A trio of organisations are tackling a lack of standardisation in professional chauffeur services by developing a set of worldwide industry standards.
According to Buying Business Travel Amadeus, Blacklane and the Association of Car Rental Industry System Standards (ACRISS) have developed these standards to establish consistent service and vehicle categories and to remove inconsistencies in services offered that could confuse travellers.
The BBT article gives the following example of a situation that could cause confusion:
“…a Toyota Prius is a standard class vehicle for some transfer companies but is classed a business vehicle by others.”
The partnership of these three companies has created the Vehicle with Driver Service Industry (VDSI) standards, which aim to define a number of things:
Service categories – the new standards define what is standard class, business class and first class
Vehicle standards – looking at things like luggage capacity and passenger capacity
Additional service details – considering options including curb-side pickup and meet-and-greet
Standards have also been developed by Amadeus, Blacklane and ACRISS for booking times, cancelling or changing reservations, waiting times for airport and non-airport pickups, as well as driver language and attire.
Secretariat of ACRISS Melanie Methven said: “The chauffeur industry was long overdue to create VDSI standards. Thanks to them we can simplify bookings for travellers and professional driver companies. Amadeus and Blacklane have worked closely with ACRISS on the development of these standards and we are excited to see them become a reality.”
CTO and co-founder of Blacklane, Frank Steuer, commented: “Travellers expect transparent and comparable offers across all travel services. These new standards are essential to expand online availability and the ease of booking professional driver services.”
Peter Altmann of Amadeus Cars & Transfers said: “.The industry needs to speak the same language and have confidence in the service offered. We look forward to all professional driver services adopting VDSI standards as quickly as possible.”