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Continue reading: Why I’ve Started Using Blacklane For Airport Pick-Ups
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Blacklane is just way too expensive for normal families. But sure, if you have money or sponsors then it's a good service. There isn't much other services that is more expensive than this.
Blacklane and Krisflyer are running a promotion. $1 spent on Blacklane = 3 KF miles.
The Airport Express train runs directly from Beijing Capital Airport to the city center. I’ve use it every time I visit. If that’s not an example of good public transportation, I don’t know what you expect.
Very interested in your Beijing example. It’s been maybe five years since I was at the airport there, but I found the taxi experience horrible. The lines were bad, but the worse part was the condition of the car. As a former auto safety advocate, I am ready to pull my hair out when taxis don’t have seatbelts, either because they are securely hidden under the seats, covered over with a plastic covering for the entire back seat, or otherwise gone or rendered unusable. Assume this wouldn’t be a problem with Blacklane? In Ho Chi Minh city, our taxi from the airport broke down on the highway at night. I’d certainly pay a premium to avoid those situations. What happens if your plane is late?
I have been using Blacklane for years - however, depending on the location I have lowered my expectation of the quality of car. In some countries the Mercedes magically transforms into a Standard Kia Forte, or Renault Logan. But I’m still very happy with their service
@Lucky you should try Sixt mydriver, if you already haven’t. I’ve had good experiences in various European countries with them. I also know you love a good German company 😉
As far as I know, Blacklane is a German company. You might also want to check out their German competitor MyDriver, which is owned by German rental car company Sixt.
I haven’t tried Blacklane yet (though I’ve only heard good things), but I’ve always been happy with MyDriver. They offer the exact same service, and I think both arrange transfers to pretty much all international airports globally.
The best thing about Blacklane is that they will wait for you if your flight is delayed, I had a driver in China who waited for me for more than 3 hours!
If you book in the name of 'Miss Vanjie', can you get the driver to just call out your name repeatedly rather than using a sign?
hahaha
I have used Blacklane a handful of times now and have been generally pleased. The only time that was problematic was in Vietnam when I had to wait for over 30 minutes for the car to show up and even then had problems locating the driver since he wasnt where he was supposed to be.
Customer Service corrected the problem but, as you mentioned, after that long travel day, I really just wanted to be at the hotel as quickly as possible.
This has already been mentioned. But just as another vote for them, MyDriver, Blacklane big competitor, offers equivalent service, features, abd benefits; often at a lower price.
I have had nothing but great experiences with Blacklane. There is a little bit of fleet inconsistency, as Hasse points out. In Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic I have normally gotten E-Class or A6 sedans. In Mexico City, I got a VW Passat. Still a fine car, but not quite on the same caliber.
+1 for Sixt MyDriver - they subcontract to local cab firms so you get a mix of vehicles, I've used them a few times and despite booking the cheapest option which indicates a Prius I've had an Audi A6 and a Mercedes Executive van show up
I have found most Blacklane drivers I have had are also Uber Black drivers. My last use of it in New Orleans the driver picked me up at the airport and when he dropped me off at my hotel he picked up an Uber Black fare right away
That's great info. Somehow I missed Tiffany's post on it.
To echo another comment, I'm a bit curious as to what you consider "good" public transit. Perhaps I'm jaded by my extreme dislike for taxis, but even most US airports have good connections to the city center on public transit.
PEK has a fast and easy train that connects to their quite extensive metro system. It was an easy two block walk from the metro to the St Regis. Sure, the Heathrow Express is a total rip-off, but the tube goes right there! Especially with public transit schedules integrated into google maps, it's pretty easy to figure things out -- especially if you don't have a lot of luggage.
What happens if you have booked a Blacklane pickup and your flight is delayed? Do they monitor arrivals and adjust automatically?
Also Beijing has a pretty solid airport public transit option 🙂
I’ve used Blacklane successfully overseas for several years. However, two weeks ago I used Blacklane for the first time for a ride from my home to PHL. Shortly before the scheduled pickup I got the usual email with the drivers name and phone number. The driver arrived right on time but he was not the driver named in the email, he had a different phone number also. The car was not the Mercedes E class as promised but a beat up older Cadillac. The driver was fine, the car was a mess. My complaint email to Blacklane remains unanswered.
We know why you love blacklane now after all these months. Enough to warrant a long article with lots of links.
I use backpage. More fun!
Yup, my airport Uber fell asleep and we crashed into the median, maybe it's time to try this.
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>> LOL you could mention that it's a paid article (because if it's not, you are not good enough in business).
Using Istanbul as an example the pricing is fairly outrageous even with the 20% discount. 53 euros after a discount from IST to the Levent business district when you can easily find a black car service in a similar Mercedes van for 35-40 euros with a little research. I guess if you're comparing it to the Park Hyatt sure it'll be cheaper, but spending 5-10 minutes on google ahead of time will save you even more. To each their own.
How strict are they about the baggage allowance? I see 3 people max but 2 bags...If I'm headed to JFK with two others and we each have a suitcase, do I then have to book the van?
Great post and very helpful. I have been anxious about how to get from the airport to my hotel in Shanghai - China Eastern arrives super earler so the fast train isnt an option. Taxi drivers dont speak english so just giving the direction card from the hotel and hoping for the best doesn’t inspire confidence in me. The hotel wants $150 for a pick up! Hopefully this will offer a mid range option. Any advice anyone might have it would be welcome!
@ sb -- Admittedly I travel light, but I don't think that's a strict limit. Rather I think it's intended to be general guidance based on the size of the car. I think you should be fine.
@ Evan -- I have affiliate links for Blacklane (just as the affiliate marketing company I use has links for thousands of companies), but I otherwise have no relationship with Blacklane, and this isn't a sponsored post.
@ Rob -- That's unfortunate, thanks for the data point. Haven't had an experience that warranted follow-up, but sounds like their customer support isn't as good as Uber's.
@ Bgriff -- Most rides include some amount of free waiting (typically an hour). If you know your flight is delayed you can always reschedule it, since presumably you'd know before departure there will be a delay of some sort. I haven't been in a situation where I've used Blacklane and my flight was so delayed that it fell outside of the hour of free waiting.
Another great point with Blacklane is that if you are traveling with kids you are able to request a carseat. I use Blacklane all the time for airport pickups. It is great!
@ Andy 11235 -- I guess I need to give the Beijing airport express a try, I haven't done so yet. Agree the tube in London is good, but to give a couple of other examples, LA has horrible public transportation to the airport, and I also don't love having to make two or more transfers to/from JFK.
You can get from PEK to the Park Hyatt on the Airport Express, switch to the subway and walk 5 minutes. I would say that's a very good public transportation option. It's not much different than taking the Airport Express from HKG to Kowloon/HK Island, where most people have to connect to the free shuttle or MTR anyway.
Just to mention - I've had that same experience at LHR in the past. Spent almost an hour before a driver finally answered the phone and followed through. Ridiculous. Not sure if this is a trend or what, because in the past it's been seamless for the most part.
As for Blacklane, the first time I ever used them was leaving a conference in Berlin to head to the airport. They were late, terrible communication, and I ultimately cancel/disputed the charge until I spoke with management. Not the best first impression!
Got me a lovely new S-Class in Vienna using Blacklane. Price wasn’t terrible to the city center either.
I spent decades taking hotel cars, taxis and limos; in recent years I've switched to public transport in 99% of cases. I use Uber for some journeys in the USA but use shuttles to/from airports. I would never take Heathrow express again ( so overrated) because the tube is perfectly fine for me ( although I can appreciate why others might not like it). Latin/Central America ,Africa, India I do still use cars though.
It's great service. I haven't yet had anything less than a great experience with them, and I've used the service all over the place. In Paris they're even cheaper than a taxi (I think...or maybe like 5-10 more). I would consider it more affordable for families as they offer larger vehicles at good rates. They have someone waiting to help you along as well, which is helpful when you're not alone. I don't understand why people get upset when something costs money...
@Jason it says in the rate description that they are not (that tip is already included). I've often felt compelled to give them $10-$15 extra though because of the level of service they provide. I've also not tipped extra, and never felt like it was expected.
just to mention, useless in Middle East where Careem has now an amazing welcoming service (driver comes with your name in arrival area) at airports in dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Oman where careem is not available best option is otaxi app (cheaper than taxi but ... they are taxi).
My experience with black lane is :
- Super expensive (always more or less hotel pick up that I much prefer).
- Cars are more and more often cheap ones (Skoda, Peugeot, even Dacia...)... far from the black car concept.
- I much prefer local options and uber (careem in Middle East, chauffeur prive in Paris, otaxi in Oman, Grab in Asia, etc).
Uber in airport is more and more efficient and if not I take a local taxi (for exemple in istanbul it's the best option from the airport).
Not quite relevant to this post, but I was actually just in Beijing last week and Didi is the way to go for everything except airport pick ups (since it's impossible to know where you're supposed to go to meet them). Back in 2014 and early 2015, I used to use Uber in China, but when Didi bought them out, they closed the app. Until recently, Didi didn't accept US credit cards and was not in English. Now, the app works so well! It allows you to send pre-written messages and responses to drivers about where you are and translates it directly (as well as translates their message to you) so you don't have to worry about the language barrier. It's also dirt cheap and in most cases, is cheaper than taxis. Promise I'm not being paid by Didi, but I had to share because it really did make my last trip so much easier!
I am still confused by saying Beijing and London have awful public transit connections. London as an example has three competing rail lines (Heathrow express, TfL Rail (soon the Elizabeth Line) and the Tube. An hour wait for an Uber?
Anyway waste of time to read and comment. The purpose of this post is to receive credit with referral. Pathetic because it's waste of reading time and poor content.
The car services offered by Blacklane are just not price competitive. For example, W Taipei uses a 7 series BMW for their house car and costs around 100 USD, while Blacklane charges ~$180 before discounts for an equivalent car. St Regis in BKK charges around 100 USD for their house car (Mercedes S Class), which is once again $180 with Blacklane.
I don't think booking airport transfers are troublesome since I always use a travel agent and they book it for me. Also, hotel transfers offer a lot of added benefits like better upgrades, in room check-in and in the case of W Taipei, they would check me in at 7am in the morning when my flight arrives.
@ Bgriff -- To add onto what Ben said, they do monitor flights. I've had it happen a few times, and they've waited.
Lol,I was once so stupid that I forgot to use Emirates' Complimentary Chauffeur Car Service in Dubai (i totally forgot about it) (BMW 7 Series) and instead went for a BlackLane Chauffeur for $97 in a Lexus GS450!
Sorry, BKK transfer with Blacklane is ~$130 with a S Slass equivalent car (so is price competitive with a 20% off discount), but hotel house cars offer a consistent quality (and you have a good place to complain to if it doesn't), where as Blacklane seems to have bait-and-switched for some of the posters above, and e-mails went unanswered.
just wanted to say horrible example of Beijing as a city with poor public transport...Airport express train runs to the heart of downtown in 20 minutes for $5. And the whole city is within access by great subways (which could admittedly get crowded depending on time of day) after you arrive there.
On the other hand, almost all major south american cities don't have any practical public transport from airport to city. Lima, Santiago, Quito, just to name a few. This region might be the best example where Blacklane could have great value add, especially in Lima where the airport is located in a dodgy part of town
In SE Asia you can use GRAB upload the app order a cab and it’s always been there promptly within 5-10 mins of an order being placed, it’s inexpensive and you can pay cash
I have used Blacklane several times and find them to be very reliable and high quality. But now I use Mozio, either through my company’s TMC for business trips or their site for personal trips. They give you a ton of options ranging from ride share to black car. I like seeing several options at once and then deciding what is best for that trip.
I don't think you have enough Blacklane links in this blog. Blacklane will be really disappointed in your promotional abilities.
My experience with Blacklane is positive in terms of the quality of their service. However, they charge a significant markup compared the transfers booked locally. In some cases up to 300 percent ... That's why I usually stop using them once I familiarize myself with the local providers.
A very good alternative is also Suntransfers.com, which are more reasonably priced. Their website has the same functionality, but the cars tend to be japanese/korean made (but also of decent size and with the expected features such as airconditioning). The brand name is perhaps not the best choice, as it makes people think they are for leisure only (i.e. driving you to the beach/sun). However, their service is perfectly business like.
Beijing Airport Express to downtown city center in 25 minutes for $4, no traffic problems. At the last stop Dongzhimen switch to Line 2 subway to Guomao station. 10 minute ride costs 50 cents. At Guomao there is an exit that is right under the Park Hyatt hotel.
If you travel light there is no reason to take a car into Beijing, the traffic can be horrendous.
There's another similar service called MyDriver (www.mydriver.com), which is operated by Sixt. Really like it!
Hi Lucky, you are welcome to tie up with whichever service provider you see fit. My only concern is that you have not made it clear that you have an affiliate marketing tie up with them (unless I missed it).
Please put a marker of some sort saying "affiliate post" or "part sponsored content" as your disclaimer at the start of each article only refers to credit cards
I used Blacklane for the first time in Krakow this month for a return to and from the airport. Yes it’s a city with great public transport but our hotel was the opposite side of the city and I didn’t want to ride trams and trains with luggage.
Great service, great notifications including when your car arrived and who the driver was. Couldn’t fault it and would definitely use them again.
I used blacklane for LHR to the Andaz, and it was horrible. The driver had an older car, was a horrible driver, and then blacklane added charges for parking in LHR even though they weren't in the original quote, and they are supposedly MANDATORY since the drivers park to pick you up. Needless to say my expected bill was much higher than expected, and in the end I would have rather walked. Customer service was rude and curt.
One thing about Blacklane annoys me every time. In my experience they never credit your selected rewards program. Their terms state that customer should not submit a claim for missed rewards points until 6 weeks after the booking, but that claims will not be entertained 8 weeks after the booking. This relatively short 2 week window seems calculated to minimize their rewards expense.
Hi Lucky,
Used your promo code and surprised at the cost on my LAX arrival. Cost came to about $10 more than a taxi I used from the airport in LAX in 2004, to roughly the same area.
I hope the service goes well, as I will be coming off a long haul from Oz.
NJ to JFK
Lyft $100
Uber $115
Blacklane $140
If the quality is there (and tips included) the additional money is well spend (better/bigger car and a professional driver and not someone driving after finishing their nightshift
Beware of this company 1 star
Terrible, terrible service. I helped my mum booked a two-way transfer from Manchester airport to Blackpool. On the return leg, the driver came but refused to let my mum and her friends (3 people in total) on the car because he said the luggages could not fit in the boot (it was a small car). We specially requested a car that can carry 3 luggages when we booked. The driver drove away without offering any help. The hotel helped them arranged a taxi but this was already 30 minutes later. My mum nearly missed her plane. I complained to the customer service and provided photos of my mum with her 3 luggages. After one month, the manager wrote back and said the driver and I had conflicting stories. The driver said there were 4 luggages at the time and they decided to stand by the driver’s story. I told them the driver lied and that we even have photos to prove it. However, they ignored our photos and refused to refund our money for the return trip.
I canclled a booking 22 hours before it was due , for a one way transfer to the airport from my hotel in Washington DC. They sent me a response saying that they acknowledge the cancellation and that there was no charge. What they meant was that there was no 'extra' charge. They kept my money (over 130 USD) and they inferred strongly on their website that I could cancel without 'charge' (they of course meant extra charge). Bunch of crooks. If you life runs like clockwork 24/7 then they may be fine for you, but if you have any blips or emergencies be prepared for Blacklanes to fleece you. They also have my credit registered with them even though they never asked my permission. Don't touch them with a bargepole. Once burnt, twice shy. Ripping off your customers is not a good business model, and typing in 'refund' in the help section of their website throws up nothing. That speaks volumes of this company.
Quick Q: When booking an airport pick-up (US domestic arrival), what pick-up time do you folks recommend? "When flight arrives" or do you add a buffer time?
For all you fans of Blacklane and Uber, just remember that the driver and/or operator gets paid ridiculously little, and thus has trouble keeping up a decent minimum wage.
The controversy surrounding Uber is well known, and if you're unaware then Google it. Many Uber cars and drivers are not properly licensed, and many Uber cars not properly insured. That's the price someone is paying for you to be able to ride cheap.
The way Blacklane treats drivers/operators has just recently been widely reported.
They use an auction system which means that drivers/operators only get paid as little as 1/3 of the price the passenger pays Blacklane, which is most often comparable to what the passenger would have paid booking directly with a local limousine service provider.
Read more here: https://qz.com/384728/blacklane-wants-to-be-uber-with-a-heart-if-drivers-and-customers-will-let-it/
Google Limousine Service at your destination and ride in comfort with a clean conscience.
Happy travels, and thank you for your continued great articles, Ben!
Not dependable.
Blacklane accepted confirmed reservations from me two weeks in advance for two rides in Melbourne Australia. The cancelled each one on very short notice. While they offered a small voucher, they never even delivered that.
#Blaclane “an unreliable company". 10 days ago I made a reservation from Victoria to Vancouver airport to take my son. I paid 345 dolar.They called 2 hours before the pick up time and canceled. They failed my son on the other side of the world like that. They can't be trusted. Don’t use it.
They could inform us one or two days before sceduled day (so we can arrange alternative way). They waited until the last time for the decision not to return the money. They put a mother under a lot of stress waiting for her son. They should have reported at least the day before.
This firm is disgrace of German Reputation
450EURO of Wrongful charge.
Due to system error by Blacklane, Blacklane sent their chauffeur down to locations and claim no show from customer, and then charges the customer for a ride. Current dispute on being wrongfully charged ongoing till date.
Received an email with a confirmation number however reservation does not show on my account. They charged two different credit cards each the full amount. They do not answer their “ chat feature” nor do they have a phone number for customer service. Really bad service
Hey Ben - any chance the referral code mentioned has expired? Showing invalid when i try and book.