Hourly Chauffeur or Point-to-Point Transfer: Which Should You Book?

Every chauffeured booking is one of two things. A point-to-point transfer takes you from one address to another. An hourly booking, sometimes called "as directed," keeps one chauffeur and one vehicle with you for a block of time. Most of the questions we hear at booking come down to choosing between them.

This guide explains how each one works at Opulent Transport, what each includes, and how to tell which fits your day.

How a Point-to-Point Transfer Works

You give us a pickup address, a drop-off address, and a time. Your rate is quoted before you confirm and does not change for traffic or weather. The car arrives, takes you to your destination, and the booking ends there.

A transfer includes a set amount of complimentary wait time at pickup: 60 minutes for international arrivals, 30 minutes for domestic arrivals, cruise ports and private terminals, and 15 minutes at hotels and other addresses. Airport pickups are tracked in real time, so a delayed flight does not cost you a waiting fee.

Transfers are the right choice for a single journey: an airport pickup at FLL or Palm Beach International (PBI), a ride to Port Everglades, or a trip home after dinner.

How an Hourly Booking Works

You reserve the vehicle for a block of hours, starting at a set time and place. From then on the day is yours to direct. Your chauffeur waits at every stop and is at the door when you come out. You can change the order of your stops, add one, or stay longer somewhere without calling to rebook.

At Opulent Transport, sedans and SUVs are booked for a minimum of three hours, and time beyond your booking is billed in 30-minute increments. Bookings of three hours or more require a 50% deposit, which becomes non-refundable 48 hours before the start time. Full terms are on our hourly chauffeur service page.

Five Questions That Decide It

1. How many stops are there? One pickup and one drop-off is a transfer. Three or more stops in a day is almost always an hourly booking. Two stops can go either way, depending on how long you spend at the first.

2. Do you know when each stop will end? A transfer needs a fixed pickup time. If a meeting, a ceremony, or a dinner could run long, an hourly booking removes the guesswork, because the car is already there.

3. Will anything stay in the car? Luggage, samples, a change of clothes, shopping bags. With an hourly booking the vehicle stays yours between stops, so your things stay in it.

4. How long is the gap between rides? If you need a ride somewhere at 9 a.m. and a ride back at 6 p.m., two separate transfers usually make more sense than paying for nine hours. If the gap is an hour or two, hourly is simpler.

5. Who is travelling? When you are hosting a client, a visiting executive, or family, the value of hourly service is that nobody has to think about transport at all.

Common Situations

A roadshow or a run of meetings. Hourly. One chauffeur learns the day, keeps the schedule moving, and your materials stay in the vehicle. See corporate transportation.

An airport arrival followed by a hotel check-in. A transfer. If you want to stop at the office on the way, tell us when you book so the stop is included in your quote.

Dinner and a show, or a game. Hourly, if you want the car waiting when the evening ends. Two transfers, if you are happy to set a fixed pickup time.

A wedding day. Hourly, and usually more than one vehicle. Schedules shift on wedding days, and hourly service absorbs that. See wedding transportation.

A group moving between a hotel and a venue. Often a Sprinter booked by the hour, running as a shuttle.

If You Are Not Sure

Tell us the day as you expect it to go: where you start, where you need to be, and roughly when. We will quote it both ways where both make sense, and you choose. Either way the rate is agreed before you confirm, with no surge pricing.