76% of the trips we quote are written for four hours. 8.3% are written for five, 15% for six or more, and 3.6% for eight or longer. Four hours is both the usual minimum and the most common booking.
The four-hour block exists because dispatching, cleaning and staging a bus cost the same whether the group keeps it for three hours or eight. What the data adds is how rarely groups actually want less, how often they want more, and which occasions break the pattern.
Hours by occasion
| Occasion | Four hours | Six hours or more | Quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduations | 81.4% | 13.1% | 237 |
| Weddings | 80.1% | 12.2% | 3,064 |
| Nights out | 78.4% | 11.4% | 1,313 |
| Birthdays | 78.2% | 10.6% | 7,439 |
| Bachelor parties | 75.0% | 15.7% | 2,500 |
| Homecoming | 71.8% | 23.1% | 39 |
| Celebrations | 60.7% | 16.4% | 61 |
| Concerts | 60.4% | 25.5% | 1,140 |
| Corporate | 58.0% | 32.0% | 50 |
| Bachelorette parties | 56.4% | 23.4% | 94 |
| Winery and brewery tours | 55.3% | 25.1% | 557 |
| Game-day trips | 55.2% | 36.4% | 1,053 |
| Prom | 50.5% | 44.4% | 1,586 |
| All quotes | 76% | 15% | 28,206 |
Where the extra hours go
Prom is the outlier: nearly half of prom quotes are six hours or longer, because the trip covers pictures, the dance and the after-party. Game days are second at 36.4%, driven by tailgating before kickoff and the exit crowd after. Corporate trips at 32% and tasting tours at 25.1% are long for the obvious reason that the itinerary has several stops.
What the hours cost
| Duration | Median total | Implied cost of the extra block |
|---|---|---|
| 4 hours | $1,400 | — |
| 6 hours | $2,050 | +$650 for two hours |
| 8 hours | $2,500 | +$450 for the next two |
The marginal cost falls as the night gets longer. That is the argument for booking the fifth or sixth hour up front rather than running into overtime: overtime is charged at the rate written into the agreement, and a bus that has somewhere else to be at 11pm cannot always stay.
Duration barely moves by vehicle. The median request is four hours on a party bus (10,344 quotes), on a stretch limousine (1,361), on a limo-style Sprinter (2,781) and on a coach or shuttle bus (342). The occasion decides the hours; the vehicle does not.
Price your itinerary with the people who wrote these quotes
One written, all-inclusive number for your date, hours and stops. Our own vehicles, our own chauffeurs.
