Why More People Are Ditching Ride-Sharing Apps for Private Chauffeurs
When ride-sharing hit the scene, all it took was a phone and credit card to make any destination possible. For years now, Uber and Lyft dominate city travel with taxi services feeling outdated and unrivaled in expense. But in recent times, more and more people are stepping away from the apps – or at least appreciating a private chauffeur service more. It’s not just the wealthy businessman in need of the next meeting who requires this service, but everyday travelers, professionals and families who, at one point, only thought this an unnecessary and frivolous cost have found it to be the most appropriate,and cheapest, route of action.
There’s No More Value With Ride Sharing
What does ride-sharing give us in the first place? Cheap prices, timely arrivals, and access to drivers. That is no longer the case. Yes, cheap fares – which may be true. But no one wants to pay $25 for a ride from Manhattan to JFK on a Tuesday at 3 PM only to discover that their second flight on a Friday at 6 PM will cost $65 for that same distance – and booking their ride in advance still gives everyone the same opportunity to charge an extra $25. When someone has a driver “three minutes away” but ends up waiting ten minutes at a traffic light with no movement, what happens? They have to start all over again to get another car.
The experience is hit or miss, one day you’re getting into a spotless car driven by an amicable and engaging driver; another you’re struggling to get into a vehicle that smells like pizza with a distracted driver who can barely say hello because his head is down on his phone. When you rely on something, with business meetings and travel expectations – this becomes irritating.
What Private Chauffeurs Offer
Thus, private chauffeur services have struck their niche. They don’t have to compete with value when it comes to mileage within the city; they compete in situations where reliability is make-or-break. When features include personalised transportation with professional drivers, guaranteed pick up/drop off times, vetted trusted drivers and well-kept luxury vehicles, getting a little something for a premium charge makes sense where nothing can go wrong.
It’s all about the small things. For instance, many private chauffeur services track flights when coming from the airport; if someone is delayed, they don’t have to panic after texting their service, their driver automatically gets the notification with no additional charges. They are always clean, this cannot be said of ride-sharing service vehicles. Why? Because private chauffeur companies focus on their reputation – and reputation means cleanliness and it’s guaranteed. On top of this, these drivers are not part-time employees looking for extra cash to drive on Wednesdays before their day job, they are vetted professionals with commercial licensing who have an invested interest in doing well for their company.
When It Makes Financial Sense
Furthermore, it’s easy for people to say private chauffeur services will charge exorbitantly more than ride-sharing options, but that’s not true across the board. Yes, asking for a trip to Safeway will not make sense via private chauffeur; however, requesting an airport trip makes much more sense,even if 30-40% more, as long as all parties involved can afford that kind of difference. The issue with ride-sharing is surge pricing, where a $60 ride can easily become a $95 ride just as much as a $40 ride can become an $85 ride.
If everything is out to price-gouge for safety – why not go for the safer option from the start? Ultimately, private chauffeur services factor in cancelations or mediocre rides that will not suffice when someone needs to catch a flight; if paying 30% more yields peace of mind, it makes sense – and that’s what travelers have come to realize.
Business travelers have been the quickest to catch on about this price difference. A missed flight equals loss of revenue for time, effort, and energy exerted; a flustered client meeting (which starts on time) loses out on effort exerted. If a $60 ride share dings its passengers due to inclement weather or heavy traffic from Brooklyn Bridge into Mid-Town, what does it matter if it’s just as easy (for $110) to get private service from the start? It’s easy to quantify one’s time, difficult to put a price on peace of mind, but it’s possible.
The Corporate Turn
Moreover, companies are adjusting their policy travel accommodations accordingly. Once enamored with the transparency of added expenses ride-share apps offered when travel departments compiled expense reports, too many instances of executives stuck in traffic or catching dirty car rides into important downtown Chicago HQ meetings existed – and corporate executives think differently (and act accordingly).
When your frequent flyer pays out of pocket for a round trip cross-country just for a day’s worth of presentations and meetings – it sounds penny-pinching (and expense-account savvy) not to include a $50 ground transport charge; however, when that same executive gets flagged for missing her presentation because her chauffeur had to re-route due to construction only adds insult to injury – but not to any expenses flagged.
Administrative ease makes sense too; is it easy to compile ten different receipts over three business days over one trip? No. Is it easier to assign one line item invoice over one private chauffeur who made sure all passengers were at their meetings simultaneously? Yes. And accountability exists, good luck if your ride-share runs late or fails to show; if your hired chauffeur runs late, someone on the other side is invested in your needs because they want continued business, and public accountability if anything should go wrong.
The Safety Aspect No One Wants to Discuss
It may make people uncomfortable, but it’s part of the discourse at play. With private chauffeur services vetting their drivers more than background checks at this time for ride-share apps, and vehicles of commercial level, and general better safety standards – these chauffeurs work for companies with locations that give them accountability (and reputable party) as well should anything happen down the line.
It’s one thing to let kids get drives from Grandma; it’s another thing for a woman alone at night to have peace of mind about her transportation options. Yes, ride-share drivers come across just as seamless, but that’s not the case, most are fine, but what non-ride-share platforms provide is better driver vetting,even if they choose not to publicize it.
It’s Not Either/Or
Thus it’s important to understand what’s really going on when people move away from ride-share apps and gravitate toward private chauffeur services, they’re not eliminating their market from the jump; instead, for one journey across town on a Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM, nothing beats opening up an app where a car is around the corner three minutes away versus waiting five minutes for a private chauffeur (it’s easier than ever nowadays with multiple apps).
Instead,
Private chauffeur services make sense for:
Ride-sharing apps are better for:
The Conclusion
Ride-sharing apps (and concomitant apps) don’t exist as replacements to industries; they exist as transformations. When ride-sharing apps hit the scene years ago, they should’ve made personal car service obsolete – but instead, they’ve fostered a nuanced marketplace where both options exist thanks to differentiated circumstances. They’ve democratized access and provided thousands with ease-of-use options that didn’t previously exist – even reputable third-party solutions as well. That’s commendable.
At the same time, they’ve exposed passengers to the fact that ease-of-access and cheap solutions don’t solve all problems – even if reliability isn’t guaranteed either. Instead, it’s become recently two-tiered – excess that’s stable when useful secondary travel – and reliable non-negotiable when it comes time for private chauffeur services.
As supply meets demand once again in this arena, as more people migrate away from reliance upon one app’s useless endeavor versus another’s, and find merit over time, the new population is everywhere once again. Reportedly, as ride-shares have become increasingly unreliable and exorbitant,the difference becomes worthwhile after all exclusive offerings get charged, but now passengers feel entitled since they’ve made thousands in mistakes along the way.
What’s best for passengers now is that there’s viability, from whatever service, considering evolution in competition since both transportation companies need clientele moving forward by ensuring practical accommodations going forward by having both available as needed – but for now? More people have found that sometimes that old-school professional car service option isn’t so out of touch after all.
