An as directed car service is an hourly chauffeur booking: you reserve one car and one professional chauffeur for a set number of hours and direct the stops as the day unfolds. At BarrieLimo.net the minimum is three hours, and a business sedan is a planning figure of $135–160 an hour all-in plus HST. See our hourly chauffeur service for the full picture.
What is an as directed car service?
"As directed" is trade shorthand that chauffeurs and dispatchers have used for a long time. It means the passenger directs the car: instead of giving the dispatcher a pickup and a drop-off, you book a block of hours and decide, stop by stop, where the car goes next. The chauffeur is the same person from first stop to last, and the car stays with you whether it is moving or parked outside a doorway.
People also call it hourly service, a chauffeur at disposal or a driver for the day. The idea is identical; what differs between operators is the minimum, the rate and the small print. The same model sits behind our private chauffeur service, where the emphasis is a personal driver rather than a clock.
How is as directed different from a taxi or a one-way transfer?
A one-way transfer is a promise to get one booking from address A to address B for a fixed fare. It is excellent for an airport run, and it finishes the moment you step out. A taxi works the same way but meters the trip and does not wait for you.
As directed flips the arrangement. You are buying the chauffeur's time and the car's availability, so stops can multiply without the price jumping at each one. A morning with a pharmacy, a bank, a specialist appointment and a late lunch is four taxi rides with four waits; as directed it is one booking, and the chauffeur is at the kerb when you come out.
How does the hourly clock work?
You choose a start time and a number of hours on the reservation engine, and the clock runs from the booked pickup time at your address until you are dropped at the last stop. Driving and waiting both count, because the car and chauffeur are yours either way. The minimum is three hours for business sedans, business SUVs, first-class sedans, executive SUVs, luxury minivans and Sprinters; stretch limousines from partner operators carry four hours and party buses four to five.
Time beyond what you booked is added in 30-minute blocks. If you finish early, the minimum still applies.
What does an as directed hour cost?
These are planning figures, all-in plus HST: chauffeur, vehicle, fuel, tolls on the planned route and gratuity are inside the number. The engine shows the exact fixed price for your date and vehicle before you confirm.
| Vehicle | Seats | Hourly planning range | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business sedan | 3 | $135–160 | 3 hours |
| Business SUV | 5 | $175–205 | 3 hours |
| Executive SUV | 6 | $225–265 | 3 hours |
| First-class sedan | 3 | $350–410 | 3 hours |
| Executive Sprinter | up to 14 | $475–550 | 3 hours |
| Jet Sprinter (VIP lounge) | 7 | $650–750 | 3 hours |
| Stretch limousine (partner) | 8–14 | $400–470 | 4 hours |
As a worked example, a four-hour business sedan booking is $540–640 all-in plus HST. Rolls-Royce and Maybach, party buses and coaches are partner vehicles from vetted operators; the rates page and the fleet page show every class.
What should I tell dispatch when I book?
You do not need a finished itinerary, but a rough one helps. Give the pickup address and start time, the first two or three stops and a guess at the finish. Say how many people are travelling and how many bags or mobility aids come with them, whether you need a child seat (from $25 each, added at booking) and whether anyone uses a wheelchair or scooter, in which case book the accessible vehicle in advance.
Add anything fixed, such as an appointment, a restaurant booking or a ceremony. Dispatch then builds the clock around the fixed points and leaves slack around the flexible ones.
Can the plan change once the day has started?
Yes, and that is the point of the product. You can add a stop, swap the order, skip a visit that is taking too long or drive past the house for something you forgot. Tell the chauffeur and the car goes there. The only limit is the clock: whatever fits inside the hours you booked is free to rearrange, and extra time beyond that is available in 30-minute blocks when the chauffeur's schedule allows.
A practical habit helps. If you know a late change is likely, such as a meeting that may end early or a dinner that may run long, mention it at the start of the day. The chauffeur can then plan parking, fuel and breaks around it rather than discovering the change at a busy kerb.
Where does the chauffeur wait while I am busy?
Near the entrance if the street allows, otherwise in the closest legal spot, and always reachable by phone. The chauffeur does not circle a block for two hours. At a hospital, an arena or a downtown tower, the chauffeur will usually agree a meeting point before you get out and text you the car's exact location.
Venues with their own pickup rules, such as hospitals and arenas, set the drop-off and waiting zones and the chauffeur follows them. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre publishes its own visitor and parking information, which is worth reading before a medical day.
What does a three-hour block look like?
Take a Tuesday with a late-morning appointment at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. The chauffeur collects you at 9:30, drops you at the entrance at 9:50, waits while you are inside, then takes you to the pharmacy and a bakery on the way home. The clock stops at your front door at about 12:30. Two taxis, two waits and a missed pickup become one booking.
Another block is a house-hunting tour of three properties in Barrie and Innisfil, with the car carrying the paperwork between them. A third is a dinner: collected at 6, dropped at a restaurant, home by 9.
What does a full day look like?
Picture a visiting executive landing at Pearson on a Wednesday morning. A chauffeur meets the flight, drives up Highway 400 to a supplier meeting in Alliston, home to Honda of Canada Mfg., waits outside, takes the visitor to lunch in Barrie, drives to Georgian College, and ends with dinner and a drop at a hotel. One car, one chauffeur, one booking, with the airport leg inside the same file.
The day runs about ten hours on the clock, much of it waiting. For trips that include flights or hotel nights, the travel desk can sit alongside the car on the same plan.
When is as directed better than two one-way trips?
Look at the stops and the waiting. If you are going from Barrie to downtown Toronto for one appointment and straight home, two one-way fares can be the better value: a business sedan to Union Station is a planning range of $420–485 each way for about 114 km and 75–105 minutes. If the day includes lunch, a second meeting, shopping or an uncertain finish, an hourly booking usually wins, because the car waits at no extra complexity.
The break-even is simple enough to check. Add up the hours you expect the car to be yours, including the drive each way, multiply by the hourly range, and compare that with two fixed fares. Ask the reservation engine to price both for your itinerary; our hourly versus point-to-point guide walks through the comparison with examples.
When is as directed the wrong booking?
Honesty matters here, because hourly is our lead product and it is not right for every trip. A single run from your door to Pearson, a straight drop at a wedding venue or one appointment close to home is better as a fixed one-way fare. You would be paying for a three-hour minimum to use forty minutes of it.
If your trip is station to station on a day with a convenient GO Transit train, the train will cost less; check current times and fares on GO Transit. Hourly makes sense when the car's flexibility is something you will use: several stops, long waits, luggage, children, mobility needs, or a finish you cannot predict.
What is included in the hourly price?
The all-in hourly figure covers the chauffeur and vehicle, fuel, the 407 ETR and bridge tolls on the planned route, any airport fees and gratuity. HST is shown as a separate line. There is no surge and no meter, and a stop-and-go afternoon does not change the figure you agreed. The 407 ETR is a tolled highway, and where the planned route uses it, the toll is already inside your price.
What is not included is anything you choose to buy along the way: a lunch, parking at a destination that charges visitors, admission, a meet-and-greet service inside an airport arrivals hall, which is an optional add-on on the booking form. If a stop involves a fee, the chauffeur will tell you before you commit.
Which vehicle suits an as directed day?
Choose by passengers and luggage, then by the feel of the day. A business sedan carries three passengers and three bags and suits the solo traveller or a couple. A business SUV holds five passengers and five bags and adds all-wheel drive for the snowbelt. An executive SUV or luxury minivan seats six, and a Sprinter carries up to fourteen for a crew or a family reunion.
The first-class sedan, an S-Class or 7 Series class car, is the choice when the day is about arriving well, and the Jet Sprinter, a VIP lounge conversion for up to seven, works as a mobile boardroom. Stretch limousines, Rolls-Royce and party buses come from partner operators. The fleet page lists the classes, and the blog on what a black car service is explains the vocabulary.
How do Highway 400 and winter change the plan?
Barrie is in Ontario's snowbelt, and lake-effect squalls off Georgian Bay can slow or close Highway 400 between Barrie and Highway 89 with little warning from November to March. Cottage traffic clogs the 400 and Highway 11 northbound on Friday afternoons and southbound on Sunday afternoons from Victoria Day to Thanksgiving. An as directed booking absorbs both, because the chauffeur can reorder stops, leave earlier or wait out a squall without a new fare appearing.
The chauffeur checks Ontario 511 through the day and tells you if a route needs to change. On a snow day, book a little extra time and the plan stays relaxed. Our Highway 400 winter travel guide shows how dispatch thinks about it.
What are the rules of the car?
Alcohol is not allowed in our vehicles, on any trip, which includes dinners, tastings and celebrations. If your day includes a winery or a brewery, tastings happen at the venue and the chauffeur drives you home. Pets need prior approval: ask at booking and wait for written confirmation. Service animals are welcome; mention them when you book. A wheelchair-accessible vehicle is available if you book in advance and tell us about the wheelchair or scooter.
Cancellation is measured from the scheduled pickup: more than 72 hours before, no charge; 72 hours or less, 10 per cent; 48 hours or less, 50 per cent; 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100 per cent.
How do I book an as directed chauffeur in Barrie?
Open the booking page, enter your pickup address, pick the hourly option, choose the vehicle and the number of hours, and read the fixed fare before you confirm. There is no app and no marketplace commission, and one dispatch desk answers for the whole day. If you are unsure how many hours to choose, say what you want to achieve and ask dispatch for a recommendation before you confirm.
For businesses that book the same service every week, the corporate page explains accounts and invoicing.
