Empire Limousine provides hourly chauffeur service across major US cities, including New York, Boston, and Chicago. As-Directed service keeps a professional chauffeur and private vehicle at your disposal for 3 to 12 hours, with no fixed destination, no rebooking between stops, and no surge pricing. Your rate locks at confirmation and never increases for a mid-day extension, unlike the overtime multiplier most hourly operators apply once a booking runs past its window.
Years Experience
on-time performance
Live Dispatch
Hourly chauffeur service, also called As-Directed service, is a private booking structure that assigns a dedicated chauffeur and vehicle to a client for a confirmed booking window rather than a single point-to-point trip. The chauffeur remains on call for the full window, waiting between stops at no additional charge and adjusting the route on request without a second dispatch.
An investor relations team books a 6-hour As-Directed Sprinter at 8:00 AM for an analyst day covering four meetings across Midtown. The same chauffeur and vehicle stay assigned from the first pickup through the final drop-off, with no rebooking between stops and no new dispatch at each location.
Booking the realistic window upfront, based on the actual day including buffer time between meetings, avoids calling dispatch mid-day for extensions. Confirming the correct duration at booking is more efficient for both the traveler and the account manager.
Most hourly chauffeur operators apply an overtime multiplier, typically 1.5x the base rate, once a booking runs past its confirmed window.
Our service extends a mid-day booking at the same confirmed hourly rate, with no multiplier, no new booking, and no rate change. Call dispatch before the window closes and the same chauffeur continues at the original rate.
The crossover point is 6 hours. Below 6 hours, per-hour billing is the more cost-efficient structure for a confirmed, defined schedule. At 6 hours or more, full-day retention typically becomes the better value because its effective hourly rate runs lower than per-hour billing extended to the same length.
Choose hourly for a 3 to 5 hour engagement with a defined start and end. A board breakfast plus airport run, a three-meeting afternoon, or an evening dinner-and-event combination all fit this structure.
Choose full-day retention for any schedule running 8 hours or longer, or where the day’s stops are not yet finalized and unpredictable overruns make a fixed per-hour clock impractical.
A roadshow day with 6 confirmed meetings is the right fit for full-day retention from the start. Full-day retention’s lower effective rate at 8 or more hours delivers better value whenever the day’s total length is already predictable at the time of booking.
Back-to-back meetings, full-day city schedule. The vehicle stays assigned from morning arrival through evening drop-off. This is the corporate chauffeur service model executive travel managers standardize on for recurring programs.
Monthly account, team-wide booking, zero cards per trip. Our corporate account covers every hourly booking across the full team in a single monthly invoice, with a full trip log and itinerary detail available per traveler.
Investor days, roadshow city legs, analyst meetings. The chauffeur stays on your timetable and moves when you do, with no rebooking between stops.
A full evening, a city day, a Fashion Week schedule, a private family experience. One booking, one chauffeur, one rate. Personal clients often refer to this simply as private driver service for the day.
A 3-hour minimum applies to all hourly bookings within New York City. Bookings crossing into New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County, or Long Island carry a 4-hour tri-state minimum, reflecting the additional positioning time required outside the five boroughs. This applies across all vehicle categories and is confirmed at booking. There is no separate surcharge beyond the adjusted minimum.
A corporate traveler extending a 3-hour NYC booking into Westchester County for an afternoon meeting pays only the 4-hour tri-state minimum rather than booking a separate trip. The common mistake is assuming a confirmed NYC rate automatically covers a tri-state destination added mid-day. Confirming the destination range at the time of booking avoids a rate adjustment once the chauffeur is already en route.
For point-to-point transfers between cities rather than hourly bookings, see our city-to-city chauffeur service
Standard hourly bookings confirm with 24 to 48 hours advance notice. During high-demand periods, Fashion Week, the UN General Assembly, major Manhattan conventions, and graduation season, lead time tightens significantly and booking 2 to 4 weeks ahead is recommended as chauffeur availability narrows. Same-day bookings are accepted subject to vehicle availability. Call dispatch directly rather than booking online for same-day confirmation.
Once your booking starts, that vehicle and chauffeur belong to your day. No second dispatch, no waiting for a new driver at stop three. The assignment holds from first pickup through final drop-off. Every chauffeur operating through our service holds an active license under the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission black car base designation, which requires commercial insurance, annual vehicle inspection, multi-state criminal background verification, and a clean driving record before the first assignment.
Point-to-point transfers follow a set route. Our hourly service follows you. Client meeting moved? Add a lunch stop? Drive somewhere unplanned? Tell your chauffeur and we go.
Your hourly rate locks at confirmation and covers the full booking window. No peak-hour adjustments, no traffic surcharges, no fees for route changes during the day.
If the day runs longer, call our dispatch and we add hours at the same confirmed rate. No new booking required. The same chauffeur and vehicle continue.
All hourly bookings run through your monthly account. One invoice covers every booking across all travelers and cities. Your travel manager sees full history and trip logs in a single login.
Our hourly service starts at any airport terminal. We track your inbound flight, meet you at baggage claim, and carry on through every meeting and appointment from there.
Your chauffeur follows your schedule, not a set route
Standard minimum across all vehicle types and cities
One account covers every hourly booking worldwide
Build stops in before departure or add them during the booking
Rate locks at confirmation, no peakhour additions
Add hours during the booking at the same confirmed rate
No rebooking, no waiting for a new car between stops
Retain your chauffeur from morning through evening
Begin at any airport arrival and continue into city meetings
Available across our full fleet on every booking
Monthly invoicing, no card required per booking
Live support on every booking, all hours
Based on published 2026 rates from New York City chauffeur operators, which represent the highest pricing tier among major US markets, hourly chauffeur rates run $80 to $185 per hour for an executive sedan, $100 to $215 per hour for a luxury SUV, and $150 to $300 per hour for a Sprinter van, depending on operator and vehicle tier. Our service confirms a flat hourly rate at booking within this range based on vehicle class and city.
The rate is locked before departure and never increases for traffic, peak hours, or a mid-day extension. The common mistake when comparing operators is treating a custom quote’s headline number as the final price. Several operators publish a low starting rate, then add a service-and-tolls coverage charge, fuel surcharge, gratuity, parking, and a congestion fee once the quote is finalized, pushing the all-in total well above the figure first quoted.
The better approach is comparing all-in rates, not headline rates. Confirm whether the quoted number already includes tolls and the congestion surcharge. Our confirmed rate is the all-in number. Tolls, fuel, and the congestion surcharge are included before the rate locks, not added afterward.
Standard minimum applies across all vehicle types and cities. Bookings run from 3 hours up to 12 hours in a single confirmed window.
Flat hourly rate, confirmed at booking, covering all city stops and wait time within the window.
Flat hourly rate for Escalade or Suburban, no per-stop or per-mile additions.
Flat hourly rate covering the full group under a single confirmed booking.
Daily flat rate, with a lower effective hourly rate than extended per-hour billing past the 6-hour crossover point.
Mid-day extension at the same confirmed hourly rate, with no overtime multiplier.
Monthly consolidated billing, no card required per booking.
Booking our hourly service takes three steps. Your chauffeur handles everything from the first pickup through the last drop-off.
Our hourly chauffeur service provides a dedicated chauffeur and vehicle for a confirmed 3 to 12 hour booking window, with no fixed destination and no rebooking between stops. Unlike a point-to-point transfer that ends on arrival, As-Directed hourly service keeps the vehicle assigned for the full window.
The difference matters most on days with back-to-back meetings or multiple stops across the city. A point-to-point booking ends when you arrive. Our hourly booking stays with you
Three commitments apply to every booking. No exceptions.
No. The rate confirmed at booking is the rate on the invoice. No traffic additions, no peak-hour adjustments, no fuel surcharges after the fact.
Our chauffeurs arrive 15 minutes before confirmed start on every booking. For airport-start bookings, the inbound flight is tracked and the chauffeur adjusts to your actual landing time.
Schedule changes, added stops, and extensions go through a single 24/7 dispatch line at +1 (877) 664-3030. A live person answers at all hours.
The core difference is vehicle continuity. Our service keeps the same chauffeur and vehicle assigned for the full booking, while rideshare ends and restarts the engagement at every stop. Most clients have used Uber Black or a taxi for city travel before switching to hourly black car service.
EXECUTIVE SEDAN
Experience first-class comfort in the Mercedes-Benz S580. With a quiet cabin, refined presence, and executive-level privacy, this flagship luxury sedan is ideal for VIP pickups, corporate transfers, airport travel, and private chauffeur service.
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2
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Carry-On
Empire Limousine has built a reputation for punctuality, professionalism, and a genuinely elevated travel experience. Here is what clients across industries have said about our luxury chauffeur service.
Hourly chauffeur service assigns a dedicated chauffeur and vehicle for a confirmed block of hours with no fixed destination, no rebooking between stops, and a flat rate locked before departure.
Book hourly for engagements under 6 hours with a defined schedule. Choose full-day retention at 6 hours or more, when the lower effective hourly rate outperforms extended per-hour billing.
3 hours within New York City. 4 hours for bookings crossing into New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County, or Long Island.
Yes. Every hourly booking runs under your monthly corporate account. No card required per booking. Your travel manager accesses full booking history, trip logs, and itemized invoices in a single login at empirelimousines.com/corporate-accounts.
New York City market rates run $80 to $185 per hour for a sedan, $100 to $215 for an SUV, and $150 to $300 for a Sprinter, with the all-in flat rate confirmed at booking.
Yes. Our Mercedes-Benz Sprinter handles group hourly bookings for 7 to 14 passengers. A single flat hourly rate covers the full group, all stops, and all route changes within the booking window. Groups over 14 passengers quote on 2 or more coordinated vehicles.
The best hourly chauffeur service across 600+ cities in 75 countries. As-directed private driver by the hour, 3-hour minimum, flat-rate pricing. 99.8% on-time rate.
Financial roadshow transportation connects to five additional Empire Limousine service categories that support executive travel before, during, and after roadshow programs.
Multi-city, multi-day roadshow program management. Single dispatch command covers all vehicles, all cities, and all schedule changes across the full road program
Flat-rate airport pickups and drop-offs at 47 US airports. Meet and greet at baggage claim. Flight tracking on all inbound routes. FBO private aviation pickups at TEB and HPN.
Monthly billing accounts, C-suite executive transportation, SLA documentation, and duty of care compliance. Full corporate travel program management across all service types.
City-to-city and state-to-state private ground travel across 600+ cities. Flat-rate pricing, multiple stops, and corporate account billing on every long distance route.
