure. We don't take flights at silly times as it's easier to travel with kids at normal hours. PILs insist on driving us from/to the airport when we visit them though, I think they are grateful that we make the effort for the dcs to visit.

Drive and pay long stay parking.
We don't ask anyone as it is not tuwir problem and also very inconvenient for them.

Granted we're only 15 minutes from the airport but I'd always be happy to do a life for family or friends if I'm available. Helping each other out here and there is what friends are for, no?

We never ever get a taxi because I don't want a random person knowing that my house is going to be empty whilst I'm away. My Mum used to drive us to the airport when she was up to driving long distances, but for many years now we've driven to the airport and parked in the long stay car park. It's really nice to get off the plane and into your own car.

We usually drive. The cost of the carpark is similar to how much it would cost us to get a taxi.

Drive and pay for parking at the airport, which still works out cheaper than taxi there and back for us!

Just seen that your friend drives. In which case she is absolutely taking the piss!!

Our neighbours offered to give us a lift to the airport a couple of years ago. They are our friends too so get on well. Had to be at airport for 4.45 so left at 4.15 am. We now reciprocate and just do a taxi on homeward journey although if it's rush hour we get the airport bus as is quicker. Works well

Stop agreeing to pick her up and collect her!

I don't understand why you even said yes to begin with

I don't actually drive and I've never asked for a lift in my life, I always factor in taxi fare and if someone has offered a life to somewhere we are mutually travelling to I always give them decent petrol money and buy the coffees/lunch/dinner to where we go.
I would especially never expect a lift at stupid O' Clock.

If pick up time has changed to 1am then of course it’s acceptable to say you can no longer do it. What’s not acceptable is a friend expecting you to still do that. Would you op?
At the end of your message to get you do not ask her if she can get a cab - you tell her. Do t give her an opportunity to say no she can’t. You just message - “ahhhh what a shame about the delay, hope it’s not too awful for you, I obviously can’t pick up at that time as I’ll be long asleep by then but if you’d like me to arrange a taxi from this end to pick u up I don’t mind ringing one from over here”.
End of!! Though do not pre pay an uber or anything - you are only offering a favour of booking it if easier to do from uk.

No, have never asked or been offered lift to/from the airport as far as I remember. Not even from DH! Neither have I given anyone else a lift.

Mostly use public transport if just me, drive and park if whole family and short holiday, pay for taxi if whole family and long holiday (whatever is cheaper). Have occasionally stayed at airport the night before if very early.

My (young adult) kids sometimes pay each other or their friends for a lift if public transport doesn't work as they are happy to offer a cheaper rate than a taxi. Same with late night lifts locally.

Drive and pay to park. Always.

Not if it's all take take take and the friend is wanting lifts from 3 different airports. Not everyone lives 15 mins from an airport like you.

Would you be happy to give her lifts of she gave you similar lifts in return? would that work for you? If so, then I would start asking!

If not, then you need to start saying no.

The thing about giving people lifts to the airport is it takes twice as long as the drive, so it really is a big time ask! Which is why I'd never even suggest that DH takes me to the airport. Yes it might save me a bit of time relative to the train, but it would cost him a lot more time.

I wouldn't want a lift to an airport with anyone who wasn't going to be catching the same flight as me, so that I know they are just as motivated as I am to actually get there in good time!