The price and quality of travel often go hand in hand, but what if you could combine them both? Ordered rides with a representative car offer the opportunity to experience taxi travel on a new level. Many may think, is the extra comfort of the company cars worth the price? In this text, we will do a small price comparison and look at what the charter car service costs compared to traditional taxi services. I hope you get an idea of whether the stress-freeness offered by representative car services could solve the problems you face in the current taxi traffic.
What do I mean by order run?
In all its simplicity, I mean transportation that is ordered in advance, which means that pre-ordering a taxi is also a kind of charter ride.
Agency car operators are so small in number of cars that very few operators are able to reliably offer the possibility of sudden departures, which is why we are now focusing on pre-ordered rides.
And what are the advantages of representative car services compared to traditional taxis?
Whereas when ordering a taxi, you search for a free car nearby, in the representative car service you can choose a car and driver from different options according to your needs.
When you order a taxi, the order is forwarded to a free car nearby and he is sent to you. The turnover is high and you can never be sure in advance what type of transport you will get this time, it is more of a game of lottery. If there is no free car nearby, it is expected that one will become available nearby.
Agency car services work in a different way, you order a specific driver with a specific vehicle to pick you up at a specific time, so you know exactly what you're going to get. The vehicle will be reserved for you immediately at the time of ordering and it will come to you even after a longer drive as agreed. In other words, representative car services are a safer choice when you want peace of mind about the punctuality of your transport. Company car operators are used, for example, for airport transport and other needs where we want to ensure proper transport.
The big advantage of representative car services compared to taxis is their predictability, because you know exactly what you are ordering.
Hypothetical situation: You order a taxi in advance when you are on your way from Nurmijärvi to the airport on Monday morning at 4:30 a.m., Departure time arrives and the car is nowhere to be seen, you get a call from the taxi center that there is no "free" car nearby even though you ordered a ride three days ago?? This may be familiar to some... This cannot happen in the on-demand driving service. If it were to happen that the vehicle you want is already reserved for some other transport need, you will be told honestly when you are placing the order, and not until you are supposed to leave.
Basis of price determination
Many are aware of taxi pricing. The price of a taxi consists of the departure fee, transportation for the trip and the time spent on the trip, so in practice you pay for the time you are on the ride.
On-demand driving services are different from what you are used to, as they usually have fixed prices. The advantages of fixed pricing are, for example, that it is completely transparent and the price is not affected by traffic jams, but the most smooth route for the customer can always be chosen.
For short journeys (0-15 km), charter services can be clearly more expensive than taxis, because the car is booked separately for your transport and it may come even longer for you.
Competitive price-quality ratio for those who want comfort
In representative car services, things are done at a higher level and with a more uniform quality than in a basic taxi service, where the quality may vary greatly from time to time between transports and luck always plays a part in the travel experience.
Advantages of representative car services:
- Punctuality is one basic pillar on which operations are built.
- The drivers are long-term professionals who do not care about traffic.
- The vehicles have been chosen with your travel comfort in mind and they are taken care of.
When you know your transportation needs in advance and you want to make sure of a stress-free trip, representative car services offer a very competitive price-quality alternative to traditional taxis.
Flexible service without hidden costs
In many cases, ride-hailing services are more flexible than taxis. For example, when picking up from the airport with many operators, the price includes 60 minutes of free waiting time for the flight to land, this is because you don't have to worry about how long it will take to get your luggage.
The price differences between a taxi and a representative car service
In addition to us, I will include Taksi Helsingin, which represents a large traditional taxi company, and Kovanen, which is known as a "premium" taxi, for this comparison.
| Operator | Helsinki - airport (20km / 30min) | Tuusula - airport (15km / 20min) | Porvoo - airport (50km / 45min) |
| VM Limo | 80€ | 60€ | 125€ |
| Taxi Helsinki | 67 – 73€ | 51 – 56€ | 117 – 127€ |
| Kovanen | 68 – 78€ | 52 – 59€ | 118 – 131€ |
What does the price of agency car operators consist of?
- To be sure
- Personalized service
- Off to the drive
- About more pleasant travel
Different options and price levels
Several company car operators offer different options and the price level of transportation varies according to the selected vehicle category.
The prices usually start with clean business class vehicles, such as the Mercedes E-series, where the prices mirror the consumer pricing of the biggest taxi companies.
In addition, there are, for example, luxury vehicles and minivans for larger groups and, depending on the operator, even buses. You can choose the vehicle that suits your needs from the list.
Unfortunately, as a small operator, we only offer executive-class sedans for the time being. Get to know our vehicles better from here.
Booking process
Operators usually have their own company car order platforms or phone applications developed to make ordering easier, but you can also contact them traditionally by calling or messaging them. Please take into account that there are not many larger company car operators on the market, so the order should be made well in advance and not 30 minutes before the departure time.
What factors affect the price of charter driving services?
- Selected vehicle
- The length of the journey
- Travel time
- Number of people, minivans are usually slightly more valuable than cars
A word about taxi pricing
It's been a long time since I was able to read how a taxi from the side of the street came to cost 158 euros. For this reason, I recommend you to download an application on your phone, which allows you to agree on a fixed price for your ride or, when taking a ride from the side of the street, to agree on a fixed price for transportation before the car leaves.
Although the more representative taxi services we offer can be a little more expensive than traditional taxis, you clearly get more value for your money and the risk of being scammed when using our service is negligible.
Summary: Price comparison in order times – opposite representative cars and taxis
For shorter journeys of less than 10 kilometers, taxis are clearly cheaper than company car services, but when you get to the price range where a taxi trip starts to approach 50 euros (such as airport transfers), I consider company car services to be quite a competitive option, because you will surely have a pleasant travel experience.
Unfortunately, there are still not a lot of on-demand driving services with company cars on the market, because the taxi industry was closed until 2018. The pandemic that started in 2020 reduced business travel, which means that company car services have not yet developed, but they will certainly become more common over time.