Book a private airport transfer to PHL here; the car company reserves the car and confirms it in writing

Each field has a reason

The form opens with the ZIP of your New Castle County address, because the ZIP sets the from-figure for the ride. The city on your mail can point the wrong way: Glasgow and Christiana both get Newark on the envelope, and the page on airport car service from Glasgow and Christiana to PHL shows how far they really sit. Ten ZIPs carry Wilmington on the mail and lie between 15.9 and 30.6 road miles from the terminals. Each ZIP's figure is listed under airport transfer rates to PHL by ZIP code.

Next come the street address, the date and the direction of the ride. Going out, give a pickup time and your terminal, which your flight booking names. Coming home, give the flight number, so the car company can see a late or early landing. The head count chooses the car size, with room for 3 in a sedan and for 6 in an SUV. For child seats, the form asks how many and which kind, rear-facing, forward-facing or booster, and nothing more. One optional box asks for a vehicle with a ramp or lift; a service animal rides with you.

Your name, email and phone close the form. Under the phone field sits one optional box: tick it, and the office and the car company that takes your ride may call or text that number about that ride alone, with STOP ending the texts. Leave it clear and replies come by email, while the driver may call only on the day of the ride.

From request received to written confirmation

First, the office writes back: request received. Next it finds a car company in the area with a car open for your date and pickup time, then sends you that company's own fixed rate, in writing. Beside it the fare names what can sit outside the from-figure: gratuity, with a word on whether it is already inside; extra stops; waiting past the time it allows; an airport charge, if the company adds one; and a toll, if the route uses one.

Your written yes is the step that decides. Up to that point you may withdraw at any moment, with no charge of any kind. Once you say yes, the booking passes to the car company's office, and the company sends its confirmation in writing, naming the company, the car and the pickup time. With that message in hand, the ride is a reservation.

On the day, the company's driver does the ride, and you pay the car company as its written fare says. Your fare is the company's own fare; the company pays the office a set fee for each booking passed on. A change or cancellation after your yes follows the company's own terms, which the written fare spelled out before you agreed. If no car company has a car free for your time, the written reply says so and the request closes with nothing owed.

When do written replies arrive?

The form takes requests 24/7. When a request lands while the phone is answered, with two hours or more before it closes, a written reply follows within two hours. Every other request gets its written reply by 1 p.m. Eastern on the next day the phone is answered (counting that very day, if the phone has yet to open), so one sent after noon on a Saturday, or on a Sunday, hears back by 1 p.m. Monday.

For a question about the form, or to give a ride request by voice, call +1 (302) 656-7483 during the hours below, or write to schedule@worldwidetraveltours.net. Both reach the same small office that reads every form, and anything about price comes back to you in writing. The phone is answered on these days, Eastern time:

• Monday to Friday, noon to 8 p.m.
• Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Sunday, requests by form only