When the group is small and the impression isn't
A chauffeured Mercedes-Benz V-Class for up to seven passengers — airport runs, client days, weddings and winery trips, driven by an accredited Skylight chauffeur.
Operated on our Mercedes-Benz V-Class (V250d): up to seven passengers in black leather across two rear rows, with a chauffeur. Groups larger than seven move to our 24-seat midi coaches or full-size coaches.
Most of what we do moves forty people at a time. This doesn't. The V-Class is what we send when the party is small enough to fit in a car but the occasion is too important to book one — a board delegation off an overnight flight, a client you would rather not put in a rideshare, a wedding party that has to arrive together and photograph well doing it.
What you get when you book the V-Class
One long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz V-Class in black, with seven passenger seats in leather — three across the second row, three across the third, and the front seat beside the chauffeur. Twin panoramic roof panels run above both rear rows, the rear glass is tinted, and the cabin is quiet enough to hold a conversation or a phone call at freeway speed.
And a chauffeur, which is the half that actually matters. Yours arrives early rather than on time, knows the route before the day starts, handles the bags without being asked, and leaves the cabin quiet unless you would rather it wasn't. Every one of our drivers holds a current Working with Children Check and drives under our commercial passenger vehicle accreditation — the same standard we run our school and Defence work to.
Seven seats, and the luggage arithmetic nobody publishes
Here is the honest version, because it is the question that decides the booking. With both rear rows in place and seven people aboard, the load bay behind the third row takes roughly four or five cabin-sized cases plus soft bags. That is comfortably enough for seven people on a day trip, a client day or a wedding. It is not enough for seven people coming off a long-haul flight with a large case each.
The rear row lifts out. Take it and the back of the vehicle becomes a proper load bay, which is how we run four-passenger airport jobs with a serious amount of luggage. So the real choice is seven passengers and light bags, or four passengers and heavy ones — and if you are seven people with seven big cases, we will tell you to take a midi coach instead. It costs less than the V-Class and, unlike the V-Class, it fits.
We would rather lose the premium booking than put your delegation in a vehicle that has to leave a suitcase on the kerb at Tullamarine.
Melbourne Airport, Avalon and Essendon Fields
Send us the flight number with the booking, not just the time. We watch the arrival and set the pick-up against when the aircraft actually lands, and airport pick-ups include thirty minutes' waiting after landing — the same terms as our coach transfers, with extra time charged fairly if a flight runs long.
Melbourne Airport's pick-up arrangements have changed more than once and will change again, so we confirm the exact meeting point when we take the booking rather than printing one here that goes stale. For international arrivals we can meet you inside the terminal; for domestic runs most people prefer a kerbside pick-up they can walk straight to. Avalon and Essendon Fields both work the same way, and Essendon in particular suits charter and private-jet arrivals where the whole point is not standing around.
Client days, roadshows and as-directed hire
Point-to-point is the simple case. The more useful one is booking the vehicle and the chauffeur for a block of hours and keeping them: an investor roadshow across the CBD, a day of site visits through the north and the south-east, a visiting executive team with four meetings and no interest in car parks.
As-directed hire means the vehicle waits where you leave it, the bags and the laptops stay aboard between stops, and the itinerary can move during the day without anyone renegotiating a fare. Regular corporate clients can put it on an account, the same way they do our coach work.
Winery days, the Peninsula, and the drive times that matter
The Yarra Valley is about an hour to an hour and a quarter from the Melbourne CBD, the Mornington Peninsula about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how far down you go, Daylesford about ninety minutes, and the Great Ocean Road is a full day whichever way you cut it. Those numbers are the reason a chauffeured day out exists: somebody has to drive back.
Six friends, a milestone birthday, a cellar door itinerary and nobody nominated as the designated driver — that is a V-Class day. We hold the schedule, you decide how long to stay at each stop, and everybody is capable of enjoying the last tasting.
Weddings, milestones and the car that arrives first
For a wedding the V-Class does the job two ways. It carries the bridal party or the couple's parents between the ceremony and the reception — seven seats means the whole party moves in one vehicle rather than a convoy of borrowed cars — and it photographs well doing it, which the people paying the photographer tend to care about.
The other way is the one only an actual bus company can offer: the V-Class in front and a coach behind it for the guests, on one booking, with one operations team and one phone number. Most chauffeur firms have to sub-contract the guest coach to someone like us. We just send both.
Why book a chauffeur through a bus company
A single-vehicle chauffeur operator has one van and a mobile phone. When that van is off the road two hours before your flight, the plan is that you find somebody else. We are a family-owned operator running two Victorian depots with our own workshop and our own mechanics at Campbellfield, an operations line that is answered around the clock, and a yard full of vehicles.
That is what you are actually buying at this end of the market: not the badge on the grille, which anyone can lease, but the depth behind it. The same accreditation regime that lets us carry school students and Defence personnel applies to this vehicle and this driver, and the same operations team that moves a hundred people to Mt Buller in the snow is the one watching your 6am airport run.
When the V-Class is the wrong vehicle
Eight passengers or more: take a midi coach. Twenty-four seats, still comfortable, still a professional driver, and cheaper per head than trying to make a seven-seater work twice.
A passenger who travels in a wheelchair: the V-Class is not wheelchair accessible. Our wheelchair accessible vehicles are, with proper ramp access and certified restraints, and that is the right booking to make.
A large group where cost per head is the deciding factor: this is our premium vehicle and it is priced like one. For a forty-person transfer a full-size coach is a fraction of the cost per person and does the job better.
There is no rate card on this page. A late-night airport run and a full day as-directed in the Yarra Valley are different jobs, and we would rather quote yours properly than average them. Send the date, the pick-up and the numbers.
A closer look
Common questions
Seven, plus the chauffeur — three across the second row, three across the third, and the front passenger seat. For eight or more we move you to a 24-seat midi coach rather than splitting the group across two vehicles.
With both rear rows in place, roughly four or five cabin-sized cases plus soft bags in the load bay behind the third row. Enough for a day trip or a client day; not enough for seven people arriving off a long-haul flight with a large case each. Removing the rear row turns the back into a full load bay for four-passenger runs.
Send us the flight number when you book. We watch the arrival and set the pick-up against the actual landing time, and every airport pick-up includes thirty minutes' waiting afterwards. If a flight runs longer than that, additional waiting is charged at our standard standby rate.
Yes. As-directed hire keeps the vehicle and chauffeur with you for a block of hours — roadshows, site visits, a day of meetings — so bags stay aboard between stops and the itinerary can change during the day without renegotiating anything.
Tell us the children's ages when you enquire and we will confirm in writing what restraint we can fit before you commit to the booking. We would rather answer that question in advance than have it come up on the kerb at 5am.
No. It is a passenger vehicle with a conventional step-in. If someone in the party travels in a wheelchair, our wheelchair accessible vehicles are the right booking — ramp access, certified restraints and room for a carer alongside.
They come from the same accredited pool. Every Skylight driver holds a current Working with Children Check and drives under our commercial passenger vehicle accreditation, which is the standard our school, Defence and rail replacement work already runs to.
Yes, and it is the reason most of our wedding and conference clients book this vehicle with us rather than a chauffeur firm. The V-Class for the principals and a coach for everyone else, on one booking, with one operations team behind both.
Tell us where you need to be.
Share your trip and we'll put together a clear, fair quote — usually within the day.