Blog
Notes from the road.
Pricing, airports, cruise transfers, weddings, drivers, hourly hire. Practical reading, no filler.
Cruise
Back-to-back cruise transfers — same-day turnaround timing
Back-to-back cruises require a same-day transfer off one ship and onto another. Timing is tight on turnaround day — here is how Fare 1 handles it.
25 May 20263 min readReadPricing
· Tips
How fixed fares work at Fare 1
Every fare you see at quote is the price you pay. Here's the maths underneath, and why it stays put once you've booked.
18 May 20262 min readReadWeddings
· Tips
Wedding chauffeur in Hampshire — vehicle and timing tips
Hampshire weddings are our home patch. Here's the chauffeur planning — vehicles, timing, and the things people ask after their first wedding-day call.
15 May 20263 min readReadAirports
· Tips
Heathrow or Gatwick from Southampton — which to fly from
Heathrow has the route network. Gatwick has the easier southbound run. For Southampton travellers it usually comes down to which terminal your airline uses.
12 May 20262 min readReadDrivers
How we vet drivers — the six checks
Every driver we dispatch has passed the same six checks. Here's what each one verifies and why it matters.
9 May 20263 min readReadHourly
· Pricing
Hourly chauffeur, explained
Three numbers define hourly pricing: 3-hour minimum, 15 included miles per hour, half-rate for extras. The rest is just multiplication.
6 May 20263 min readReadCruise
· Tips
Southampton cruise embarkation — a five-terminal guide
City, Horizon, Mayflower, Ocean, QEII. Each terminal hosts different cruise lines and has different drop-off logistics. Here's the guide.
3 May 20263 min readReadAirports
· Pricing
· Tips
Airport surcharges 2026 — what they are and why
Every UK airport (almost) charges drivers to use drop-off zones. We pass that cost through transparently rather than baking it into a fictional flat fare.
30 April 20264 min readReadPricing
· Tips
Cancellation fees and refunds, explained
Free up to 24 hours before pickup, non-refundable within. Here's how the authorisation/capture flow works and when refunds hit your card.
27 April 20263 min readReadAirports
· Tips
Meet & greet at UK airports — what to expect
A name board, an arrivals-exit pickup, and a flight tracker that adjusts pickup time on delays. Here's how it works at each major UK airport.
24 April 20263 min readReadDrivers
· Pricing
Standard vs Executive driver — what's actually different
The driver vetting is identical across categories. The training, presentation, and experience profile is where Executive earns the premium.
21 April 20263 min readReadWeddings
· Tips
Multi-car wedding fleet bookings
Bridal car plus minibus for the party plus shuttle vehicles for guests. Here's how to structure a multi-vehicle wedding booking.
18 April 20263 min readReadTips
Booking ahead — what we recommend by trip type
Some trips are fine to book same-day. Others should be booked 6 months out. Here's the rule-of-thumb by trip type.
15 April 20263 min readReadPricing
· Tips
Why we don't surge
Most ride platforms multiply your fare when demand is high. We chose not to. Here's why, and what we do instead when supply is tight.
12 April 20263 min readReadTrains
· Tips
London terminals — a chauffeur guide
Six London terminals, six different meeting points. Here's the practical chauffeur guide to each.
9 April 20263 min readReadWeddings
· Tips
Wedding transfers — bride, groom, guests, photographer
Beyond the bridal car. Here's who else benefits from a chauffeur on the wedding day and what to book for each role.
6 April 20263 min readReadCruise
· Trains
· Airports
· Tips
Eurostar to cruise — the St Pancras flow
Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam → Eurostar → St Pancras → chauffeur to your Southampton cruise terminal. £165 fixed fare. Here's how the timing works.
3 April 20263 min readReadHourly
· Pricing
· Tips
Hourly vs per-mile — a side-by-side comparison
Same trip, two pricing modes, different totals. Here's a side-by-side on three common booking shapes.
31 March 20263 min readReadAirports
· Tips
Late-night airport pickups — what to expect
No surcharge at 2am vs 2pm — the fare is the fare. Here's how to plan a late-night pickup so the schedule actually holds.
28 March 20263 min readReadAirports
· Tips
Connecting flights — how to time the chauffeur
Tight connection between two UK airports? Here's the rule we use for chauffeur pickup time, and what happens if your inbound is delayed.
25 March 20263 min readReadAirports
· Tips
London City Airport for business travellers
Same-day European business trips don't work from Heathrow. They work from LCY. Here's why, and how to plan the transfer.
22 March 20262 min readReadPricing
· Tips
Volume and return discounts, explained
No codes, no haggling — discounts apply automatically on the booking form. Stacking allowed, with one caveat.
19 March 20262 min readReadCruise
· Tips
Cruise turnaround Saturdays — timing tips
Saturday's the busy day at Southampton docks. P&O, Royal Caribbean, MSC all turning over. Forecourt traffic peaks. Here's the timing strategy.
16 March 20263 min readReadHourly
· Pricing
· Tips
When 3 hours is enough — the minimum-hire rule
Three-hour minimum hire. Sounds wasteful for a quick trip — but the math is more nuanced than it looks.
13 March 20263 min readRead