Town Car Service: Riding in Style

What's a town car service?

You've got a call to make, paper work to do on a strict deadline, and a plane to catch. Your life is fast-paced and these tasks can't wait. Public transportation, with its wait times and circuitous routes, is out of the question. Borrowing a friend's car is out of the question-where would you park it? Renting a car is definitely not going to happen. It looks like you may want to call up a local town car service.

A chauffeur can meet you at your door or office, with the car waiting downstairs. Ride in comfort to the airport, straight to your terminal. Along the way, you can get that paperwork done, make that call, and you'll catch that flight. Here's an added bonus: Town car services have standard fees from your departing point to the airport, so wait times in traffic or at lights won't affect the price of your ride.

If it's not just you that's traveling-if you're going with colleagues, family, or friends-you could also consider a town car limousine service. These stretch versions of luxurious town cars can take ten people. So you can hold a business meeting on the way to the airport. You and your peers can prepare your presentation on the way to an important business meeting across town. Let the town car service take care of the transportation needs, so you can take care of your professional responsibilities.

Lincoln town cars are America's most popular limousines and chauffeured automobiles. They may be the most expensive American luxury sedan, but they're famous for especially roomy interiors, smooth rides, and high safety ratings.

Additionally, you can often choose from scores of cars in a town car service's fleet. And if the trip is international, ask if the town car service can have one of its cars waiting for you at your destination. You may find that the service will offer you to continue your luxurious ride in hundreds of international locations.

As far as fares go, here's a general scale you can expect.

For the town car sedans, $65 per hour, and for the ten-passenger stretch town cars, about $105 per hour. Three-hour minimums and 20% gratuities are common. For trips to airports, you'll pay a base fare that exceeds the general hourly rate, but the upside is that the cost is not affected by traffic or wait times. Take some examples of rides to New York City-area airports. To LaGuardia, $75 for a sedan, and $145 for the stretch. To JFK or Newark International, $105 for a sedan, and $175 for the stretch.


For those who'd want to know the carbon-emissions impact of the town car, here is its gas mileage: 15 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway, and 18 mpg average (city and highway).

Who should hire a town car?

Business trips and airport trips are the perfect example of when town car services can most benefit you and your schedule. But there are many people who opt to hire a town car for city tours and sightseeing. Rather than take public transportation and suffer the confusions that come along with it, these customers prefer the smooth ride and the personal touch of a limousine service.

How about the pros and cons?

Forbes magazine and Edmunds.com, two trusted consumer report sources, rate the town car the most spacious luxury sedan priced under $200,000.

Forbes says it's the greatest car to be chauffeured in because of its generous rear seat amenities. An audio system, climate controls, and adjustable back seats provide some of the best comforts available to limo service customers.

Town cars have a nice safety rating in their favor, too: The first car in automotive history to get a five star rating in all of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's five safety categories.

It's not rated by the EPA as a gas guzzler.

On the EPA's air pollution scale of 0-10, 10 being the best, the town car gets a 6.

It's not exactly the most efficient way to get around, but it isn't as bad as hiring an SUV to take you to the airport (emissions-wise). Of course, opting for public transportation would be the most energy-efficient way to go, though not the most time-efficient.

The bottom line:

The town car is one of the most comfortable ways to get around. That type of comfort lets you complete work or make telephone calls en route. A chauffeur meets you at your door, and can wait for you as directed. "Luxury" and "convenience" best describe riding with a town car service.