Transfer platforms for chauffeur companies: Kiwitaxi, Transferz, Mozio and more

Why do airport transfers go to transfer platforms?

GetYourGuide restricts plain transfers from A to B, and Viator lists them under Airport and Hotel Transfers, as Irish Transfer does. Transfer platforms sell nothing but the ride, booked from the airport to the hotel or between cities before the traveller lands, and they sell it to travellers who were never going to find your website: people booking a package abroad, airline passengers offered a transfer at checkout, and hotel guests booking through the hotel's own page. The Bookings from OTAs page puts them next to the tour platforms and Blacklane, and the Viator guide covers the one tour platform that takes transfers.

How do the platforms pay you?

Three ways, and the difference decides whether a platform suits you:

• You set the price: Kiwitaxi says "We do not charge any commission" and lets carriers set prices for each car class and route.
• You know the fare up front: Transferz says "You know exactly what you earn per transfer up front."
• A fee on the rides you accept: Daytrip says it deducts a service fee only on the bookings you accept.

Jayride calls itself "Always free", with your price and your drivers. Mozio, Talixo, Welcome Pickups and Booking.com Taxi do not publish how they charge, so the figure comes with the contract. Whatever the model, the number to watch is what one ride leaves after the platform's share and the cost of running it, and the OTA commission calculator does that sum.

What do the platforms ask for?

• The platforms that publish their rules ask for licences, and Kiwitaxi and Mozio for insurance as well: Kiwitaxi wants a transfer licence for every vehicle, Transferz "a professional, licensed transfer fleet", and Mozio drivers who are "fully licensed and have public liability insurance".
• Kiwitaxi sets an age limit for cars: "Not older than 7 years for standard classes and 5 years for premium and business classes".
• Mozio wants its tracking on every ride and says "you must use our tracking system".
• Mozio works with transport companies and does not take individual drivers.
• All of them expect a confirmation within hours and a driver at arrivals with a name board, and most measure both.

What does a transfer platform booking look like day to day?

The booking arrives with the flight number, the passenger count and the hotel, usually days ahead, sometimes the night before. You confirm in the platform's portal or app, assign a driver, and the platform tells the traveller. On the day the driver tracks the flight, waits the free period the platform allows, meets the passenger with a board and closes the ride in the app, because waiting time and no-shows are paid only when the app shows them. Changes and cancellations come through the platform, under its rules rather than yours, so read the cancellation terms before the first booking; the no-show policy guide shows what to compare them with.

The eight platforms one by one

Which platform suits which company?

A company whose cars sit at the airport between its own bookings gains most from a platform that lets it set prices per route, because it can price the idle hours low and the busy ones high. A company that wants volume without managing prices suits a fixed-fare platform, as long as the fare clears its costs. A company with a strong direct business should list only the routes and times it cannot fill itself, because every platform booking at a thin margin is a car that cannot take a better one. None of the platforms builds your brand: the traveller books the platform, and the review goes to the platform, which is one more reason to keep the direct bookings work going alongside.

How do you choose?

1. Start from the airports and car classes you already cover, since prices are set per route and car class, as on Kiwitaxi.
2. Decide whether you want to set your own prices, as on Kiwitaxi, or take a fare you see in advance, as on Transferz.
3. Check that the payouts suit your cash flow: weekly on Daytrip, every two weeks on Transferz, twice a month on Kiwitaxi, and weekly or monthly on Welcome Pickups depending on the destination.
4. Work out what each ride leaves you before you sign:

5. Start with one platform and twenty rides, measure the margin and the admin time, and add the next one only if the first pays. The OTA price calculator shows the fare you need where the platform lets you set it.