Running an airport transfer business: waiting time, meet and greet and no-shows

Airport transfers are the steadiest work a transfer company gets. People fly every day of the year, they book ahead, and they will pay more for a driver who is waiting when they walk out of arrivals. They are also where most complaints come from: a long wait at baggage claim, a driver who left too early, a fare that changed at the last minute.

The fix is not working harder. It is setting clear rules once and letting every booking follow them. Here are the ones that matter most.

Ask for the flight number, every time

A pickup time on its own is a guess. A flight number tells you when the plane is due and gives your driver something to check before leaving. Make it part of the booking form for every airport pickup, not an optional note.

On Viadence, airport bookings ask for the flight number, and on Pro and above it can look up the arrival time when the customer books, using your own flight-data account. Your driver sees the flight number in the driver app with the rest of the job.

Decide what “waiting” means

Most disputes come down to waiting time. Write your rule down and show it at booking:

• Free waiting time. Many companies include 45 to 60 minutes from landing for international arrivals and 30 minutes for domestic flights.
• After that, a rate per minute or per 15 minutes. Make it a real price, not a favour you sometimes charge.
• When the clock starts. From the scheduled landing, or from the time the customer is told the driver has arrived. Pick one.

With a set rule, your driver never has to negotiate at the kerb, and the customer was told before they paid.

Meet and greet is a product, so price it

A driver with a name board inside the terminal is worth more than a car at the pickup zone, and it costs you more: parking, time and walking. Offer it as an extra with its own price rather than doing it for some customers and not others. Customers who want it will pay for it; those who don't will be happy with the cheaper fare.

Charge fairly for the hours nobody wants

A 4 a.m. pickup takes a driver who could have been asleep. Most customers understand a night surcharge as long as it's shown up front. A simple rule such as +15% between midnight and 5 a.m. covers it. On Viadence this is a day and time rule, and the quoted price includes it automatically.

Take payment before the day

Cash on the day works until a customer doesn't show up. For airport runs, take payment when the customer books, or at least a deposit:

• Full payment for most airport transfers. It's a fixed trip with a fixed price.
• A deposit for long-distance or high-value bookings, with the balance paid before the trip.

With Viadence the payment goes straight into your own Stripe account, and your cancellation tiers decide what gets refunded if plans change.

Have a no-show rule

Even with flight numbers, some passengers never appear. Decide in advance:

1. How long the driver waits after the free waiting time runs out.
2. Who the driver calls (the passenger, then your office).
3. What the customer is charged. Usually the full fare once the driver has waited the agreed time.

Put it in your booking terms and in the confirmation email so nobody is surprised.

Never promise a car you don't have

Monday mornings and the start of school holidays are when airport companies overbook. The safest rule is the simplest: if every car and driver is busy for that whole trip, the time isn't offered. Viadence checks each car and driver for the full trip, including the gap you keep between jobs, so the last car can only be booked once.

Putting it together

Airport work rewards companies that are predictable. Clear waiting rules, an honest price for meet and greet and night pickups, payment before the day and no overbooking are what turn first-time airport customers into regulars.

See how this works end to end on our airport transfers page, or read our guide to pricing airport transfers and using flight numbers to cut no-shows.

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Cover photo by Cameron Cox on Unsplash.