Personal driver vs full-time driver.

Personal driver vs full-time driver: two different things

People in Dubai say “personal driver” for two quite different arrangements. One is a car with a professional driver that you book when you need it, by the hour, the day or a run of days. The company employs the driver and supplies, insures and fuels the vehicle. The other is a full-time driver you employ yourself, usually to drive your own car, who works for your household or your company all year.

Both make sense for someone. The real questions are how many hours of driving you need, how predictable they are, and how much responsibility you want to take on for a person, a visa and a vehicle. We sell the first option, so read the comparison with that in mind; we have tried to be straight about where the second one wins.

What booking a personal driver costs

A booked car with driver is priced per hour, per day or per trip. The price covers the vehicle, the driver and fuel, and our quotes also list Salik tolls and parking. Our starting prices for a full day of up to 10 hours within Dubai:

Hourly hire starts from four hours within Dubai, which covers a morning of meetings or an evening out. Between bookings you pay nothing at all. No salary, no visa, no car loan, no insurance renewal. The flip side is plain: it is good value for occasional days and gets expensive if you want a car and driver every day of the month.

What a full-time driver really costs

Employing a driver is a commitment of a different size, and the salary is only the visible part. Before you compare anything, list everything that comes with it:

• A salary agreed in a written contract, plus any overtime or allowances you agree
• The visa and work permit, the medical test, the Emirates ID and their renewals
• Health insurance, which the employer is generally expected to provide
• Accommodation or a housing allowance, and often food or a food allowance
• Annual leave, a ticket home at agreed intervals, and end-of-service benefits when the contract ends
• A UAE driving licence for the driver, which may mean driving school and tests, depending on their nationality and current licence
• The car: buying or leasing it, motor insurance that covers the driver, registration, servicing, tyres, fuel, Salik and parking
• Recruitment, whether through a licensed agency or your own time, and the cost of starting again if it doesn’t work out

We have not put a salary figure here, on purpose. Pay for private drivers varies a lot with experience, languages, the type of car and whether housing is included, and any number we printed would be out of date or wrong for your case. Licensed recruitment centres can tell you current ranges. Contract terms, leave and end-of-service rules are set by the authorities, not by the employer alone.

Visa and sponsorship in general terms

A driver who works for a household is generally employed as a domestic worker, with the head of the household as sponsor. In the UAE, domestic worker contracts and visas are handled through the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) and its approved service centres. They also set out who is eligible to sponsor, which documents you need and what the employer must provide.

A company driver is different. The company employs them under its own visa allocation, on the terms that apply to private-sector staff.

Eligibility, fees, insurance requirements, contract terms and processing times change, and they depend on your own residency status. Confirm the current position with MOHRE or an approved centre before you make anyone an offer, and take advice if something is unclear. Some families hire through a licensed agency that stays the employer, which shifts the visa and the replacement problem to the agency in return for a monthly fee.

Side by side

Working out your break-even

Count the days. That is the whole method, and it works better than any rule of thumb.

First, add up a year of employing a driver: salary, visa and insurance, housing, leave, end-of-service, and the car with its running costs. Divide by twelve. Then count how many days a month you genuinely need someone to drive you, and price those days with a car and driver. If the employed driver comes out cheaper and your needs are daily and predictable, employ. If you need a driver two or three days a week, or in bursts around travel and visitors, booking usually wins before you even count the paperwork.

Compare like with like. An employed driver normally drives your own car, so the car belongs in the sum. A booked driver comes with the vehicle, which also means you can switch from a sedan to a V-Class or a minibus the week the relatives arrive.

Four examples

Example: a visiting executive here for two working weeks. Ten full days in an executive sedan start from AED 9,500 at our starting price of AED 950 per day, with nothing to sign beyond the quote. Employing someone for a fortnight isn’t realistic, so this one decides itself.

Example: a family with two school runs a day, five days a week, plus shopping and appointments. That is daily, predictable and tied to the family car, which is the classic case for a full-time driver, provided the family can sponsor one and budgets for the whole package rather than the salary alone.

Example: a consultant with meetings across DIFC, Business Bay and Dubai Media City every Monday to Wednesday. Hourly hire on those days, or full days when the diary is packed, keeps the cost tied to real working days. A corporate account puts the month on one invoice, and our DIFC chauffeur page covers that kind of day.

Example: a household that already employs a driver, with relatives flying in for a wedding. Don’t hire a second driver for one busy month. Book a V-Class for the airport runs and a mini coach for the guests on the day.

Questions to settle before you hire

• How many hours a week will you actually need, and at what times of day?
• Will the driver use your car, or do you need the vehicle too?
• Are you eligible to sponsor a domestic worker, and have you checked the current requirements?
• Who drives on the driver’s rest day, during leave and when they are ill?
• Does your motor insurance cover the person behind the wheel?
• Do you sometimes need something bigger than the car you own?

If most answers point to occasional or changeable needs, a car with driver for the day is the simpler route. Send us the dates and we will quote them in writing.

Related: Car with driver for a day · Chauffeur by the Hour · Corporate Chauffeur · Limousine Dubai · Get a quote

Keep reading

• Personal driver Dubai: A private driver and car by the hour, by the day or on a regular monthly schedule, for visitors, families and busy residents.
• How much is a driver in Dubai?: What a driver costs in Dubai with a car, a van or a bus: our day prices and the per-person sums for groups.
• Car with driver for a day: One car, one chauffeur, from breakfast to dinner, with the day planned around you rather than a meter.
• Car with driver Dubai: Every way to book a car and driver in Dubai, by the trip, the hour, the day or the month, with the four car classes and their prices side by side.
• Van with driver: A V-Class, HiAce or Sprinter with a professional driver, by the hour, for the day or one way.
• Hire a driver or rent a car?: Renting a car in Dubai or hiring one with a driver: the real costs on each side, the licence question, parking and tolls, and who each option suits.