London is awash with ride-hailing taxi apps so when we were given the chance to review Wheely, we were excited. We were even more excited to hear that they have launched a new feature to make airport arrival pick ups seamless with 60 minutes waiting time included. With our essential business trip to Mexico in full swing, could we remove that airport arrival anxiety?
Wheely Review: Why we like Wheely
If Wheely was a dating app it would definitely be Raya – the luxury of an accessible private chauffeur with pay as-you-are-driven flexibility, available on demand, bookable in advance, fixed rates and no surge in prices. Wheely’s rates stay the same in the evening, on weekends and bank holidays. Wheely is also relatively young, founded in 2010 by Anton Chirkunov.
London is a key focus for Wheely but you can also now use your app to book cost effective chauffeur-driven journeys into London from a much wider area circling from Colchester, Cambridge and Oxford, down to Southampton, and along to Brighton and Broadstairs.
The key difference is that with Wheely comes with a chauffeur, not a driver. All chauffeurs must complete the industry’s most demanding selection process covering local knowledge, chauffeur etiquette and car standards. Wheely is also pioneering the Chauffeur Academy, a new accreditation process which raises the bar of chauffeur knowledge and skills, covering areas like first-aid training, emotional intelligence as well as security and situational awareness.
Booking the airport arrival
The beauty is in the simplicity. In a nutshell, I enter my journey details and the flight number into the app and the rest is taken care of. The chauffeur will track my flight and (this is the best bit) and give me up to 60 minutes of free waiting time. The rate is fixed (from Heathrow and Gatwick) so there is no arguing about waiting time.
This is a first in luxury ride-hailing and just reduces that coming home stress. All you need to do is be a little organised and pre book the car before you arrive for the best service. The fixed cost for our £80 journey into SE London is competitive too.
Arriving at Heathrow
The flight is 15 minutes late but I am not stressed as I know 60 minutes waiting time is already included. Importantly, that 60 minute countdown begins when the plane touches down. Normally by this time, I am stressing and dealing with incoming calls from a driver who is complaining about car parking and asking how long the luggage is going to take. Right now I am more worried about the extra three bottles of aged tequila in my luggage.
I breeze through passport control and the luggage finally arrives, tequila intact. I spot a suited chauffeur in the arrivals hall strategically located with my name. His demeanour is friendly and I am at ease. He offers immediately to help with my luggage as we make our way to the car. He even has an umbrella ready! We are tired from a long flight and he can see that. He opens the door and we are ready to go home.
The car
The Mercedez-Benz E-Class is classy. Well it made me feel like we arrived in style and the neighbours also saw. The car is spotless, spacious and only a year old. Complimentary bottled water, Aesop hand sanitiser and phone chargers come as standard. Every Wheely vehicle is also checked on a daily basis with high-touch surfaces like door handles, seatbelts and armrests sanitised after every journey.
The journey
London was quiet so we breezed home in an hour. Our chauffeur could tell we weren’t in the mood to talk about the weather yet he was charming and listened well. All journeys can be tailored to your taste: choice of route taking in that favourite landmark, cabin temperature and of course music including streaming directly from a smartphone.
Overall, we arrive home relaxed and refreshed like one should feel after some time away. The Wheely airport pick up was seamless, elegant and efficient. Airport anxiety removed, tequila not confiscated and a happy ending to 2020.
To discover more about wheely review and download the app, visit: wheely.com
All imagery courtesy of Wheely.
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