Private Charters: Hourly & Full-Day Car Service in the Bay Area
Your itinerary, your own car and driver. Book the car by the block — 4 hours or 8 — and the driver takes your group from stop to stop and waits while you are inside. Each car's price is listed under the form.
- The whole car for your group alone
- Your stops; the driver drives and waits
- 4- or 8-hour blocks, priced up front
- No meter, no surge
Prefer a person? Text or call (650) 456-9999 — 24 hours a day, 10 languages.
For days that don't fit a point-to-point fare
A charter is the right shape when there are several stops, when waiting is most of the job, or when the same driver should carry the whole day. If your trip is a fixed A to B, a standard booking is cheaper and simpler.
San Francisco on your own schedule
The bridge, the hills and the neighborhoods in the order you choose, at your own pace, with the car waiting nearby instead of a bus timetable. Our San Francisco city day is one way to spend the hours — follow it as written or use it as a starting point.
Silicon Valley visits
Stanford, the visitor centers, a campus interview or a string of office meetings across the Peninsula and the South Bay. The car waits outside each stop, so the next leg starts when you do.
Napa and Sonoma wineries
From SFO or a hotel near the airport, wine country is its own day — 10 hours — priced on the Napa and Sonoma pages. Already staying in the valley? Send the day and we quote it. Either way you book the tastings, and nobody in your group has to drive.
Family sightseeing
Grandparents and children in one car that waits for them — the coast, the redwoods or the city, at the pace of the slowest walker.
Investor roadshows
Six meetings across San Francisco and the Peninsula in a day, with the schedule moving as meetings run over. The car waits outside; the driver knows the next address before you do.
Client visits and site tours
Showing visitors several offices, properties, or campuses. One driver for the day means nobody re-explains the itinerary at every stop.
Executive and team visits
Someone flying in for two days of meetings who should not be booking a separate ride between each one. Hold the car for the working day and release it when they fly out.
Dinners and nights out
Drinks, dinner, a show, and home — with the same car across all of it. Plans that change mid-evening are the normal case here, not an exception.
Appointments and errands
A morning of appointments where waiting is most of the job. Common for medical visits and for anyone who would rather not stand outside arranging the next car.
Days that start or end at an airport
Collect an arrival, run the day, drop at departures. If the airport leg is genuinely all you need, a standard airport booking is the better-value way to do it.
Your car, your stops, our driver
- The whole car is yours: nobody else rides in it, and the price is for the car, however many of you fill its seats
- You plan the stops. The driver drives, waits while you are inside, and keeps to the hours you booked
- There is no guide: sightseeing, tickets, tastings and table reservations are yours to arrange, unless your written quote says we arrange them
- Change the plan on the day — add a stop, drop one, swap the order — within the hours you booked, the area the quote covers and what the roads allow. More time, or a stop well outside that area, is agreed with you first at the car's hourly rate
The cars, priced by the block
Each price is for the whole car and its driver, for 4 hours or 8; an hour past the block is the car's hourly rate, agreed with you on the day. A car marked Request a quote is priced by hand for your date.
These are the cars we dispatch ourselves, and what almost every charter runs in. Anything else the day needs — a larger vehicle, or a second car for part of it — we arrange through partner operators and quote in the same reply, confirmed before you commit. One point of contact for the whole day either way.
How a charter is booked
- 01
Send the day
Where it starts, roughly when, how many of you and the stops you know of, in your own words. Each car's 4- and 8-hour price is listed under the form.
- 02
We line up the car
Someone reads the day — the hours, the party size, the right car, whether a charter is even the right shape (sometimes it is not, and we will tell you) — and holds the driver.
- 03
Confirmed by text
One flat price by text or email, naming the car, the hours and what the price covers. Nothing is committed until you say yes, and nothing is added without your agreement.
- 04
On the day
Your driver confirms by text, then stays with you. Change the order of the stops, add one, drop one — within the hours you booked.
What does a private charter include?
A car and its driver for your group alone, for the hours you book: the driving between your stops and the waiting while you are inside. The price is for the car, however many of you ride in it, up to its seats. Tickets, tastings and reservations are yours, unless your written quote says otherwise.
Is there a minimum number of hours?
Yes — 4 hours. Blocks are 4 or 8 hours per car, and a shorter day is still the 4-hour block — for a single airport run or a short A to B, a standard booking is cheaper and simpler, and we will say so.
What does a charter cost?
Two block prices per car — 4 hours and 8 hours — listed under the form and beside each car on this page, before you send anything. Hours beyond the block are at the car's hourly rate, agreed with you on the day. No meter, no surge, and the number we quote is the number you pay.
Can we change the plan during the day?
Yes, within the hours you booked and the area the quote covers: add a stop, drop one or change the order, as long as the drive is practical. More time, or a stop well outside that area, is agreed with you first at the car's hourly rate.
Is the driver also a tour guide?
No. A charter is a car and a driver: the driver knows the roads, drives and waits, but does not guide, book or plan the day. If you want a guided tour, tickets or reservations made for you, say so in the inquiry — whatever we agree to arrange is written into the quote.
What if the day runs longer than planned?
Tell your driver and, where the day allows it, they stay. Time beyond the block you booked is agreed with you first, at the car's hourly rate — you will not find hours on your bill that nobody mentioned.
Can we use a charter for Napa or Sonoma?
Yes. From SFO or a hotel near the airport, wine country is its own day — 10 hours — with its own prices on the Napa and Sonoma pages. Already staying in the valley? Send the day and we quote it.
Can the day start or finish at the airport?
Yes — arrivals and departures are a normal part of a charter. If the airport trip is the whole job, book it as a standard airport ride instead: it is priced per trip and it will cost you less than holding a car by the hour.
Which cars can we charter?
The cars on this page, each with its passengers and its price per block. A car marked Request a quote is priced by hand for your date. Tell us the party size and the kind of day if you would like a recommendation.
Tell us the day. We'll hold the car
- Wine country from SFO is its own day, at its own prices — see the Napa page.
- For a ready-made route through the city, see our San Francisco city day.
- Booking around a concert, a game, or a gala? See event transportation.
- For a straight trip to or from SFO, SJC, or OAK, book a standard airport ride.
- Not sure which shape fits? Compare all our services.