City guides · 2026-09-19 · 8-minute read
Miami is the chauffeured-transport capital of the American South: a city with two major airports, the two busiest cruise ports in the world, a financial district in Brickell that serves Latin America, a beach that hosts the largest art fair in the hemisphere, and a calendar of events - Art Basel, the boat show, the tennis, the Grand Prix, the winter music conference, Ultra - that fills every black car in Dade and Broward counties several times a year. The visitor's questions are practical: which airport, how long to the beach, what does a car cost, and how to get from the plane to the ship. This guide answers them.
A Miami chauffeur service is a pre-booked, Florida-licensed sedan, SUV or Sprinter with a professional chauffeur at a fixed fare. From Miami International (MIA) to South Beach expect US$90-150 in a sedan; to Brickell or Downtown US$75-125; to Coral Gables US$75-120; to Fort Lauderdale US$130-200. From Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to South Beach US$130-200. PortMiami from MIA is US$75-120; Port Everglades from FLL US$60-100. Hourly hire is US$125-230 with a two-hour minimum. Chauffeurs meet at baggage claim with a name board. Book on the luxury chauffeur service page; Miami is on the destinations page.
Two airports
Miami International (MIA) is the main gateway, eight miles west of downtown, the American Airlines hub for Latin America and the arrival point for most European and South American flights. It has three concourse groups - North (D, American's), Central (E, F, G) and South (H, J) - along a single terminal building, with baggage claim on the lower level and international arrivals clearing customs in the North and South terminals before exiting into the public halls. Pre-arranged chauffeurs meet at baggage claim, or at the international exit, with a name board, and walk passengers to the vehicle in the Dolphin or Flamingo garage or the designated pickup area; the airport requires a permit for commercial pickups and the licensed operators hold it. The airport's own guidance lists the concourses by airline.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL), twenty-five miles north, is the second airport, with four terminals, heavy JetBlue and Spirit traffic and a growing international schedule; it is closer to Fort Lauderdale's hotels and Port Everglades and often the better airport for them. Chauffeurs meet at baggage claim on the lower level. Dispatch confirms the airport and the terminal from the flight number.
Drive times
| Destination | From MIA (normal / peak) | From FLL (normal / peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Brickell / Downtown | 15-25 / 30-50 min | 40-55 / 60-90 min |
| South Beach (Ocean Drive, Collins Ave) | 20-30 / 40-60 min | 40-55 / 60-90 min |
| Mid-Beach / Bal Harbour / Surfside | 25-35 / 45-70 min | 35-50 / 55-80 min |
| Coral Gables / Coconut Grove | 15-25 / 30-50 min | 45-60 / 65-95 min |
| Key Biscayne | 25-35 / 45-65 min | 50-65 / 70-100 min |
| Wynwood / the Design District | 15-25 / 30-45 min | 35-50 / 55-80 min |
| Aventura / Sunny Isles | 30-40 / 50-75 min | 25-35 / 40-60 min |
| Doral | 10-15 / 15-30 min | 35-50 / 55-80 min |
| PortMiami | 15-25 / 30-50 min | 40-55 / 60-90 min |
| Port Everglades | 35-50 / 55-80 min | 10-15 / 15-25 min |
| Fort Lauderdale beach | 35-50 / 55-85 min | 15-25 / 25-40 min |
| Boca Raton / Palm Beach | 55-75 / 80-120 min | 30-45 / 45-75 min |
| Key Largo | 75-90 / 90-130 min | 100-120 / 120-160 min |
Miami's traffic is heavy at most hours on the Dolphin and Palmetto expressways and I-95, and the causeways to the beach - the MacArthur, the Julia Tuttle, the Venetian - are the choke points; a chauffeur who works the city knows which causeway is moving and when the 836 is worth avoiding for the surface streets.
What it costs
Miami is in the upper-middle of the North American band; the luxury end of the market is one of the largest in the country.
- MIA to Brickell, Downtown, Coral Gables or Wynwood: sedan US$75-125, SUV US$95-160, Sprinter US$200-340.
- MIA to South Beach or Mid-Beach: sedan US$90-150, SUV US$115-190, Sprinter US$230-390.
- MIA to Aventura, Sunny Isles or Key Biscayne: sedan US$100-165, SUV US$130-210.
- MIA to Fort Lauderdale or Port Everglades: sedan US$130-200, SUV US$165-255.
- FLL to South Beach or Brickell: sedan US$130-200, SUV US$165-255.
- FLL to Port Everglades or the Fort Lauderdale hotels: sedan US$60-100, SUV US$80-130.
- Either airport to Palm Beach: sedan US$180-280; to Key Largo: sedan US$220-340.
- Hourly, sedan: US$125-230, two-hour minimum; SUV US$155-275; Sprinter US$310-560; luxury sedan or first-class SUV US$200-360.
- Full day (8-10 hours), sedan: US$950-1,800.
Airport fees, tolls and gratuity are included. The national bands are in how much does a limo cost.
The cruise ports
PortMiami and Port Everglades are the two busiest cruise ports in the world, and the transfer between the airports, the hotels and the ships is the largest single market in the South Florida fleet. PortMiami is fifteen to twenty-five minutes from MIA across the MacArthur Causeway, with terminals spread along Dodge Island and a chauffeur who drops at the correct one for the ship; Port Everglades is ten to fifteen minutes from FLL. Sailing days - Saturdays and Sundays in the winter season - are the busiest days of the week for ground transport, and the cruise port transfers page covers the timing, with the PortMiami and Port Everglades sites as the references for the terminals and the CLIA guidance for embarkation windows. A family with cruise luggage is an SUV or a Sprinter booking; many passengers fly in the day before, stay in Brickell or on the beach, and take a transfer to the port in the morning.
Business travel: Brickell and Latin America
Brickell is the financial district of Latin America as much as of Miami: the banks, the law firms, the family offices and the regional headquarters of companies from Sao Paulo, Bogota, Mexico City and Buenos Aires, whose executives arrive on the morning flights from the south and go straight to meetings. The corporate account and the executive car service page cover the product; the global chauffeur service page explains how the same account covers the executive in Miami and in Bogota. Doral, beside the airport, is the logistics and corporate-office district; Coral Gables the older business quarter; Wynwood and the Design District the technology and creative companies' newer base.
The event calendar
Miami's events fill the fleet more often than any other American city's. Art Basel Miami Beach in early December is the largest, with the fairs, the parties and the collectors' private cars committed weeks ahead; the Miami International Boat Show in February; the Miami Open tennis in March; the Formula 1 Grand Prix in May, which closes roads around the stadium; Ultra and the Winter Music Conference in March; the Super Bowl when it comes; the college football bowl games; and a nightclub and restaurant calendar that runs all year. The convention-city rule applies to each: book when the trip is confirmed, through the event transportation page for group moves and the corporate account desk for priority allocation. The how early to book article sets out the notice.
South Beach, Mid-Beach and the hotels
The beach's hotel districts have their own logistics. South Beach - Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue below 23rd Street - is the entertainment district, with hotels whose forecourts are on side streets and a valet system that a chauffeur knows how to use; Ocean Drive itself is closed to traffic at times. Mid-Beach - the Fontainebleau, the Faena, the Edition, the Setai - is the luxury row along Collins from 23rd to 63rd. Bal Harbour and Surfside are the quiet north end with the St. Regis and the Four Seasons. Sunny Isles is the tower district. Each is a fixed-fare transfer from either airport and each has a Saturday-night traffic problem that hourly hire solves; the hourly chauffeur service page explains the clock.
Licensing in Florida
Chauffeured vehicles in Miami-Dade are licensed by the county's Department of Transportation and Public Works, which issues for-hire licences for limousines and chauffeur registrations with background checks; Broward County licenses Fort Lauderdale's; and the airports and the ports issue their own permits. A licensed operator gives the county licence number on request and the vehicle carries the airport and port permits. The what is a chauffeur article describes the standard; hiring a private driver lists the questions. Rideshare is licensed by the state and picks up at MIA from designated areas in the garages; on an Art Basel evening it is the reason the black car market exists.
Private aviation
Miami's private-jet traffic runs through Opa-locka (the busiest, north of the city), Miami Executive (Kendall-Tamiami) to the south, Fort Lauderdale Executive and the FBOs at MIA and FLL; ramp-side pickup is standard and the private jet and FBO transfers page covers it. The winter season brings one of the highest concentrations of private jets in the world to South Florida, and the FBO transfers to the beach and Palm Beach are a large market.
Booking
In the booker, enter MIA or FLL and the flight number, or the address; the destination; passengers and bags; and the vehicle. The fare is fixed. Dispatch confirms the airport and terminal; the chauffeur's name, photo, vehicle and meeting point arrive by text on the morning. Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach and the Keys are on the destinations page, and the airports on the airports page.
Departures from MIA and FLL
Outbound, the pickup is built from live traffic on the Dolphin and I-95, the airport, and the security queue; the TSA publishes estimates and MIA's North Terminal checkpoint in the morning bank for Latin America is among the longest in the country. From South Beach allow sixty minutes to MIA in the afternoon peak and thirty-five off-peak; from Brickell, forty-five and twenty-five; from Fort Lauderdale beach to FLL, thirty and fifteen. The chauffeur drops at the correct concourse door on MIA's long departures kerb, which matters, because the walk from H to D with bags is fifteen minutes.
Two bookings, priced
A couple landing from Madrid at MIA for a cruise from PortMiami the next day: an executive sedan at about US$115 to a Brickell hotel, met at the customs exit, twenty minutes across the river, and a second sedan at about US$70 to the port in the morning, against two taxis at about US$40 and US$30 with the rank queue and the vehicle that comes. A family of six landing from Chicago at FLL for a week in Sunny Isles: a shuttle Sprinter with two child seats at about US$330, met at baggage claim, thirty-five minutes down I-95, against two SUVs at US$420 that would arrive separately. The Sprinter limo article covers the vehicle; the private airport transfer vs shared shuttle article the comparison with the shuttle vans that serve the beach hotels.
The short version
Two airports, two cruise ports, a beach thirty minutes from MIA and a financial district twenty; the chauffeur meets you at baggage claim or the customs exit with a name board; the fare is fixed with the airport and port fees and gratuity included; and on an Art Basel evening or a cruise Saturday the black car is the only thing moving. Give the flight number and the ship's name, and the booker shows the exact fare.
