Blacklane: A Convenient Travel Option for Families
by Kimberly Krol
On a recent trip to Valencia, Spain, I booked Blacklane, transfers to and from my home to Philadelphia International Airport, and to and from my hotels in Valencia to Valencia Airport. Founded in 2011, the Berlin-based company developed when Jens Wohltorf and Frank Steuer saw a need for a single global professional chauffeur service. Daily, thousands of passengers connect to a network of licensed and insured professional chauffeurs.
In addition to chauffeur services, I also booked Blacklane PASS, which stands for Premium Airport Services & Solutions. For $100, travelers can skip airport lines and, for $50, book lounges. Personal escorts help travelers navigate gates, lounges and transportation. Other services include arrival services, with planeside or post-Customs greeting, luggage assistance and more; departure services, with a vehicle greeting, assistance with security lines and an escort to the gate; connection services to expedite the process between flights; and lounges, with food, beverages, showers, WiFi and other amenities.
Booking all the different services — four total chauffeur rides and PASS arrival and departure services at PHL — was easy, and communication throughout the process via email and text is extremely reliable. For families with children, the ease of booking doesn’t compare to the ease of use. Alleviate headaches while traveling with the kids and take the worry out of the transportation and airport experience.
The PASS service was truly valuable, in our experience, in two ways. Upon departure, security had a bit of a line. With the PASS service, we bypassed the line completely and were through security quickly. On the return, our bags were lost and it was incredibly useful to have our PASS concierge communicate with our driver while we handled our lost luggage issues. It was a real plus not to have to worry about that while stressed about our situation.
When it comes to the chauffeur services, in addition to the ease of booking and reliability of communication, the Blacklane cars are high quality, there is a complimentary wait time of 60 minutes at airports, rates are all-inclusive and cancellation is free up until one hour before one-way transfers. Chauffeurs are fully licensed and insured, and you can book Business Class (which we did), Business Van or First Class.
Each time, the drivers were early, in both Valencia and Philadelphia. In Valencia, we met our driver outside Customs; he had a sign with our name on it. At Philadelphia on the return, our PASS concierge escorted us to our waiting vehicle.
For a seamless experience on your next family vacation, consider Blacklane.
