How to earn miles and get 10% off your first ride globally with Blacklane chauffeur cars
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Blacklane is, to some extent, the Uber of high end airport transfers – although Uber, of course, runs high-end cars itself in many cities including London.
You can find out more on their website here.
Long-term readers may remember that we ran a competition with Blacklane back in 2015. It is a fast growing global provider of ground transportation services, now operating in 300 cities across 60 countries. Via its website or app, you can pre-order a vehicle for a specific trip or by the hour.
The company was founded in Germany in 2011 with a plan to globalise what was previously a very fragmented industry. Travellers can now book vehicles worldwide from just one website or app, and Blacklane is integrated into distribution systems such as Amadeus to make it easy for business travellers.
Pricing varies by city, especially in terms of how it compares with local car services. Blacklane is an exceptionally high quality service, however, which is often worth the extra. I booked one in October to take us from Dubai Airport to Ras Al Khaimah at midnight – I am less happy putting my kids into a local taxi at that time of night, given the poor general standard of driving.
At $96, which included being met inside the airport, for a uniformed driver and a Mercedes for an 81 km ride, it was fair value. I also picked up some Miles & More miles. The price is guaranteed when you book irrespective of traffic.
Blacklane has a number of frequent flyer partners. This now makes it an attractive way of picking up a few miles if you are allowed to book your own ground transport.
The current airline and hotel partners are (click here for details):
Asia Miles (2 per £/$/€ spent)
KrisFlyer (2 per $/€ spent)
Miles & More (2 per £/$/€ spent)
Shangri-La Golden Circle (0.5 per £1/$/€ spent)
This list has shrunk over the last couple of months. Blacklane has dropped:
Arrture (the Plaza Premium programme)
Enrich (Malaysia Airlines)
Flying Blue
Qatar Privilege Club
Royal Orchid Plus
There is a drop-down box during the booking process for you to add your loyalty details. You can also create a profile in the Blacklane system which will automatically apply your details.
Note that you need to pre-book your ride at least an hour in advance to earn airline miles.
Get 10% off your first ride
For a limited period, Blacklane is offering 10% off your first ride. You need to use promo code SAVE10%. If that fails for some reason, use BLACK10%OFF.
Blacklane has a slightly odd way of entering promotional codes. You will be presented with a page asking for your credit card details. AFTER you type them in, there is an additional screen which asks if you have a voucher code. Add SAVE10% on that page and 10% is deducted from your quote.
Your card is not charged until after the ride and you can cancel until 1 hour before pick-up.
Conclusion
With four frequent traveller partners, Blacklane is a good opportunity to pick up a few hundred miles or points here and there from your airport transfers or other ground transport needs.
It is a shame that neither Avios, Virgin Flying Club or any of the major hotel programmes are partners as that would make it more relevant to UK residents, but I know that many of you have Miles & More or KrisFlyer accounts.
You can book or find out more about Blacklane on their website here.
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