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Baggage delivery service AirPortr now covers all Heathrow terminals, Gatwick and City

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AirPortr is a luggage collection and delivery service that aims to release you from the trouble of carrying suitcases around.

I have been following its expansion on HfP over the last year.  It launched in May 2014 in London City Airport, at Gatwick in July 2015, at Heathrow Terminals 5 & 2 in December 2015, at Heathrow Terminal 3 in February 2016 and now – to complete the picture – Heathrow Terminal 4.

What is very cool about AirPortr at London City is that – for domestic British Airways flights – they have security clearance to collect your luggage from the carousel.  Once you have booked their service (and it can all be done via a mobile app) you can simply walk out of City Airport without any waiting.  AirPortr will find your baggage when it eventually arrives and deliver it to wherever you want.

Airportr

This is not available at Heathrow, at least so far.  For both domestic and international flights, you are obliged to wait by the carousel until your case arrives and take it over to the AirPortr rep. They will deliver it to your hotel, office or home later in the day.  It certainly beats dragging a suitcase into the office if you are going to work

For customs reasons, it would not be possible for AirPortr to collect your bags from the carousel at any airport if you are arriving from outside the UK.

The service can be booked in either direction – you can also book them to collect your luggage from your home, office or hotel and pick it up from the AirPortr collection point in the departure terminal.  This could be handy if you want to sightsee on your last day and do not want to have to return to your hotel later to collect your luggage.

The fees at Heathrow seem very reasonable:

£15 for the first bag and £5 thereafter to or from the airport hotels

£25 for the first bag and £5 thereafter to or from Central London

£35 for the first bag and £5 thereafter to or from Outer London

For a family, paying £50 to relieve yourself of the hassle of carrying four suitcases may look like a good deal.  The service may even pay for itself if, for example, you switched from taxi to tube because you no longer had to carry your luggage with you.

You can find more details on their website here.

I hope to have an AirPortr competition on Head for Points soon, where you will have the chance to win a free trial of the service.

Comments (21)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • John says:

    If your baggage is delayed, then Citybags is able to collect it and bring it to you, but you have to sign a customs form. I suppose Airportr could do this too.

    Customs at T3 and T5 seems to be much more active than 2-3 years ago, I always see someone getting checked when I arrive these days. It is always groups of pax with multiple bags though.

    • Matt says:

      I’m not sure customs would allow it. Anyone who is importing illicit goods would more easily be able to get away with it if they could get someone to pick up their baggage (they might lose the goods, but could potentially avoid arrest). The key difference with delays is it is out the control of the person who owns the bag, and therefore can’t be manipulated so easily by criminals etc.

      • Sandgrounder says:

        When my bags have been delayed, they were delivered to a place of my choice at no additional cost. Isn’t this standard practice? At MAN I had to sign a customs form. However, the potential for duty fraud was reduced as my (legitimate) duty free had been stolen by the time I was reunited with my belongings.

        • mark says:

          Yes it’s standard for delayed bags (airline dependent – I even got this from an airline that went bust – oasis Hong Kong) , but this service is for people who don’t want the hassle of picking up the bags.

          • The_Real_A says:

            Oh Oasis £75 to Hong Kong if i remember!

          • Danksy says:

            I was in the philipines when oasis went bust and had no idea until I arrived at Hong Kong for my flight home! MasterCard picked up the bill for Emirates flights home!

    • Raj says:

      Who are groups of pax?

      • TimS says:

        Pax is airline shorthand for passengers.

      • Peter K says:

        A letter or two followed by x is a common abbreviation term. Eg, in medical terminology Hx is history, Px is patient, Rx prescription.

        The key is knowing what terms are used frequently in the particular literature/message board/whatever and then extrapolating.

        • Martin Valt says:

          This is incorrect.

          Rx is treatment. Px is prescription.

          The key is possibly knowing what one is talking about.

  • Danksy says:

    Do they have a collection service? We are a holidaying as a family of 5 with intentions of using our full baggage allowance!

  • Kevin says:

    Thanks. Could be useful early next month when we are flying out of LHR but wanted to spend the day in London following an overnight stay at HGI at Heathrow.

  • Will says:

    I’m glad someone is taking this on and I think it will definitely benefit a lot of people. One of the many transformative experiences from travelling in Japan was the luggage delivery service from hotel to hotel or hotel to airport. It was absolutely brilliant, available everywhere, supper efficient and not that expensive c. £15 for a large suitcase. I know to roll out nationwide would require someone like a DHL but it was seriously useful and I’m hoping it expands to more places.

    • Mac says:

      Where can I find out more about this service in Japan? Going to be spending a month there and that would be fantastic.

      • Scottnothing says:

        You can arrange it through a luggage forwarding company or via the concierge at each hotel you stay at. It is a very common thing to do. The shinkansen isn’t really made for carrying lots of luggage with you on-board (though it is possible, just not that comfortable due to the general lack of luggage storage, volume of travellers/commuters in train stations and steps/lack of lifts in stations). Enjoy!

        • Genghis says:

          There is overhead storage on Skinkansen but just like on a UK train, not overly spacious. I think people should read onebag.com though and learn to cut down on what you need to take on business / holiday.

          • Rob says:

            Last time I went to Japan I took two shirts, thinking I could get my hotel to wash one during the day whilst I wore the other. It turned out I had overpacked because the Peninsula did overnight laundry and the rooms have cupboards which open from the outside and inside, allowing staff to put back your laundry overnight so your freshly pressed shirt is there when you wake up!

          • Genghis says:

            🙂 Now that is service! Even after having lived there for two years, I still couldn’t really figure out the toilets though…

          • ankomonkey says:

            Japanese squat toilets are simple, Genghis…

      • Farringdon says:

        The Takkyubin service in Japan is hugely helpful. You can use it from convenience stores – you just need a hotel concierge to help you fill in the form. Highly recommended.

        The UK needs something like this. It’s perfect for a small, densely populated island.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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