A car with driver for the guests who travel alone

Not every passenger is part of the group. The speaker, the bride's grandparents or the executive on a late flight often travel better in a car with their own driver.

Pre-booked, never hailed

German law calls a hired car with driver a Mietwagen. It may only take jobs that reached the operator's office or home, which is why you cannot flag one down in the street. Every booking is recorded and kept for a year.

Nothing about how it is booked, where it waits or how it is advertised may make it look like a taxi, so expect no roof sign.

Inside the vehicle

The driver holds a passenger-transport permit (Fahrerlaubnis zur Fahrgastbeförderung), issued for up to five years
Taxis are a separate regime: the way a Mietwagen is booked, kept ready and advertised must not be confusable with a taxi, and it may not use taxi signs or markings
In municipalities covering a large area (Gemeinden mit großer Flächenausdehnung), the licensing authority may allow other parking places (Abstellorte) instead of a return to base, at least 15 km from the main base
After a job, a Mietwagen must return to its operator's base without delay, unless it received a new booking before or during the trip
A Mietwagen may only carry out bookings received at the operator's business premises or home, so it cannot be hailed in the street like a taxi; the operator records each booking and keeps the record for one year
A car with driver hired in Germany is a Mietwagen under the PBefG: a car (up to nine seats including the driver) hired as a whole, with the hirer setting the purpose, destination and course of the trip

After the drop-off

Once a job ends, the car returns to its base unless the next job was booked before it set off or while it was on the way. Some licensing authorities allow other parking places in wide rural districts. For you this means: book the return together with the outward trip.

If your plans may stretch, say so. A dinner that could run late is easier to cover with a booked waiting time than with a second car at short notice.

Size and driver

A saloon takes one to three guests comfortably; a van-type car takes up to eight. Its driver carries a special permit for carrying passengers, valid for five years at most.

For more than eight people, choose a minibus. At a wedding or a company event, the car often runs alongside the group's minibus, collecting the guests who arrive on a different flight or leave early.

Questions travellers ask

Can the car wait during my meeting?

Yes, if the waiting is part of the booking. Give the expected length so the driver plans the day.

Why not just take a taxi?

You can, but with a booked car the vehicle, the driver and the pick-up time are fixed in advance, and the driver already knows the plan.

Can it collect me at the airport?

Yes. Send your flight number and the driver follows your actual landing time.

Can I book one car for a whole day?

Yes. A day of meetings in different parts of a city, or a trip out to a vineyard and back, can be booked as one job with the same driver.