TIFF red carpet arrival service
The arrival is the part everyone sees and the part nobody plans. At the Toronto International Film Festival it is timed by the event, not by you, and the car has to be in the right place at the right minute.
TIFF Red Carpet Arrival Service rates
A carpet arrival is an hourly booking because the car arrives on the event’s schedule and stays for the evening. Every figure below comes straight off the published rate card, with nothing added for festival week.
All rates are plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent. Every figure starts from a GTA pickup. Availability drives the Rolls-Royce figure on festival dates, so it is quoted rather than listed.
How a Toronto International Film Festival arrival window works
This is the part that catches people. A carpet arrival is sequenced. The event decides the order and the spacing, and cars are released into it rather than turning up when the passengers are ready. Your arrival window is therefore set hours before you leave the house.
Working backwards from that window is the whole planning job. It sets the pickup time at your address, it decides whether there is room for a dinner stop, and it is the reason a festival arrival is booked differently from a night at the theatre. Tell us which screening and we work the clock back from the event rather than guessing from the film’s start time.
Which car actually suits a carpet arrival
Two things decide this and neither is price. The first is how you are dressed. The second is how many of you step out at once.
The unglamorous point worth making: a floor-length gown and a low sedan seat are a bad combination, and stepping down out of an SUV is far easier than climbing out of a saloon. It is the most common reason a booking moves from the sedan to the Escalade, and it has nothing to do with budget.
Getting away after the carpet
The arrival gets all the attention and the departure is where evenings actually go wrong. A screening ends, several hundred people leave a managed block at once, and the street is still partly closed.
Your chauffeur tells you where they will be, off the closed section, close enough to reach in a couple of minutes.
It does not circle and it does not go home. That is what the hourly booking is paying for.
You text the driver directly. There is no request to send and no price to accept while standing on King Street West.
The driver has watched which streets reopened while you were inside.
If the night continues to a party, keep the same vehicle rather than finding a second one at midnight. That is covered on the party and afterparty page.
TIFF red carpet arrival service: questions buyers ask
How does a red carpet arrival work at the Toronto International Film Festival?
Arrivals are sequenced by the event, not first-come. The Toronto International Film Festival sets the order and the spacing, cars are released into it, and your arrival window is fixed hours before you leave. The pickup time at your address is worked backwards from that window.
How much does red carpet arrival transport cost?
A Mercedes-Benz S-Class Maybach is $250 an hour with a four hour minimum and a Cadillac Escalade is $175 an hour from $525, both within the GTA and plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent. A Rolls-Royce is quoted on your date with a five hour minimum.
Why is it hourly rather than a one-way fare?
Because the car arrives on the event’s schedule, waits through the screening and takes you on afterwards. You are booking the evening. A plain one-way can be quoted if that genuinely is all you need.
What time will you pick me up?
Earlier than the film’s start time implies. The arrival sequence sets your slot, so we work the clock back from it, allowing for the approach to a managed block.
Which car looks best on a carpet?
Honestly, the one you can get out of gracefully. A floor-length gown and a low sedan seat fight each other, so a lot of carpet bookings end up in the Escalade rather than the Maybach, and that is a practical decision rather than a budget one.
Can the car wait outside during the screening?
Not on the closed section, and no operator can. It holds at a point your chauffeur names before you step out, close enough to walk to in a couple of minutes.
How far ahead should I book?
Three to four weeks for a carpet night. The Maybach, the Rolls-Royce and the Jet Sprinter clear first, and those are the vehicles most people want for this specific evening.
Do you have a Rolls-Royce?
Yes, at $350 to $600 an hour depending on the model with a five hour minimum. It is quoted on your date rather than listed, because availability drives the figure during the festival.
Can a film team arrive together?
Yes, and it is usually better than several cars. A Jet Sprinter carries seven to ten at $300 an hour from $1,200 and takes one slot in the arrival sequence instead of three.
Which venues does this cover?
Roy Thomson Hall on Simcoe Street, the Princess of Wales Theatre at 300 King Street West, TIFF Lightbox on King Street West and the Royal Alexandra at 260 King Street West. They sit within roughly 200 metres of each other.
What happens after the screening?
You message the chauffeur directly on the number you already have. The car is held nearby, so there is no request to send and no fare repricing while a screening empties.
Is gratuity included?
No. Every rate is plus HST 13% and gratuity 15 to 20 percent, stated separately so you are comparing the same kind of number against another operator.
Can we go on to a party afterwards?
Yes, and holding the same vehicle is almost always cheaper than finding a second car late on a festival night. Flag it at the quote stage so the hours are built in.
What if the screening runs long?
It is more of the hours you already booked, at the same rate, with no penalty and no surge. The vehicle is not released while you are inside.
Can you collect several people from different addresses first?
Yes. Each passenger gets their own pickup time so the whole party reaches the carpet together, which matters when the arrival is a single slot.
Do you handle publicists and talent handlers?
Yes. That is usually a multi-day held vehicle rather than a single evening, and it is set out on the industry and press page.
Is there a photographer or press consideration?
Only in the sense that the arrival is public. Practically it means the car is clean and unbranded, with no plates or decals, and the chauffeur opens the door rather than leaving you to do it.
Do you pick up from hotels?
Yes, and most carpet bookings do. The hotel forecourt is an easier and calmer place to start than a private driveway, and it is covered on the hotel to venue page.
Can I book just the ride home from the carpet?
Yes, though it is the harder half to secure late. If you only book one direction on a festival night, make it the one that gets you away.
Do you cover pickups outside Toronto?
Yes, from anywhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Runs starting outside the GTA are quoted on distance rather than the GTA hourly figures here.
What if our plans change during the evening?
Within an hourly booking the driver goes where you direct, so a change is a conversation rather than a rebooking.
How do I get a firm price?
Send the screening, the date, your pickup address and the party size. A fixed figure comes back and nothing is charged until you accept it.
Related TIFF services
Book the arrival window, not just the ride
Send the screening and your pickup address. We work the clock back from the event’s arrival sequence and hold the car for the evening.