The desk handles very different requests, from a one-line change to a week-long delegation. The quickest way to a correct answer is to send everything the coordinator needs in the first message. Use the lists below as a checklist for each kind of request. Every request, of any type, should include the confirmation number if there is one, the lead passenger's name and a mobile number that works in the country of travel.
Changing an existing booking
Reply to your confirmation email so the change stays attached to the right booking, or call the desk. Include:
- The confirmation number and the pickup date and time as originally booked.
- Exactly what changes: the new time, the new address, a new flight number, extra passengers or a different vehicle.
- Whether the change affects a return trip or another booking on the same itinerary.
A change can alter the fare, for example when the new drop-off is further away or the vehicle is larger, and the updated booking shows it. Cancellations are charged from the scheduled pickup time: more than 72 hours before, no charge; 72 hours or less, 10 %; 48 hours or less, 50 %; 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100 %.
A delayed or changed flight
Flight tracking covers most delays automatically, because the chauffeur is timed to the actual landing. Contact the desk if you have been rebooked on a different flight, if you are diverted to another airport, or if you will be held for a long time at immigration or baggage reclaim. Give the new flight number or the new arrival point, and the confirmation number.
Opening a corporate account
For a corporate account, email the desk with:
- The legal name of the company and the billing address for invoices.
- The name and contact details of the person who will approve the monthly statement.
- The cities and airports your travellers use most, and a rough idea of monthly volume.
- Whether you need cost centres, project codes or purchase-order numbers on each trip.
- The bookers who will make reservations, and any traveller profiles to set up (preferred vehicle, name-board spelling, languages).
Accounts include monthly invoicing, booker and traveller profiles, duty-of-care trip data and a named coordinator.
Airline crews and ship crew changes
Crew movements are planned by a coordinator and confirmed in writing. Send:
- The manifest or crew list with names, ranks where relevant, and headcount per movement.
- For airline crews: the operating flight numbers, the crew hotel and the report or release times.
- For ship crews: the vessel name, the port and berth if known, the agent's contact, and the flights of joining or leaving seafarers.
- Luggage per person, which often decides between vans and a coach.
- Who can change the plan at short notice, with a 24-hour contact.
Background on both is on airline crew transportation and shipping crew change.
Events, weddings, roadshows and delegations
For anything with several vehicles or several stops, send:
- The date or dates, and the timeline: first pickup, each stop, and the last drop-off.
- Every address, including venue entrances and loading areas if you know them.
- Passenger numbers per vehicle, and the vehicle classes you have in mind.
- For roadshows, the meeting schedule and the order of cities; for delegations, any security or protocol requirements.
A coordinator replies with the vehicles and the fare in writing. See event transportation, wedding limousine and financial roadshows.
Security and armoured vehicles
Armoured vehicles and security-trained drivers are arranged on request through specialist partners, after a risk assessment. Send the city, the dates, the number of principals, the movements planned and any requirement from your security adviser. Details that should not travel by ordinary email can be discussed by phone. See secure transportation.
Lost property
If you left something in a vehicle, contact the desk as soon as you notice. Include:
- The confirmation number, the date and the pickup and drop-off addresses.
- The vehicle class and, if you have it, the chauffeur's name from the confirmation.
- A clear description of the item: colour, brand, size and anything distinctive.
- Where you are now, and how you can be reached.
The desk passes the details to the chauffeur or the affiliate operator who drove the trip, so the vehicle can be checked. Items are sometimes found under seats or in seat pockets, so mention exactly where you were sitting.
Becoming an affiliate
Operators and chauffeurs who want to join the network should not use the booking desk. Go to drive with us, read the affiliate standards and register.
Getting the airline and flight code right
A flight number is two letters or a letter and a digit (the airline's code, published by IATA) followed by up to four digits. Send it exactly as it is printed on the ticket or the airline app, because a wrong code means dispatch tracks the wrong aircraft.
Travel managers, assistants and concierges booking for others
When you book for someone else, the chauffeur needs to reach the traveller, not you. Send:
- The traveller's name as it should appear on a name board, if meet and greet has been added, and their mobile number with the country code.
- Your own name and number as the booker, so dispatch knows who to call about the booking itself.
- Any preferences already agreed with the traveller: vehicle class, a quiet ride, a language, a child seat.
- On a corporate account, the cost centre or project code for the trip.
Hotel concierges booking for guests should include the guest's name, the guest's own mobile number where the guest has shared it, and the hotel entrance the car should use. See hotels and concierge.
Invoices, receipts and billing questions
Include the confirmation number or the invoice number, the date of the trip and a short note of what looks wrong: a missing cost centre, a charge you do not recognise, or a receipt made out to the wrong entity. Additions charged at actual cost, such as parking, congestion charges or extra waiting, appear as separate lines, which makes them easier to check against the trip.
Feedback about a trip
Tell the desk what happened, with the confirmation number, the date and the pickup time. Specific details help: where the chauffeur met you, the vehicle, and what should have been different. Feedback about trips driven by affiliates is handled by the BlaakLane.com desk, which holds every affiliate to the written standard.
A quick request template
For anything that is not a simple change, a message in this shape gets a complete answer fastest: the subject line with the city and the date; one line on what you need; then the times, the addresses, the passenger numbers, the luggage, any flight, train or vessel details, and who to call on the day. Coordinators confirm the vehicles and the fare in writing.
