Hourly chauffeur hire puts a car and a chauffeur at your disposal for a set period rather than a single journey. Rates start at $95 per hour with a three-hour minimum inside New York City and four hours outside it. The same vehicle and the same chauffeur stay with you throughout, and your belongings stay in the car between stops.
What as-directed actually means
As-directed means the itinerary is yours to change. You are not booking a route, you are booking a vehicle and a chauffeur for a block of time, and where they go during that block is decided as the day goes.
In practice this is what makes a multi-stop day workable. A meeting overruns by forty minutes and nothing needs re-booking. A dinner turns into a second location and the car is outside. Nobody is standing on a pavement at 11pm opening an app.
It also means your coat, your bags and your presentation materials stay in the vehicle all day rather than travelling with you into every building.
When hourly beats booking individual transfers
The break-even in New York City is about three stops. Below that, individual flat-rate transfers are cheaper because you are not paying for hours the car sits idle.
From the third stop onward, hourly wins on both cost and sanity. Each separate booking carries its own pickup premium, and between stops you are either re-booking or waiting for a car that has not turned up.
The exception is airports. An airport run should always be a point-to-point flat rate — booking it hourly means paying a three-hour minimum for an hour of travel. Our full comparison is in the hourly versus point-to-point guide.
How the minimums work
Three hours is the minimum for bookings that begin inside New York City. Four hours applies to bookings starting in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester or Long Island. Both are industry standard rather than anything unusual to us.
The minimum exists because a chauffeur and a vehicle committed to your booking cannot take other work, and the unpaid travel to and from your pickup happens either way.
Extending on the day is usually possible subject to the chauffeur's next booking. Tell dispatch as early as you can and additional time is billed at the same hourly rate — there is no penalty rate for running long.
Who books hourly, and what for
Executives with a day of meetings across the city, which is the single most common use. Roadshows and investor days, where the schedule is dense and the cost of being late compounds.
Evenings out — dinner, a show, a return home — where the end time is genuinely unknown and the alternative is finding a car at midnight.
Weddings and events, where the day will not run to schedule and the value of a car that simply waits is difficult to overstate.
Film, photography and production work, where the call sheet moves and a vehicle on standby is part of the budget rather than a convenience.
Fleet and hourly rates
| Vehicle | Capacity | Luggage | Hourly rate | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Sedan | 3 passengers | 2 large bags | $95/hr | 3 hr |
| Luxury SUV | 6 passengers | 5 large bags | $125/hr | 3 hr |
| Sprinter Van | 14 passengers | 14 large bags | $185/hr | 4 hr |
What is included in every booking
- All tolls and airport fees
- Standard gratuity
- Meet-and-greet inside the terminal
- Flight tracking with automatic pickup adjustment
- 60 minutes complimentary airport wait (90 for Sprinter)
- Bottled water and phone chargers
Optional extras
| Extra | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Child / booster seat | $25 each | Requested at booking; installed before pickup. |
| Additional stop | $15 per stop | Within the same borough. |
| NYC Congestion Relief Zone | $0.75 per trip | Statutory per-trip surcharge on for-hire trips into Manhattan below 60th Street. |
| New Jersey / Connecticut pickup | $20 | Applies to hourly bookings originating out of state. |
| Overnight pickup (11pm – 5am) | $25 | Applies to point-to-point transfers. |
Free cancellation up to 4 hours before a point-to-point pickup, or 24 hours before an hourly or event booking.
Rates shown are all-inclusive. New York State sales tax of 8.875% applies to hourly charters and is shown separately on your confirmation.
Not sure which vehicle fits? See the vehicle guide. For how a booking actually works end to end, see how booking works, and for an honest comparison against a taxi or rideshare see the black car versus Uber guide.
Frequently asked questions
From $95 per hour for a Business Sedan, $125 for a Luxury SUV and $185 for a Sprinter Van. A three-hour minimum applies inside New York City and four hours outside it.
Three hours for bookings that start inside New York City, and four hours for those starting in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester or Long Island.
Yes — the vehicle is reserved for the whole period, which is what allows the same chauffeur to wait for you with your belongings in the car. That is the product.
Yes. A single hourly booking is one chauffeur throughout. For multi-day programmes we hold the same chauffeur across the whole engagement wherever the roster allows.
Usually, subject to the chauffeur's next booking. Tell dispatch as early as you can. Additional time is billed at the same hourly rate.
From about three stops onward, yes. Below that a flat-rate transfer per journey is cheaper because you avoid paying for idle time.
Reserve your chauffeur
Sedans, SUVs and Sprinter vans across all five boroughs, New Jersey and Connecticut. Reservations answered 24 hours a day.