How Saga’s chauffeur service takes the hassle out of holidays

Ask a Saga customer what they loved most about their recent holiday and they might enthuse about the pretty towns and historical cities they explored, the stunning landscapes they viewed, the comfortable cabins and hotel rooms where they relaxed, and all the delicious food and wine they indulged in along the way.

And they will almost certainly add that one of the best parts of any Saga holiday or cruise is the shared chauffeur service that picks you up from your doorstep and takes you to your departure port or airport then returns you home at the end of the trip.

No worrying about the taxi turning up on time or the stress of parking near an airport or port, no fretting about train delays – an unwanted headache that can leave even seasoned travellers feeling frazzled.

Instead, it’s a hassle-free experience from start to finish. It sets Saga apart from other travel companies and ensures that you can relax from the moment you close your front door behind you.

It fits with Saga’s philosophy of always adding those extra touches to enhance your holiday and ensure that everything goes smoothly from start to finish.

We talked to Lynne James, Saga’s head of transport, about this special service, how it began, what’s involved in organising it, and what customers can expect.

Saga Travel has always put customer experience first, and that means being on hand for our guests every step of the way. In the 1990s we found that people wanted help with booking cars to get to the start of their holiday, so we found taxi companies for them.

The feedback from guests was so positive that we began to introduce it as part of the product, starting with worldwide itineraries to where we are now: the shared chauffeur service as an integral part of every Saga holiday and cruise, not as an added perk.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a cruise, a UK short break or a simple European stay. If you book with Saga, the chauffeur service comes with it. And on selected ocean cruises, we also offer a private chauffeur service for guests within 75 miles of the port.

Aside from the convenience and reliability of being picked up and dropped off at their front door, guests really like the shared element of the service.

Even those who might have been a bit reticent at first about sharing the car with other people end up loving it. It’s such a brilliant start to their holiday. They meet people who live round the corner from them, get chatting and form friendships in the car that carry on through the whole holiday and beyond.

It is particularly popular with solo travellers, especially if it is their first time travelling on their own and they’re feeling a little nervous – they meet new people as soon as they step out of their house!

We have our own fleet of 140 vehicles, but we also work with a network of affiliate partners which gives us nationwide reach.

All of our vehicles and drivers must meet the same high standards. The vehicles must be less than five years old and in pristine condition, clean and tidy inside and out.

The drivers are all licensed taxi drivers, are always smartly dressed – “suited and booted” – and always meet our high standards of service. They’ll assist guests with their luggage from their front door to the vehicle, and then at the other end, right up to the airport doors or the terminal building for cruise ships. And there is always ample space for luggage.

Drivers will assist guests with their luggage from their front door to the vehicle and at the other end

The pick-up and drop-off service makes everything so easy.

People who opt for no-fly cruises have often done so partly because they don’t feel comfortable with all the hustle and hassle of airports, so this avoids that completely as they are picked up at home and go straight to the ship.

But even those who are flying find that this service makes things much easier, more comfortable and smoother.

Many customers say it’s the main reason they book with us: it takes all the strain out of travelling. In fact, some people would stop travelling altogether if it weren’t for the way Saga run their tours, offering the chauffeur service, and being met at airports and ports, with someone looking after you every step of the way.

It’s a unique service and one of the nicest things about my job – we are giving people the opportunity to do things that previous generations would have given up on at a certain age.

By making it easy, we ensure they can keep on travelling, in style, and exploring new places for much longer.

The shared chauffeur service is a massive operation – we have 29 full-time members in our transport team, ensuring everything runs smoothly and that we can deal with anything that arises and we work 365 days a year, and around the clock so we are always available.

A lot of planning and attention to detail goes into organising the chauffeur service.

First, we look at everyone’s addresses and travel plans and calculate what time they need to be at their outbound destination, whether it’s a port or airport and the check in and departure times.

We work out the pick-up times and who is in each car. We let the guests know about three weeks before their departure, but it’s an ever-moving jigsaw puzzle as people’s plans evolve, so we are continuously updating and changing and amending the plans. Then we offer the journeys to our affiliate partners and fleet drivers.

We are a seasonal business – the spring to autumn months are our busiest. On a day when a cruise is sailing or returning, we could fill 600 vehicles with passengers, but on a non-cruise day we might only fill 100 in peak season so the affiliate partnership allows us to scale up and scale down in line with the seasonal nature of cruising, without having a huge fleet of cars sitting idle in low season.

There’s a real focus on sustainability, on minimising the environmental impact.

In terms of the cars, we are moving towards hybrids – we recognise that we can’t realistically cover all the country with electric vehicles due to insufficient charging points. The network just isn’t there yet.

But we want to move along that path so we are replacing the diesel Volkswagen Caravelle with the hybrid Ford Torneo Custom Platinum – these are now the majority of our fleet.

The ability to share journeys helps us minimise the number of vehicles required, and by having our own fleet drivers covering much of the road network we often drop guests off before picking up other guests returning home. If every guest went to the airport or port by private car or taxi, it would be travelling back empty. Instead, our cars drop guests off and pick up returning guests and take them home.

That’s a lot of mileage saved – we do everything not to waste mileage.

On an ocean cruise day, we will have up to 990 people disembarking at the end of their cruise, and up to 990 people embarking at the start of their holiday, so the cars bringing them pick up the returning guests. It is quite a logistical feat, but we pull out all the stops to ensure that it all goes smoothly.

Whether it’s caused by weather, departure delay or flight change, we plan for every eventuality. On the transport team, we all take enormous pride in giving our guests the most stress-free experience, supporting them with whatever they need.

Our entire focus is getting you to where you need to be on time. If for some reason you miss a flight, then we will get you on the next one.

We work hard behind the scenes, paddling away like swans beneath the surface to ensure that everything goes smoothly and that our guests are unruffled!

And according to our guests, we succeed. That makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Find out more about our holidays, river cruises and ocean cruises