An airport transfer seems like the easiest service in the world: origin, destination, time and vehicle. In practice, it is one of the services where most margin slips away. Not through mileage, but through everything left out of the quote.
The difference between making money and breaking even often lies in ten small details. Control them before sending the price and you stop relying on luck.
1. Not checking the flight number
If you quote only by pickup time, you’re flying blind. The flight may arrive 40 minutes late or land early. Always ask for flight number, terminal and origin. Without them, you don’t know how long the driver will actually be tied up.
2. Not separating arrivals and departures
An airport departure works differently from an arrival. With departures, you control the timing. With arrivals, the flight, luggage and group do. They shouldn’t share the same waiting-time rule.
3. Forgetting waiting time
Many quotes include ‘up to 30 minutes of waiting’ without explaining what follows. Define the free period and the cost of each additional block. If you don’t write it down, customers assume everything is included.
Anything not written in the quote becomes an argument after the service is done.
4. Not counting positioning journeys
The coach doesn’t magically appear at the terminal. It leaves a depot, returns to a depot and sometimes travels further empty than with passengers. That mileage must be in the calculation, even if you don’t show it as a separate line.
5. Quoting the same at 09:00 and 04:30
Early-morning transfers have different operating costs: driver availability and rest, difficulty fitting in another service and less reaction time if something goes wrong. Without time-based rates, your best hours subsidise your worst.
6. Not checking access and loading points
A minibus can stop where a large coach cannot. Before confirming, check the terminal, loading area, restrictions and whether the group needs luggage assistance. Five minutes of checks prevent twenty calls on the day.
7. Not asking about luggage
Thirty passengers with backpacks aren’t the same as thirty with large suitcases and sports equipment. The right vehicle depends on volume, not just seats.
8. Not setting a confirmation deadline
Customers request a price, take a week to reply and expect the vehicle to remain available. Every airport quote should have a clear expiry: 48 or 72 hours, depending on the season.
9. Not covering last-minute changes
A different flight, terminal or hotel, or a group that splits up: any of these can happen. Set a deadline for changes at no extra cost and explain when the price needs to be reviewed.
10. Not reviewing the actual margin afterwards
Without comparing the quote with the actual service, you’ll repeat the mistake. Check actual mileage, waiting, incidents and total time. Adjust the base rate monthly, not annually.
Checklist before sending a price
- Flight number and terminal confirmed.
- Landing or departure time checked.
- Included waiting time and additional costs defined.
- Empty mileage factored into the margin.
- Luggage and actual group size checked.
- Quote expiry visible.
When quoting an airport transfer, account for the journey, waiting time, access and possible changes. Agreeing these conditions before the trip helps protect your margin.
