Palm Beach FBO Car Service: Chauffeur Transfers at the Airport Formerly Known as PBI

Is Palm Beach International Airport still called PBI?

The Palm Beach County Department of Airports now uses the new name on its website, flydjt.org, and the FBOs have updated their pages: Atlantic Aviation lists the airport as DJT, and Signature's page uses both names, noting the airport as "formerly Palm Beach International". Older documents, handling requests, hotel confirmations and some flight-planning tools may still say PBI or KPBI. The facility is the same one in West Palm Beach, at 1000 James L. Turnage Boulevard.

For a car service, the name only matters for one reason: a chauffeur dispatched to the wrong airport is a problem, and a search for "PBI" should find the right one. When you give us your itinerary, name the FBO and the aircraft's arrival time; we handle the rest.

Palm Beach FBO car service: what the booking covers

Palm Beach FBO car service is a pre-booked chauffeur who meets a private aircraft at its FBO at the airport in West Palm Beach and drives to the island of Palm Beach, the barrier-island communities, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Wellington or any address in South Florida. The car is timed to the aircraft's touchdown.

We are a booking desk, open all day and all night. Each Palm Beach transfer is performed by a local chauffeur operator from our worldwide directory that has been vetted, is licensed and carries commercial insurance; we book it, confirm it and invoice it, so you deal with one confirmation and one contact. Trips inside the USA use US-licensed operators.

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The three FBOs, and what each says about itself

According to the county's general-aviation page, the airport has three fixed base operators: Atlantic Aviation, Jet Aviation and Signature Flight Support, with NetJets handled separately. The county also notes a 24-hour control tower and a U.S. Customs and Immigration port-of-entry facility.

Each FBO publishes its own details:

• Signature Aviation: 1500 Perimeter Road, open 24/7, with onsite customs and immigration listed. The page lists ramp-side vehicle access as a service.
• Jet Aviation: 1515 Perimeter Road, open 24 hours, with U.S. customs (CBP) in its list of passenger and crew services. The site lists complimentary crew cars, vans and VIP SUVs, a courtesy shuttle to hotels, and ramp access for passenger vehicles.
• Atlantic Aviation: 3800 Southern Boulevard, open 24 hours, with Hertz rentals, crew cars and a concierge who can arrange ground transportation. Customs is not mentioned on its page.

The FBO lineup at a busy airport shifts over time, so confirm yours with the flight department. The county's general-aviation staff can answer questions about the airport itself.

How the car meets the aircraft

We ask for the FBO, the estimated time of arrival, the tail number or flight reference if the operator will share it, and the passenger names. If you would rather not appear on the paperwork, an alias can stand in for your name on the booking and on the name board.

On the day, the chauffeur arrives ahead of the aircraft and waits at the FBO. Whether the vehicle can go onto the ramp or to a point beside the aircraft is decided by the FBO and the aircraft operator. Jet Aviation and Signature both list ramp-side or ramp access on their pages; the exact rules are not published, so we ask the FBO for the arrangement and relay it to you before the day. If planeside access is not available, the car waits at the FBO entrance and the passengers come to it. We do not promise planeside access.

The desk watches the flight on every airport pickup. After landing, an international arrival includes 60 minutes of free waiting and a domestic arrival 30; other pickups include 15. Customs-bound arrivals from the Bahamas, the Caribbean or beyond are cleared first, so the desk allows for that when it plans the pickup.

Distances and drive times from the airport

The airport is in West Palm Beach, inland of the Intracoastal Waterway. The trip to Palm Beach island crosses the water by bridge, and the bridge timing is part of the calculation. Distances below are approximate road distances, with a typical off-peak time.

Palm Beach County winters are the busy season, from around November to April. Traffic on Southern Boulevard, Okeechobee Boulevard and the island bridges is heavier then, and the island itself has its own rhythms: Royal Palm Way, Worth Avenue and the South County Road corridor are slow on Saturday afternoons. The desk plans the pickup time with that in mind.

Palm Beach island, Worth Avenue and the barrier-island communities

Most arrivals head east across one of the Intracoastal bridges into the island of Palm Beach. Hotels, private clubs and residences each have a door and a procedure. Chauffeurs are briefed on the correct entrance, the club's arrival rules and, for residences, the gate-list name. Please send us the gate-list name; a car at a private gate without it will be turned away, and that is not a delay anyone wants after a long flight.

Our Worth Avenue guide covers shopping and visiting by car, including the practicalities of stopping on the street. Beyond the island, the barrier-island communities south of the inlet and the Jupiter Island area north of it are reached by the same routes in the other direction. Hobe Sound and Jupiter Island are about 45 km (28 mi) and 40 to 60 minutes by car. For a day further afield, the South Beach guide, the Vizcaya guide and the Everglades National Park guide cover the Miami-Dade side, while the Miami limo service and Fort Lauderdale limo service pages cover the cities themselves.

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Palm Beach compared with Fort Lauderdale and Miami

The alternative to a private arrival is a commercial one at the same airport, or at Fort Lauderdale or Miami. For some trips that is the right call. The honest comparison is below.

If you are a single traveler with a backpack, a rideshare is the lower-cost choice and perfectly reasonable. The chauffeur is the better choice when there are several of you, when you carry luggage, when the aircraft time is uncertain, or when you want the same driver for the week. For commercial arrivals nearby, see Fort Lauderdale airport and Miami International.

Cruise, events and the rest of South Florida

Palm Beach private-aviation traffic often combines with other South Florida plans. Port Everglades is about 70 km (43 mi) south, and and the drive takes 50 to 100 minutes; our Port Everglades page covers terminal arrival. Art Basel Miami Beach is usually held in December, and guests who land in Palm Beach for it face one of the busiest roads in the region on the way south. The desk will ask whether the plan is to stay in Palm Beach and drive south or to fly directly to Miami.

Occasionally, security-related temporary flight restrictions issued by the FAA around Palm Beach County change general-aviation schedules. Your flight department will see them first. If an arrival time moves, tell the desk and the chauffeur moves with it.

Vehicles

The class is chosen at booking and the exact car, offered "or similar", is named on the confirmation.

• Executive Sedan: Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Cadillac CT6 or Lyriq. Three passengers, with two large and two cabin bags.
• First Class Sedan: Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series. Three passengers, same bag allowance.
• Luxury SUV: Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon Denali. Up to six passengers and five to six large bags, which suits a family arriving with golf and tennis equipment.
• Executive Sprinter: Mercedes-Benz Sprinter for 12 to 14 passengers and 12 bags, used for teams and wedding parties.

Stretch limousines, mini-coaches and coaches are available on request. So are Maybach, Rolls-Royce and Bentley, subject to confirmation at booking. Every car is late-model, fully maintained and inspected, and none is older than four model years (seven for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maybach). Child, toddler and booster seats can be added on request, and most cars carry water and phone chargers. Drinks are never promised on board, because local law applies. The fleet page lists the rest.

Discretion and recurring programs

Palm Beach clients value privacy and often have staff coordinating their travel. Our chauffeurs do not take pictures of passengers or post about trips; an NDA is available, and an alias can stand in for your name on the booking. We are a chauffeur service and not a security company, with no armed drivers or bodyguards, so a client's own security team leads and the chauffeur follows.

Seasonal residents, family offices and estate managers can open a corporate account with monthly invoicing, and travel agents, destination management companies and hotel concierges can open a trade account. The page on HNWI and family-office chauffeur service describes how recurring arrangements work, the private jet car service overview covers FBO work in other cities, and our Teterboro page is the New York end of the typical Teterboro to Palm Beach winter run.

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Changes and cancellations

Cancellation charges run from the scheduled pickup time. More than 72 hours before it, there is no charge. From 72 hours down to 49 the charge is 10%, at 48 hours or less it is 50%, and at 24 hours or less, or if nobody shows, it is 100%. For a large event, the confirmation may state a different deadline. Tracking handles early and late arrivals without a new booking.

Fares come from the online booker, which displays the fixed fare for the exact FBO, destination and vehicle before you confirm. No rate card is published. More answers are on the FAQ page.