Black car service in New Orleans: MSY transfers, cruise terminals and festival cars

How black car service in New Orleans is booked

The reservation engine on this page, or the book page, asks for a pickup, a destination, a time and a vehicle class. It then shows one fixed price. Typical pickups here are the MSY terminal, a French Quarter hotel, a Warehouse District apartment, the Erato Street or Julia Street cruise terminal, or the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Confirm, and the 24/7 dispatch desk in Toronto assigns a vetted New Orleans affiliate from the LimousineWorldwide.Directory network, contracted to the BlaakLane.com written standard. You receive the operator's name, the chauffeur's name and the vehicle before the trip.

Buttons on this site say Book because the price is known at that moment. Delegations, multi-car weddings and convention shuttles are different: they are planned by a coordinator and confirmed in writing through group transportation.

What is in the price

• The vehicle and a professional chauffeur for the route you entered, with no meter and no surge.
• Flight tracking on every airport pickup.
• Included waiting: 60 minutes from actual landing on an international flight, 30 minutes on a domestic flight, 15 minutes for other pickups, then 15-minute blocks.
• Child seats for young passengers, supplied at no cost when requested.

Class-by-class planning ranges are on rates. If plans change, cancellation is free more than 72 hours ahead; 72 hours or less costs 10%, 48 hours or less 50%, and 24 hours or less or a no-show 100%.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY)

MSY moved into a single new terminal on the north side of the airfield in Kenner in 2019. There are three concourses, A, B and C, feeding one baggage claim hall, which makes pickups simpler than at the old building. Pre-arranged cars collect at the commercial pickup area the airport designates on the arrivals level; the chauffeur texts the exact point once you are at the carousel. A name-board meet and greet in baggage claim is an add-on, and add-ons are only available in selected locations.

International flights, including seasonal services to Europe and routes to Latin America and the Caribbean, clear US Customs and Border Protection inside the terminal. Visa Waiver travellers need an approved ESTA. The airport posts terminal and parking updates at flymsy.com.

How long is the drive from MSY?

The airport is about 15 miles west of the Central Business District. Most of the drive is on I-10 through Metairie:

Afternoon rush on I-10 eastbound and any rainstorm can double these times. The chauffeur is timed to your landing, and the fare stays fixed.

Choosing the right vehicle

The full class list is on the fleet. No affiliate car in New Orleans may be more than four model years old; the one exception is Rolls-Royce, Maybach and Bentley, allowed up to seven. Armoured SUVs and sedans are available through partners on request, after a risk assessment.

Cruises from the Mississippi riverfront

The Port of New Orleans cruise terminals are the Erato Street Cruise Terminal and the Julia Street Cruise Terminal, side by side on the river next to the convention centre and a few minutes' drive from the French Quarter. Tell us the ship when you book, because each line uses a specific terminal and the drop-off lanes are separate. Pre- and post-cruise stays are common here, so many guests book MSY to a hotel, then hotel to the ship a day or two later. On return, the pickup is timed to your disembarkation group. Parking and terminal directions are on portnola.com.

Mardi Gras and parade season: what changes for a car

Carnival season runs from Twelfth Night on 6 January to Fat Tuesday, which falls in February or early March, 47 days before Easter. In the last two weeks, parades roll along St. Charles Avenue, through the CBD and down Canal Street, and on the Endymion route through Mid-City. Barricades and crowds close cross streets for hours. Three practical points:

• A car cannot cross an active parade route. If your hotel sits inside the parade box, we agree a pickup point on the far side before the day, often a short walk from the lobby.
• Book early. Demand for cars and hotels is at its highest during the final weekend and on Fat Tuesday itself.
• Allow for time, not price. The fixed fare does not rise, but a detour around a route can add 20 to 40 minutes.

Other festivals shape the calendar as well:

Jazz Fest traffic around the Fair Grounds is heavy, and neighbourhood streets there are narrow; we use a set drop-off point outside the gates. Confirm each year's dates at nojazzfest.com and New Orleans and Company. Multi-car festival and wedding plans go through event transportation.

Districts you will hear about

• French Quarter: the Vieux Carré, with Jackson Square, Royal Street galleries and Bourbon Street. Streets are narrow and many are one-way; parts of Bourbon close to cars in the evening.
• Central Business District: Poydras Street offices, the Superdome and Smoothie King Center, and Canal Street hotels.
• Warehouse and Arts District: converted warehouses, museums and the convention centre.
• Garden District and Uptown: St. Charles Avenue mansions, the streetcar, and Tulane and Loyola universities.
• Marigny and Bywater: music clubs on Frenchmen Street, downriver from the Quarter.
• Mid-City and Lakeview: City Park, the museum of art and the Fair Grounds nearby.
• Metairie: suburban offices and the Causeway approach.

Hotels and landmark addresses

Our chauffeurs collect often at The Roosevelt New Orleans, Windsor Court, the Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans at the foot of Canal Street, The Ritz-Carlton on Canal, Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street and the Hotel Peter and Paul in the Marigny. Several French Quarter hotels have no drive-up entrance; the chauffeur stops at the nearest legal curb and walks the last few metres with your bags if needed.

Rail, private aviation and the Northshore

New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, next to the Superdome, is the Amtrak station. It is served by the City of New Orleans to Chicago, the Crescent to New York via Atlanta, the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles, and since August 2025 the Mardi Gras Service to Mobile via the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Timetables are on amtrak.com. Private aircraft use MSY or Lakefront Airport on Lake Pontchartrain, roughly 15 minutes from the French Quarter; add the FBO and tail number to your booking.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, about 24 miles long, links the south shore to Mandeville and Covington. It is tolled for southbound traffic.

Intercity trips from New Orleans

These run as fixed-fare intercity transfers. A plantation day along the river works well as one of our city tours and day trips.

Local driving conditions

Driving is on the right. The city sits largely below sea level, and heavy summer downpours can flood low underpasses and side streets within an hour; chauffeurs watch street-flooding alerts and reroute. Potholes are a local joke for good reason, which is one more argument for an SUV on longer rides. Streetcars share St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, and parking in the Quarter is scarce, so drop-offs are quick. Hurricane season runs June to November, and airport and port operations can pause ahead of a storm.

Conventions and business trips around Poydras Street

The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center stretches for more than half a mile along the river in the Warehouse District, one of the largest exhibition buildings in the country. Large medical, energy and legal conferences fill it in spring and autumn, and the hotels of Canal Street, Poydras Street and the Warehouse District absorb the delegates. Two things help on a busy show day. First, tell us which hall entrance you need, because the building has several and the drive between them along Convention Center Boulevard is slow when shuttles queue. Second, for a morning keynote, allow 20 minutes for what looks like a five-minute drive from a Canal Street hotel.

The oil, gas and maritime industries keep a steady flow of travellers between the CBD, the Northshore and the refineries and yards along the river parishes. A named coordinator on a corporate account can hold traveller profiles and bill each trip to the right cost centre, and financial teams presenting to investors can use financial roadshows.

Weddings, second lines and celebrations

New Orleans weddings often move through the streets: a ceremony at a church or a courtyard venue, then a second line parade with a brass band to the reception. The parade needs a city permit and a police escort, which the couple or their planner arranges; our part is the cars. A partner stretch limousine or a Rolls-Royce for the couple, and a Standard Black SUV or Sprinter for the wedding party, can meet the procession at the reception venue rather than trying to follow it through closed streets. Plan the timings with the planner, and read wedding limousine for how a multi-car day is confirmed in writing.

Other southern cities on the same account

Travelling on through the South? The same fixed-fare booking works in Houston, Atlanta and Nashville. Hotel concierges can book guests through hotels and concierge, and frequent travellers can use corporate accounts.

Book your black car in New Orleans