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Airport Transfers Explained: Why Choose a Private Shuttle

Published 23 September 2019

Emese Graham

Content Manager

Transportation to and from the airport isn't something travellers usually give much thought to unless something goes wrong. But choosing the right transfer can not only help prevent losing time and money, it can also help set the tone for your entire trip. Here's what you should know before booking a private airport transfer, group shuttle, taxi or Uber.

What is an airport transfer service?

How do airport transfers work, private airport transfers vs. group shuttles, private transfers vs. taxis and ubers or other ride shares, meet 2 of our favourite airport transfer service providers, how do i book a private airport transfer.

Before we start comparing and contrasting different vehicle types and transfer services, let's get an understanding of what this service is. Put simply, an airport transfer is pre-arranged transportation that will take travelers from the airport to their final destination. 

Airport transfers are typically booked in advance with the help of a travel consultant. You can book a private transfer or a shared transfer — whatever suits your individual needs and travel style.

Generally speaking, drivers will be waiting for you and the people travelling with you at your destination airport. Keep your eyes peeled! They'll usually be outside the baggage claim with a sign, ready to take you on a perfect ride to your hotel.

Now that's settled, let's take a closer look at the different services that passengers have the option of booking, as well as some of their advantages and disadvantages.

Group shuttles are often marketed as an economical alternative to a private transfer, but the difference in price doesn't come close to making up for the difference in time, comfort, convenience and overall value. 

Picture this. Once you hop off your flight and collect your luggage, you can either: 

• Be greeted by your professional, courteous driver and escorted directly to your accommodations with complimentary gifts and insider tips. Or, 
• Search through the crowds for your group shuttle, squish into the back seat of a 12-seater, idle in the parking lot for 40 minutes, then hop between hotels before finally starting your vacation tattered, tired and car sick.

Not to mention the journey back. Travellers who book private airport transfers can enjoy more time in their destination and avoid an unnecessarily long car trip to and from the airport. 

Realistically, the cost difference between a shared airport transfer and a private shuttle is quite marginal. If you budget an additional $30 or so per passenger, you'll have an exponentially better start to your getaway. 

“I am a huge fan of private transfers,” says Jessica Pong, Flight Centre product expert and former flight attendant. “Why don't more people do this?”

If you're like most Canadians, your vacation is one of the most important times of your year. So invest your time wisely and get the most out of your destination. 

While taking a taxi or rideshare can be a pleasant, safe and straightforward experience, booking a private airport transfer in advance ensures that your ground transportation will be all of those things. 

Postponing your ground transfer plans until your arrival can leave you vulnerable to hiked taxi prices and communication challenges. Besides that, you'll be competing with innumerable other travellers arriving from flights — all hoping to score last-minute transportation at the taxi stand.

Some rideshare apps allow travellers to book a trip in advance. However, there is some fine print you should be aware of. Even pre-booked Uber rides are subject to last-minute surge charges, and other brands like Lyft only allow you to make a reservation in limited regions. 

Book and pay for your private airport transfer in advance to guarantee full cost transparency, excellent customer services, and a convenient and safe pick-up process. 

If you're looking for an easy booking process and skilled drivers, try the transfer services provided by Olympus Tours and Buffalo Tours.

• Olympus Tours:  Olympus Tours provides first-rate airport transfers in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Panama. Their signature concierge transfers include extra perks like complimentary WiFi, sparkling wine and sweet nibbles. For an added layer of safety, all vehicles are equipped with driver tracking. 
• Buffalo Tours:  Operating throughout Asia, Buffalo Tours emphasizes responsible travel and sustainable tourism. Their private airport transfers include a personal greeting at the airport, complimentary water and cold towel, WiFi and a local guide available upon request. 

Whether you're planning a round-the-world trip, cruise holiday or all-inclusive vacation (or just need a plane ticket home), our expert consultants can help you compare and book all of your trip details, including your rides to and from the airport. 

Ready to start your journey? Let us take care of the legwork. Connect with a travel consultant today by calling 1–855–796–8359, chatting online or popping by the Flight Centre store in your neighbourhood. 

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• Technical Analysis Basic Education

Rount-Trip Trading Definition, Legitimate & Unethical Examples

Gordon Scott has been an active investor and technical analyst or 20+ years. He is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT).

What Is Round-Trip Trading?

Round-trip trading, or "round-tripping," usually refers to the unethical practice of purchasing and selling shares of the same security over and over again in an attempt to manipulate observers into believing that the security is in higher demand than it actually is. By creating fake trading volume , round-tripping can also interfere with technical analysis based on volume data.

This sort of churning behavior differs greatly from the legal open and close transactions of day traders or ordinary investors. After all, every investor ultimately completes a round trip when they buy and later sell a security.

Key Takeaways

• Round-trip trading generally refers to an unethical market-manipulation technique involving a series of wash trades.
• Repeatedly buying and selling securities will inflate trading volume and balance sheet figures to game the activity and interest in a stock.
• Round-trip trading has been seen in several high-profile scandals, including the Enron collapse.

Understanding Round-Trip Trading

Round-trip trading is an attempt to create the appearance of a high volume of trades, without the company behind the security experiencing an increase in income or earnings . These types of trades can be carried out in several ways, but most commonly are completed by a single trader selling and purchasing the security on the same trading day, or by two companies buying and selling securities between themselves. This practice is also known as churning or making wash trades .

Round-trip trading can easily be confused with legitimate trading practices, such as the frequent round-trip trades made by pattern day traders. These traders typically execute many transactions on the same day . However, they do have minimum standards they must practice, such as keeping at least $25,000 of account equity before completing these types of transactions, and reporting their net gains or losses on the transactions as income, rather than pretending gains are investments and losses are expenses.

Another instance of acceptable round-trip trades is a swap trade, where institutions will sell securities to another individual or institution while agreeing to repurchase the same amount at the same price in the future. Commercial banks and derivative products practice this type of trading regularly. But the dynamics of this kind of trading do not inflate volume statistics or balance sheet values.

Example of Round-Trip Trading

One of the most famous instances of round-trip trading was the case of the collapse of Enron in 2001. By moving high-value stocks to off-balance-sheet special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in exchange for cash or a promissory note , Enron was able to make it look like it was continuing to earn a profit while hedging assets on its balance sheets.

These transfers were backed by Enron’s stocks, making the illusion a veritable house of cards waiting to collapse. And collapse it did. In addition to other poor and deceptive bookkeeping practices, Enron was able to fool Wall Street and the public into believing that the company was still one of the largest and most profitably secure institutions in the world when, in fact, it was barely treading water.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened an investigation into the activities and several people were prosecuted and imprisoned. The accounting firm that handled Enron’s bookkeeping also went under because of its participation in the deceit. The firm was found guilty of obstruction of justice by shredding paperwork that would implicate members of the board and high-ranking Enron employees.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “ Margin Rules for Day Trading .” Accessed May 10, 2021.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. " SEC v. Andrew S. Fastow ." Accessed May 10, 2021.

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Two One-Way Flights or One Round-Trip: Which Is Better?

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Booking a flight involves navigating a maze of decisions. Is it better to fly with a budget airline or full-service one? How about basic economy versus regular economy ? And would you prefer pretzels or a cookie? 

Choosing between a single round-trip or two one-way tickets is the most basic decision and — you might be surprised to learn — one of the more nuanced. 

The cost between the two is usually the same for domestic flights but can vary significantly for international routes (assuming you're booking with cash rather than points and miles ).

Given that airfare was 26% more expensive in January 2023 than January 2022, according to the latest consumer price index data, budget travelers need to save every penny they can. 

In general, it can be more convenient to book a round-trip flight for a trip with specific start and end dates, but other considerations, such as cancellation policies and pricing, could make booking one-ways more appealing in some cases. And everything works differently for flights booked with miles. 

Let’s break it down.

Domestic flights

For flights within the United States on the same airline, round-trip tickets almost always cost the same as two one-ways.

There’s one caveat here: Booking two one-way tickets between separate destination or arrival airports can, in some cases, save money (or cost more). 

“Fares don’t have to be booked as returns,” says Laura Lindsay, travel trends expert at SkyScanner, a travel booking platform. “Look at flying out with one airline and back with another, or out of one airport and back into another to save money.”

Many online travel tools will automatically compare prices for these mismatched airline or airport itineraries and automatically include them in search results.

But it might be worth checking manually, especially for plans that involve different local airports or for airlines that don’t appear in search results , such as Southwest.

All that said, for domestic flights, the difference is almost always a wash. 

International flights

For international tickets, the logic changes completely. Round-trip tickets are usually cheaper than one-ways, sometimes significantly so.

NerdWallet compared fares across multiple international routes and found that, typically, buying two one-way tickets costs 20% more than a single roundtrip. 

To determine these differences, we compared routes between four U.S. airports and two airports in each destination region.

The effect is more pronounced when flying to some regions, such as Africa and Asia. That said, for flights between the U.S. and every region we looked at, it costs more to book two one-ways than a single round-trip. 

In some circumstances, such as open-ended trips where you don’t know when you’ll be returning, one-way flights might still make the most sense. But for most international travel, round-trip fares are the clear winner. 

Are round-trip or one-way flights cheaper if booking with points?

What about the cost difference between one-way and round-trip fares when using points or miles ?

Generally, airlines break these fares into one-way sections, meaning there is no meaningful difference between the two, in terms of cost. Yet a few caveats apply: 

Taxes on award flights can be higher when booking two one-ways. Delta Air Lines, for example, tends to charge more fees for flights originating in Europe.

Some airlines, such as ANA, do not allow one-way award flights, period. 

Flights booked with credit card points using a travel portal (i.e. not transferred to an airline partner) follow the same rules as cash fares. 

Other considerations

It’s also worth considering the impact of changes and cancellations on the two options.

Most airlines have eliminated change fees , making it easier to change and cancel both kinds of tickets. But canceling one leg of a round-trip ticket can sometimes be more complicated than canceling a one-way ticket.

In some cases, you might need to call customer service, instead of canceling online, to make sure the change doesn’t cancel your other flight segments as well.

And finally, there’s the question of simplicity.

Is the simplicity of having a single itinerary, managed by one round-trip confirmation code, worth these other trade-offs? This simplicity, paired with the fact that round-trip tickets are almost never more expensive than two one-ways, means that these fares make sense for most travelers.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

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Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

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Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

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60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

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$300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

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75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.