Southampton to Gatwick Without the Train: Every Option Priced

The Quick Answer: The Option That Fits a Scooter, Cases and a Flight

Strip the journey down to what it asks of you. You come off a ship with a folding scooter and two cases, and you need to be at Gatwick, on time, without hauling luggage across stations. Four things do that journey: the cruise line bus, the National Express coach, an app car, and a pre-booked taxi. Only the last one starts at your terminal door, loads everything for you, and is priced for the car rather than by the head.

Our saloon starts from £140 per vehicle to Gatwick, an MPV from £160 if you want the room, and the driver loads the scooter and cases at the terminal and unloads them at the Gatwick drop-off. Against about £101 for two on the cruise bus, the car costs more; against £182.71 for the app XL quoted in the thread, it costs less; and against both, it is the only fare on the list confirmed before you travel.

Every Alternative Priced, Using the Thread's Own Numbers

These are the figures from the discussion itself, what travellers in that thread had been quoted or had paid, so you can hold any new quote up against them.

Two things stand out. The coach is the cheapest way to Gatwick for two, and we would say so to anyone whose flight times are loose and whose luggage is light; with a scooter and a flight to protect, its price is not the whole story, and the next two sections show why. And per-person pricing is what makes the cruise bus look close to a car fare: £50.50 sounds modest until it is multiplied by two, at which point you are about £101 into a journey that still runs on somebody else's timetable.

Travelling with a Folding Scooter: What to Tell Us When You Book

A folding travel scooter is ordinary work for a cruise port car, as long as we know about it before the morning. Tell us when you book that you are travelling with one, and we allocate the right vehicle and keep the boot space it needs, rather than sending a car packed to a plan it cannot meet. A folded scooter and two medium suitcases go in the saloon for most couples; if the scooter is a larger model, or there is more kit besides, we will put you in the MPV and say so at the fare stage, not at the kerb.

On the day, your driver loads the scooter and the cases at the terminal door and unloads them at the Gatwick drop-off, which is the whole point of door to door when mobility kit is involved. One thing to tell us straight, because it changes the vehicle we send: if a passenger needs to travel seated in a wheelchair rather than transferring into a car seat, say so when you book. That needs a different vehicle, and booking it ahead is how it is there waiting at the terminal instead of being sorted out on the morning.

• Tell us about the scooter when you book, including roughly how big it is folded
• Say if anyone travels seated in a wheelchair, so the right vehicle is sent
• Keep your phone on as you disembark: your driver confirms the meeting point

Door to Door Against Station to Station: Where the Hours Go

Price is only half the comparison; the other half is time, and effort. The coach journey to Gatwick is around 3 hours door to door once the taxi to the coach station, the wait, and the coach itself are counted, against 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours by car. That extra hour or more is not spent resting. It is spent moving a scooter and two suitcases between a terminal, a taxi, a coach station and a coach, four handlings, each one a small negotiation.

The car does the same journey in one handling. You come off the ship, the driver loads everything once, and the next time the scooter and cases are touched is at the Gatwick drop-off. For a traveller with a scooter, that difference is not a luxury; it is the journey. It is also why the train, which this couple had already ruled out, asks the most of anyone travelling with mobility kit: stations, changes and luggage in your own hands throughout.

Groups and Bigger Vehicles

Everything above is priced for two. Groups change the maths in the car's favour, because a per vehicle fare divides while a per-person fare multiplies. Our MPV carries up to six passengers to Gatwick from £160 per vehicle, and the minibus carries up to eight from £180, one price for the whole party and all their cruise luggage. For shorter local runs, our 8-seater fares start from £40. Four or more people travelling together should never compare a per-person bus price against a car without doing that division first: it is where the bus quietly stops being the cheaper option.

Book by phone on 02380 333 000, through the booking pages on this site, or by email at bookings@sotoncars.co.uk. Mention the scooter when you book, tell us your ship and your flight, and the fare is confirmed before you travel.