Business class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Business
Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Cadillac XT5 or similar
- 3 passengers
- 2 large cases, 1 small
- The default for a working day
Hourly hire
Keep the carand the driver
Two hours or twenty-four. The chauffeur waits between stops and the route is yours to change.
- Two-hour minimum, then by the half hour
- Waiting between stops is not billed
- Change the plan whenever you like
The waiting is the point.
Between stops the car sits outside with your coat on the seat and your bags in the boot. Nothing is running, nothing is counting, and nobody is asking you to hurry.
The plan can change at 11am.
Add a stop, skip one, go somewhere you had not thought of. You tell the chauffeur on the day. There is no rebooking and no recalculation.
One rate, by the hour.
An hourly rate fixed when you book, covering the vehicle, the chauffeur, fuel, tolls, parking, taxes and gratuity. It does not move with traffic or demand.
What is hourly chauffeur hire?
Hourly chauffeur hire, sometimes called as-directed service, reserves a car and a professional chauffeur for a block of time rather than for a single journey. You book a start point, a start time and a number of hours. Where you go during those hours is decided by you, on the day.
The minimum booking is 2 hours and the rate covers the vehicle, the chauffeur, fuel, tolls, parking, taxes and gratuity, along with a distance allowance for each hour booked. Waiting between stops is included rather than metered, which is the difference that matters: the chauffeur stays with you for the whole block instead of being dispatched away after each drop-off.
Hourly is not always the answer.
For a single journey between two known addresses it is usually the more expensive way to travel. Here is the honest guide to which service to book.
| If your day looks like this | Book | Because |
|---|---|---|
| One pickup, one drop-off, both known now | Point to point transfer | Priced by route, and cheaper than paying for idle time |
| A flight at either end | Airport transfer | Flight tracking and 60 minutes of free waiting are included |
| Two cities, one direction, one journey | City to city | Priced by route including tolls and the vehicle's return leg |
| Three or more stops in one area | Hourly hire | Waiting between stops is included instead of billed each time |
| You do not yet know the schedule | Hourly hire | The car is yours whether you use it at 10am or not at all |
| A full day with long gaps in it | Hourly hire | Cheaper than booking four separate transfers with waiting |
| Luggage stays in the car all day | Hourly hire | Same vehicle throughout, so nothing is unloaded between stops |
| Several vehicles across several days | Events and roadshows | Coordinated as one programme with a single invoice |
If you tell dispatch what your day involves, they will tell you which of these is cheapest, even when it is not the one you were about to book.
How long to book for.
Each hour carries a distance allowance, pooled across the whole booking rather than capped hour by hour. Use ten kilometres in one hour and forty in the next; only the total matters.
| Booking | Distance included | Suits | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hoursThe minimum | 40 km / 25 miles | Two or three stops inside one district | Shorter than this, book a transfer instead |
| 4 hoursHalf day | 80 km / 50 miles | A morning of meetings, property viewings | The most booked length |
| 6 hours | 120 km / 75 miles | City tour with lunch, a long afternoon | Chauffeur takes a break within the block |
| 8 hoursFull day | 160 km / 100 miles | A full working day or roadshow leg | Add a meal break into your plan |
| 12 hoursLong day | 240 km / 150 miles | Weddings, events, production days | Approaching a single chauffeur's legal limit |
| 24 hoursDedicated | 480 km / 300 miles | Delegations, security details, multi-day visits | Includes a chauffeur change; you keep the same vehicle |
Beyond the minimum, time is billed in 30-minute increments. Running over on the day is fine and usually possible, but it depends on the chauffeur's remaining legal hours and their next booking, so tell dispatch as early as you can rather than at the last stop.
How an hourly booking runs.
Six things happen. Only two of them involve you doing anything.
1
Book a start and a length.
One address, one time, and the number of hours. You do not need a destination, an itinerary, or any idea where the day is going.
2
A chauffeur is held for the block.
Not shared, not dispatched elsewhere between your stops. They are assigned to you for the whole booking and to nobody else during it.
3
Their details arrive early.
Name, photo, vehicle and direct number three hours before you start, so the first contact of the day is not a stranger calling.
4
You direct the day.
Tell them the next stop when you know it. Change your mind, add a stop, skip one. Nothing needs approving and nothing gets recalculated.
5
The car waits with your things in it.
Coats, bags, samples, shopping. The boot is yours for the whole block, and the chauffeur parks legally nearby rather than circling.
6
It ends where you say.
The last stop does not have to be the first one. Finish at a restaurant, a hotel or an airport, and the booking simply ends there.
The day with six things on it.
Four meetings across a city, a lunch that may or may not run long, and a flight at six. Booked as separate transfers it is four bookings, four waits and four chances for something to be twelve minutes late.
Booked hourly it is one car, one chauffeur, and a boot you can leave a suitcase in from nine in the morning. When the second meeting overruns by forty minutes, nothing happens. That is the entire product.
Business day · 900 × 675
Door held open outside an office entrance
Door held open outside an office entrance
What the hourly rate covers.
One rate per hour. These are already inside it, and the short list of things that are not is below.
- The chauffeur, for the whole block
- Held for you and dispatched nowhere else during your booking, whether you are moving or not.
- Waiting between stops
- Not metered, not counted, not billed. Waiting is the service rather than an exception to it.
- A distance allowance per hour
- 20km or roughly 12 miles for every hour booked, pooled across the whole block rather than capped hour by hour.
- Fuel, tolls and congestion charges
- Every road charge incurred during your hours, including zone charges in cities that have them.
- Parking while you are out
- The chauffeur parks legally and pays for it. They do not circle the block or leave the vehicle somewhere it will be moved on from.
- Taxes and gratuity
- Nobody will expect a tip at the end of eight hours, and nothing will prompt you for one.
- Route changes on the day
- Any number of them, at no charge. There is no per-stop fee and no rebooking.
- Support the whole time
- Live dispatch around the clock in 24 languages, reachable throughout your booking.
Not included: distance beyond the pooled allowance, billed per kilometre at your class rate and shown before it applies; time beyond your booked hours, billed in 30-minute increments; airport access fees if the day ends at a terminal; any cleaning charge for damage, and any optional add-ons you chose such as meet and greet, a child seat or pet travel.
| Add-on | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Meet and greet | {{FEE_MEET_GREET}} | At airports and cruise terminals, your chauffeur parks, walks in and waits holding a sign with your name, then takes the luggage from there. Without it you are collected kerbside at no charge. |
| Child or booster seat | {{FEE_CHILD_SEAT}} per seat | Fitted before the car leaves for you. Give the child's age and weight so the correct seat is used. Availability and price depend on local law and the operator. |
| Travelling with a pet | {{FEE_PET_CLEANING}} cleaning fee | Non-service animals travel in a suitable crate or carrier where the operator accepts them. The fee covers cleaning the vehicle afterwards. Service animals travel free, always. |
Choose for the whole day, not the first ride.
Over eight hours the boot matters more than the badge. If coats, samples, shopping or camera cases are living in the car, size up.
First class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
First
Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 or similar
- 3 passengers
- 2 large cases, 1 small
- Client hosting and board visits
Electric class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Electric
Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQE, BMW i5 or similar
- 3 passengers
- 2 large cases, 1 small
- City days inside a green policy
SUV class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
SUV
Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, Mercedes GLS or similar
- 5 passengers
- 5 large cases
- Shopping days and production kit
Van class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Van
Mercedes V-Class, Mercedes Vito, Ford Transit or similar
- 7 passengers
- 7 large cases
- A team moving together all day
Group class · 800 × 600
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Exterior, cabin, boot, detail
Group
Mercedes Sprinter or executive minibus
- Up to 16 passengers
- Luggage by arrangement
- Delegations and wedding parties
| Class | Passengers | Large cases | Typical hourly use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 3 | 2 | Meetings, viewings, a normal working day |
| First | 3 | 2 | Client hosting, board visits, occasions |
| Electric | 3 | 2 | City days inside a sustainability policy |
| SUV | 5 | 5 | Families, shopping days, production kit |
| Van | 7 | 7 | Teams moving together all day |
| Group | Up to 16 | By arrangement | Delegations, wedding parties, tours |
Days that will not stay on schedule.
A wedding where the photographs always overrun. A house-hunting day across six addresses. A hospital appointment with an unknown finish time. A long lunch that turns into an afternoon.
These are the days transfers handle badly, because every one of them is priced on a timetable that nobody is going to keep. An hourly booking has no timetable to break.
Occasions · 900 × 675
Arrival at an event, chauffeur waiting
Arrival at an event, chauffeur waiting
Against the alternatives.
The realistic comparison for a full day is not another chauffeur company. It is four separate app rides, or a rental car you have to park yourself.
| RYDES hourly | Separate app rides | Rental car | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting between stops | Included | You rebook each time and wait each time | Not applicable |
| Luggage during the day | Stays in the boot | Carried with you everywhere | Stays in the car you parked |
| A meeting overruns | Nothing happens | Rebook at whatever the price is then | Extend the parking |
| Changing the plan | Tell the chauffeur | A new booking each time | Yours, but you are driving |
| Parking | Handled and paid for | Not applicable | Yours to find and pay for |
| Price certainty | Hourly rate fixed at booking | Four unknown fares, surge included | Rental, fuel, tolls, parking, fines |
| Who drives | A professional chauffeur | Whoever accepts each job | You, in a city you do not know |
| Best suited to | Three or more stops, or an unknown schedule | One or two known journeys | Multi-day trips with local driving |
Worth mentioning when you book.
All of these are free to request and awkward to arrange at nine in the morning. They go in the notes field.
Leaving the city
Hourly bookings can travel outside the city. Distance simply draws down the pooled allowance, and beyond it is billed per kilometre. For a one-way run to another city, book intercity instead and pay less.
Chauffeur breaks
On bookings of six hours or more your chauffeur needs a break, and it is planned into the day rather than taken from it. Tell us your longest gap and it will be used for exactly that.
Extending on the day
Usually possible and billed in 30-minute increments, but it depends on remaining legal driving hours and the next booking. Tell dispatch as early as you can, not at the last stop.
Discretion
Chauffeurs on hourly work hear a great deal. Confidentiality is a condition of being on the network, and NDAs can be arranged through your business account where a programme requires them.
Child and booster seats
A paid add-on at {{FEE_CHILD_SEAT}} per seat, requested at booking and fitted for the whole block. Price and available seat types depend on local law and the operator serving your city.
Multiple passengers, separate stops
The car is yours, so it can drop one passenger and collect another during the block. Tell us the names in advance and everyone gets the chauffeur's details.
Starting at an airport
Give us the flight number and the first hour behaves like an airport transfer, with the aircraft tracked and meet and greet available as an add-on. Your hours start when you are collected, not when the aircraft lands.
Local knowledge
Your chauffeur lives in that city. Ask where to eat, which entrance is quicker, what is worth an hour. It is the part of hourly hire that never appears on the invoice.
Quiet street · 900 × 675
Single parked car, dusk
Single parked car, dusk
When not to book hourly.
If you know both addresses and you are only making the journey once, a point-to-point transfer will cost you less. If there is a flight at one end, an airport transfer includes flight tracking and an hour of free waiting that hourly does not. If you are going one way to another city, intercity is priced for the distance and includes the vehicle's return.
Hourly earns its price when the schedule is uncertain, when there are several stops, or when waiting would otherwise be billed to you again and again. Outside those cases it is the expensive choice, and we would rather tell you now than take the booking.
Hourly hire questions.
If yours is not here, dispatch answers around the clock at +1 888 881 7933 or support@rydes.co.
What is hourly chauffeur hire?
Hourly chauffeur hire, also called as-directed service, reserves a car and a professional chauffeur for a block of time rather than for a single journey. You book a start point, a start time and a number of hours, and where you go during those hours is decided by you on the day. Waiting between stops is included rather than metered.
What is the minimum booking?
Two hours. Beyond the minimum, time is booked and billed in 30-minute increments. For anything shorter than two hours, a point-to-point transfer is the cheaper option and dispatch will tell you so.
How much distance is included?
20 kilometres, roughly 12 miles, for every hour booked. The allowance is pooled across the whole booking rather than capped hour by hour, so a quiet hour and a busy one balance each other out. Distance beyond the pooled total is billed per kilometre at your vehicle class rate and shown to you before it applies.
Does the chauffeur wait between my stops?
Yes, and it is not charged. The chauffeur is assigned to your booking and to nobody else for its full length, so they park legally nearby and stay with the vehicle. Your coat, bags and anything else can stay in the car the whole time.
Do I need to know my itinerary in advance?
No. All that is required at booking is a start address, a start time and a number of hours. Tell the chauffeur each destination as you decide it. Sending a rough plan in advance helps them park sensibly, but nothing about the booking depends on it.
Can I change the plan during the day?
Yes, as often as you like and at no charge. Add stops, drop stops, reverse the order or go somewhere you had not considered. There is no per-stop fee, no rebooking and no recalculation of the rate.
What happens if I run over my booked hours?
Extending is usually possible and is billed in 30-minute increments at your booked rate. It is not guaranteed, because it depends on the chauffeur's remaining legal driving hours and their next booking. Tell dispatch as early in the day as you can rather than at the final stop.
Can the booking end somewhere different from where it started?
Yes. The final stop does not have to be the first one. Finish at a restaurant, a hotel, an office or an airport and the booking simply ends there. If it ends at a terminal, airport access fees are added and shown before you confirm.
Can I leave the city during an hourly booking?
Yes. Travelling outside the city simply draws down the pooled distance allowance, and anything beyond it is billed per kilometre. If you are making a one-way journey to another city rather than returning, book a city to city ride instead, which is priced for the distance and includes the vehicle's return leg.
Is it cheaper than booking separate rides?
Usually, once there are three or more stops or any meaningful waiting between them. With one or two known journeys, separate transfers are cheaper. The deciding factor is idle time: hourly stops charging you for waiting, and that is where the saving comes from.
Does the chauffeur take a break?
On bookings of six hours or more, yes, and it is planned into the day rather than taken out of your time. Tell us where your longest gap falls and the break will be scheduled inside it. Bookings approaching a chauffeur's legal limit include a chauffeur change, with the same vehicle throughout.
Can several people use the same booking?
Yes. The car is reserved for the booking rather than for one passenger, so it can drop one person and collect another during the block. Provide the names in advance and each passenger receives the chauffeur's details and the tracking link.
Can I start at an airport?
Yes. Give us the flight number and the first part behaves like an airport transfer, with the aircraft tracked and kerbside collection included. Meet and greet inside the terminal can be added as a paid extra. Your hours begin when you are collected rather than when the aircraft lands, so a delay does not eat into what you booked.
How far in advance should I book?
At least 12 hours for a standard hourly booking, and several days for full days, larger vehicles or anything over eight hours. Hourly work removes a chauffeur from availability for the whole block, so it cannot always be arranged at short notice the way a single transfer can.
What is the cancellation policy for hourly bookings?
Hourly bookings can be cancelled or changed free of charge up to 24 hours before the start time, rather than the 1 hour that applies to transfers. The longer window exists because a chauffeur and vehicle have been committed to a whole block that cannot be resold at short notice.
Is the hourly rate the same at night or on holidays?
Yes. The rate is fixed when you book and does not move with time of day, demand, weather or public holidays. The only charges that can be added afterwards are ones you cause and approve: distance beyond the allowance, time beyond your booked hours, airport fees, or cleaning for damage.
FAQ portrait · 720 × 960
Chauffeur waiting beside the car
Chauffeur waiting beside the car
Related services.
Hourly hire is one of five ways to travel with RYDES.
Airport · 800 × 600
Chauffeur with a name sign in arrivals
Chauffeur with a name sign in arrivals
Airport transfers.
Flight tracked from the departure gate, sixty minutes of free waiting, and kerbside collection at the terminal.
Airport transfersCity to city · 800 × 600
Sedan on an open road
Sedan on an open road
City to city.
Door to door between cities, priced by route, with tolls and the vehicle's return leg already inside the number.
Intercity ridesEvents · 800 × 600
Vehicles at a venue entrance
Vehicles at a venue entrance
Events and roadshows.
Several vehicles, several days, one coordinator who answers the phone and one invoice at the end.
Event transportThe car is yours today.
See your hourly rate in under a minute. No account needed to find out what the day costs.