Loading a group’s luggage: how long?

Two clocks, not one

Most groups mix up two different waits. The first clock runs from landing until the group is standing beside the driver. It covers immigration, the baggage belt and the walk through the hall. Our big group arrival guide says to allow 60 to 90 minutes for it.

The second clock starts when the group meets the driver and stops when the coach pulls away. That is loading time, and it is the subject of this page. Keep the clocks apart on your plan and each one stays honest.

The anchors we plan with

These three figures are already on our pages. Everything below is arithmetic on them.

For groups under 17 people we have no loading figure on a page. Send the headcount and the bags and we confirm the time in your written quote.

The sum, in five steps

Our own working method, not a promise. It treats the anchors as the base and adds time only for bags beyond one per person.

• Step 1. Count people and bags. Count each golf bag, instrument case or box as two medium suitcases, and tell us the size of the largest piece.
• Step 2. Pick the vehicle that clears both limits. The suitcase guide has the numbers: mini coach 20 bags, 50-seater coach 50.
• Step 3. Take the base. Up to 30 people is 15 minutes. From 31 to 50 people is 15 to 20 minutes.
• Step 4. Add extra bags. Take bags minus people, and if the answer is above zero add half of it in minutes. That is a rate of two bags a minute, which is what the 30 people in 15 minutes anchor implies. The 50-person anchor implies a faster rate, so this is the cautious side.
• Step 5. Add stragglers. If someone is still in the hall, the coach does not leave, so write the waiting allowance from your quote on top.

The formula is: minutes = base + MAX(0, bags - people) / 2.

Six groups, worked out

Examples only, using the rule above. Each group has been put in the vehicle that clears both seats and bags.

The last two rows need a note. Where two vehicles load, each runs its own clock and the slower one sets your departure. Our coach guide says two drivers and two loading points keep the hall moving. In the 42-person row the luggage van takes its five bags in parallel and leaves with the group, as the luggage vehicle option describes.

The whole clock, from landing to the hotel

Join the two clocks and add the drive. Here is the 36-person group with 48 bags, landing at 14:05 and heading for a Downtown hotel. Illustrative, not a quote.

Look at the right-hand column. The slow case leaves at 16:01, and the weekday evening peak starts about 16:30. On our hotel area drive times page the evening drive to Downtown is 40 minutes to an hour. The slow case could therefore arrive between 16:41 and 17:01. Tell your hotel the later time.

What stretches the loading

• Bags that arrive late. They come off the belt in no particular order, and the leader should hold the group until the count is done.
• Odd items. A golf bag takes the space of several cases, so list it before you fly.
• A longer walk. A pre-booked vehicle generally cannot wait at the arrivals kerb, and a large one parks where the airport allows. Your confirmation says where the group is met. We do not publish a walking time, so ask us for the one that applies to your terminal.
• Two terminals. Terminal 2 is 15 to 20 minutes by road from Terminals 1 and 3, so a group split across them is two pick-ups, not one loading job. A passenger list sorted by terminal makes the split visible.

A coloured strap on every bag speeds the count. The leader counts the bags in as the driver loads them.

At the hotel, going back

The same anchors apply at the hotel. Allow around 10 minutes per pick-up without luggage and 15 to 20 minutes when cases go into the holds. Ask the hotel to bring the bags down before the group gathers, so that loading happens while people check out.

For a flight home, work the pick-up back from the airline’s check-in margin as the airport transfer page explains, and put the loading time on top of it. The 17 to 30 people guide covers parties of that size. Several hotels mean several loads, so ask us about the order of stops.

Send the people, the bags, the odd items and the flights through the booking page. We reply with a fixed written quote naming the vehicle and the waiting allowance. Compare it with your own sum.

Related: Big group arrival at DXB · Dubai airport transfer for groups · How many suitcases fit in each vehicle · Coach rental Dubai · 50-Seater Coach · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Leaving the hotel for DXB with a group: The departure morning for a group leader: head count, bags, terminal, loading and the time the coach should be at the hotel door.
• Dubai airport transfer for groups: Vans, Sprinters, mini coaches and 50-seat coaches for groups landing at DXB or DWC, with the luggage and the split flights planned.
• Airport transfer for 2 to 6 passengers: A couple, a family of four or six friends: which private car to book from Dubai Airport, the sedan, the luxury SUV or the V-Class, and how the bags decide.
• Big group arrival at DXB: How to land 30 or more people at Dubai International and get them onto the right coach: flight lists, luggage, split arrivals and a group leader who is easy to find.
• UAE time difference for booking from abroad: The UAE has no daylight saving. This table shows the gap to the US, UK, Europe, Australia and Japan for the next six months, with worked booking examples.
• How far is Dubai Airport from your hotel area: One table of the drive from Dubai International (and Al Maktoum) to the main hotel areas, with peak-hour margins and what the Metro does.