Airports are the most common pick up location of all rides booked with Blacklane. Pickups from these locations can also be a little tricky and require you, as a premium chauffeur, to be able to adapt and think on your feet. This is because there can often be external factors which will affect the pick up, like flight delays, or if there is an issue at the baggage claim, for example.
Below are some common terms and essential tips to help you provide the best possible service, every time.
Wait time
For standard pickups, for example from a hotel, residence, or office, there is 30 minutes wait time included. The first 15 minutes are free for the guest, and you will be reimbursed for the additional 15 minutes if the ride is performed.
For pickups from an airport or train station, there is 60 minutes wait time included. If the ride is performed past these 60 minutes, you will be reimbursed for the additional waiting time.
If you wait beyond the included ride wait time, you will receive additional compensation. You can find more about the payment for additional wait time here.
Pickup time, flight arrival time, and buffer time
For airport pickups, the pickup time is not necessarily the same as the flight arrival time.
The time between the flight landing and the pickup time booked by the guest is called buffer time. Guests may choose to have some buffer time between flight arrival and pickup time to have time to get through customs and collect their luggage — in fact, we recommend it.
You are required to track the flight and adjust the pickup time accordingly, if the flight arrives early or late – but you must always respect the requested buffer time between landing and pickup time.
For example:
A flight is scheduled to land at 10:00
The pickup time booked by the guest is 10:15 — a buffer time of 15 minutes between flight arrival and pickup time.
If the flight is delayed by 30 minutes, then the new flight arrival time is 10:30, and the new pickup time would be 10:45, because of the 15 minutes buffer time.
What happens if the flight is early?
You should treat this the same way as if the flight was delayed. You must adjust the pick up time according to how many minutes early the flight will be, remembering to consider any buffer time the guest might have booked.
If the flight is early or delayed by over one hour and you cannot adjust your schedule, you are not obligated to perform the ride and can give the booking back without consequence.
Remember
The pickup time is not automatically updated in the app if the flight arrival time changes.
You must recalculate the pickup time accordingly, including the same amount of buffer time requested by the guest, whether the flight is delayed or early.
When in doubt, check the flight status using a service like www.flightstats.com. If you find mixed information, please refer to the flight updates from the arrival airport.
Adjusted airport or train station pickup times also always include 60 minutes of waiting time.
Flight landing time is defined as the time the airplane arrives at the gate.
Only contact the guest once the included wait time has elapsed. If you are not able to reach them, make sure to contact the Partner Care team to confirm the no-show.
More details and information on this topic, and many others, can be found in the Blacklane Training Materials.
