The executive sedan does most of the work in our chauffeur fleet. It meets the aircraft, carries a director through four meetings in a day, and takes an ambassador to a ministry and back without drama at either end. Across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, sedan work is the bulk of what our operations desk moves, and it has been that way for over twenty years.
Every sedan we supply is a current model, fully insured and presented clean at the start of each job. Chauffeurs are uniformed and speak English and Arabic. The same vehicles are available self-drive through Jumaira Rent A Car on daily, weekly and monthly terms if you would rather take the wheel yourself.
What follows is written to help you book the right tier first time, and to be straight with you about where a sedan stops being the sensible vehicle.
Which sedan for which passenger
The tiers differ less in comfort than in who is sitting in the back and who is watching them arrive.
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8. Principals, board members, ambassadors and visiting delegations. The most rear legroom we offer in a saloon, the quietest cabin, and the car most protocol officers expect to see pull up at the kerb.
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6. Senior managers, consultants, visiting staff and the majority of corporate day hire. Full executive presentation without the cost or the statement of the flagship tier.
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Chevrolet Malibu. Volume programmes. Staff shuttles, crew moves, roadshows with many short legs, and hotel guest transfers where the passenger count is high and the distances are short.
Mixed programmes are normal and we plan them that way. A delegation will often run one S-Class at the front with E-Class cars behind it, and a conference week will put A-Class and Malibu cars on the repeat legs while the flagship stays with the chairman.
Airport transfers and what the boot actually takes
Airport work is the most common sedan booking we take. You give us the flight number, the terminal and the passenger name. The chauffeur watches the flight, parks, and meets the passenger inside the arrivals hall with a name board, or waits kerbside if that is what you prefer. On departures the car arrives ahead of the pick-up time and the chauffeur handles the bags to the check-in desk.
Be realistic about luggage. A sedan boot takes two large cases and a cabin bag comfortably. That is the honest figure, and it holds across the whole category. A third large case travels on the rear seat or it does not travel. Two passengers with two large cases each will not fit in one sedan, however senior they are, and a passenger who has been flying for fourteen hours does not want to discover that on the kerb. Tell your coordinator the case count when you book and we will put the right vehicle against it.
Working from the rear cabin between meetings
Most corporate sedan hire is not one journey. It is a day of them, with dead time in between that the passenger wants to use. The rear of an S-Class, a 7 Series or an A8 takes a laptop on the knees without the screen touching the seat in front, and the ride is settled enough to read and sign papers on a Sheikh Zayed Road run. Rear windows are tinted, climate is set from the back, and charging is available for phone and laptop.
Calls are the point most clients raise. Our chauffeurs are briefed to hold their conversation, take radio and phone traffic on an earpiece, and keep the partition of silence that a working passenger needs. If your passenger wants no conversation at all for the day, say so to the coordinator and it will be on the job sheet before the car leaves the yard.
Day hire, standing programmes and what the quotation covers
Day hire keeps the same car and the same chauffeur with the passenger from first pick-up to last drop, so bags and coats stay in the vehicle and nobody repeats an address. Half days, full days and multi-day programmes all work the same way. Between legs the chauffeur stages nearby and comes to the door when called.
Quotations are fixed and issued per job. They include fuel, Salik, parking and waiting time within the allowance we agree with you. VAT applies on the invoice. Corporate accounts get a named coordinator who learns the pattern of your travel, and the operations desk is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so a delayed board meeting or a re-timed flight is a phone call rather than a new booking.
Embassy and government movements
Embassies, government bodies and the five-star hotels that host their guests are long-standing clients, and that work sets the standard for the rest of the fleet. Chauffeurs on these movements are briefed on the route, the gate and the protocol order before the day starts. Where a mission runs across several days we keep the same chauffeur and the same vehicle on it wherever the schedule allows, so the faces at the compound gate stay familiar.
Discretion is assumed rather than advertised. Chauffeurs do not discuss passengers, itineraries or destinations, and they do not photograph vehicles or venues. Vehicle details and driver details are supplied in advance in whatever format your security office asks for.
When to step up to an SUV or a van
A sedan is the wrong vehicle more often than the category page of a transport company usually admits. Move up when any of these apply.
- More than three passengers travelling together, or three adults across the rear bench for a run longer than the airport to Downtown.
- Four or more large cases, golf bags, camera kit, exhibition material or anything else that needs a boot you can stand a case upright in.
- A family with child seats, where the seats themselves take the space the luggage needed.
- Site visits, unsurfaced ground or a passenger who simply prefers the higher seating position of an SUV.
- A group that wants to keep talking to each other between venues, which is a van job, not a convoy of saloons.
Our SUV and van categories cover all of that, and the coordinator handling your booking will tell you plainly when to move across rather than quoting you a sedan that will disappoint on the day. We confirm the exact vehicle and its availability at the time of booking.
