Frequently Asked Questions

To help determine what type of service to book, see our Service Descriptions.

For general information, in addition to this FAQ page, we recommend reading our Tips for Using a Black Car Service and Secrets of the Limo Industry articles to further educate yourself on using a black car service. At the bottom of those articles, there are links to additional pages that provide salient information. If you have any additional questions, no worries ... just contact us!

The easiest and fastest way to get quotes or book basic ride requests is to utilize our automated online quote & booking system. For more complex requests, please call our office at 512/765.4410. Not sure what type of ride to book? See our Service Descriptions for more information.

Yes, we track flights. On an outbound flight, if your flight is delayed for 30 minutes or more, you will receive a text or call asking if you would like to delay your pick-up to the airport if you have provided your flight information. On incoming flights, flight information is required so that we can adjust your scheduled pick-up time accordingly. Whether your flight is early or late, our driver will be ready to serve your transportation needs. When completing your reservation, please enter your flight details so we can provide this value-added service. If your flight is cancelled and you provided flight details in your reservation, we will automatically cancel your reservation at no charge and we will contact you to see if you would like to reschedule. For additional information, see our Policies, Terms & Conditions.

We meet all passengers inside the terminal. If you provided your mobile number when completing your reservation request, you will receive a text from our driver when your plane lands. Our driver will meet you at the bottom of the escalator in baggage claim. Our driver will be holding an electronic pad displaying your last name. Our driver will assist with any luggage to our vehicle that will be parked just outside the doors.

Our drivers are happy to assist with your luggage. At the airport, we will handle your luggage from the terminal to the car, which will be parked in the VIP parking area just outside the terminal. If we are picking up or dropping off at a business or home, our driver can assist with your luggage as long as the driver remains within sight of the vehicle.

When you create an account for the first time by making a reservation online or by calling our office, your credit card information will be collected and stored in your account. Your credit card will automatically be charged at the time of your transportation. You will receive a receipt by email after the transportation is concluded, usually within a few minutes. Your credit card information is automatically stored in your account for the convenience of future use. Our entire website is SSL encrypted, ensuring safe exchange of information.

Our online reservation system requires a 16-hour advanced booking. If you have an immediate need for transportation, call our office directly at 512/765.4410. Our daily schedule is usually quite full, so we may not be able to accommodate last minute reservations. Booking well in advance gives you peace of mind that your transportation needs are taken care of, giving one less thing for you to worry about. If you booked days or weeks in advance, our reservation system will automatically send out a scheduled transportation reminder 16 hours before your scheduled pickup time.

Although we can provide transportation to most anywhere in Texas, our standard Austin metro service area includes Austin, Bee Cave, Buda, Cedar Park, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Georgetown, Hutto, Kyle, Lakeway, Leander, Manor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Taylor, Spicewood, and West Lake Hills. Is your area not listed? No worries, just contact us! Do you need transportation from Austin to Houston, Austin to Dallas, Austin to San Antonio or other cities in Texas? No problem! Whatever your transportation needs in Texas, we will ensure our service is professional, safe and efficient.

We operate 24 hours a day, 7-days a week. For active runs, dispatch is available 24 hours a day. For new bookings, sales is available by phone from 8am to 6pm. New bookings can be made online 24 hours a day for any transportation order 12 hours or more in advance of pickup.

We would be happy to set-up a special corporate account for you in our reservations system that enables you to manage your corporate travel online. Our reservations portal works as a travel management system enabling you to handle multiple passengers, trips and payments options. Travel can be billed to a corporate account, to individual traveler's credit cards, or any combination you need.

We are not the least nor most expensive car service in Austin. If you are simply looking for the best rate, we are confident that you can find lower rates at some other car services. Forgive the frankness, but there are struggling car services in Austin that will dispatch a rattle-box of a vehicle with a driver that looks and smells like Sasquatch ... and probably has been doing split shifts with little sleep in between. That is simply not how we do business. We provide professional, safe and reliable service in late-model well maintained vehicles driven by well-dressed, well-groomed professional chauffeur drivers. We think comfort, professionalism, and safety are worth a few extra dollars. We do not employ any paid marketing advertising whatsoever to gain new clients. All new business comes from word-of-mouth referrals and organically through our website. Our schedule is usually quite full. As such, we do not negotiate rates. We do offer a few promo codes from time to time.

Texas state law does not require car seats for children being transported in for-hire vehicles. We do not offer infant or booster seats. We understand that you may want to install your own seat for your child's safety. You are welcome to install your own seat as long as it does not damage leather seats. Because of insurance liability, our drivers are unable to install your child seat in our vehicles. Service to families with children deemed unruly or destructive of our vehicles will be discontinued with no refund.

Your driver will determine the fastest route available and will take it whether it includes tolls or not. The cost for any tolls are absorbed as a cost to the company and will not be added to your rate. We also consider which route is most safe to traverse. Routes that are currently under construction may be avoided. If you have a preferred route, you may convey it to the driver and the driver will make every effort to accommodate your request if time allows.   

The short answer is: No. However, we’d like to explain why:

Most other black car services share cars and drivers. In the industry, it's called "farm-outs". The practice of most services is to take in as much business as absolutely possible on a daily basis whether or not they have capacity to handle it. If they don't have the capacity to handle their business, they "farm-out" some business to another car service ... generally, to a car service that is struggling and looking for work. So what does this mean for you? Sometimes you place an order with limo company "A" but limo company "B" shows up to handle your transportation representing themselves as limo company "A". What's more, sometimes company "B" turns around and farms-out the business to yet another car service. So now you have company "C" showing up to provide your transportation ... of course, still representing themselves as company "A". By the time your reservation is finally serviced, it could be twice removed from the original company. When this happens, the company that booked your original reservation has lost significant control over the quality of service that you experience.

Bottom line? If we make a referral, we have no idea who is actually going to show up to handle your transportation. Any referral reflects on us. We do not want a rattle-box of a vehicle showing up with a driver that looks and smells like Sasquatch to handle your transportation!

We simply do not do business that way. At Austin Private Car Service, we are a locally owned, owner-operated company and we take pride in the level of service that we provide our clients. We handle 99.9% of the business that we accept in-house. With us, reliability and quality is consistent. Unfortunately, we are sometimes booked. We hope you understand.

For questions and answers about Winery, Microbrewery & Distillery transportation, see our Winery, Microbrewery & Distillery Tours transportation page.

For questions and answers about Wedding Getaway service, see our Wedding Getaway Transportation page.

To answer to this question, we defer to our in-house Canine Advisor, Ace. Ace barks that all well-behaved animals are welcome in Austin Private Car Service vehicles, except squirrels. However, our in-house Advisor on Fashion, Lucy, reminds everyone that all policies on cleaning fees, etc. apply to animals as well as humans ... so, good form and manners are appreciated! Although both Ace and Lucy hesitate to include felines on the list of approved animals, we keep reminding them to be inclusive. We don't mean to air their dirty laundry here, but they have been sent to remedial training on several occasions! Please bear with us ... it's a work in progress.

The short answer is: Yes, however we advise you to continue reading: Our vehicles are NOT party buses. We operate a professional service that transports many regular well-known clients who do not want a vehicle that smells like a party bus. Therefore, if you drink alcohol, do so responsibly. Our clean-up fee for spilled alcohol in our vehicles starts at $250. Regurgitation clean-up starts at a $500. In addition, there may be additional damage fees. You DO NOT want to pay our clean-up fees. Excessively inebriated passengers as determined by our driver and/or office will result in immediate termination of service and you will be charged the full confirmed rate plus any accumulated expenses. It is your responsibility to monitor your fellow passengers. Fair warning. 

Integrity. Reliability. Experience. Modern convenience. We are not just in the business of providing transportation ... rather, we are in the business of creating a safe, worry-free experience that is easy and effortless. We focus on removing the uncertainty of wondering whether your driver will show up or trying to find your driver at the airport. We communicate in a way that is non-intrusive, yet informative. We do not add fees to our standard rates such as "booking fees" and "fuel surcharge fees". Even tolls, airport fees, and driver gratuity are included in our rates ... so there are no hidden surprises. We employ technology that creates efficiency and an ease of doing business with us. We understand that the car service you choose is a direct reflection on you, your business, and your lifestyle. We are an owner-operated company, so providing exemplary service is personal to us, not just marketing hype. We get it done efficiently ... on time ... and reliably. For further information, spending five minutes to read this article of ours may be time very well spent!

Absolutely not! Before you rent a stretch limousine in Austin, you may want to read the following: Re-manufactured stretch limousines are made by 3rd party companies that literally cut an existing vehicle in half and weld several feet of addition to the vehicle which significantly increases the vehicle's weight.

Before modification, vehicles are required to meet rigorous safety regulations. However after modification, vehicles do not need to prove that they still meet safety criteria standards. The original brake system may still be expected to stop the modified vehicle, despite the substantial additional weight of the modification and the increased number of passengers. There have been numerous fatal accidents with stretch limousines, including a horrific accident that killed 20 people in New York in October of 2018.

What's more, the City of Austin requires small limousine services to have a re-manufactured stretch limousine in their fleet in order to obtain a license to operate. Most limousine services in Austin are not large enough to satisfy the exemption for that requirement so they are forced to buy a stretch limousine. Adding to the issue is that demand for stretch limousines has been waning because most of the public now view stretch limousines as gaudy and are now renting Sprinter vans instead. Because there is little demand for stretch limousines, services that are required to buy stretch limousines usually do not invest much money in them and purchase an old, used rattle-box of a limo just to satisfy the City of Austin's requirement. There isn't much of a market for used limousines and they can easily be purchased on the open market, some for less than $20k. Overall, these dynamics have created a very dangerous environment for stretch limousine service in Austin.

If you choose to rent a stretch limousine in Austin, we invite you to be very careful and make sure you know exactly what vehicle the service will be sending you. Ask questions about the model year and number of miles on the vehicle, whether the vehicle's safety features were upgraded at the time of modification, and whether the vehicle's safety features were re-certified after modification.

Overall, Austin Private Car Service considers modified stretch vehicles unsafe. Therefore, we do not have the vehicles in our fleet and we do not recommend these vehicles to our clients.

This is a popular question! Many people assume that ride-share negatively effects our business but the truth is quite the opposite. We've noticed that ride-share services have brought an abundance of new consumers into the market that had not previously used car services. For us, that has been a good thing. How?

Many consumers begin using ride-share and are relatively happy with their service, but they also experience inconsistent and/or unreliable service from time to time. That may not be such a big issue when there is sufficient time to order-up another ride-share. However, when someone misses a flight because of a delay in getting to the airport caused by not being able to find a ride-share driver or a ride-share driver that cancels, those same consumers begin to search for a more reliable alternative.

Those using premium ride-share services such as Uber Select, LUX or Black may find our rates to be less-than or equal-to ride-share on longer rides, such as airport service to/from Round Rock, Cedar Park, Lakeway and Georgetown. Therefore, using a reliable black car service with professional drivers only makes sense. After all, what is the point of playing Russian roulette when you can order up exactly what you want?

In response to various serious safety issues with ride share usage, many companies have adopted corporate travel policies that limit utilization of ride-share. Many HR departments are concerned with safety related to sufficient insurance coverage as well as single individuals traveling solo. Companies have looked for services such as ours which offer professional, licensed chauffeur drivers, well-respected commercial insurance, and a well-defined maintenance program for a fleet of vehicles. These are factors that many HR departments consider when they are looking to protect their most valuable resource, their employees.

At the end of the day, most of our clients simply do not use ride-share services for a variety of reasons. Most are looking for the consistent reliability and professionalism that we offer. The bottom line is that we find that our clients don't buy simply based on price.

Many taxi and limousine companies as well as the national organizations that service them, such as the National Limousine Association, have continually rallied against ride-share companies. Although we agree that the playing field should be equal, we really do not understand why they are so fixated on ride-share. It's rather easy to picture an old cigar-smoking taxi or car service owner sitting behind a 1960s steel desk exclaiming, "We've been doing business the same way for 40 years and we're not going to change now!" But things do change. Business environments change and businesses must adapt along with it. Consumers have embraced new technology and companies that have recognized the trends in the new gig-economy have taken advantage of the opportunities. We have created our company with the convenience of technology in mind. In short, we've stepped up the game in the car service industry.

At the end of the day, in addition to ride-share bringing new consumers into the market, we've also noticed that ride-share has reduced the number of drunk drivers on the road. So, we welcome ride-share into the Austin market and wish them well.

We provide service only within the state of Texas.

Yes. Part of the social conscience of our company is understanding that some female travelers may feel that they have different risks and concerns associated with traveling solo. During our years in the corporate world, we listened to the concerns expressed by our female colleagues about traveling alone and subsequently designed our car service to help alleviate these concerns as well as help mitigate risks.

For example, our booking system allows female travelers to prepay for a ride by credit card so they do not need to carry cash. Our drivers text in advance of pickup so you know the name of the driver, where to meet, and also have a way to contact them directly which may be especially important in a busy, strange airport. In addition to luggage assistance to the vehicle, our drivers will also assist you at the destination, ensuring you arrive safely inside your destination. Although many large hotels offer well-lit, busy valet areas, some may be quiet without much light. We ensure that you are safely inside your destination before our driver leaves.

Please also see the following question for additional details about our safety program. If there is anything else that we can do to help you feel safe or alleviate any other concerns, please call our office. We will do our best to assist in any way that we can.

We do not have any vehicles with wheelchair ramps or chair lifts. That said, if you can self-access our vehicle, we will make every reasonable accommodation necessary to ensure your safety and comfort.

We could write a book responding to this particular question! Safety is an integral part of our business. All of our drivers have passed national background checks, have been fingerprinted, and have passed safety tests. We purchase vehicles that are noted for safety and they are maintained primarily by the manufacturer. We replace tires before they achieve minimum tread depth because newer tires provide both better ride comfort and increased safety. These are just some of the ways we keep you safe. If you have any specific concerns, we invite you to contact us.

If you are unsatisfied in any way, please call one of the owners (John Waara or Brad Stevens) at 512/765.4410.

First things first ... we don't do business like most limousine companies. Therefore, we are not actively looking for farm-in or farm-out partners. For farm-ins, we have enough of our own business so we are not actively looking for partners. If we have availability in our schedule, we are happy to handle your business ... but we will NOT represent ourselves as your business. Please know that our vehicles are tastefully badged with our logo. If we handle one of your clients, rest assured that we will be there on time and your clients will be satisfied. We will provide you and your clients with the same world-class service we provide our own clients. If you are a limo company looking for our farm-out business, please know that we handle close to 100% of our business in-house.  Lastly, if you are interested in expanding into the Austin market, the owners of APCS are looking to semi-retire and are interested in selling the business. If you are looking for a black car service for sale in Austin, TX, we invite you to contact us.