The policy, in one paragraph
Airport and point-to-point transfers: cancel free up to three hours before the pickup; inside three hours, a late-cancellation charge of half the fare; a no-show (the chauffeur at the door, the passenger unreachable through the included wait) is the full fare. Hourly bookings (sedan, SUV, Sprinter): free up to 24 hours before. Occasion vehicles (stretch limousine, stretch SUV, limo bus): free up to 7 days before; the deposit is forfeited inside that. Long-distance and cross-border runs: free up to 24 hours. A cancelled flight cancels the car free at any notice. Changes — a new time, address, vehicle or flight number — are free and are not cancellations. Weather cancellations on storm days are free. To cancel, reply to the confirmation email or text dispatch.
A booked black car is a commitment on both sides: we assign a chauffeur the evening before, position the vehicle, decline other bookings for the slot, and — for a stretch or a bus — prepare the vehicle for the occasion; the passenger's side is to be at the door. When the passenger's plans change, the question is who bears the cost of the commitment already made, and the policy is the answer. Ours is built to be fair in both directions: generous where the operator's loss is small (a transfer cancelled the day before costs us almost nothing), firm where it is large (a stretch limousine cancelled the night before a prom is a lost Saturday), and unconditionally free where the cause is nobody's fault (a cancelled flight, a snowstorm). This article states the policy for each kind of booking, explains the reasoning, covers the no-show and how it is decided, the cancelled flight, the weather, the difference between a change and a cancellation, the deposit's role, the corporate account's version, how the policy compares to the taxi stand's (none) and the apps' (a fee after two minutes), and how to cancel.
Transfers: three hours
An airport transfer or a point-to-point trip cancelled more than three hours before the pickup costs nothing; the chauffeur is reassigned and the slot is resold. Inside three hours, a late-cancellation charge of half the fare applies, because the chauffeur is already positioned or en route and the slot cannot be resold; the charge is on the card and the receipt. The three-hour line is set from experience — most transfers that are cancelled late are cancelled because a plan changed that morning, and half the fare is roughly what the lost slot costs us. The how early to book article explains why an early booking costs nothing to cancel.
The no-show
A no-show is a pickup where the chauffeur arrives, texts and calls, waits through the included allowance (15 minutes at a city pickup; 30 or 60 after a domestic or international flight's actual arrival) and cannot reach the passenger; it is charged at the full fare, because the chauffeur and vehicle spent the slot and the drive. It is decided by dispatch, not the chauffeur, after the calls and texts are logged, and a passenger who was in the building and did not see the text will be believed the first time. The flight delays article explains the allowances and why a passenger who texts "held at customs" is never a no-show however long it takes.
Hourly bookings: 24 hours
An hourly booking — a day of meetings, a wedding shuttle, a wine tour — is a block of a chauffeur's day, and a cancellation inside 24 hours leaves the block unsold; free up to 24 hours before, then the minimum (two, three hours as the class requires) is charged. Shortening an hourly booking on the day — the meetings ended early — is not a cancellation; the minimum or the actual, whichever is greater, is billed, as the hourly vs point-to-point article explains.
Occasion vehicles: seven days and the deposit
A stretch limousine, a stretch SUV or a limo bus is booked for a wedding, a prom, a birthday or a corporate night — occasions that are booked weeks ahead, prepared for (the stretch limousine guide describes the preparation) and impossible to resell at short notice, because every other wedding that Saturday booked its car in March. The deposit taken at booking (the deposits article explains the amount) is refunded for a cancellation more than seven days before and forfeited inside that; inside 48 hours, the full fare. The wedding limo guide and the prom guide both say to book early and to cancel early if the plans change.
Long-distance and cross-border: 24 hours
A run to Niagara, Muskoka, Kingston, Montreal or Buffalo's airport is a chauffeur's whole day and a deposit is taken; free up to 24 hours before, the deposit forfeited inside that, the full fare inside six hours. The long distance vs flying article covers the structure and the multi-day chauffeur hire article the multi-day version, where the cutoff is longer.
Cancelled flights: always free
A flight that is cancelled cancels the car at no charge, whatever the notice — an hour, a minute; dispatch sees the cancellation in the flight tracking and texts to confirm. A flight that is delayed moves the pickup; a flight that is rebooked moves the booking on a text with the new number. The winter storm article covers the day hundreds are cancelled at once, and the rule is the same: nothing costs the passenger anything.
Weather: the storm-day exception
On a day Environment Canada has issued a winter storm, snowfall or freezing rain warning for the GTA, any booking — transfer, hourly, occasion — may be cancelled free at any notice, because the weather is nobody's fault and because we may cancel too, if a run cannot be made safely; the winter driving article explains how the fleet runs on those days and the winter storm article the plan.
Changes are not cancellations
A new time, a new address, a different vehicle class, a new flight number, an added stop, a shortened hourly — these are changes, they are free, and they are made by a text or email to dispatch; only a change that moves a booking to a different day is treated as a cancellation and a new booking, and even then the cutoffs apply from the original date. The how to book online article explains where to make them.
The deposit's role
Transfers and hourly bookings take no deposit — the card is authorised and charged after the trip. Occasion vehicles and long-distance runs take a deposit at booking, refundable to the cutoff and forfeited inside it, because those bookings carry the largest unrecoverable commitment; the deposits article has the amounts and the refund timing.
The corporate account's version
A corporate account can negotiate its cutoffs — a shorter late-cancellation window for a company whose executives' plans change hourly, in exchange for volume — and its no-shows and late cancellations appear on the monthly statement as the corporate account billing article shows, with the traveller's name for the finance department's records. The executive assistants' guide says to cancel the moment the meeting moves.
Compared to the taxi stand and the apps
The airport taxi stand has no cancellation policy because it has no booking; a passenger who walks away from the queue owes nothing and has no car. The rideshare apps charge a cancellation fee after a grace period of a few minutes once a driver is assigned, and a no-show fee when the driver waits and leaves — a structure built for a ride requested minutes ahead. Ours is built for a ride booked days ahead with a chauffeur assigned the evening before, and its cutoffs are longer and its charges rarer; a passenger who cancels a transfer the day before pays nothing, which is most cancellations. The UP Express comparison sets the alternatives side by side.
Why we do not charge for the day before
Some operators charge a cancellation fee for any cancellation within 24 hours of a transfer; ours is three hours, because a transfer cancelled at 8 p.m. for a 6 a.m. pickup costs us a text to the chauffeur and nothing else — the slot is resold or the chauffeur sleeps later. The policy should track the loss, and the loss from a transfer cancelled the evening before is nil. The cheap limo service article lists aggressive cancellation fees among the practices to ask about.
How to cancel, in ten seconds
Reply to the confirmation email with "cancel," or text dispatch's number (on the confirmation) with the booking reference and "cancel," or use the link in the confirmation. Dispatch confirms by return within minutes; the confirmation of the cancellation is the record. A passenger who cannot reach dispatch — it does not happen; the desk is staffed around the clock — may text the chauffeur directly, and the chauffeur passes it on.
A worked set of cases
A Rosedale passenger cancels a 6 a.m. Pearson transfer at 9 p.m. the evening before: free. The same passenger cancels at 4:30 a.m.: half the fare. The same passenger's flight is cancelled at 4:30 a.m.: free. A bride's mother cancels the stretch limousine ten days before the wedding: the deposit is refunded. A groom cancels the limo bus three days before: the deposit is forfeited. A company cancels a visiting executive's hourly day at noon the day before: free. A family cancels a Niagara day trip on the morning of a snowstorm warning: free. A passenger at a King West restaurant does not answer the chauffeur's texts and calls for twenty minutes after the pickup time: a no-show, the full fare, decided by dispatch after the log is reviewed.
Cancellation policy quick reference
| Booking | Free cancellation until | Inside the cutoff | No-show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airport / point-to-point transfer | 3 hours before pickup | Half the fare | Full fare |
| Hourly (sedan, SUV, Sprinter) | 24 hours before | The class minimum | Full minimum |
| Occasion vehicle (stretch, stretch SUV, bus) | 7 days before | Deposit forfeited; full fare inside 48 h | Full fare |
| Long-distance / cross-border | 24 hours before | Deposit forfeited; full fare inside 6 h | Full fare |
| Multi-day chauffeur hire | 72 hours before | First day charged | First day |
| Cancelled flight | Any notice | Free | — |
| Storm-warning day | Any notice | Free | — |
| Changes (time, address, vehicle, flight number) | — | Free | — |
Booking with the policy in view
The confirmation email states the cutoff for your booking and carries the link and the number to cancel; the engine shows the policy before you confirm, and the FAQ repeats it.
Refunds: how and how fast
A cancellation inside a cutoff that carries a charge is charged to the card on file and shown on a receipt the same day; a deposit refunded for a timely cancellation is returned to the card within five business days (the card issuer's timing, not ours); an invoiced account sees the charge or the credit on the month's statement. A dispute — a passenger who believes a no-show was wrongly decided — is a conversation with dispatch, who has the log, and we err toward the passenger the first time. The deposits and payment methods article covers the mechanics.
Booking notes on cancellation
Three small things. Cancel the moment the plan changes; the cutoffs are generous and the earlier the better for everyone. Do not cancel a car for a delayed flight — the tracking moves it, and cancelling and rebooking loses your chauffeur. And keep the confirmation email; the link in it is the ten-second cancel.
Occasion bookings and the calendar's pressure
The seven-day cutoff for stretch limousines and buses exists because of the calendar: every Saturday from May to October is a wedding day, the Friday and Saturday nights of May and June are proms, and a stretch cancelled the Thursday before is a stretch that sits in the yard while a couple who called in April is told there is nothing. The deposit is the couple's assurance that the vehicle is theirs and ours that the Saturday is not lost; the wedding limo guide explains why both matter.
