An incentive day by coach, hour by hour.
Forty guests, two hotels, lunch, an afternoon activity and a dinner. One coach and one driver can run all of it, if the minutes are written down. Here is the day on a clock, where the buffers go and the point where it runs past ten hours.
Why the coach is a 50-seater
Count everyone who needs a seat. Forty guests, one group leader, one host and one guide make 43. The 30-seater mini coach tops out at 22 to 30 seats, so it cannot take them. The 50-seater coach has 50 seats and seven spare, and a PA system for the guide. The spare seats absorb a late addition, and the group does not sit crowded.
The luggage hold is mostly empty on an incentive day, since guests carry day bags. It is useful for gifts, shopping and any programme kit. If you also have an arrival or departure for the same group, our big group arrival guide covers it separately.
Planning this trip? Tell us the date and group size for a fixed price.
Get a quoteThe day on a clock
The leg times below are assumptions, chosen to show the method. They are not journey times. Replace each one with the time from your hotels to your venues, checked at the hour you will travel. Allow extra on the first run of the day, when nobody has driven the route yet.
| Time | What happens | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| 10:50 | Driver at hotel A, ten minutes early | Standard |
| 11:00 | Board 20 guests, depart 11:10 | 10 minutes to load |
| 11:30 | Hotel B, board 20 guests, depart 11:45 | 20 minute leg, 15 minutes slack |
| 12:30 | Arrive for lunch, coach drops at the door | 45 minute leg |
| 14:00 | Board after lunch, depart 14:10 | 10 minutes to count heads |
| 14:40 | Arrive at the activity, guests off | 30 minute leg |
| 17:15 | Board, depart 17:25 | 10 minutes to count heads |
| 18:05 | Arrive at the dinner venue, early | 40 minute leg |
| 18:30 | Dinner starts | Planner’s booking |
| 20:00 | Dinner ends, depart 20:10 | 10 minutes to board |
| 20:40 | Drop at hotel B | 30 minute leg |
| 21:00 | Drop at hotel A | 20 minute leg |
Where the buffers go
A plan with no slack is a plan that is late by lunch. There are three places to put minutes.
- The first pick-up. People come down late on the first morning. We put 15 minutes at hotel B and aim to leave on time at hotel A.
- Every re-boarding. We assume ten minutes to count 43 heads, and a guest always goes back for something. The group leader holds the list.
- Arriving early at dinner. Twenty-five minutes at the dinner venue costs nothing, and it absorbs a slow afternoon.
Put the largest buffer where an overrun would hurt most, which is the dinner reservation.
The ten-hour test
The day rate on our quotes covers up to 10 hours, and the quote says when the clock starts. Read that line closely. Our guide to what is in a bus rental quote explains the definition and why it matters.
The plan above runs from 11:00 to 21:00. If the clock starts at the first pick-up, that is exactly ten hours, with nothing to spare. One late guest or one slow lunch and the day goes into overtime. Overtime is charged at the hourly rate printed on the quote, so you can price a late finish before it happens.
You have three choices. Start the day later or end it earlier. Cut an activity by 30 minutes. Or accept some overtime and ask for it to be shown on the quote in advance. Also ask whether the coach’s waiting time at the activity sits inside the hours or inside the waiting allowance. Your quote should say which.
Lunch, the activity and dinner are yours to book
We drive. You, or your destination management company, book the restaurant, the activity and any guide. Our drivers are not licensed guides. If you want commentary on board, bring a guide and the coach’s PA does the rest.
Ask each venue where a coach may stop and wait. Some have their own rules, and we check the drop-off point and the waiting area with them before the day. Then tell your group leader where the coach will be at the end. A coach that waits in a legal spot is a coach the group can find.
If the programme changes
Swap the afternoon for a trip to Abu Dhabi and the arithmetic changes at once. The drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi city takes about 1 hour 30 minutes outside the rush hours, each way, so three hours of the day are on the road. A day like that needs a morning start and a dinner plan that fits the return drive. Look at our Abu Dhabi transfers.
Smaller changes are easier. A desert dinner, covered in our desert group transport guide, adds a longer final leg and a possible coach stop short of the camp. A sightseeing circuit of Old Dubai and Downtown is in the city tour guide.
What to send us
Send the date, the two hotels, the number of guests and hosts, and the programme with times. Add the restaurant and the activity venue by name and the time you want guests back. We reply with a fixed written quote that lists the hours, the stops and the waiting allowance. Use the booking page, or read about VIP and events if you also need cars for hosts.
Keep reading
- Coach rental Dubai: Mini coaches and 50-seat coaches with a driver for tours, conferences, schools and teams, sized to the group and quoted in writing.
- Airport transfer or day hire?: One airport ride and one tour day in Dubai: when two separate bookings make sense, when one driver for the day does, and what to ask for in the quote.
- Transport for 31 to 50 people: Thirty-one to fifty people on one coach: what a 50-seater carries, how leaders and guides eat into the seats, and the places a full-size coach cannot go.
- Car with driver for a day: One car, one chauffeur, from breakfast to dinner, with the day planned around you rather than a meter.
- 30-seater or 50-seater: tight entrances: Can a 50-seater reach the hotel door, or does the group need a mini coach? The questions to ask the hotel, the places where access is tight, and what the smaller coach does to your bags.
- Coach PA system and guide microphone: Does the coach have a PA for the guide? What the 50-seater and the mini coach have on board, what to ask us about the rest, and how to brief the driver for a group of 45.
Frequently asked.
Quick answers for this trip.
Can one coach run an incentive day for 40 people?
Yes. A 50-seater seats 43 with room to spare. Plan the clock with buffers at the first pick-up, at each re-boarding and before dinner.
Why not a 30-seater mini coach?
It seats 22 to 30. Forty guests and three hosts need more seats than that, so the 50-seater is the right size.
How many hours does the day rate cover?
Up to 10 hours. The quote states when the clock starts and stops, and the overtime rate is printed on it.
Does the coach wait while the group is at the activity?
It can. The waiting allowance and the rate after it are written on the quote, so you can see the cost of a long activity beforehand.
Can you book the restaurant or the activity?
No. We provide the coach and driver. You or your destination management company book the venues, and we confirm where the coach stops.
Can the driver act as a guide?
No. Drivers are not licensed guides. Bring a guide and use the PA on the coach.
What if we want to add a trip outside Dubai?
Tell us the stops and times. A day that leaves Dubai is quoted with the longer distance and the longer driver’s day built in.
Got a programme? Send the times.
Two questions now, a fixed price in your inbox shortly after.