Business travel
The executive assistant’s chauffeur booking brief
A handover checklist for assistants arranging airport collections, meetings and onward travel for someone else.
Published 26 Oct 20262 min read
Create one brief for the whole journey
An assistant often holds information that the traveller does not: the correct office entrance, the host’s mobile number or the reason the last meeting cannot overrun. Put those details in one brief before asking for transport. Keep the passenger’s name and contact separate from the person arranging and paying for the journey.
For an airport arrival, include the arriving flight number, travel date, airport and terminal if known. For an office collection, give the full address and the entrance the passenger will actually use. A company name alone may point to more than one building.
Separate fixed appointments from preferences
Mark the meeting start, registration deadline or onward departure as fixed. Mark optional coffee stops and flexible hotel visits separately. This lets the team understand where there is room to adjust the itinerary.
Specify passenger numbers and luggage on every leg. A colleague joining after a meeting can change the vehicle requirement, particularly when overnight cases remain in the car. Ask about access requirements directly rather than assuming a standard saloon will suit everyone.
Send a passenger version
The traveller needs a concise version: confirmed collection time, exact meeting point, destination, booking reference and contact details. Leave internal approval notes out of that copy. Check that the passenger can receive calls or messages on the supplied number while in the UK.
If an assistant is changing the plan during the day, agree who will inform the traveller. Conflicting messages from a host, passenger and booker can create two different versions of the itinerary.
Close the handover
Before travel, check the written confirmation against the latest brief. After any amendment, verify the date, time and address again; do not assume an email request has already been accepted.
A useful final checklist is: passenger informed, baggage counted, entrance confirmed, approver available, reference supplied, return leg arranged. Keep the confirmation accessible to the colleague covering your absence.
Plan the next step
Check your journey price
Enter the addresses, date, passengers and luggage to check the price. If your itinerary needs team approval, wait for a confirmed fixed fare before paying. Your confirmation sets out the agreed journey and included charges; changes and extra waiting may cost more.
Rather talk it through? Call 020 8742 2888, 24 hours a day.
P5 Chauffeurs is a TfL-licensed private hire operator (licence no. 11928). Every journey is pre-booked at a fixed price with a licensed driver in a licensed vehicle. Written by P5 Chauffeurs.