Jet Sprinter & Coach Hire

Choosing the right vehicle for the group

The size of the group decides most of it. Up to six people with luggage travel well in an SUV; beyond that, separate cars split the group and multiply the coordination. A Jet Sprinter carries six to ten passengers in captain chairs with a partition, a meeting table and screens, and is the usual choice for an executive team, a band or a principal and staff. A standard executive Sprinter seats up to fourteen with a rear luggage bay. Minicoaches take twenty-four to thirty-five, and full motorcoaches fifty to fifty-six.

The second question is how the time will be used. A group that needs to work on the move wants a Jet Sprinter. A group that needs to arrive together and quickly, from an airport or between venues, wants the simplest vehicle that fits everyone and their bags.

If the group will split during the day — principals to one meeting, staff to another — it is often better to pair a Sprinter with one or two sedans than to book a larger coach. The desk will suggest the combination that keeps everyone moving with the fewest empty seats.

The Jet Sprinter

A Jet Sprinter is a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter rebuilt by a specialist converter as a mobile lounge: leather captain chairs that recline and swivel, a divider between the cabin and the driver, a table for a working session, screens, lighting and charging at every seat. Converters differ, so the desk confirms the layout, seat count and equipment of the actual vehicle before you book. They are used for roadshow days, offsites, artists between hotel and venue, and families who would rather travel together than in three cars.

Executive Sprinters, minicoaches and motorcoaches

• Executive Sprinter: up to 14 forward-facing leather seats, standing headroom and a rear luggage bay; crews, delegations and airport group moves
• Minicoach: 24 to 35 seats, with luggage hold; wedding guests, conference shuttles and team travel
• Motorcoach: 50 to 56 seats, usually with restroom, Wi-Fi and PA; tours, large delegations and event loops
• Every coach operated by a licensed passenger-carrier operator with commercial drivers and the required hours-of-service records
• One manifest and one coordinator for the whole group, however many vehicles it takes
• Multi-day and cross-border itineraries, with permits confirmed for each country

How group vehicles are quoted

Group vehicles are not on the published hourly rate card because their availability, minimum hours, driver rules and positioning costs vary too much between cities and seasons. Send the desk the dates, the pickup and drop-off points, the number of passengers and bags, and the shape of each day. The desk returns a written quote in US dollars, all-in with taxes and a 20% gratuity, and lists anything billed at actual cost, such as tolls, parking and permits.

Where a group also needs individual cars — a principal in an SUV ahead of the team’s Sprinter, for example — those cars are priced from the standard rate card: $155 an hour for a Business sedan, $185 for an SUV Business Class, $235 for an SUV First Class and $285 for a first-class sedan.

Teams, tours and delegations

Sports clubs use Sprinters and coaches for training-ground runs and away fixtures, and keep an SUV for the head coach and the medical staff. Touring artists keep a Jet Sprinter for the band and a separate car for the principal, with a coach for crew where the production is large. Delegations combine first-class sedans for ministers with a Sprinter for advisers and a minicoach for the press pool. Conference organisers run a loop of minicoaches between hotels and the venue and a Jet Sprinter for speakers.

In each case the network’s coordinator holds the whole plan, so a change of time reaches every driver at once.

Airport group moves

Meeting a team, a band or a delegation off a flight is where group vehicles earn their keep. The coordinator tracks the flight, positions the Sprinter or coach at the meeting point the airport allows, and arranges a separate luggage vehicle when the equipment or the bags will not fit with the passengers. A greeter in the arrivals hall gathers the group and walks it to the vehicle, so nobody is left looking for a sign.

For departures the timetable runs backwards from the airline’s check-in cut-off for a group, which is usually earlier than for an individual traveller, with a margin the driver will tell you honestly is generous.

On tour with a Jet Sprinter

Touring artists use the Jet Sprinter as a dressing room on wheels: a place to rest between the hotel and the venue, to change, to take a call or to sleep on the way to the next city. Drivers on tour work are briefed on the loading dock, the stage door, the set times and the curfew, and on keeping fans and photographers at a distance. Where the tour crosses a border, permits for the vehicle and the driver are confirmed with the operator before the route is fixed.

Where group vehicles are available

Jet Sprinters and executive Sprinters are most widely available through member operators in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and in growing numbers across Asia-Pacific. Minicoaches and motorcoaches can be arranged in almost every country the network covers. The desk confirms the operator and the actual vehicle in writing.

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