The practical difference is certainty: a taxi's meter decides the fare when you arrive, while a chauffeur from chauffeur.co.nz is a fixed, GST-inclusive price you see in full before you book. Traffic, rain and Friday nights change a metered fare — they change nothing about a fixed one.
Why does a metered fare vary so much?
Because the meter charges for time as well as distance. The same trip can cost noticeably more in peak traffic, roadworks or bad weather than it does on a quiet Sunday morning — you find out the difference at the end, when it's too late to do anything about it.
Is a chauffeur always more expensive than a taxi?
Not in the way people assume. A taxi can be cheaper on a short, quiet hop; the gap narrows quickly on longer journeys, group travel, and anything at peak times — and the chauffeur figure was fixed before you left. The honest comparison is a known number against an estimate.
What does the fixed price include that a taxi fare doesn't?
The exact vehicle you selected rather than whatever arrives, a chauffeur employed and trained by us, flight tracking when you're landing, and GST already inside the number. There are no card surcharges dreamed up at the boot and no meter anxiety through every red light.
How do I see the chauffeur price before committing?
Enter your journey at /book, choose the Mercedes E-Class, V-Class or Sprinter, and the complete price appears before any payment step. If it suits, book it; that figure is what you pay, whatever the traffic does.
When is a taxi the right call?
Genuinely spontaneous, short trips where you're happy with whoever and whatever turns up. When the journey is planned — an airport run, a wedding, a full evening — planning the price along with it is the whole point of a chauffeur.
Fixed prices, NZD, GST-inclusive. No surge, ever. The vehicle you book is the vehicle that arrives, driven by a chauffeur we employ — trained by us and accountable to us, not an app contractor who can decline the job. The chauffeur — since 2002.
Related links: /cars · /how-it-works · /our-drivers · /book