Sydney CBD to Sydney Airport — $100 fixedPrivate chauffeur, any hour

The difference is the work at the airport end. A pickup at the airport (Sydney Airport to Sydney CBD, $120) includes meet and greet inside the terminal with a name sign, live flight tracking and complimentary waiting from actual landing: 2 hours at T1 International and 1 hour at T2/T3 Domestic.

A departure is a set pickup time at your door and a drop-off at the terminal, so none of that time is needed — which is why this direction is $100. Both fares are fixed and all-inclusive, and neither changes with traffic or the hour.

OSPIPO works to a conservative rule: be at the terminal 3 hours before an international departure from T1 and 2 hours before a domestic departure from T2 or T3. Then add the drive — typically 20 to 35 minutes from the CBD, longer in weekday peaks, wet weather or during major events — and 10 minutes to load the bags.

Example: for a 9:00 am domestic flight, aim to be at the terminal by 7:00 am. Allow 35 minutes for the drive and 10 minutes to load, and the pickup is about 6:15 am.

Always check your airline’s check-in and bag-drop cut-off times for your flight — they are set by the airline and differ between airlines and fares. Add your flight number when you book and Parag will suggest a pickup time.

Any street address in these suburbs is $100 to Sydney Airport (and $120 from the airport):

• Sydney (CBD)
• The Rocks
• Millers Point
• Dawes Point
• Barangaroo
• Haymarket
• Ultimo
• Pyrmont
• Chippendale
• Darlington
• Surry Hills
• Darlinghurst
• Woolloomooloo
• Potts Point
• Elizabeth Bay
• Rushcutters Bay
• Paddington
• Moore Park
• Centennial Park
• Redfern
• Eveleigh
• Waterloo
• Zetland
• Rosebery
• Beaconsfield
• Alexandria
• Erskineville
• Newtown
• St Peters
• Camperdown
• Forest Lodge
• Glebe

These precincts are inside the zone too:

• Circular Quay
• Wynyard
• Martin Place
• Town Hall
• Central
• Chinatown
• Darling Harbour
• Darling Square
• Walsh Bay
• Kings Cross
• East Sydney
• Glebe Point
• University of Sydney
• Sydney Opera House
• ICC Sydney
• Entertainment Quarter

Outside the zone — for example North Sydney, Bondi or Chatswood — the fare is calculated from your two addresses at $60 base + $3.30/km + the $1.32 NSW levy, rounded to the nearest $5 (tolls and GST included, $120 minimum), and fixed when you book.

Hotels and apartments: you are collected at the main entrance at the booked time. For buildings with a porte-cochère or a separate lobby street, put the entrance in the notes.

The Rocks, Circular Quay and Barangaroo: give the street entrance, as several buildings front two streets. Darling Harbour and Pyrmont: name the hotel or building rather than the harbour-side walkway.

Offices: a lobby pickup works well for early departures — Parag messages when he is outside.