From the Canterbury campus to Gatwick North or South Terminal by pre-booked car

How long the University of Kent to Gatwick airport taxi takes

No times are published for the campus itself. For Canterbury, Express Travel Kent gives a typical 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes to Gatwick. The campus sits on the city's northern edge, so the same range is the sensible guide from a hall of residence or a cottage in Blean.

The car leaves the hill by University Road or St Stephen's Hill, crosses Canterbury to the A2 and carries on along the M2, which the A2 becomes at junction 7. After that the car normally swings onto the M25 and turns down the M23 for the airport. The lower end of the range is a clear night run; the upper end is a normal weekday.

Two things stretch it. On a Friday afternoon, or as school holidays begin, the M25 alone can take an extra half hour to three quarters of an hour. At night the risk is different: the M2 and the M25 often have lanes shut for overnight works, just when the cheapest flights need you on the road.

North or South Terminal: check before you book

There are two terminals at Gatwick, and yours depends on the airline and sometimes on the flight. Look at the booking confirmation, or the airline's own site, and put the terminal in your booking so the driver sets you down at the right door.

Got it wrong, or meeting friends at the other one? The free inter-terminal shuttle comes every few minutes, day and night, and the ride is about two minutes long. The railway station is at the South Terminal, next to the shuttle.

Working back from a dawn departure

Cheap flights often leave at dawn, and the last week of term is when many students take them. Start from the time your airline closes bag drop, add a margin for the security queue, then add the upper end of the drive, 1 hour 45 minutes. The collection time suggested when you book is worked out this way from the flight details you give, and you can ask for it earlier.

For a dawn flight that often means a pickup between 2am and 3am. Leave the cases by the door the night before, keep your passport in your coat, and set two alarms: free waiting at your address is 10 minutes after the agreed time, and waiting beyond that can be added to the fare.

• Tell us the court or college and, for Park Wood, the court's own postcode from the campus map.
• Add your mobile number, so the driver can reach you if the building has more than one entrance.
• If a friend shares the car from another block, put both pickups in the booking.

End-of-term luggage and the right car

Going home for the winter break with a laundry bag, a suitcase and a box of books is a different load from a weekend in Spain with a cabin bag. Count the big cases before choosing the car. Two fit a saloon; an executive car manages two or three; an estate three or four; and the MPV, with six seats, four or more. The first three seat four people.

Because the fare is for the car, not per head, flatmates on flights from Gatwick at similar times can travel together and split the cost. Book one car big enough for everyone's bags rather than squeezing into a saloon.

Landing at Gatwick: finding your driver

Coming back for the start of term, give the flight number when you book. The driver follows your flight while you are in the air and plans the pickup around when it really lands, so a late arrival costs nothing extra. From touchdown you then have three quarters of an hour free after a flight from abroad, or half an hour after a UK flight, to get through and find the driver.

Look for your name on a board in the arrivals hall; the driver then takes a share of the cases. Because Gatwick wants private hire cars to collect passengers from its Short Stay car parks, there is a short walk with the trolley rather than a car at the kerb. Then it is the M23, the M25 and the M2 back to Canterbury, and up the hill to your accommodation.

Gatwick from Blean, Rough Common and Tyler Hill

From the villages only the first few minutes are different. Blean lies on the A290, so the car heads south into Canterbury past the turning for the campus; Tyler Hill and Rough Common join the same roads into the city a little further on. From there the route to Gatwick, and the typical time, are the same as from the halls.

Give the house number and, if the house is hard to spot at night, something the driver can look out for. A note such as 'white gate opposite the bus stop' saves a phone call at 3am.

What the fixed fare covers

No meter runs. A slow M25, a closure that sends the car the long way round, a 3am start, a Sunday or a bank holiday: none of them alters the price, which the booking form works out for your exact address before you confirm.

Extras are limited to extra waiting past the free allowance, unbooked stops, a big change of route requested on the way, and tolls or parking fees met on the route. Curious how Gatwick's own charges for its drop-off zones work for your trip? Just ask at the time of booking.