Hourly As-Directed or Point-to-Point: Choosing the Format
The choice between hourly and point-to-point decides how a business day feels. A practical comparison of the two.
Two genuinely different products
Point-to-point is a defined journey: a pickup, a destination, a price agreed for that movement. As-directed is a block of time during which the vehicle and chauffeur are at your disposal and the route is decided as the day unfolds. They suit different days, and the mistake most often made is booking a series of point-to-point transfers for a day that was always going to behave like an as-directed one.
When point-to-point is the right answer
A single journey with a clear start and end, particularly an airport transfer or a trip to one meeting and home again, is simplest and cleanest as a point-to-point booking. The traveller knows what has been arranged, the assistant has nothing to manage during the day, and the cost relates to something concrete. If the day has one destination, this is almost always the format to choose.
When as-directed earns its keep
As-directed comes into its own when the day has several stops, uncertain end times, or gaps too short to release the vehicle but too long to stand around. It also matters when the car itself is being used: for holding luggage between a hotel checkout and an evening flight, as a working space between meetings, or as somewhere to wait out an hour of rain in Mayfair between appointments.
- Three or more stops in one day
- Meetings with no reliable finish time
- Luggage, samples or equipment that must stay with you
- Client hosting where the schedule follows the guest
- Days where privacy between appointments matters
The hidden cost of getting it wrong
Booking separate transfers for a day of meetings often looks cheaper on paper and works out worse in practice. Each leg has to be booked, each has to be confirmed, and the moment one meeting overruns the next car has either left or is waiting somewhere it cannot legally stand. The assistant then spends the afternoon rebooking. As-directed removes that entire class of work.
How the two are quoted
Point-to-point is normally agreed against the route, and as-directed against a block of time with a stated starting point. Both are confirmed at the point of enquiry rather than published, because they depend on the vehicle, the timing and the shape of the day. If you are unsure which format fits, describing the day and letting the format follow from it is more productive than choosing first.
Plan your chauffeur journey
London Chauffeurs provides itinerary-led private travel for airport transfers, executive travel, private aviation, events and long-distance UK journeys. Availability and pricing are confirmed for the requested itinerary.
Frequently asked questions
What is the shortest sensible as-directed booking?
Minimum durations are confirmed per enquiry rather than fixed publicly, and they vary with vehicle and timing. As a rule of thumb, as-directed starts to make sense once the day involves waiting that would otherwise be wasted, which in central London is often sooner than people expect.
Can an as-directed booking be extended during the day?
Extensions are common and are accommodated where the vehicle is not committed elsewhere afterwards. The earlier the extension is flagged the better, so a message as soon as you suspect the day will run long is far more useful than one at the point the booking was due to end.
Does the chauffeur stay with the vehicle throughout?
On an as-directed booking the chauffeur remains available for the agreed period, holding at a lawful waiting point rather than idling at the kerb where that is not permitted. Central London has many streets where waiting is restricted, so the car may be a short call away rather than directly outside.
Which format suits an airport run better?
Usually point-to-point, because the journey has a clear start and end. As-directed becomes preferable where the airport run is bolted onto a day of meetings, or where a checkout and a late flight leave luggage needing somewhere to sit for several hours.