What hourly actually means
Booking a car by the hour means you have the vehicle and the chauffeur for a block of time, and inside that block you can go wherever you like. It is sometimes called “as directed” work, which is a good description: there is no fixed itinerary filed in advance, and the destination can change three times without anyone needing to rebook anything.
The alternative, point to point, is what most people picture when they think of a car service. One pickup, one drop off, one price. It is the right choice more often than not, and we will tell you when it is. But there is a specific kind of day where booking the hours costs less stress and often less money, and it is worth knowing which day you are having before you book.
The one question that decides it
Does your day have an uncertain middle?
That is genuinely the whole test. If you know where you are starting and where you are ending and there is nothing complicated in between, book point to point. A run from the airport to your hotel is a point to point trip and always will be.
If the middle is uncertain, the hours win. An uncertain middle looks like a meeting that might run twenty minutes over, a dinner that might turn into drinks, a property tour with four stops where the third one is either fascinating or dull, a wedding day where the photographer is always late, or an evening where you genuinely do not know whether you are going home at ten or at one.
Booked as separate trips, each of those uncertainties becomes a phone call, a wait, and a new fare. Booked as hours, they become nothing at all.
What is included, and what is not
The detail that surprises people most: hourly bookings include both drive time and wait time. The car sitting outside a restaurant for ninety minutes is not an extra line on the bill, it is what you booked. That is the mechanism that makes an uncertain day work, and it is the reason hourly often lands cheaper than three separately booked trips once you count the waiting around between them.
Gratuity is not included in our hourly figures. We mention it plainly because operators differ, some fold in an automatic percentage and some do not, and it is an unpleasant thing to discover at the end of a long evening. Tolls are included in our quotes.
Our current hourly structure, including the difference between metro work and trips into the surrounding areas and mountain towns, is on the rates page. There is a minimum booking length, and it varies by vehicle and by when you are traveling, so ask us for your specific date rather than assuming.
Where hourly earns its keep
Nights out and restaurant hopping
The classic case. Dinner in one neighborhood, a show somewhere else, a last drink in a third place, and nobody in the group wants to be the one watching their intake. Booking the hours means the car is outside when you come out, rather than being requested at the same moment as everyone else leaving the same venue.
Events at Red Rocks, Empower Field and the downtown venues
Event departures are the worst possible time to be looking for a ride, because several thousand people are looking at once and the pickup zones are often nowhere near the exit. If your evening includes dinner before the show, the hours cover the dinner, the show and the ride home as one booking. Our Red Rocks transportation page goes into the venue specifics.
Business days with several stops
Site visits, client meetings, a visiting colleague being shown four locations. Meetings do not respect calendars and a driver who is already outside is worth more than a slightly cheaper fare. See corporate travel for the business side.
Weddings
Almost every wedding day has an uncertain middle, usually created by photographs. Hourly work covers the gaps between ceremony, photos and reception without anyone having to predict the length of each in advance.
Showing visitors around
Family in town, a scenic drive, a brewery afternoon, a day in the foothills. The itinerary is the point and it should be allowed to change.
When point to point is the better buy
We would rather tell you this than sell you hours you do not need.
- Airport runs. One pickup, one drop, a known destination. Book it as a trip. See Denver airport black car service.
- A single long transfer. Denver out to a mountain town and nothing else that day. Point to point is nearly always cheaper on a long one way run.
- A short, certain trip. Across town and back with a known end time.
- Anything genuinely spontaneous and short. If you need a car in the next ten minutes to go two miles, an app is the right tool and we will say so.
How to plan an hourly booking well
- Book from the first pickup, not from when you think you will need the car. The clock starts when the car is with you.
- Overestimate rather than under. Extending on the night depends on whether the chauffeur has another booking behind yours, and on a busy Saturday they usually do.
- Give a rough shape, even though you can change it. “Downtown, then somewhere in RiNo, then home to Wash Park” is enough for a driver to plan parking and routing around, and it costs you nothing in flexibility.
- Match the vehicle to the group. Up to six in an SUV, and more than one vehicle for a bigger party. For a night out, plan for the group growing rather than shrinking.
- Say if there will be luggage, instruments, ski bags or equipment. Bags decide the vehicle more often than seats do.
Common questions
How does hourly car service work?
You book the vehicle and chauffeur for a block of hours. Within that block you set the route and can change it as the day goes. Drive time and wait time are both included, so the car staying with you between stops is part of the booking rather than an extra.
Is hourly more expensive than booking separate trips?
Not necessarily, and often not. Three separate bookings with waiting and repositioning between them frequently adds up to more than the equivalent hours, and the hourly version carries none of the risk that a car is unavailable when your meeting overruns. For a single straightforward transfer, point to point is cheaper. Figures are on the rates page.
Is there a minimum number of hours?
Yes, and it varies by vehicle and by date, so it is worth confirming for your specific booking rather than assuming a number. Ask us with your date and we will tell you.
Can I extend on the night?
Often, but never assume it. It depends entirely on whether your chauffeur has another booking after yours, which on a busy weekend they usually do. If you think the evening might run long, book the extra hour up front. It is cheaper than the alternative and it removes the question.
Does the driver stay with the car between stops?
Yes. That is the point of an hourly booking. Your chauffeur waits nearby and is with the vehicle when you come out, rather than being dispatched elsewhere and returning.
Can I use hourly for a trip into the mountains?
You can, and it makes sense when the day involves several stops or an uncertain return time. For a straight run out from Denver and back with nothing in between, a point to point booking is usually the better value. Hourly figures for the surrounding areas and mountain towns differ from metro figures, and both are on the rates page.
What areas do you cover?
We are a Denver operator and drive the Denver end of every trip, across the metro and out to the mountain destinations from Denver International or the city. We do not run legs between mountain towns.