The cases outgrew the boot
Four passengers flying home from a fortnight is not a sedan job however few people it is. A boot that takes two large cases takes two, and the fifth bag ends up on somebody's knees.
Service 09
Room for the whole party, and the luggage.
Some jobs a sedan simply cannot do. Six adults. Four people with a week of cases each. A passenger who would rather step across into a seat than lower themselves into one. This is the class we send for all three, and the arithmetic is done before the day rather than at the kerb.
01 — The decision
Four reasons people move up from a sedan.
Nobody books a bigger car for the sake of it. Each of these is a specific problem a sedan creates, and each is the reason the desk asks about luggage before it asks about anything else.
There are more than four of you
Five people is the line. Above it you are either in a full-size SUV or in two cars, and two cars means two arrival times, two chauffeurs to brief and a conversation about who travels with whom.
Someone needs to step across
A high seat is easier on a stiff hip and a new knee than a low one. Passengers who dread getting out of a saloon in front of a hotel entrance find an SUV kinder, and quicker.
The load is awkward, not heavy
Golf clubs. Ski bags in February. A cello. Two garment rails for a fitting. Long, rigid things do not fold into a sedan boot, and standing them on a rear seat helps nobody.
If none of those apply, book the smaller car and keep the money. A sedan is quieter to park, easier on a narrow canyon road and cheaper per hour, and the office will tell you so. Where it gets interesting is the middle ground: four passengers, six cases, a Friday afternoon and an aeroplane to catch. That is the booking worth a two-minute conversation, and the reason the fleet page lists capacities beside luggage rather than on its own.
02 — Luggage arithmetic
Seats are the easy half. Bags decide the car.
Six seats and six passengers is not the same booking as six seats and six passengers with fourteen pieces between them. Here is how the desk works it out, and what it needs from you to get it right first time.
- Seats are fixed
- Escalade ESV six. Yukon Denali six. Suburban seven. Those numbers do not stretch, and a chauffeur will not carry a passenger on a lap or in a boot however short the run is. If your party is larger than seven, the answer is a Sprinter or a second car.
- The count we ask for
- Large cases first, then cabin bags, then anything that will not bend. Say the pram, the pushchair, the golf travel bag and the two boxes of samples out loud. It is a thirty-second question on the phone and it is the difference between one car and an awkward second one.
- Behind the third row
- There is boot space behind the rearmost seats in this class rather than only above them, which is what separates a full-size SUV from a crossover with a token third row. How much depends on which vehicle is assigned, and that is why your confirmation names the class instead of leaving you to guess.
- When a row is given to bags
- Four passengers in a seven-seat car means the back row can carry the overflow instead of people. Tell the desk your real head count and the car is set up that way before it leaves for you, not in the car park while you wait.
- Long and rigid loads
- Golf clubs, ski and board bags in winter, a cello, camera cases, a rail of garment bags for a fitting. All of them travel in these vehicles regularly. All of them want mentioning at the booking so the right one is sent and loaded in the right order.
- Child seats
- We do not supply them. You are welcome to bring your own and fit it yourself, and the chauffeur will hold the door and deal with the bags while you do. Flag it when you book so the car arrives with the space clear.
- What the arithmetic costs
- Nothing. Working out whether you need the bigger car is part of taking the booking, and the figure that comes out of it is confirmed in writing before the job is accepted. Nobody discovers the price at the kerb.
Short cut if you would rather not think about it: if your head count reaches five, or your large cases reach four, ring dispatch on (323) 799-3190 instead of booking online. Two minutes on the phone settles which class goes on the confirmation.
03 — The three classes
Three full-size SUVs. The desk picks by seats and cases.
Ninety-nine vehicles across six classes, and three of those classes are the ones this page is about. They are close in size and not interchangeable, so the confirmation names which one you have.
The default
Cadillac Escalade ESV
The car people picture when they ask for an SUV, and the one they tend to name at the booking. Six seats, a presence at a hotel entrance that needs no explaining, and the class we send unless the head count or the bags argue for something else.
6 passengers
Boot behind row three
GMC Yukon Denali
The same six seats, a slightly quieter arrival. Popular with passengers who want the room and the ride height without the badge, and with corporate accounts booking several cars at once for a single day of meetings.
6 passengers
Discreet on arrival
Chevrolet Suburban
Seven seats, which is the reason it exists on this list. When the party is a passenger over what the other two hold, this is the car that keeps everyone in one vehicle instead of splitting the group across two.
7 passengers
Largest seat count
Only the Escalade is pictured because those are the photographs the company owns; the other two are the same size of car and the same standard of preparation. Above seven passengers the answer stops being an SUV altogether and becomes the fourteen-seat Sprinter. Every capacity on this page is repeated on the fleet page so you can check it against your own head count.
04 — Access and awkward loads
The details that decide whether the day actually works.
Three things come up on almost every SUV booking, and none of them appear on a price list. They are worth settling on the phone rather than discovering on the pavement outside a terminal.
Reaching the third row
Adults do sit back there, on a run across town or out to an airport, and they are fine. For a long motorway leg most people would rather not. Tell dispatch who is travelling and how far, and the desk will say plainly whether your six passengers want a six-seat car or two four-seat ones. It will not sell you the bigger number and leave you to find out.
Ride height
This is the quiet reason a lot of families book SUVs. You step across into the seat rather than dropping into it, and you push up out of it rather than hauling yourself. For a parent with a bad hip, or anyone who has had a knee done, that single difference matters more than the badge on the bonnet. The chauffeur holds the door and offers an arm; nobody is rushed.
Long and rigid things
Golf clubs on a Saturday morning. Ski and board bags heading up to Mammoth in February. Camera cases, a double bass, two boxes of samples for a trade show downtown. These load fine, but they load in a particular order, and that order changes if a passenger joins at the second stop. Mention it once and the chauffeur plans the boot rather than repacking it in a loading bay.
3SUV classes in the fleet
7Most seats in one SUV
30Minutes free at LAX arrivals
24/7Dispatch answered
The thirty minutes above run from wheels down rather than from the time printed on your ticket, which is the version that helps when a flight lands late. It applies to LAX arrivals; any other allowance is stated on your confirmation. Airport specifics are set out on the LAX page, and the run down to Anaheim sits on LAX to Disneyland, which is an SUV job more often than not.
05 — Money
Quoted before you travel, never metered on the way.
Two ways to buy an SUV. By the hour when the day is shapeless, at a set starting rate when it is a known run between two known points. Both figures are confirmed to you in writing before the booking is accepted.
Starting rates across the fleet
From$85Per hour, as directed
From$125Beverly Hills ↔ LAX
From$150LAX → Disneyland
Those are the fleet’s starting rates rather than SUV prices. A full-size SUV costs more than a sedan on the same job, and the exact figure for your booking — class, hours, route and any minimum that applies — is quoted to you and confirmed in writing first. Every set-price run is listed on the routes page.
What moves the number
- Which of the three classes you take. Six seats and seven seats do not cost the same, and neither do the two six-seat cars.
- Hours against distance. A single airport run prices as a run. A day of stops prices by the hour, and any minimum is stated on your confirmation.
- Where the day starts and ends. A car repositioning from one end of the county to the other is a longer job than the passenger’s own mileage suggests.
- Tolls and venue parking. Passed through at what they cost us, itemised, with nothing added on top.
- Extra stops added on the day. Ask the chauffeur, and dispatch confirms the revised figure before the car moves rather than after.
What does not move it: gratuity is never quietly added to a total, there is no surge on a wet Friday or a holiday weekend, and the price does not rise because the flight was busy. We are a direct operator rather than a broker, so the figure you agree is the figure the chauffeur is working to — there is no middle party taking a cut of it. The reasoning behind that is set out on why book direct.
06 — Questions
Six things first-time callers ask about the bigger cars.
Start with two numbers: how many people and how many cases. Four passengers with hand luggage fit a BMW X5. Six with real suitcases want an Escalade ESV or a Yukon Denali. Seven passengers, or six with a full boot, want a Suburban. Give the office both numbers and it will name the class instead of leaving you to guess.
Enough for the party in a Suburban or an Escalade ESV, which is the reason those long cars are on the fleet at all. A shorter SUV spends that space on its third row instead. Where the cases will not fit behind row three, the honest answer is a larger class or a second vehicle, and you hear it when you book rather than at the kerb.
Yes. Hourly work starts from $85 per hour in the base class, and every step up the fleet costs more per hour than the step below it. Set fares are quoted per vehicle, so the figure does not move with the number of people in the car. It moves with which car you booked.
Six passengers with a case each is Suburban work, and it is one of the most common bookings the desk takes. An Escalade ESV or Yukon Denali carries six comfortably with lighter luggage. Whichever class you choose, an LAX arrival carries thirty minutes of complimentary waiting from the moment the aircraft is on the ground.
For a run across town or out to an airport, yes. For a long motorway leg most adults would rather be in the middle row, so tell the office who is travelling and how far and the chauffeur seats the party around that. Where six adults all want a full-size seat for a long day, the honest answer is a Sprinter or a second car.
We do not supply child seats. You are welcome to bring your own and fit it yourself, and there is room to do that in every class on this page. Mention it when you book and the car arrives with the relevant seat clear, so you are not working around luggage while the engine runs.
Anything not covered here is worth a call rather than a guess. Dispatch is answered around the clock on (323) 799-3190, and the written terms sit on the terms page. Related work: group transportation for parties that outgrow one vehicle, VIP transportation where discretion is the point, and the full service list.
07 — Reserve
Give us the head count and the bag count. We will name the car.
Six seats or seven, one afternoon or a fortnight, the arithmetic takes a minute and the figure comes back to you in writing before anything is booked.
(323) 799-3190A licensed direct operator, founder-run for more than ten years across Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.