Minibus Hire Budget | Costs Comparisons | Coach and Bus Prices Explained

Local Coach Rental Prices Explained

You don’t have to look very far to get local coach rental prices in Cape Town: there are many a bus company in Cape Town. More than 15 bus companies. Not a week goes by without a new facebook post, google ad or social media being abuzz with the discounted bus hire prices in Cape Town. But, how do you know you’re getting the best deal on a tour bus for rent? How do you know what is considered fair pricing? Here’s a brief explainer on the how and what of bus charter pricing in Cape Town.

Local coach rental prices are an important aspect for our customers

Imagine this: you’re planning your next tour to South Africa, Cape Town to be exact. You’ve contacted the hotels, the restaurants and the places of interest you will be visiting. So, last on your list is the bus hire company, with whom you need to secure a minibus or luxury coach, for the duration of your stay. To clarify, you will need to know the local coach rental prices offered, for the most relevant coach size. In this situation, you will have a few questions bouncing in your mind. Additionally, what distances are covered each day? Finally, what can be expected in terms of the actual bus transportation?

Customers require attention

Let’s face it, if we cannot answer these basic questions promptly, we know there is another competitor a click away. Sadly, there will be no reason for you to give us the opportunity to provided services to you right?

Notably, potential clients have a few questions on their mind. Clearly, all they want is a quick reply with a fair local coach rental price estimation in order for them to plan ahead. Furthermore, we understand that customers expect a bus hire quote reply at least within an hour, if the request is pretty straightforward. With that said, we know some of the many reasons clients require prompt assistance. To sum up, an extensive amount of work goes into planning for tours and buses required for tourists.

  • Tour agents need to make tour decisions based on costs

  • If friends are traveling together they need to know how to split the costs

  • Corporate groups need to weigh up whether to use personal transport or hire a bus.

It boils down to this: no matter what local coach rental prices you require, we aim to move promptly to keep our customers happy.

Read more: Examples of bus hire prices in Cape Town >>

Bus Hire Pricing

Calculating Local Coach Rental Prices

Bus charter companies, much the same like any other business have overhead costs. For example, tour driver and staff salaries, fuel, insurance, vehicle maintenance, license renewals and finance costs all weigh on the business. So, a tour company offering bus charter services, does not have it easy. To clarify, these aspects makes up so much of the annual bus hire rates.

Local bus charter prices

To demonstrate, we use a combination of the following tools while preparing bus hire prices:

  • Rate per kilometer (RPK) – mostly used for long distance calculations

  • Peak and off-peak season pricing methods

  • Value and cost-based pricing method

  • Year on year pricing

However, finding the sweet spot of the coach charter pricing for a particular tour, requires some critical thinking. Is this the best possible price to charge the customer? Can I offer a cost-effective luxury coach for the same budget? What is the absolute lowest rate at which the coach can travel?

When calculating coach hire prices this is the thinking style of a tour sales consultant. They are trained not WHAT to think, but HOW to think.

Tax Implications

Are Local Coach Rental Prices Taxable?

The South African Revenue Services (SARS) provides clear guidelines on Value Added Tax (VAT) services. However, passenger transport prices is not subject to vat. Clearly, as can be seen in the image below, where chauffeur services and passenger transport is provided, vat is not applicable. To clarify, the transport of passengers by road within the RSA is exempt, whereas the transport of goods is taxable. So, enough of all this jargon. We’re glad it’s now out of the way.

Fair and average bus hire prices

How Do I Know I am Getting a Great Deal?

Fair and average bus rental pricing makes for a happy customer

To be honest, complicated bus hire pricing frustrates you the customer. Evidently, we know that you want clear and basic rates, in order to confirm our booking. Now, the majority of bus rental companies, use a quick pricing strategy. For example, full day, half day, transfer, return transfer or overland. In summary, each element has a kilometers and hours assigned to it. So, your service would fall into either of these categories.

How to apply the quick pricing strategy

We aim to educate our customers. Consider this, when you are in need of a bus charter service in Cape Town, usually you don’t know what the price would be right? As a matter of fact, you search the internet wondering what your tour would cost. Now, here we show you how to quickly place your bus transportation trip into a category. Thankfully, this will give you an estimated indication what local coach rental prices you should expect.

Airport transfer

For example, you require bus transport prices from Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) to the Victoria and Alfred Hotel at the V&A Waterfront. To confirm, this is all you need. Clearly, your need is only a ONE WAY airport transfer since  it is very straightforward. Evidently, you will only require 3 hours of service, as you may be arriving from an international flight.

Return dinner transfer

Similarly, after a day or two you require a price for transport services to and from a local Cape Town restaurant for dinner. Automatically, this is considered a return dinner transfer. Furthermore, this service is considered to be more or less 4 hours in total. Anything more than that, it will then fall into the half day category.

Further insight

It is important to note, that the distance to be traveled also has an impact on the local coach hire pricing structure. For instance, if your return dinner transfer is a total of 200 kilometers, it will be taken into account and will probably be slightly more than the half day pricing category. So, as you can see calculating central bus hire prices is a combination of art and science.

"Sadly, bus rental companies in Cape Town are not educating their Customers concerning coach rental prices. Our industry should be equipping Clients to help them understand and be more in control of their tour and bus budgets."

Enjoy Great Service with Great Prices

Great Bus Hire Rates vs Great Service

Don’t just jump for cheap bus hire rates

To be honest, over the years we saw that most Customers go for cheap local bus charter prices, but then find out why. You guessed it, the vehicle is old and not mechanically maintained to say the least. Bus hire Cape Town services across all vehicle types and sizes should be efficient, professional and most importantly cost-effective.

Ask the bus company about their service delivery aspects

Indeed, in the real world a glossy brochure or sleek website doesn’t necessarily mean the bus rental company espouses above average Customer service. In fact, you may find that a small family business who own a few vehicles, who have slightly higher coach hire prices, offers a fantastic service. In comparison, a large company with a great number of coaches in their fleet, offer cheaper bus hire rates. Yet, their service requires some improvement.

Finally, your discretion and intuition is also a great tool to use when choosing your coach transport service provider. Find the sweet spot in local coach rental prices and coach hire service. We’re sure you will find the best solution.

Off Peak Bus Hire Quotation

Let's Help You!

In conclusion, bus hire prices in Cape Town consists of many aspects. The best time to travel to Cape Town is in the winter off-peak season. Wonderful price savings are provided during this period. To clarify, this is between June through August each year.

For more information simple email our Team at info@bushirecapetown.co.za

Quotation Request

    Off Peak Bus Hire Quotation