Raise prices when you can name the reason, and start on routes where you already win most enquiries. Change what you sell first: at Irish Transfer the average booking rose 44 percent in a year, mostly through tours and golf rather than higher prices for the same trips. Tell partners before their guests see the change, keep every quote and confirmed booking at its price, and for three months watch the share of enquiries won and the average booking value.
When should a chauffeur company raise prices?
When you can name the reason: costs went up, a route is full in season, or a vehicle class was underpriced against what an hour and a kilometre cost you. The pricing guide shows how to get those two numbers, and once you have them the case for a change is usually plain. The worst moment is after a bad month, when the change reads as desperation and lands on the customers you most want to keep.
Raise prices where you already win: routes and dates where you win most of your enquiries can take a change first, and short jobs priced below cost come next. Leave the routes where you are already losing to competitors until you know why.
Should you raise the price or change what you sell?
Change what you sell first. A day tour or a golf package earns more per booking without touching the airport fare that travellers compare on three websites. At Irish Transfer the average booking rose 44 percent in a year, mostly through tours and golf rather than higher prices for the same trips: tours and golf went from about one in four euros of booking revenue to about one in two. An average touring day earned 840 euros in 2026 against 417 euros for an airport transfer.
The booking value calculator shows what that shift is worth on your own bookings, and the new service guide how to add a product without guessing its margin.
Who should hear about the change first?
Partners. Hotels, travel agents and companies that book with you work from rates you agreed with them, and their reputation travels in your car. Give them the new rates and the date they start before their guests or staff see them, and keep the old rate for bookings they already confirmed. Send the new rate card with the notice, so nobody has to ask.
Regular direct customers come second, with a short personal message. Everyone else sees the new price on the website and the quote, which is where most travellers meet it for the first time anyway.
What should the notice say?
Keep it short and factual: what changes, from which date, which bookings keep the old price, and who to ask. One sentence on the reason helps when the reason is real, such as insurance or driver pay. We do not publish the notices we write for a client; these are the parts each one covers, so you can write yours in your own voice.
Which promises must you keep?
Every quote already sent and every booking already confirmed keeps its price, even if the trip is months away. Raising a price on a confirmed booking costs more in trust than it earns, and a partner who has resold the trip at the old price cannot pass the increase on.
Set a validity period on new quotes, usually 14 or 30 days, so the next change does not catch you with open quotes at the old rate.
How do you measure the effect?
For the first three months after the change, watch two numbers: the share of enquiries you win and the average booking value. If the share drops on one route, look at that route before changing anything else; if it holds, the next change can come sooner than you think. Keep the reasons for lost quotes, because "price" written by the traveller is the only evidence that a price is too high, and most lost quotes say something else.
The Earn more per booking page shows what a higher average booking did for Irish Transfer over a year, and the slow season guide covers the one time of year when a discount is tempting and still usually wrong.
Questions owners ask
When is the right time to raise chauffeur prices?
When you can name the reason, such as insurance, driver pay or a route that is full in season, and on routes where you already win most of your enquiries. Not after a bad month.
Do you have to raise prices to earn more per booking?
No. At Irish Transfer the average booking rose 44 percent in a year mostly because tours and golf grew from about one in four euros of revenue to about one in two, while airport fares stayed comparable.
Who should hear about a price rise first?
Partners: hotels, agents and companies that resell your rates. Send the new rate card and the start date before their guests or staff see the change, and keep the old rate on bookings they have already confirmed.
What happens to quotes already sent when prices go up?
They keep their price until their validity date, and confirmed bookings keep theirs however far away the trip is. Set a validity period of 14 or 30 days on new quotes.
How do you know if a price rise went too far?
Watch the share of enquiries you win per route for three months. If it falls on one route, look at that route; if it holds, the next change can come sooner.
