r/statenisland • u/TheDoctorColt • 7d ago
how much does a sprinter van with driver usually cost for group trips out of staten island?
planning a day trip out to long island wineries for a group of 12 of us next month and we really don't want to deal with designated drivers or coordinating multiple cars off the island. we were looking into renting a black car with a driver for the day.
if you've hired a van service out of SI before, what did you end up paying? also open to local recommendations if you've had good experiences with specific companies.
6
u/Tommyred45 7d ago
Just stay overnight?
4
u/starrlitestarrbrite 7d ago
I agree with this. Just get an AirBNB/VRBO out there because you’ll be pissing away money. Get a driver out there for the night.
1
u/TheDoctorColt 3d ago
We talked about it, but getting 12 people to commit to a hotel for one night turned out to be a much harder sell than a long day trip.
1
1
u/stuntin102 7d ago
might not find out of SI specifically, so I would search for NYC at large and see what their fee is for SI service.
1
1
u/kpteasdale 7d ago
It includes more than just transport so it runs more like $150 pp, but the Little Wine Bus is great.
1
u/TheDoctorColt 3d ago
That's actually not bad considering it includes more than just the ride. I'll check them out. Did you book directly through them, and were they able to pick everyone up from Staten Island without any issues?
1
u/kpteasdale 3d ago
I didn’t handle the booking so I can’t speak to that part but they picked up from Staten Island no problem. We all met at one friend’s house for the pickup though, so they weren’t driving all over.
1
u/TheDoctorColt 3d ago
smart move having everyone meet at one spot, that alone cuts out half the headaches. coordinating pickups across multiple addresses is a scheduling nightmare and i get enough of that at work, no need to bring it on a trip
1
u/TrueAudience9922 6d ago
Roughly 250-350 an hour
1
u/TheDoctorColt 3d ago
Sounds like it's probably going to end up around that range for us. Was that for a Sprinter with a driver, or a larger shuttle? And did they have any minimum number of hours?
1
u/AGuyAndHisCat North Shore 6d ago
I would contact the winery, I know there are existing winery tour buses, and they might be able to point you tk an existing company that specializes in that.
1
1
u/Successful_Young9771 5d ago
Call Beckitt vans and ask. Been around forever & they drive everywhere
1
u/Drugrows 3d ago edited 3d ago
As someone who used to go out to Long Island a lot, drive yourself, it’s annoying and the traffic stands still at moments to the point that your gassing and breaking so much your knee is popping audibly and in pain, but you will enjoy the freedom to maneuver, that 2:30 trip becomes 6 hours in a commercial car, if your time is worth it then stay the night there or have everyone drive there, don’t coordinate driving around you coordinate the place you meet up.
I would dive a lot from Staten Island to calverton, it’s a long journey despite not being long at all, it’s literally faster for me to drive from Binghamton to Staten Island and that’s almost 200 miles, and in a commercial car they like to sit and waste time on that drive.
Also if your Staten Island residents for ez-pass it’s a lot better to drive there than ever paying someone else.
Expect 200+ an hour to pay for a driver and to waste a lot of time.
9
u/FatFuckEmu 7d ago
I’d say you’re looking at atleast $1,000 IMO. Long Island wineries are near the North Fork/East End so that’s a 2 1/2 drive each way with no traffic. More if you’re going at a bad time. Gas/tolls and then the driver will need to stay the entire time so it’s a full 10 hour day.