Guide · Travelling with children
Children change three things about an airport transfer: the seat the youngest ride in, the size of vehicle the family and its luggage need, and how much time to leave at each end. This guide takes each in turn, with what official sources say about child seats in the UK and India.
At a glance
Seats and bags
Count heads first, babies included, then count everything that goes in the boot: suitcases, the pushchair, a travel cot, a car seat you are bringing. The figures are guides by vehicle type, and the desk confirms the vehicle with your quote.
| Your family | Vehicle type to look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One parent and a child, light luggage | Sedan | Two passengers and a couple of bags sit inside a sedan’s guide of about 1 to 3 passengers with 2 to 3 bags. |
| Two adults and a baby, two suitcases and a folding pushchair | Sedan, or an SUV or executive saloon | Count the pushchair as a bag: with it, two cases reach the top of the sedan guide, so any more luggage points to an SUV or executive saloon. |
| Two adults and two children, four suitcases | SUV or executive saloon | Four passengers is the top of the guide for an SUV or executive saloon, which takes about 4 to 5 bags. A pushchair on top of the four cases makes five, so list it. |
| Five to seven travelling together, such as grandparents joining the trip | Van | A van’s guide is about 5 to 7 passengers with 6 to 8 bags; count each pushchair and cot among those bags. |
| A larger family group than a van holds | Bus | A bus is arranged for larger groups, and its capacity depends on the vehicle, so it is confirmed in the quote. |
Class is a separate choice: Economy, Business or First Class can each come as a sedan, SUV or van, depending on availability, and First Class adds a senior chauffeur, bottled water and a name board in arrivals on every booking. If you are unsure, describe the family and the luggage in the notes, and the vehicle that fits goes into your quote.
Getting ready
Child seat is one of the extras in the booking form. Once you tick it, the form asks for the children’s ages, and they go in with your flight and addresses. The request is made at the time of reservation, so the seat is in place before anyone gets in.
GOV.UK explains that a child car seat is chosen by the child’s height or weight. The form asks for ages, so if your child is tall or small for their age, add the height and weight in the notes as well.
Each one takes boot space, so list it with the suitcases. The Terms ask for accurate luggage details and for oversized or specialist items to be declared in advance, and the vehicle is chosen with the whole load counted. A double pushchair or a large travel system is worth describing in the notes.
Passport control can be slower with a family. At DXB, Dubai Airports says families with children, passengers with large pushchairs and anyone under 1.2 metres tall cannot use the Smart Gates, and at the UK airports that have them, Border Force’s eGates normally need a traveller to be 8 or over and at least 120 cm tall. The passport queue and the baggage belt both come out of the 30 minutes your chauffeur waits from your flight’s actual arrival, so if either holds you up, tell the operations desk as soon as you can, on the day-of-travel number given on the Airport arrival transfer page. Waiting beyond the 30 minutes may be charged, and you are told the policy and any charge before it applies.
With the standard pickup, you walk out to the kerb meeting point the booking desk gives you. Add Meet and greet and your chauffeur is inside the arrivals hall holding a name board, so you look for one sign rather than one car with tired children in tow. Meet and greet is included with every First Class booking.
The desk works a departure pickup backwards from your check-in cut-off and adds a traffic buffer to the drive. When you send the pickup time you have in mind, allow for getting everyone dressed, fed and down to the lobby, because the 15 minutes run from the scheduled time and waiting beyond them may carry a charge.
Rules on children in cars differ from place to place. The questions below give what official sources say for the UK and India, checked October 2026. For Dubai, the rest of the UAE and anywhere else, check the current rule with the local traffic authority, and tick Child seat either way.
How it works
The quote for an airport transfer depends on the flight, which is why the flight number is required. The rest of the request takes under five minutes.
Choose Airport arrival or Airport departure, then add the flight number, the date and time, the address, every passenger including babies, and every bag including the pushchair.
The ages are asked for as soon as Child seat is ticked. Use the notes for anything bulky or unusual in the luggage.
A full quote follows, usually within two hours. It reflects distance, vehicle class, add-ons and any late-night, public holiday or short-notice charges, and nothing is charged until you accept it.
We send a quote. Once you pay online, by payment link or bank transfer, we will confirm the service and share your voucher.
Ahead of the pickup, the desk sends your chauffeur’s name and contact details on WhatsApp if that is where you have been in touch with it, and by email if not. Keep them at the top of your phone for the day, next to the booking desk’s WhatsApp.
Questions
Not if you book one. Tick Child seat as you reserve and fill in the children’s ages, and a seat is fitted for the ride. If you would rather use a seat of your own, tell the booking desk before you book, and list it with your luggage either way so the vehicle has room for it.
Child seat is an add-on, and the quote is based on the add-ons you choose as well as distance, vehicle class and any late-night, public holiday or short-notice charges. Any cost for the seat is part of the full quote you see before paying, and nothing is charged until you accept that quote.
A child seat is requested at the time of reservation, so tick Child seat when you book. If you have already booked without one, message the booking desk as soon as you can: changes are accepted up to 48 hours before the scheduled flight time, and a seat cannot be added once the chauffeur has arrived.
GOV.UK says children must normally use a child car seat until they are 12 years old or 135 cm tall, whichever comes first. If the correct child car seat is not provided in a taxi or minicab (private hire vehicle), a child may travel without one, but only in a rear seat: with an adult seat belt from the age of 3, and without a belt under 3. That is the position checked in October 2026, and booking a seat means you are not relying on the exception.
The law requires a child under 14 to be secured by a safety belt or a child restraint system. Section 194B(2) of India’s Motor Vehicles Act, added in 2019, makes it punishable to drive a vehicle, or to cause or allow one to be driven, with a child under 14 secured by neither (checked October 2026). For a transfer in Delhi, Mumbai or Kochi, a seat is booked the same way as anywhere else: tick Child seat and give the ages.
With two adults, two children and up to four or five bags, look at an SUV or executive saloon, at about 1 to 4 passengers with 4 to 5 bags, and count the pushchair as one of the bags. A fifth traveller, or more luggage than that, points to a van, at about 5 to 7 passengers with 6 to 8 bags. Either can come in any class, depending on availability.
Check the current rule with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) or Dubai Police before you travel. This guide does not restate it, because no current official statement of the rule could be found to quote. For your transfer, tick Child seat when you book and give the children’s ages, and the seat is fitted ahead of the pickup, whatever the rule says.
Waiting time, changes, cancellations and refunds are set out in full in our Terms & Conditions.
Request a transfer
Under five minutes to complete. We come back with a full quote, usually within two hours. Nothing is charged until you accept the quote.
