Limousine HireWhere on earth did it all start ? When you think about limousine hire in the UK today it's difficult to imagine how it all started. The answer is way back in the 1700's with the first chauffeur driven vehicles in France. These were actually horse drawn carriages for the rich, beautifully designed, often laced with real gold and pulled by the finest horses in the land. The word "limousines" comes from the word "Limoges" which is the French province where it all began. The unique feature that made limousines different from other carriages at that time was that the chauffeur was in a completely separate section from his passengers. In 1902 the first automobile limousine appeared where the driver sat outside under a covered compartment, remaining true to the original meaning of the word "limousine". About a quarter of a century later the goalposts changed with the creation of the first actual stretch limousine in Arkansas, USA around 1928. These limousines were often known as “big band buses” because they were mainly used to carry famous big band leaders and their entire entourage around the United States. Then in the 1930’s limousine hire really started to take off as limousines were used to transport the top guests of hotels to the airport and on different sightseeing tours, which is where the name “Airporter Stretch Coach” comes from. Who next ? The movie industry of course ! They used limousines to carry film crew around the movie sets. But, more importantly, they became an absolute "must" for the top movie stars where they had to be seen to arrive in stretch limousines, creating a mystique of glitz and glamour that still prevails today. In recent years, of course, the development of new technologies in areas such as fibre optic lighting and audio visual entertainment, and the ability to stretch different types of vehicles, has led to huge growth in the “new style” limos. It's not that unusual to see everything from the Lincoln Town Car or "Baby Bentley" Chrysler 300 limos through to the larger 4x4 limousines such as the Audi Q7 and Hummer limos all in one day. Limousine hire is perfect when there are large numbers of people looking to travel in style to any event imaginable. School proms, weddings, and birthdays are particular favourites but there are plenty of limos covering other special occasions such as Royal Ascot, Christmas parties and corporate days. At weekends there will hardly be a city in the UK without stretch limousines running around covering stag nights, hen nights, rock concerts and various other theme nights ! It really pays to think about your limousine hire carefully. If you're thinking about limousine hire for the first time here are a few things to bear in mind. Firstly, if you spend a bit of time doing some investigation you'll be better informed which will pay dividends. You can certainly find out everything you need to know by browsing on the internet in a few minutes. And think about all those great vehicles you can look at ! By getting different prices and options you'll get a good feel for the limousine hire market and be able to make a better decision. Then you'll need ensure that the size of your party matches the stretch limos you're looking at. Limousine hire companies that are licensed to carry a maximum of eight passengers often operate the Lincoln Town Car, Chrysler 300 “Baby Bentley” and smaller H3 Hummer limos. Once you go above eight passengers there are the twelve to sixteen seaters such as the Lincoln Navigator, Ford Expedition and larger H2 Hummer limos. These typically cost quite a bit more to hire so you either need to stick to eight, or get your numbers up to between twelve and sixteen to fill one of the bigger vehicles, thereby spreading the higher cost among more people. Once you’re ready to choose a limousine hire operator you need to establish a few important facts. Firstly you need to be confident that he is properly licensed which should ensure that he can provide a good service. This is because his licensing authority will be monitoring his vehicles to see that they are properly serviced, maintained and MOT'd. His licensing authority will also insist that his drivers are licensed and CRB checked and that his bookings are solid. Evidence that he is licensed should be clearly displayed on his website, including his limo operator’s licence number. Then before you put down a deposit for your limousine hire you'll need to be certain about the limo you're hiring. In other words you should be getting what you've been sold on the operator's website. Good limousine hire companies only display what they're hiring out to you. It's also worth taking a quick glance at the terms & conditions, particularly the rules concerning damage or over-runs on the hire. A good set of terms & conditions will be easy to find on a website and should reflect a fair agreement for all parties. That way they basically protect both the interests of the consumer and the limo operator, covering most obvious eventualities, liabilities and responsibilities. If you work out exactly what you want from your limousine hire and plan things carefully you can often get great value. Firstly it's important to recognize that the main operator cost is actually supplying a state-of-the-art American stretch limo in the first place, coupled with the chauffeur and fuel costs attributed to that particular afternoon or evening. So if you were to ask him to travel into a city, for example, that wouldn’t cost him much more than running you around locally other than the fuel. However the cost to you of transporting, say, eight people door to door to a city and back would be quite considerable so if it could be incorporated into the cost of the hire it would effectively be free. This can typically be at least fifty percent of the value of the limousine hire so that's a great example of how to get real value. Another really good opportunity to get value for money from your limousine hire is weddings. Say you hire a limo for the bride on your wedding day, then if the journey to the church is a short one you can request a second or third run for the bridesmaids, or even the groom and ushers from their pub first ! That way you only need to hire one limo where a lot more people are being transported to the church. What's more they're all joining in on the fun beforehand, finishing up with some great memories on the day. Obviously they may need a bit of help from friends or relatives getting to the reception as the limo is normally reserved for the bride and groom after the ceremony. Even so sometimes a couple of runs to the reception can also work if it's nearby. Without a doubt the most important thing with limousine hire, though, is the service. This means getting a great limo with a good chauffeur who's friendly, as well as professional. Last, but not least, you should get the feeling that your operator really cares about your job and that he's not just offering you cheap limousine hire. After all it's invariably a very special day in people's lives so it's important to get it right. That way you'll hopefully be coming back for more at the earliest opportunity! |