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Published: February 11, 2026
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The hotel industry in 2026 is facing unprecedented challenges. Rising operational costs, increased competition from short-term rentals, and the ongoing pressure to maintain occupancy during low season all converge to create a perfect storm for hotel revenue managers. While most hoteliers are focused on traditional strategies like dynamic pricing, OTA optimization, and loyalty programs, there’s one massive revenue opportunity hiding in plain sight: airport transfers.
Think about it. Every single guest who flies into your city needs to get from the airport to your hotel. Whether you operate a boutique hotel with 100 rooms, a mid-sized property with 300 rooms, or a large hotel with 500 rooms, your guests are spending hundreds of dollars on transportation that generates exactly zero revenue for your property.
Until now.
Why not impress your customers from the time they land
Here’s the reality most hoteliers don’t realize: your guests are already booking airport transfers. They’re using rideshare apps with surge pricing, unreliable taxi services, or struggling with public transport and luggage. The average chauffeur transfer in Australia costs around $135, and that money is flowing straight past your hotel into someone else’s pocket.
But what if you could capture a percentage of that spend while simultaneously elevating your guest experience and solving one of travel’s biggest pain points?
Cars on Demand has been Australia’s premium chauffeur service since 1990, with a 99.99% on-time reliability record across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, and Darwin. Here’s how the partnership works:
The best part? Once the integration is set up, this revenue stream runs on autopilot. Your front desk doesn’t make bookings. Your concierge doesn’t coordinate pickups. Everything is managed through the Cars on Demand app with 24/7 AI assistant support.
Let’s run the numbers with conservative assumptions. We’ll assume only a 10% uptake rate (meaning just 1 in 10 guests uses the service) at an average transfer cost of $135, with your hotel earning a 10% commission.
Assumptions:
Revenue Calculations:
That’s an extra $36,855 per year in pure profit with zero operational effort.
Assumptions:
Revenue Calculations:
An additional $110,565 annually — enough to fund an entire marketing campaign or hire additional staff.
Assumptions:
Revenue Calculations:
Nearly $200,000 in additional annual revenue from a service you’re not even operating.
Our projection of 10% uptake is deliberately conservative. Here’s why many hotels see significantly higher adoption rates:
International Guests: Travelers from overseas are unfamiliar with local transport options and highly receptive to hotel recommendations. International guests typically have uptake rates of 25–35%.
Business Travelers: Corporate guests expense their transfers and prioritize reliability over cost. Business traveler uptake often exceeds 40%.
Group Bookings: Conference attendees, wedding parties, and tour groups often book transfers collectively, creating uptake spikes of 60–80% during event periods.
Premium Positioning: If you position the service as part of your premium guest experience (rather than just another option), uptake rates can easily reach 15–20% across your entire guest base.
Low Season Amplification: During slower periods when guests have more time to plan and are looking for convenience, uptake rates typically increase by 5–10%.
Let’s be honest: low season is brutal. Occupancy drops, ADR (Average Daily Rate) comes under pressure, and every revenue manager is scrambling to fill rooms without destroying rate integrity.
Traditional low season strategies include:
The Cars on Demand partnership offers something different: ancillary revenue that actually increases during low season.
Here’s why:
When hotels are less busy and guests aren’t rushing between packed schedules, they’re more likely to pre-book their entire trip, including airport transfers.
During peak season, rideshare availability is high. During low season, driver availability drops, making professional chauffeur services more attractive.
In low season, guests are often leisure travelers who splurged on a getaway. Starting their trip with a premium airport transfer feels like an extension of their vacation, not an extravagance.
Your front desk has more bandwidth to mention the transfer service during pre-arrival communications, phone calls, and check-in conversations.
Here’s where this partnership becomes truly brilliant for low season revenue management.
Most hotels approach low season by slashing rates, which erodes margins and damages rate integrity. But what if you could maintain higher ADR (Average Daily Rate) while actually providing more value to guests?
The “Stay & Glide” Package Strategy:
Instead of discounting your room rate from $200 to $150 (25% margin erosion), create a bundled package:
Here’s the magic:
You just increased your low season room revenue by 52% compared to traditional discounting.
Even better, you can market this as a “premium package” rather than a “discount,” protecting your brand positioning and rate integrity. Guests feel like they’re getting luxury treatment (they are), and your ADR stays strong on paper.
💡 Pro Tip for Revenue Managers: During low season, automatically include airport transfers in all bookings over 2 nights. The guest perceives enormous added value, you maintain rate integrity, and the commission you earn back effectively subsidizes part of the transfer cost. This is revenue management judo — using the partnership to solve multiple problems simultaneously.
Let’s revisit our medium hotel during a typical low season (occupancy drops to 50%):
Peak Season Performance (75% occupancy):
Low Season Performance (50% occupancy, but 15% uptake):
The Magic: Even with 25% fewer guests, strategic promotion of airport transfers during low season maintains the same commission revenue while also:
Revenue is critical, but the Cars on Demand partnership delivers benefits that extend far beyond the commission cheque.
Let’s address the elephant in every hotel boardroom: OTA commissions.
Booking.com charges 15–25% commission on every reservation. Expedia takes their cut. Agoda wants their share. These platforms have trained travelers to expect discounts, eroded direct booking relationships, and drained billions from hotel profit margins.
But here’s the fundamental difference:
OTAs take money OUT of your revenue: You earn $200, they take $30–50.
Cars on Demand puts money BACK IN your pocket: Your guest spends $135 on a transfer, you earn $13.50.
Unlike OTAs that take a bite out of your room revenue, Cars on Demand puts money back into your pocket. It’s the only partnership where the commission flows to you, not away from you.
Think about that for a moment. Every other distribution channel costs you money. This one pays you. It’s the reverse business model from what hotels have been conditioned to accept.
Premium meet-and-greet service inside the terminal (not curbside like rideshare), professional drivers, and transparent fixed pricing create an exceptional first impression. Our premium fleet ensures every guest arrives in comfort and style. In an era where online reviews can make or break a property, this matters enormously.
Your team no longer needs to explain taxi ranks, rideshare pickup zones, or public transport options. One simple answer: “We’ve partnered with Cars on Demand for seamless airport transfers.”
In a sea of similar hotels competing on price, offering integrated premium transfers positions your property as full-service and guest-centric. Learn more about why premium travelers and Executive Assistants choose Cars on Demand for their airport transfer needs.
You’ll receive reports on transfer bookings, allowing you to understand guest arrival patterns, peak transfer times, and opportunities to enhance other aspects of the guest journey.
For corporate bookers and Executive Assistants managing travel, knowing that airport transfers are integrated and reliable is a major decision factor. This can drive group bookings and corporate contracts.
The beauty of the Cars on Demand partnership is that it works in tandem with every other revenue strategy you’re already implementing:
Use AI-powered Revenue Management Systems (RMS) to optimize room rates, and capture additional ancillary revenue through transfers. These revenue streams compound rather than compete.
Create “Fly-In Packages” that bundle accommodation + airport transfers at an attractive rate. Your package margin increases because you’re earning commission on the transfer component.
Award loyalty points for booking transfers through your partnership. This incentivizes direct engagement while you still earn commission.
For extended stay “workation” packages, include return airport transfers as a value-add. The guest perceives huge value; you earn commission twice (arrival + departure).
When hosting Social, Military, Educational, Religious, or Fraternal groups, offer group transfer rates. For a 50-person conference, that’s 50 potential transfers at $135 each — generating $675 in commission revenue from a single booking.
In 2026, successful hotels aren’t just accommodation providers — they’re experience orchestrators. The most profitable properties are those that control the entire guest journey, from booking to checkout and beyond.
Cars on Demand integrates seamlessly with modern hotel technology using our advanced RideMinder dispatch platform:
Property Management Systems (PMS): Integration capabilities with major PMS platforms Booking Engines: Add transfer options directly to your online booking flow CRM Systems: Track which guests book transfers for targeted marketing Mobile Apps: If you have a hotel app, transfers can be booked in-app Email Automation: Pre-arrival emails can include transfer booking links 24/7 AI Assistant: Our intelligent AI support system handles all guest queries, bookings, and changes around the clock — your staff never needs to field a single transfer question
The entire system is designed to be invisible to your operations while visible to your revenue reports.
Want to see how the technology works? Visit our technology page to learn about our dispatch system, real-time tracking, and automated guest communications that make this partnership truly hands-free.
Hotels often hesitate on new partnerships due to implementation complexity. The Cars on Demand partnership is different:
Week 1: Initial consultation and commission structure agreement Week 2: Technical integration (or simple referral link if you prefer minimal tech) Week 3: Staff training (15-minute briefing for front desk) Week 4: Soft launch with select guests Month 2: Full operation with monthly revenue reports
That’s it. Within 30 days, you can have a new revenue stream generating thousands of dollars monthly.
Let’s examine the return on investment for our three hotel sizes:
There is literally no other revenue strategy in hospitality that delivers this type of return with zero ongoing operational burden.
The numbers above assume passive 10% uptake. But what if you actively promote the service?
Scenario: 300-Room Hotel with Active Promotion
Passive Approach (baseline):
Active Promotion Tactics:
Expected Results:
That’s an extra $89,000 per year just by mentioning the service to your guests.
“Our guests prefer to arrange their own transport.” True, some do. But 10–20% don’t, or would prefer a recommended option. You’re not forcing anyone — just offering a better solution.
“We don’t want to be seen as ‘selling’ to our guests.” You’re not selling. You’re solving a problem and enhancing their experience. That’s service, not sales.
“What if the service fails and reflects poorly on us?” Cars on Demand has a 99.99% on-time record across 35 years. The risk of rideshare or taxi failures is exponentially higher.
“We don’t want to pay commissions.” You already are — to OTAs. The difference? Booking.com charges 15–25% on your $200 room ($30–50 going to them). Cars on Demand pays you 10% on a $135 transfer ($13.50 coming to you). One takes money away, one adds money back. Which would you prefer?
“We don’t have time to implement new systems.” Total implementation time: 4–6 hours. Annual revenue: $36,000-$184,000+. That’s an hourly rate of approximately $6,000-$30,000 per hour of effort.
“Our margins are already tight.” This isn’t about margins — it’s pure incremental revenue. Every dollar earned is a dollar that didn’t exist before.
Here’s a reality check: this opportunity won’t last forever. Once hotels in your market start offering integrated premium transfers, it becomes table stakes rather than a differentiator.
The hotels that move first will:
The hotels that wait will find themselves explaining why they don’t offer what competitors do.
While airport transfers are the primary opportunity, the Cars on Demand partnership extends to other high-value scenarios:
Corporate Event Transfers: Conference attendees, board meetings, executive retreats Restaurant Reservations: Guest dining at premium restaurants across the city Attraction Visits: Day trips to wineries, tourist sites, sporting events City Tours: Customized chauffeur-guided city experiences
Each represents additional commission revenue with the same zero-effort model.
The question isn’t whether airport transfer commissions can boost your hotel revenue — the numbers prove they can. The question is whether you’ll implement this strategy before your competitors do.
For a 100-room hotel: An extra $36,855 per year For a 300-room hotel: An extra $110,565 per year For a 500-room hotel: An extra $184,275 per year
With active promotion, these numbers can easily double.
All of this revenue requires:
It’s the closest thing to free money in the hospitality industry.
Cars on Demand operates across all major Australian cities and regional centers, providing premium chauffeur services that enhance your guest experience while generating substantial ancillary revenue for your property.
Whether you’re fighting through low season, looking to boost your annual RevPAR, or simply want to offer your guests a better arrival experience, the partnership model is designed to deliver immediate results.
Get Started Today:
Visit www.carsondemand.com.au or contact us directly:
Our hotel partnership specialists will walk you through the implementation process, customize the commission structure for your property, and have you generating new revenue within 30 days.
The Problem: Guests are spending $135+ on airport transfers, generating zero revenue for your hotel.
The Solution: Partner with Cars on Demand to earn 10% commission on every transfer.
The Result:
The Effort Required: 4–6 hours of setup, then zero ongoing operational burden.
The Timeline: Revenue starts flowing within 30 days of partnership launch.
In 2026, the hotels that thrive won’t be the ones that cut prices the deepest or distribute the widest. They’ll be the ones that find creative, guest-centric revenue streams that competitors haven’t discovered yet.
Airport transfer commissions are that opportunity.
The only question is: will you capture it?
About Cars on Demand
Established in 1990, Cars on Demand is Australia’s premium chauffeur service with a 99.99% on-time reliability record. Operating nationwide across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, and regional centers, we serve over 5,000 Executive Assistants and corporate clients with transparent fixed pricing and professional meet-and-greet service. Our hotel partnership program has generated millions in ancillary revenue for accommodation providers across Australia.
For hotel partnership inquiries, contact our team at admin@carsondemand.com.au or call 1300 638 258.
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