What actually determines the cost of a limo in Ottawa

"How much is a limo?" is a reasonable question with an annoying answer, and most operators dodge it. So here is the honest version: nobody can tell you a price without knowing what you are asking a vehicle and a chauffeur to do for how long — but the variables are entirely knowable, and once you know them you can read any quote you are given and tell whether it is a real one.

The four things that set the number

1. The vehicle

The single biggest factor. A corporate sedan and a fourteen-passenger stretch are different capital assets with different fuel, insurance and maintenance behind them, and the gap between them is wide. Booking the right size is also the easiest place to overspend — a stretch SUV for four people is a lovely way to spend money you did not need to. Our four vehicles and what each is genuinely for are on the fleet page.

2. Time, and the minimum

Chauffeured work is usually priced by the hour, and almost every operator applies a minimum rental period that varies by vehicle and by service type. Robinson's varies the same way, which is why it is quoted rather than published.

The minimum is the number that makes two quotes incomparable. A cheaper hourly rate with a five-hour minimum will cost you more than a higher rate with a three-hour minimum, for a three-hour evening. Always ask for both figures.

3. The shape of the itinerary

A single airport drop, a wait-and-return and a multi-stop evening are three different jobs even when the passenger count is identical. What matters is whether the vehicle is released between stops or held for you, and how far it has to travel unoccupied at either end. A run to Montréal or Toronto is priced on the whole day for exactly this reason — the drive back is real cost whether or not anyone is in the car.

4. When you want it

Supply is fixed and demand is not. Saturday evenings in wedding season, prom weekends, graduation, New Year's Eve and the nights of a big convention are when the region's group vehicles run out. That scarcity shows up in price and, more importantly, in availability — the vehicle you wanted stops being an option long before the date arrives.

The line items people forget

• HST. Ontario's 13% harmonised sales tax applies. A quote that looks lower may simply be quoting before tax while the other one quotes after — check which you are reading.
• Gratuity. Practice varies by operator: some include it in the quoted figure, some leave it to you. It is a fair and normal question to ask up front, and the answer changes the comparison by a noticeable margin.
• Wait time. Time the vehicle spends held for you is time it cannot be earning elsewhere. Where an itinerary has long gaps, ask how they are treated.
• Tolls, parking and ferries on intercity work, where applicable.
• Extras you asked for. Robinson's VIP airport service can be stocked with bottled water, champagne, wine, soda, chocolate-covered strawberries, veggie trays, coffee and muffins — genuinely nice, and worth knowing it is a line rather than an assumption.

How to get a quote you can actually rely on

A vague enquiry gets a vague number that will be revised. Send these seven things and the figure that comes back is one you can plan against:

1. 1.The date, and how firm it is.
2. 2.Pickup time and address, and the finish time and address.
3. 3.Every stop in between, including the ones you think are too small to mention.
4. 4.Passenger count, and luggage.
5. 5.The occasion — a wedding, an airport run and a conference shuttle have different requirements even in the same vehicle.
6. 6.Whether the vehicle is held between stops or released.
7. 7.Anything time-critical: a ceremony, a flight, a curtain-up.

Why we do not publish a rate card

We could put an hourly figure on this page. It would rank, and it would be wrong for most of the people who read it — either high enough to lose bookings we would have been glad to take, or low enough to become an argument at the point the real quote arrives. Neither is a good way to start.

So rates depend on the vehicle, the hours and the type of service, and each booking is quoted individually. Send us your date and itinerary through the booking request form or call (613) 286-0047, and you will get a real number for the day you actually have.