To become a Blacklane partner you need an insured, licensed chauffeur company in a city on Blacklane’s list, one qualifying vehicle and one chauffeur who meets the city’s minimum age of 21 to 25, has a year of professional experience and speaks conversational English. You upload documents, complete online training, acknowledge the contract and wait for a review of two weeks or more, then join a webinar. Blacklane takes no commission and pays by the 17th of the following month.
What is a Blacklane partnership?
A Blacklane partner is a chauffeur company that drives rides for Blacklane's customers through Blacklane's platform. You pick which rides to accept and see the price before you take one.
That makes it a different arrangement from an OTA such as Viator or GetYourGuide, where you sell your own product under your own name. With Blacklane you take on work that Blacklane has already sold, under Blacklane's brand and standards. The Bookings from OTAs page sets out both kinds of platform, and the chauffeur affiliate networks guide covers the networks where companies pass work to each other.
Who can join?
Blacklane says it only partners with "insured, pre-existing chauffeur companies", so an individual driver cannot apply alone. To apply you need a licensed company, one vehicle that meets the rules for your city and one chauffeur, who can be you. Once the account is live you add as many vehicles and chauffeurs as you want.
For the chauffeurs themselves Blacklane's own guide for new partners sets three conditions: the minimum age for your city, which is between 21 and 25, at least one year of professional chauffeur experience in that city, and conversational English, because Blacklane's guests come from everywhere. Its partner page adds "recent high-end vehicles" and "chauffeur-style service" as the standard, and electric vehicles are welcome; in Dubai the whole Blacklane fleet is electric.
Check your city first. Blacklane lists the cities where it accepts partners on its registration page, and if yours is not there it cannot take you on for now.
Which documents does Blacklane ask for?
The exact list depends on your country and city and appears at the start of the application. Blacklane's guide names the usual set:
- for the company: business registration, commercial insurance and the operating permit for chauffeur services where your country issues one;
- for the first chauffeur: driving licence, chauffeur licence where it exists, a portrait photo and a criminal background check where local rules require it;
- for the first vehicle: registration, liability insurance, recent photos showing the whole car and its plate, and maintenance records.
Blacklane shares which makes and models qualify in each city when you start the application, because the vehicle rules differ by service class and location.
How does the sign-up work?
- Apply on the partner registration page and choose your country and city to see the vehicle and document rules.
- Upload the documents for your company, your first chauffeur and your first vehicle.
- Complete the online learning modules, which cover Blacklane's standards and processes.
- Read and acknowledge the partner contract and add your bank details.
- Wait for the review. Blacklane says it "can take as little as two weeks, but may be longer depending on the volume of applications being reviewed", and that it reviews complete applications first. Complete means every mandatory document uploaded, the training finished, the contract acknowledged and the bank details in.
- Join a short group webinar on Blacklane's processes. After it your account goes live and you can add more chauffeurs and vehicles.
A chauffeur you add later can complete most of the registration in the Blacklane chauffeur app: profile picture, documents, training and, where required, the background check, then the webinar.
How do you get rides?
Ride offers appear in the Blacklane Chauffeur app and the partner portal, and you accept the ones that suit your schedule. They include airport transfers, by-the-hour bookings, city-to-city trips and local rides. Blacklane says there is no minimum or maximum number of rides to take, and that how many offers you see depends on demand in your region and the season. Most rides are booked ahead; in some cities Blacklane also offers on-demand rides.
What does it cost, and how does Blacklane pay?
Blacklane says: "We take no commission, and charge no fees." The price on a ride offer is what you receive, and extra waiting time or distance is paid on top.
At the start of each month Blacklane emails an invoice for the previous month's rides to your company's main contact, with waiting time and route changes itemised. You have five days to check it, and the payment arrives by bank transfer in the middle of the month, usually by the 17th.
The question is whether the price on the offer covers your costs. Blacklane does not publish its rates, so the only way to know is to work out what an hour and a kilometre cost you to run and compare the offers against that. The chauffeur pricing guide shows how to get those two numbers, and the booking value calculator shows what a higher average booking is worth against the volume Blacklane might add.
Is it worth it for your company?
Four questions decide it:
- Does the price in the offers cover what an hour and a kilometre cost you to run, with something left over?
- Do your vehicles meet Blacklane's rules for your city, and will they still meet them when the list changes?
- Can your chauffeurs look after guests in English and to Blacklane's standards, which Blacklane measures through guest ratings?
- Will Blacklane rides fit around your own bookings at your busiest times, when your own customers pay more?
A company with spare capacity on weekdays and chauffeurs who already speak English usually gets the most out of it. A company that is full in season and quiet in winter may find the offers arrive at the wrong time of year; the quiet season guide covers other ways to fill those weeks.
Where does Blacklane fit in a marketing plan?
Blacklane can fill quiet days with rides you did not have to win yourself, next to OTA listings and direct bookings from your website and Google. The ride is Blacklane's customer, so it does not build your brand, your reviews or your repeat business, and the price is Blacklane's to set. When we run marketing for a chauffeur company, we add Blacklane only if the owner wants it, and we count its rides separately in the monthly report so the owner can see what each channel is worth.
Questions owners ask
Can an individual driver become a Blacklane partner?
No. Blacklane partners only with insured, pre-existing chauffeur companies. The first chauffeur on the application can be the owner, and more chauffeurs are added once the account is live.
How long does Blacklane take to approve a partner?
Blacklane says as little as two weeks, longer when many applications are in, and it reviews complete applications first: all documents uploaded, training done, contract acknowledged and bank details in.
Does Blacklane take a commission?
No. Blacklane says it takes no commission and charges no fees. The price on a ride offer is what the partner receives, with waiting time and extra distance paid on top.
What do Blacklane chauffeurs need?
The minimum age for the city, between 21 and 25, at least one year of professional chauffeur experience there, conversational English, a driving licence and chauffeur licence where one exists, and a background check where local rules require it.
How do Blacklane partners get rides?
Ride offers appear in the Blacklane Chauffeur app and the partner portal, and the partner accepts the ones that suit. There is no minimum or maximum, and volume depends on demand in the region and the season.