Many people who visit our website have never booked a bus or coach with a driver. before to make the rental process more transparent, below we try to explain how we calculate fares, as well as what you should pay attention to when searching the Internet for offers from other carriers.
We hope that this quick guide will help you plan and negotiate a suitable rental of a decent mode of transport, so that it meets your requirements and needs, and is within the planned budget.
HOW ARE CAR RENTAL PRICES CALCULATED?
Customers often ask us how we calculate the price for a trip. It’s quite simple. When we receive a request along with a trip plan, we take several factors into account:
This is the main question. The type of vehicle is one of the main determining factors when calculating the fare. Suffice it to mention the cost of fuel, that traveling on the same route on an 18-seat minibus will be radically different from traveling on an almost 70-seat double-decker bus. We need to know exactly how many people will be traveling, because even one traveler more than the number of seats forces us to rent a larger or additional car. Therefore, if we are not sure about the number of people, we should leave a small ‘reserve’.
The fee is usually calculated per kilometer, depending on the type of vehicle and its equipment. For short rentals over short distances, such as a casual rental or a city tour, the rental is calculated by the hour.
When it comes to trips from point A to point B, the time that the driver spent driving from the moment of departure from the base to his return is calculated. But when the group visits several or a dozen places, there are many stops, then the waiting time for the driver creates additional costs, similarly, when the return is provided for late at night. The third scenario is to hire a coach for a long multi-day trip when the driver is far from home.
The driver’s fee also depends on the type of vehicle, day of the week, and time of day. Trips on Sunday and late at night will increase the total cost. For longer trips, the driver can count on all meals and a restful night’s sleep in the hotel room.
Polish and European legislation precisely regulates the working hours of bus drivers. If the trip is a long distance or has a program that starts at 7 a.m. and ends after midnight, a second driver will be required to ensure that everything goes legally and safely.
If you’re planning a short trip, there won’t be too many extra costs outside of the parking lot that you need to keep in mind . However, if you are planning a long multi-day trip, there will be some additional costs, such as freeway fees, parking fees, driver’s meals and accommodation, or possibly a ferry ride-all of which affect the final cost of renting a car.
The above factors affect the prepared offer, but not most of them will be displayed in the offer document. For example, the cost of a car and driver is often combined into a single amount. There is no set rule here.
If the route or rental time is very short, then a minimum fee of 250 PLN is charged instead of the fee for the kilometers or hours of rental covered.
Supply and demand ultimately determine the prices of bus, coach, and limousine rentals. Human transportation is a very seasonal business, so there can be large price differences between peak season and low season. The best prices are usually in January, right after Christmas. Most of all, we will have to pay when it is already warmer, especially in the run-up to the summer holidays. Worst of all, if you want to book at the last minute, because during this period most carriers are already full for a long time.
There are clear differences in the cost of renting a regular bus without a toilet, video, seat belts, air conditioning and a bus equipped with all these amenities and, for example, providing additional legroom, leather upholstery, etc.
Most motorways in Poland, as well as in France or Spain, are toll roads, so they need to be taken into account when calculating costs. You can contact the road transport company to ask if a detour is possible, which may make the roads more expensive, but will save on the cost of driving on the highway.
Parking is often free, but in some places, especially near tourist attractions, it can be expensive. If the group has an overnight stay in the city center, safe parking for the coach may be some distance away, which means that the driver will have to take, for example, a taxi.
Sometimes a rented bus transports a group of people only in one direction, and returns empty. It happens that a coincidence leads to the fact that we perfectly ‘stand up’ with our group in this empty aisle. Then we can count on an additional price.
A company that specializes in bus rentals for excursions and transfers for tourism may be willing to offer a better deal for a local trip in the off-season.
Sometimes small businesses are cheaper than large businesses. This type of business is mostly a medium-sized or small family business(sometimes individual!). Very often, the owner works all day as a driver, conductor and salesman, and in the evening, when the vehicle returns to the garage – as an office worker. Such a micro-company often has much lower labor costs because of this. The range of services for this is much smaller. We can also expect problems in case of any failure along the way.
As with any business, it is very likely that you will get a discount if you are a regular customer. Travel agents and tour operators should use the same companies as much as possible and negotiate special rental prices.
In this industry, we can hardly count on last-minute offers. To get the best deal, plan our trip in advance. Early booking also allows the transport company to safely plan your transportation. If you book later, when the level of demand is known, it is unlikely that you will be able to get any discounts. When booking at the last minute, there is a risk that you will not get the right type of car or-the pessimistic version-you will not find the car at all!
There may be some difference in kilometer rates on the territory of the city. Undoubtedly, the price of renting a bus in a large agglomeration during the peak season will be much higher than a similar rental in a small town during the off-season.