Best airport transfer services to book online

Which airport transfer service should you pick?

All three let you book a private car from the airport before you fly, so a driver meets you at arrivals and takes you to your hotel or any address. They differ in how the price is set and in what happens when your plans change:

• Kiwitaxi if you want a fixed price known in advance and plenty of slack for a late flight: 90 minutes of free waiting at airports and ports, free cancellation more than 16 hours before pick-up for standard cars, and on some routes you can pay the driver in cash.
• GetTransfer if you want to compare prices: you post the trip, carriers send offers with photos of the actual car, and you pick one. It covers the widest range of vehicles, up to buses, and hourly chauffeur hire. The catch is that the default Saver booking cannot be cancelled for a refund.
• Welcome Pickups if you want a prepaid ride with an English-speaking driver, live driver location in the app and flight tracking. Cancel 24 hours or more ahead and you get a coupon worth 100% of the booking or an 80% cash refund.

Pre-booked transfer, taxi or ride-hailing?

A pre-booked transfer is a private car ordered for a set time and route, usually with a driver who meets you inside the terminal with a name sign. The value is certainty: you know the price or have paid it, the driver knows your flight, and you skip the taxi rank and any haggling after a long flight. It matters most for late arrivals, children, heavy luggage or a foreign language.

It is not automatically cheaper than a metered taxi or a ride-hailing app such as Uber or Bolt. Kiwitaxi says so plainly: the advantage is a price fixed in advance, not a guaranteed lower fare.

All three services here are intermediaries. Kiwitaxi acts as an agent for local transport companies, GetTransfer is a marketplace of independent carriers, and Welcome Pickups works with local drivers. In every case the ride quality depends on the local operator, so read the booking terms before you pay. More trip tools are on our best travel services page.

How to choose an airport transfer: what we compared

Facts come from each service's own booking terms, FAQ and help pages, read in October 2026:

• How the price is set. A fixed price shown before you book (Kiwitaxi), offers from competing carriers (GetTransfer) or a quote for your route, passengers and luggage (Welcome Pickups). None of the three publishes a single price list, so the table shows how you pay rather than a number.
• Free waiting time at the airport. Passport control and baggage can take an hour; extra time is charged.
• Flight delays. Whether the driver tracks your flight and moves the pick-up time, or you have to warn them.
• Cancellation and refunds. How late you can cancel, whether you get cash or credit back, and how long it takes. This differs the most between the three.
• How far ahead you must book. Some services need many hours' notice, which matters if you book on the way to the airport.
• Payment and vehicles. Card only or cash too; child seats, minivans, minibuses, accessible cars.

Kiwitaxi: fixed price and the longest free wait

Kiwitaxi books private transfers from airports, ports, stations and hotels with local transport companies, and shows the full price before you pay. It says it serves 100+ countries, with 24/7 support. The service is operated by IT Travel LP, registered in Edinburgh, UK.

Cars come in two groups, and the group sets your deadlines. Under the Kiwitaxi customer offer, Micro, Economy, Comfort, Minivan 4, Minibus 7 and SUV must be booked at least 16 hours ahead and can be cancelled free more than 16 hours before pick-up. Business, Premium, Luxury SUV and minibuses of 10 to 19 seats need 24 hours either way. Free waiting is 90 minutes at airports and ports and 15 minutes elsewhere; an extra hour of waiting can be added when you book. For delays under 30 minutes the driver follows the flight; for longer delays you should tell the driver or support.

Payment is the most flexible of the three: pay in full online, pay a small prepayment and the rest in cash to the driver, or on some routes pay only cash. Extras include child seats, an extra stop, pets and a ski box.

Pick Kiwitaxi if your flight might be late or you want to pay the driver in cash. The downside: you can't book at short notice (16 or 24 hours ahead), late cancellations and no-shows are not refunded, and refunds can take up to sixty working days. Full details in our Kiwitaxi review.

GetTransfer: compare drivers' offers

GetTransfer works like a tender. You enter the route (or an hourly booking), the vehicle class, passengers, child seats and luggage, and carriers registered on the platform send offers with their price, photos of the actual car, rating and number of completed rides. You choose one and pay. It says it has 200,000+ vehicles and serves 180+ countries, and classes run from Economy and Comfort to Business, Premium, VIP, SUV, Van, Minibus and Bus.

The offer price includes free waiting, fuel and road tolls. Free waiting is 60 minutes at airports and sea or river terminals, 30 minutes at railway stations and 15 minutes elsewhere; if your flight is delayed by more than an hour, contact support. Extra waiting is billed at the carrier's rates within five days after the ride.

Cancellation depends on your access level, set out in the GetTransfer terms of use. The default Saver level has no free cancellation and support by chat and email from 8:00 to 20:00 (GMT+2) in English. The paid Flexible level lets you cancel up to the agreed pick-up time and adds 24/7 support in any site language, but its fee is not refundable and it is not available if you pay less than 24 hours before pick-up. Refunds normally come back as credit in your GetTransfer account, not to your card.

Pick GetTransfer if you want several prices for the same trip, a big vehicle for a group, or an hourly driver. The downside: without Flexible, a booking cannot be refunded if you cancel, and refunds are account credit. More in our GetTransfer review.

Welcome Pickups: prepaid, tracked and easy to change

Welcome Pickups sells pre-booked private transfers from airports, ports, train and bus stations, hotels or any address, plus private sightseeing rides. Its help center says all drivers speak English as well as the local language. The app shows the driver's location shortly before pick-up.

You get a quote after entering the route, time, passengers and every piece of luggage, and you pay online by card (Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners), PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay; cash is not accepted for the booking. Child seats cost extra, and wheelchair-accessible minivans may be available in selected cities.

Free waiting counts from your chosen pick-up time: 60 minutes at airports, 30 at ports and stations, 20 elsewhere. According to the Welcome Pickups waiting time page, drivers track arrivals for delays and adjust the pick-up time; extra waiting costs €6 per 15 minutes for a sedan, €9 for a minivan and €12 for a minibus. Cancel 24 hours or more before pick-up and you choose a Flex coupon worth 100% of the transfer (valid one year, any destination) or a refund of 80% in 3 to 5 business days. Less than 24 hours before, there is no compensation.

Pick Welcome Pickups if you want everything prepaid and arranged in English, with your flight tracked. The downside: a cash refund keeps a 20% fee, there is no public price list, and it covers selected destinations rather than everywhere. Read our Welcome Pickups review.

Side by side: waiting, cancellation and payment

Set the pick-up time for when you expect to walk out of arrivals, not for touchdown, because free waiting starts from the time you booked. And make sure your phone works on landing so the driver can reach you: a travel eSIM bought before you fly does that, see how to choose a travel eSIM. If your flight is badly delayed or cancelled, you may also be owed money by the airline: see flight delay compensation compared.