This is one of the questions we are asked earliest and answer most carefully, because a website that states a payment policy in general terms is usually describing a policy that does not apply to the booking in front of you. A one-way transfer, a wedding and a fortnight of touring are simply not the same commercial arrangement.
What does not vary is the sequence. You describe the journey, we check availability, and a written quotation comes back covering the vehicle, the timings and the terms together. Nothing is confirmed until you have that in front of you and have said yes to it, which means you never agree to a figure without also seeing how it is settled.
Why there is no single answer
Every journey is quoted individually against distance, duration, vehicle and timing rather than pulled from a fixed rate card. The same logic applies to how it is settled: an account client with recurring weekly bookings, a family arranging one wedding, and a company moving a production unit for a fortnight need different arrangements, and pretending otherwise would help nobody.
It also means the terms are written for your booking rather than inherited from somebody else's. When you read the quotation you are reading what applies to you, on your dates, for the vehicle allocated to you. If something in it does not suit, say so before you accept — that is precisely the moment to raise it.
What the written quotation covers
A quotation is not just a number. It should let you understand the whole arrangement in one read, and if anything on this list is missing from yours, ask for it before confirming rather than after the journey has happened.
- The vehicle class allocated and the journey it covers
- Timings, including the waiting allowance and what applies beyond it
- Any airport, parking or access charges included in the figure
- Extras agreed separately, such as a child seat or a second car
- How and when payment is to be made for this booking
- The cancellation and amendment terms attached to your dates
Questions worth asking before you confirm
Ask what happens if the journey runs longer than planned, because a day that overruns is common and it is far better to know the position in advance than to discuss it on a pavement at midnight. Ask whether anything is payable before the date. Ask who to contact if plans change at short notice, and get the answer in writing alongside everything else.
For business travel, ask about the paperwork at the same time. If your finance team needs a purchase order number, a cost code, or the invoice addressed to a company rather than to you personally, that is easiest to set up at the outset. Retrofitting an expenses requirement onto a completed booking is possible but nobody enjoys it.
