The short answer
For a day of back-to-back meetings, book a chauffeur by the hour rather than a ride for each leg. One chauffeur and one executive car stay with you for the hours booked, driving you between meetings and waiting while you work. If the day runs long, your chauffeur can stay when free, billed for the hours used.
Why book a chauffeur by the hour for meetings
A day of meetings rarely runs to plan. One meeting finishes early, the next overruns, and lunch moves across town. Booking a separate ride for each leg means waiting for a car every time you step outside. Hourly hire gives you one chauffeur and one executive car for a block of time instead. Your chauffeur collects you at the booked time and stays with you until the hours end, driving you between meetings and waiting nearby while you are inside, so you walk out of each building and straight into the car. You don't need every address in advance, and a meeting that runs long needs no new booking. It works in Dubai, in Abu Dhabi and across all seven emirates. When you know the shape of your day, book a chauffeur by the hour in Dubai or across the UAE.
How the hours are charged
Hourly hire has a minimum number of hours, set by drivoo for each class and shown when you book. On the website you can book from that minimum up to the longest hire the booking page offers, in one booking. You are billed on the hours booked or the hours used, whichever is more, with extra time rounded up to the next 30 minutes. Each booked hour comes with a distance allowance; distance beyond the allowance for your hours is charged per kilometre. The booking shows one fixed fare for the hours booked before you confirm. Salik and Darb tolls and paid parking during the day are not in that fare: they pass through at cost, with no markup, itemised on your receipt. You pay by card: the fare is held when you book, and the final amount is charged when the hire ends.
Planning your stops
Your chauffeur takes you wherever you need within your hours, but a little planning makes the day smoother. List your meetings in order with their addresses and times, and add the plan as a note when you book, so your chauffeur knows the shape of the day. Then order the stops so you are not crossing the city and back. In Dubai, many business addresses sit along Sheikh Zayed Road. DIFC lies beside it, close to Downtown Dubai; Business Bay is next to Downtown; and Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City are further along the same road towards Abu Dhabi, beside Dubai Marina. A morning in DIFC and Business Bay followed by an afternoon in Dubai Internet City flows better than going back and forth between them, and a conference at the Dubai World Trade Centre fits into the same day.
Rush hours and timing
Dubai's roads are at their busiest in the weekday morning and evening rush hours, and Sheikh Zayed Road past Downtown Dubai is often slow at those times. Give yourself more time between meetings that fall in those windows, and keep the longer drives, such as a trip to another emirate, for the middle of the day where you can. The traffic does not change the fare for your booked hours; a slow drive simply uses some of them. If one meeting matters more than the rest, ask your chauffeur to leave a margin before it.
Waiting between meetings
Waiting is what hourly hire is for. Within your hours, your chauffeur waits at every stop for as long as you need, nearby while you are inside, so there is no hunt for a car when a meeting ends. If parking is paid where your chauffeur waits, it passes through at cost, with no markup, itemised on your receipt. Between meetings the car is a quiet place to take a call or read through your notes, with bottled water and device chargers on board, as on every drivoo ride. What you don't need in the meeting, from a laptop bag to a box of samples, can stay in the car. A message tells you when your chauffeur is assigned, so you know who is collecting you before the day begins.
Choosing the class
The booking shows only the classes with a car that takes your passengers and bags, so enter everyone travelling with you. drivoo Go is a refined executive sedan for everyday business travel. drivoo Black is our most spacious sedan class, with extra rear comfort, suited to VIP guests. drivoo Van has room for a group and their luggage, with conference-style seating, so a team or a small delegation can travel together and talk on the way. Every ride is run by a licensed limousine company and its licensed chauffeur, and the car is for your use only. Our guide to choosing a vehicle class and the drivoo fleet page describe each class in more detail.
Meetings in another emirate
Within your hours, your chauffeur can take you anywhere in the UAE, so one booking covers a day split between two emirates. Abu Dhabi is about 140 kilometres from central Dubai, and its financial centre, Abu Dhabi Global Market, is on Al Maryah Island, so a day of meetings there from Dubai is a long one: book enough hours for the drive both ways as well as the meetings, and remember the distance allowance for your hours. If you only need to get from one emirate to another and stay there, an intercity transfer between emirates is quoted for the route and is simpler; our Dubai to Abu Dhabi page covers that road. drivoo serves trips within the UAE only.
Extending the day
Meetings overrun, and dinners get added. If your day runs longer than you booked, ask your chauffeur. When they can stay, you are billed for the hours used on the same hourly basis, rounded up to the next 30 minutes, so there is nothing to rebook. If you are not sure how long you need, book the shorter time and extend on the day. If the end of the day is fixed, such as a flight home or an evening event, book enough hours to cover it, because staying on depends on your chauffeur being free. The last stop can be the airport: within your hours, your chauffeur drops you for your flight.
Starting at the airport
A day of meetings often begins with a flight. An hourly hire can start at the airport, but it takes no flight number, so it begins at the time you book rather than moving with your landing: leave time for passport control and baggage reclaim. If your arrival time is uncertain, an airport transfer follows your flight instead, and our guide to the best time to book an airport pickup explains how.
How to book
Choose Hourly on the booking page and enter your pickup address, the date, the start time and the number of hours, with your passengers and bags. Pick a class, add a child seat or a note with your plan for the day, and confirm. Cancellation is free up to a set time before pickup, shown when you book. Your account holds one active booking at a time, so book the next day's hire once today's is complete. The website books for the signed-in rider; to arrange days for colleagues or visitors, or a programme over several days, our corporate chauffeur service team can set it up with you.
