Operator economics · full transparency
How every Kings Heathrow fare is built.
Off-peak drive time × £65/hour, rounded up to the nearest £5. Same formula every time, every route. No marketing, no algorithm, no surge — just the maths.
The formula
Drive time = real off-peak journey time, Heathrow to destination
Rate = £65/hour
Total → rounded up to nearest £5 · minimum £80
Worked example — Heathrow to Bath
- One-way distance
- 100 mi
- Off-peak drive time
- 1h 48m (1.8 hours)
- Rate
- £65/hour
- Total cost (1.8h × £65)
- £117.00
- Published fare (rounded ↑ £5)
- £120
£117 rounds up to the nearest £5, giving a published fare of £120. Most routes on the site are priced this way — real drive time from live routing data, multiplied by the hourly rate, rounded up. A handful of destinations (Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff) are set slightly above the formula to reflect the market rate on those specific routes.
Why one-way drive time?
The fare reflects the journey you're actually paying for — Heathrow to your destination. It's the same time shown on the route page next to the price, so what you see is what the fare is built from. No hidden multipliers.
Why £65/hour?
It's the all-in rate that covers the vehicle, fuel, insurance and the driver's time. A single hourly rate keeps the formula simple and the published price predictable — no separate line items to argue about on arrival.
What if my route has tolls?
Already in the fare. Dartford Crossing £2.50, M6 Toll £8.40 peak, ULEZ £12.50 — built into the published price for any route that hits them. Most NW routes don't (M40 corridor, M4 corridor are toll-free).
For Cardiff and Newport: the Second Severn Crossing has been toll-free since 2018 — no Severn charge on M4 west.
Is the price ever negotiable?
No. The formula already sits at minimum viable level — discounting below it loses money on the trip. The published fare is the lowest sustainable rate for that route.
We also don't offer "first booking" discounts, loyalty programmes, or bulk-buy deals. Those would distort the per-fare economics without adding customer value. The published fare is the fair fare — that's the entire model.
Transparent maths, fixed prices