A Day of Meetings
One car and one executive chauffeur for the whole day, parked nearby while you are inside and at the door when you come out. Between meetings the back seat is an office, and the chauffeur keeps the schedule and the next address.
Your chauffeur, your schedule
Private Chauffeur Service in NYC
High Society Limousine provides private chauffeur service in NYC and across New York: a professional chauffeur and a car from our own fleet, booked by the hour, by the day or for a single journey. The chauffeur waits, carries the bags, knows the city and answers to a dispatcher who picks up at any hour.
By the hour, day or journeyA named chauffeurSedans to stretch limousinesDispatch 24 hours a day
Price your day
Get a Fixed Price for a Chauffeur
Tell us the date, the start time, where the day begins and roughly what it involves: one journey, a run of meetings, or a chauffeur on standby until you are finished. That is enough for one fixed price.
The quote covers the vehicle, the chauffeur, tolls and parking where it applies. Gratuity is not included. For a regular arrangement, such as a daily chauffeur for an executive or a visiting family, we open an account and send one statement a month.
Fixed price agreed firstA named chauffeurNo surge at any hourMet inside at airports
The rules in numbers
What It Takes to Drive for Hire in New York
180,566licensedfor-hire drivers in good standing with the TLC on 16 October 2026
19minimum agefor a TLC Driver License, on top of a state chauffeur's license
10hoursthe most passenger time a TLC licensed driver may log in any 24 hours
60hoursthe weekly limit on the same count, Monday to Sunday
Driver count from the TLC's active driver list on NYC Open Data, refreshed every evening; age from the TLC driver license application guide; hours from the TLC's fatigued driving rules. These are the rules behind the word chauffeur in New York City.
The license
What Makes a Chauffeur in New York
In New York, chauffeur is not a title anyone can give themselves. The state and the city both license the person behind the wheel, and the requirements tell you a great deal about what you are paying for.
To drive for hire in New York City
- At least 19 years old
- A state chauffeur's license: Class A, B, C or E in New York
- A defensive driving course in the last three years
- A 24 hour course and exam, plus wheelchair accessible vehicle training
- A medical form from a licensed physician, and a drug test
- Fingerprints, reviewed for criminal history
- No more than five DMV points in the last fifteen months
- Sex trafficking awareness training
From the TLC driver license application guide.
Start with the state. An ordinary New York license, Class D, does not allow anyone to carry passengers for pay. The DMV driver's manual describes Class E as the taxi and livery license: it covers the same vehicles as Class D, but lets the holder carry passengers for hire in a vehicle designed or used for 14 or fewer. Anything the law treats as a bus needs a commercial license whatever its size. For limousines the line sits lower still: under the safety package announced by NYSDOT in 2020, the driver of a limousine carrying nine or more people needs a commercial license with a passenger endorsement.
Then the city. To carry passengers in a for-hire vehicle in the five boroughs, a driver also needs a license from the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The TLC's application guide lists fifteen requirements, and every one has to be completed within 90 days of applying or the application is denied. An applicant with more than five DMV points in the last fifteen months, four or more crashes in the last year, or a failed drug test in the last year is told not to apply. The license costs USD 252 and lasts three years before it has to be renewed.
Outside the city the rules change by county. Westchester has its own Taxi and Limousine Commission, with its own driver licenses and vehicle permits, so a chauffeur who works across Westchester and Manhattan answers to more than one licensing office. None of this is visible from the back seat, which is exactly why it is worth asking about before you book.
A license does not make a good chauffeur. It sets the floor. What makes a good chauffeur is everything on top of it: knowing which bridge is moving at five, arriving early without being asked, keeping a phone call private, and noticing that the client who said ten has not come out by a quarter past, then calling rather than guessing. That part is ours to get right, and it is what the rest of this page is about.
Long days
The Ten Hour Rule and the Long Day
The TLC also limits how long a licensed driver may work. Under its fatigued driving rules, a driver may not carry passengers for more than 10 hours in any 24 hour period, or for more than 60 hours in a calendar week running Monday to Sunday. Only time with a passenger aboard counts, including time stuck in traffic with one. A driver who is under the limit when the last trip of the day begins is not penalized if that trip runs over, and a base that dispatches a trip beginning over the limit is fined USD 200 for each one.
For most bookings this never comes up. It matters on the long days: a wedding that starts with hair and makeup at nine and ends with the last guest home after midnight, a roadshow with meetings from breakfast to dinner, or a Fashion Week schedule that runs from the first show to the last party. A day like that can put a chauffeur past ten hours with passengers aboard, and the honest answer is a second chauffeur for the second half of the day, not a promise to push through.
So tell us the shape of the day when you book, not only the start time. We will tell you whether it fits one chauffeur, and if it does not, where the change of chauffeur happens so that you barely notice it. The new chauffeur arrives with the same car details and the day's plan, and the first one hands over the bags and the notes.
How Many Chauffeurs a Day Needs
| A typical day | Time with passengers aboard | Chauffeurs to plan |
|---|---|---|
| Airport pickup, then dinner | Two to four hours | One |
| Meetings from nine to six, car waiting outside | Three to five hours, since waits without you aboard do not count | One |
| A wedding from the morning to the last guest home | Can pass ten hours | Two, with the change planned |
| Fashion Week, first show to last party | Often past ten hours | Two, with the change planned |
Illustrative days; the limit is from the TLC's fatigued driving rules.
Check it yourself
How to Check a Chauffeur and a Car Before You Ride
New York publishes its licensing records. Any passenger can check a driver and a vehicle in a couple of minutes, and it is a fair thing to do with any company, including us.
1
Ask for the numbers
Ask the company for the chauffeur's license number and the vehicle's plate before the day. A company that hesitates over this has already told you something.
2
Search the driver list
The TLC's active driver list on NYC Open Data shows every for-hire driver in good standing in the city, with the license expiration date and wheelchair training.
3
Search the vehicle list
The active vehicle list shows each licensed for-hire vehicle by plate, with the base it works for and the base type: black car, livery or luxury.
4
Check the date
Both lists refresh every evening. The last update date sits at the top of each; if it is older than yesterday, the TLC links to its latest figures.
5
Limousines and buses
For a stretch limousine or a party bus, the state's Safe Limo NY site shows inspection results and safety records by operator.
What the lists cannot tell you. The lists prove that a license exists and is current. They say nothing about manners, punctuality or how well someone knows the West Side Highway at rush hour, which is why the questions in the tabs further down are worth asking as well. If a name or a plate does not match what you were told, ask the company why before you get in. There may be a simple answer, such as a last minute change of car, and a good company will give it to you without being pressed.
What people book a chauffeur for
How New Yorkers Use a Private Chauffeur
A chauffeur is worth booking whenever the day has more in it than one ride. These are the bookings we run most.
Airports and Private Aviation
The terminals at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, and the private aviation terminals at Teterboro and Westchester, with the flight tracked and the chauffeur waiting at arrivals. Our airport chauffeur service has a page for each airport.
Visitors From Abroad
Family, clients or a speaker arriving from overseas, met inside with a name board, driven to the hotel and looked after for the length of the stay, with the bill settled by the person who invited them.
Evenings in the City
Dinner, the theater, a gala or the opera, with the chauffeur waiting close by rather than a hunt for a ride at eleven. Black tie and long dresses get in and out of a sedan or an SUV far more gracefully than a cab.
A Daily Chauffeur
The same chauffeur every weekday for an executive, a family, or someone who cannot drive for a few months, set up once and billed monthly. A day off needs only a message to dispatch.
Errands and Appointments
Doctors' appointments, a day of shopping, school runs, or a parent who needs a hand with the door and the bags. The chauffeur waits, carries and walks in with you where that helps.
The vehicles
Cars That Come With a Chauffeur
Luxury chauffeur service starts with the right car for the day. Every model below is from our own fleet; choose by the people, the bags and the occasion, and find the seating for each on the page listing every vehicle we run.
Executive Sedans
The BMW 7 Series, Mercedes S-Class, Lincoln Continental and Cadillac XTS. The everyday choice for one to three people, and the quietest place in New York to take a call between meetings.
Rolls-Royce Ghost
For the occasions that call for it: a wedding, an anniversary, a milestone dinner or a guest you want to impress. It is the most formal car in our fleet.
Luxury SUVs
The Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon Denali for up to seven, or for fewer people with a lot of luggage. The usual choice for families and anyone arriving with more than a carry on.
Sprinter Vans
Eleven to fourteen passengers in forward facing seats, for a board visiting from out of town, a wedding party between venues or a team on a site visit.
Stretch Limousines
From the 10 passenger Escalade limousine up, for the evenings that are part of the occasion. A limousine for nine or more needs a chauffeur with a passenger endorsed commercial license.
Which Car for the Day
| Occasion | People | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Meetings, airports, dinners | One to three | Executive sedan |
| A wedding or an anniversary | Two | Rolls-Royce Ghost |
| A family, or bags for a week | Up to seven | Luxury SUV |
| A group or a delegation | Eleven to fourteen | Sprinter van |
| A celebration, everyone together | Ten to twenty | Stretch limousine |
Ways to book
By the Hour, by the Journey or by the Day
The same chauffeur service in New York can be priced four ways. The right one depends on how much of the day you need the car.
By the hour
The chauffeur stays with you, waits between stops and changes plans with you. Best when there are three or more stops or the finish time is open, with a three hour minimum. That is how most people book a chauffeur by the hour.
By the journey
One fixed price from one address to another, with tolls inside it. Best when you know where and when and need nothing else, and it is the simplest way to try us: a single fixed price journey.
By the day
A full day quoted as one price, from the first pickup to the last drop, planned around the ten hour rule. Best for roadshows, weddings and guests who are in town for one packed day.
A standing arrangement
The same chauffeur on the same days every week, set up once and billed monthly. Best for a daily commute, school runs or an executive's regular schedule.
Compare
A Chauffeur, an App Ride or a Rental Car
Three ways to get around New York for a day, compared on the things that decide it.
| Option | Who drives | Between stops | How the price is set | Parking and tolls | Bags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private chauffeur with us | A named chauffeur | Waits nearby, on call | Fixed price, agreed first | Inside the price | Carried for you |
| App ride | Whoever accepts | A new car each time | Set by demand at that moment | Added to the fare | Varies |
| Rental car | You | Parked by you | Daily rate plus fuel | Garages and tolls are yours | Yours to carry |
When You Do Not Need a Chauffeur
For one person crossing town with nothing to carry and nowhere to be at a fixed time, the subway or a cab is quicker and cheaper, and we would say so. The same goes for a single ride to dinner when nobody minds waiting for a car at the end of the night. A chauffeur earns the price when time matters, when there are stops, bags or guests, or when the day itself is the occasion.
Is a Cheap Chauffeur Service Worth It?
The cheapest quote is often the one that has left something out: tolls, parking, waiting time or the congestion charge, added after the trip. Compare total prices for the same vehicle and the same hours, and ask what happens at minute sixteen of waiting. An affordable chauffeur is one whose price does not move.
What to expect
What a Good Chauffeur Does Without Being Asked
The standard our NYC chauffeur service is held to, and the standard to hold any company to.
Arrives before the time
On site before the booked pickup, parked where you can see the car, with a message when the chauffeur arrives. You should never be the one waiting.
Knows the city
Which avenue is moving, where to stop outside a building with no loading zone, which entrance a hotel uses after midnight and which side of Lincoln Center to meet you on after the show.
Keeps your business private
Calls in the back seat stay in the back seat. Who you are, where you went and who you met goes no further than dispatch.
Handles the door and the bags
Luggage in and out, the door held, an umbrella when it rains, and a steady arm up the steps for anyone who wants one.
Calls instead of guessing
If you are late, the chauffeur calls. If the plan changes, the chauffeur adapts and tells dispatch, so the next pickup is not left standing on a curb.
Drives for comfort
Smooth starts and stops, a steady speed on the highway and the temperature you asked for. Most people notice a good chauffeur only because they arrive rested.
Has the car ready
Cleaned before the booking, the temperature set before you get in, and the route already checked against the traffic at that hour, not the hour before.
Reads the back seat
Conversation if you want it and quiet if you do not. A chauffeur who can tell the difference is worth more than one who knows every shortcut.
Guests from abroad
Chauffeur Service for Visitors to New York
Many chauffeur bookings are made by someone who is not traveling: a company bringing in a speaker, a family flying relatives in for a wedding, an assistant arranging a week in New York for an executive from overseas.
We take the booking from the person paying and the details from the person arriving. The chauffeur meets the guest inside arrivals with a name board, the flight is tracked so that a delay moves the pickup time, and on request the booker gets a message once the guest is at the hotel.
For a guest who does not know the city, a chauffeur by the day is often simpler than a string of separate bookings: one car, one face they recognize and one number to call. Payment is settled in advance, so the guest never has to deal with a bill, and the chauffeured car service runs on the guest's schedule rather than yours.
Longer visits work the same way. Send the outline of the week as soon as it exists, even in draft, and we will keep the same chauffeur with the guest wherever the days allow, adjusting each evening as plans change. For a family visit, that usually means one SUV, child seats fitted, and a chauffeur who learns where everyone likes to go.
A worked example
A Day With a Chauffeur, Hour by Hour
Here is how a typical day of chauffeur service in New York City runs for a visiting executive with four appointments and an evening flight. The times are illustrative; the arithmetic is the point.
7:30
Hotel pickup
The chauffeur is outside the hotel on Central Park South by 7:20. Bags for the evening flight go in the trunk, and the first meeting is twenty minutes away in Midtown.
10:00
Hudson Yards
Breakfast runs long. The chauffeur waits nearby and moves the car when the executive sends a message, so the second meeting still starts on time.
12:30
Lunch in Tribeca
Down the West Side Highway. While lunch runs, the chauffeur checks the afternoon traffic toward the Queensboro Bridge.
3:00
Long Island City
One more meeting across the river, with a call taken from the back seat on the way over.
5:15
JFK
Departures with time to spare, and the bags lifted out at the curb rather than carried across a parking lot.
What the day adds up to. Of nearly ten hours on the clock, the executive spends about three in the car. The rest is waiting, which on the TLC's count is not passenger time, so one chauffeur covers the day comfortably. The day was booked by the hour until six, so the long breakfast cost nothing extra; the car was already there.
Companies and occasions
Chauffeurs for Companies, Weddings and Milestones
Companies and families book chauffeur service in New York for very different days. These are the four we plan most often.
Company accounts
Monthly billing, several bookers on one account, and a reference of your choosing on every receipt. The details are on our page about corporate chauffeur accounts.
Roadshows and investor visits
A car and chauffeur for each member of the team, or one van for everyone, with the day's addresses confirmed the night before and spare time built around every meeting.
Weddings
A chauffeur who knows the venue, a Rolls-Royce or a stretch limousine for the couple and vans for the guests, with the timings planned against the photographer's schedule. There is more on a chauffeur for the wedding day.
Milestones
An anniversary, a retirement, a parent's eightieth birthday: the occasions when nobody in the family should be driving, and the car becomes part of the evening.
The city's calendar
When New York Runs Short of Chauffeurs
A few weeks a year, demand for chauffeured cars in New York outruns the supply. Book these early.
February
The first of the two Fashion Weeks, in the coldest weeks of the winter, when a car waiting at the curb matters more than at any other time of year.
May
The Met Gala on the first Monday, then college graduations and the start of wedding season, all asking for the same formal cars on the same weekends.
June
Graduations finish, wedding season peaks, and the Pride March on the last Sunday closes Fifth Avenue and much of the Village for the day.
Late summer
The US Open in Flushing Meadows, with night sessions that finish late and crowds that leave at once, alongside the busiest Hamptons weekends.
September
The UN General Assembly fills Midtown East with motorcades and closures, and Fashion Week often lands in the same month. Book a chauffeur for that fortnight as early as you can.
October
New York Comic Con fills the Javits Center, and fall wedding season peaks across Westchester and the Hudson Valley, with the same cars wanted every Saturday.
November
Marathon Sunday closes roads in all five boroughs, and the holiday season opens with Thanksgiving travel through every airport.
December
Office parties, the theater and visiting family, with New Year's Eve the hardest night of the year to find any car at short notice.
The details
What Our Chauffeur Service in NYC Includes
Everything below sits inside the price you confirm.
- A named chauffeur, confirmed before the day
- The vehicle you booked, cleaned before every booking
- Tolls, and parking where it applies
- Waiting between stops on hourly and daily bookings
- Flight tracking on every airport pickup
- Meet and greet inside arrivals with a name board
- Child seats fitted in advance at no charge
- Dispatch reachable at any hour on one number
- One invoice for the day, or a monthly statement on account
- No surge pricing on any date
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Chauffeur
Ask every company these, us included.
- Who will be driving, and can I have the same chauffeur next time?
- What license does the chauffeur hold, and what is the number?
- Is the vehicle licensed and insured for paying passengers, and by whom?
- What is inside the price, and what could be added afterwards?
- How is waiting charged, and when does the clock start?
- How do you plan a day longer than ten hours?
- What happens if the car breaks down or the chauffeur falls ill?
- Is gratuity included, or is it left to me?
Notes for Assistants and Anyone Booking for Others
Nine details that make a booking for someone else run smoothly.
- Send the passenger's mobile number as well as yours, so the chauffeur can call them directly
- Give the name exactly as it should appear on the name board
- Send flight numbers rather than landing times; we track the flight
- Mention mobility needs, child seats or a pet when you book
- For a visit of several days, send the schedule as soon as it exists, even in draft
- Say how you want to hear about changes: a call, a text or an email
- Ask for one invoice for the whole visit if that suits your accounts team
- Tell us who may change the plan on the day: only you, or the passenger as well
- Share any security or privacy needs, such as a side entrance or no name on the board
How it works
How to Book a Chauffeur Service in New York
1
Describe the day
Date, start time, where it begins and what it involves. A rough plan is enough to price.
2
Get one price
A fixed price for the vehicle and the chauffeur, with tolls inside it. Gratuity is not included.
3
Meet your chauffeur
The chauffeur's name and number reach you before the day, and the car arrives before the time.
4
Change it as you go
On an hourly or daily booking the plan can change on the day. Tell the chauffeur, and dispatch handles the rest.
Where we drive
Where Our Chauffeurs Work
Across the city, the suburbs and the states next door. Everything else we run is on the full list of what we run.
Manhattan
From the Financial District to Harlem, and every hotel, theater, museum and office tower in between, including the private entrances and side streets that make a pickup quick.
Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island
Days that cross a river or two, where the chauffeur chooses the bridge or tunnel that is moving and the toll sits inside the price.
Westchester and Long Island
Executives, families and visiting guests based outside the city, with town by town pages covering the stations, venues and airports near each one.
Connecticut, New Jersey and beyond
Greenwich, Stamford, Princeton and the Jersey Shore, and longer runs to Philadelphia or Boston, quoted as one price for the day. A chauffeur who drives you to Philadelphia in the morning can wait through the meetings and have you home for dinner, which no train timetable offers.
FAQ
Chauffeur Service FAQs
A person answers the phone at any hour if your plans change.
It depends on the vehicle, the hours and the route. Hourly bookings have a three hour minimum, and single journeys are quoted as one fixed price. Every quote includes tolls; gratuity is not included. Use the booking form above, or call 914-770-4646.
Both are licensed to carry passengers for pay. A chauffeur is booked for you in advance, stays with you where the booking calls for it, handles the door and the bags, and plans the day around you rather than around the next fare.
Yes. Our chauffeurs are licensed, insured and background checked before a first trip. If you want the license details for your booking, ask, and you can check them yourself against the public lists described above.
Yes. A full day is quoted as one price from the first pickup to the last drop. If the day will keep you in the car for more than ten hours, we plan a second chauffeur and tell you where the change happens.
Yes. For regular clients we keep the same chauffeur wherever we can, and if they are off, we tell you who is coming before the day rather than at the curb.
Gratuity is not included in our prices, so it is left to you. Some clients add it to the booking and some hand it over at the end of the day; either is fine. On a company account, tell us how you want it handled and it will appear the same way on every statement.
Yes, on an hourly or daily booking. The chauffeur parks nearby, keeps the phone on and is at the door when you come out. Send a message ten minutes before you leave and the car will be outside.
Yes. Give us the flight number and the name for the board. The chauffeur meets your guest inside arrivals, the flight is tracked, and on request we message you once they are on their way. If the flight is early or late, the pickup moves with it; you do not need to call us to change it.
Not quite. In New York City, black car is a licensing category for prearranged for-hire cars, and most app rides fall under it. A chauffeur service describes the person and the attention: the same chauffeur, waiting, and a day planned around you. You can have a black car without a chauffeur's attention, and that is the difference you are paying for. The license side is explained on our page about NYC black car service.
A day ahead is usually enough for a sedan. For a Rolls-Royce, a van, a full day or any date in the weeks listed above, book as early as you can. We fill same day requests whenever a car and a chauffeur are free. Booking early never changes the price; it only guarantees the car and, for regular clients, the chauffeur you know.
Yes, and many bookings work that way. We take payment from you and the details from the passenger, and the chauffeur calls the passenger directly. On request we let you know when they have arrived. It is how most assistants book for executives, and how many families book for parents and teenagers.
On an hourly booking the chauffeur stays, and the extra time is charged by the hour at the rate on your quote. Tell the chauffeur or dispatch as soon as you know, so the evening can be planned.
Yes. Connecticut, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Boston are regular trips, quoted as one price for the day with tolls included. For a round trip with meetings in between, the chauffeur waits and drives you back, so there is no second booking and no search for a ride home at the end of a long day.
Yes. Tell us who is traveling and anything the chauffeur should know. The chauffeur walks them to the door where that helps, and on request we message you at pickup and at drop off.
The one that answers plainly when you ask who is driving, what license they hold and what the price includes. We would rather you check us against the public lists than take our word for it.
Since 2010
Book Your Chauffeur
Tell us the shape of the day. We will match the car, the chauffeur and one price to it.
Choose elegance, ride in luxury
Indulge in a first-class journey with our premium limousine services. Whether for a special occasion or everyday luxury, we ensure every ride is exceptional.
- Get in touch
“Contact us today and experience luxury on the go.”
Contact Us
- Info@highsocietylimos.com
- 914-770-4646
- 447 Broadway New York NY 10013