Event day chauffeur checklist: what to tell your driver before a show, race or concert

What details does your driver need before the day?

Your driver can only plan around what you send. A vague “pick me up after the concert” leaves the driver guessing at a gate with 18,000 people leaving at once. Send these eight items, ideally the evening before.

1. The venue and the gate or entrance you will use.
2. Your ticket start time, and the time you want to be dropped off.
3. The pickup point after the event.
4. A return window, such as “between 10:30 pm and 11:15 pm”.
5. How many passengers, and how many bags.
6. A WhatsApp number that will be answered during the event.
7. Whether the car should wait or come back.
8. Any ages, if children travel, so the right seats are in the car.

Our events service page covers show nights, and our Dubai and UAE events calendar shows what falls on your date.

How do you choose a drop-off point?

Use the point the venue names, not the nearest kerb. Venues set aside lanes for taxis and private cars, and a car stopped anywhere else gets moved on.

Venue	Where cars set down
Dubai World Trade Centre	Opposite the Ibis Hotel, or at the Za’abeel Hall entrance
Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City	Boulevard 2020 Street
Etihad Arena, Yas Island	Drop-off and rideshare zones near the entrances. C37 is the public parking and taxi pickup point
Dubai Marathon, Umm Suqeim	Al Wasl Road, with no parking on Jumeirah Beach Road or in Al Sufouh

More detail is in our guides to DWTC drop-off and Expo City. If a gate is shut on the day, the driver tells you where the next one is.

Leave a buffer. On show mornings at DWTC the RTA has warned of congestion from 8 am to 12 pm and from 4 pm to 8 pm. A drop-off at the exact start time is a late arrival.

How do you agree a pickup after the event ends?

Pick a spot, not a direction. “Outside the main gate” is where everyone will stand. A better pickup is a named landmark about a 5-minute walk away, on a road the car can stop on.

Then add a rule: when the show ends, share your live location on WhatsApp and walk to the point. The driver sees you and pulls in. The message in the template below does this.

Roads shut around some events. The Dubai Marathon, Dubai Run and New Year’s Eve close long stretches, and the pickup has to sit outside the closed zone. Our guide to Dubai event road closures lists the last year’s closures, and the comparison of ways to reach Dubai events shows where a car beats the Metro.

Should the car wait or come back?

Both work. Choose by the length of the event.

• Wait nearby: best for a show of under 2 hours, a meeting or a ceremony. The driver parks at an agreed spot and you call when ready.
• Come back at a set time: best for a long concert, a race day or a conference day. The driver returns for the window you agreed.

Waiting charges depend on the booking, so ask for the terms when you book. For several stops in one evening, an hourly chauffeur car keeps the same driver, and the fleet page shows which car fits your group.

Tickets, badges and dress codes: what to keep in the car

Carry what the gate checks: tickets, ID and badges. Many venues bar large bags, so leave shopping, coats and conference bags in the boot. Etihad Arena lists no cloakroom and single entry only, so what you take in stays with you until you leave for good.

For dress codes, ask the organiser. If you change clothes between a day session and an evening one, say so, since the car should be waiting where you can reach the boot.

What if plans change on the day?

Message the driver, not the venue. A delayed finish, a missed entrance, an extra guest or a gate that is closed: send one line on WhatsApp and the driver replans. Write the new time as a clock time, such as “now 11:40 pm”, instead of “later”.

Reaching a person quickly matters most when a show ends late. Assure is on WhatsApp and the phone around the clock, and you can use the contact page if you want to talk first. For the booking steps themselves, see how to book a chauffeur on WhatsApp.

If your event is a trade show with a team, use our exhibitor team transport plan too. For outdoor golf and sport days, see the guides for the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Watch Week.

Copy-and-send checklist for WhatsApp

Paste this into a message to +971 56 684 8148 and fill the gaps.

Event: [name]. Venue and gate: [place]. Drop-off time: [time]. Show starts: [time]. Pickup point after: [landmark]. Return window: [from] to [to]. Passengers: [number]. Bags: [number]. Ages of children: [ages]. My WhatsApp: [number]. Car waits / car comes back: [choose].