Africa Airport VIP Meet and Assist FAQ

An airport VIP meet and assist ensures you are expected, welcomed, escorted and assisted from start to end, between the aircraft gate and your car door. It is a seamless, stylish and effortless arrival, connection or departure for important travelers. It will usually include Fast-Tracking & priority handling at various stages of your passing through the airport.

Executive or VIP Arrival Services: you will be met near the air-bridge; escorted to and through quarantine, visa on arrival, security and immigration. Fast Track airport assistance will help collect your bags, escort you through customs checks and take you direct to your driver or car.

Executive or VIP Departure Services: you will be met at the entrance of the terminal building; and then escorted to and assisted through security, check in, customs and immigration. Finally you will be taken to your airline or a member lounge, or direct to the flight’s boarding gate.

Executive or VIP Connections/Transit: you will be met near the air-bridge, escorted to and through any visa, quarantine, transit, security,and any immigration, baggage, check in, or customs. Finally you will be taken to your airline or a member lounge or to the flight’s boarding gate.

It is a start to end escorted service, always performed in the restricted airside CIQ (the Customs, Immigration & Quarantine) area of an Airport. The services typically include:

• being met at the aircraft gate or the kerbside
• being assisted quickly at immigration, visa on arrival, quarantine, and security
• having an escort through customs, during check in and to the boarding gate
• getting help transferring between gates, desks and lounges for connections
• having a personal assistant all the way between the airplane and a car.

Fast-Tracking saves time and hassle and makes the passage through an otherwise busy or difficult airport both fast and easy. A successful Fast-Tracked airport service is one where you did not have to queue in line, and/or the time it took to pass through the airport was reduced.

To minimize lines, bypass bottlenecks, avoid inconvenience and treat you as important person, the representative will speed up obtaining visa on arrival, check-in, and passing through security checks, and will escort you through fast-tracked CIQ processing.

Fast-Tracking through CIQ is different in each airport. It may involve use of a VIP area; a private terminal; a VIP lounge (where passenger waits whilst staff process the paperwork); special lines for, or pre-purchase of Visa-On-Arrivals; a fast track channel through Immigration such as the First Class line; a Crew/Diplomatic line; APAC cardholder line; Schengen or Alien Registration lines; and Automated Border Clearance line. Alternatively the service may be performed whilst the passenger relaxes in a waiting area, or it handled privately by special arrangement with the immigration department.

The local greeter will use whatever channels, lines, local knowledge and local connections they have and can access to make the passage through immigration that day fast, pleasant and easy.

They will also help you understand issues with local officials, assist with arrangements for excess or missing baggage, flight & terminal transfers, and even lounge, business centre or day-room access.

Finally, they will coordinate directly with the driver to ensure a smooth handover (avoiding the common and sometime expensive problem of not being able to find you chauffeur at the airport). They are adept at keeping local taxi and baggage touts away. And if you have no ground transportation arranged they will help you find a reliable provider and ensure there is no language communications issues over the ride or destination.

This is a fee that is applied to all bookings made through our online reservations tool or by e-mail. The fee covers the cost of processing your card payment, and the administrative handling, coordination and management costs and expenses associated with organizing your service. As this work is done and the costs are incurred in advance then if you cancel your order the 9% Processing Fee is not refundable.

Yes. We only used licensed local partners and local agents who have the necessary airport security clearances, approvals and passes to work inside secure non-public areas needed in order provide the services that have been booked. All services are properly pre-ordered and pre-arranged: and cash is never paid by us to staff or to officials at the airport.

It depends on the particular airport and on what you request. Not all airport have porters, buggies or VIP lounges. Where they are available to be pre-booked they may already be included as part of the standard service. If they are not included, they will be offered to you at the time of booking as an optional extra “add-on”.

This depends whether you are arriving or departing from the airport:

Arrivals
For arrivals the representative will be waiting for you at or near the end of the air-bridge or air corridor “tube” (i.e. somewhere between airplane door and the terminal building). Alternatively – if the airplane has parked at a remote location on the apron and a bus is used to transfer you from the airplane to the terminal busilding – they will wait with a sign at or near the entrance (the “bus gate”) at the terminal building where the tarmac bus drops you off.

The representative will be holding a sign with the “lead passenger” name, (or pseudonym, code name, organization or any other identification that has been requested in advance).

Departures
For departures the representative will be waiting for you:

• at “kerbside” (meaning at the drop-off zone at the departure terminal level), or
• at a special counter or booth just inside the terminal, or
• in front of the airline’s check in desk.

Where you will be met is described in your booking confirmation. The representative will be there a few minutes before your scheduled arrival time and will wait for you for up to 45 minutes form the booked meeting time. If you have not arrived within 45 minutes of the booked time, they will try to call you or your driver (if you have provided them a local hand phone number when you booked.) So, it is important that, for a departure service, if you know that you are going to be a little early or late (e.g. because of traffic) then you or your driver should contact the representative so they can adjust the meeting time.

For arrivals, if your scheduled landing time changes the representative will monitor the new (actual or estimated) time and be ready to meet you when you actually land. For departures if you know that you are going to be a little early or late arriving at the airport (e.g. because of traffic) then you or your driver should contact the representative so they can adjust the meeting time.

In the confirmation E-mail the local service provider will have given a number to call, or emergency contact chat link, in the event of any issues. If you cannot see them, it will help your case if you can take a photo of the gate area, illustrating that your greeter was not waiting.

No, we do not pay commissions or booking fees

In most airports yes we do. These are quoted case by case depending on the combination of flights, terminals and timings.

Yes. What we mean by a connection is an Arrival and onwards Departure from the same airport within 24 hours, without leaving the airport.

A connection may involve a switch between domestic and international terminals and areas, re-checking in landside, or using the airside transfer desks.

Connections can be quite complicated and may require a case-by-case quotation by our booking staff.

Fast Track is a trading name of Airport VIP Pte Ltd which is a registered and licensed limited liability business incorporated in Singapore. It manages and engages a network of individual meet and assist expert businesses based in and around airports in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Fast Track website and booking portal lets you book direct to a local provider, resulting in lower rates.  Ordering, Billing and Collection is all managed and centralized. All Fast Track service providers agree to follow the same procedures, terms and processes.

We usually have pre-calculated prices for up to 6 people. If you have more than 6 passengers in your party, or if there are children, you would need to advise us well in advance so we can prepare a special quote.

Yes.  in most airports there are discounts for infants aged under 24 months.

Yes. in most (but not all) airports there are discounts for infants aged under 24 months. In a few airports there are also discount for Children aged 3-12 years; and there may also be “Family Group” rates, for groups containing children and passengers having the same surname (family name).

If you already have your booking confirmation you must E-mail Fast Track or the service provider with the change request as soon as you can. Where less than 48 hour notice is given then a percentage of the price paid may be charged. See our Terms and conditions. If you are not on the booked flight, do not present yourself to the airport representative, or decide not to take advantage of a service that has been booked, there will be no refund or credit for that service.

No. But big changes should be advised. A big change is a change which will affect how, when and where the service you have booked is given. For example a big change would be a change in the named “lead” passenger, in the date of service, of the flight number, or a change in the kerbside meeting time for a departure, or a request for an additional feature (like a porter, buggy, lounge) or an increase in the number of passengers to be served. If in doubt E-mail us. Please also see our terms and conditions about “Major Changes”.

Government health departments and each airport have their own rules and regulations which may sometime supersede the local provider’s normal operating procedures. Sometimes there is a change of rules, temporary security clampdown or similar alert condition ordered. Both of these may effect parts of the usual VIP service. In such a cases, these are force majeure beyond our control.

Yes. You can book for anyone else by entering the passenger’s details in the booking form or email order.

We will send you an e-mail order confirmation (with complete details) and later a formal confirmation with local greeter and/or local contact information. You will need to check these carefully and inform us of any errors

In many airport we need an image of one (occasionally all) of the passengers’ passports: this is to register for and pre-clear fast track at border controls with the airport and border officials. Also we may need it for age verification (for children or infant discounts) or for recognition by the airport staff.

Your personal details are only to be used to make your booking faster. Once a booking is done with us, some of these details will be provided to the service provider who will fulfill your booking. Your personal details will NEVER be sold, shared with or given to other unrelated businesses. For more information, refer to our Privacy Policy.

You can cancel most bookings more than 48 hours before commencement of the services and receive a refund of the Service Fee. If you cancel a booking less than 48 hours before the flight STA or STD no refund will be made.

If you are not on the booked flight and/or do not claim your service from the greeter who is waiting to welcome you, then it will be charged in full with no refund or credit.

Your refund will be processed promptly (usually within 24 hours) back to the original mode of payments, typically to a credit, debit or charge card. We will refund the USD due – are not responsible for any exchange rates variation, card or bank charges deducted by your bank or card company from the USD amount we refund.

Using one major world currency to make it easy for bookers to understand and compare prices.

Please email us to make amendments. Amendments made to normal Bookings received less than 48 hours before the STA or STD of the flight may incur an amendment fee.

Yes. If you want to make a booking within 48 hours of the STA or STD of your flight, please email us. We will then check if the change can be accommodated and/or if there will be any “short notice” surcharges due (in addition to the normal fee).

You can book through our website at www.asiafasttrack.com or send your request via email. We will describe the service and quote you, and when you confirm your order will sed a payment link

Payment is due before the service is given. We use the STRIPE payment gateway to generate your invoice/bill. You can enter your card details into the highly secure STRIPE system. We cannot see the card details and we do not store this private information. For large orders you can wire payment to our bank.

Our staff monitor the actual time of arrival (or departure) and in most cases they can extend or delay the service (a reasonable amount of time) until the actual arrival or actual departure time. However in some airports there are local rules and restrictions about the length of time they can wait without additional charges being due. These will be explained during booking.

No. It is not encouraged nor is it required. However, it is not prohibited – sod if you feel you have received extra special service and help from the local staff you can tip them and/or tell us.

In most cases our local representative will be carrying a name board with the passenger/party’s name on it, or an agreed aliaa or code word. Sign board names cannot have branding added, and should be distinctive… paging for common names like “John” or “Mr Kim” might lead to someone mistakenly trying to claim your service.

Our local representatives are not insured to carry baggage, and/or may not be allowed to touch checked bags for an international arrival before they are cleared by customs officials. In many airports we can pre-arrange and pre-pay porter service. If this is not possible our local representative will be pleased to help and/or arrange a licensed porter, for which local payment may be required. Please check the service notes as you make the booking to understand what is included and allowed with regard to baggage assistance (porterage) of checked bags. For hand-carry baggage, many Airports stipulate that passengers must keep their hand baggage with them and under their control at all times – which means that greeters cannot assist with hand carry in the transit/secure areas.

Almost always no, they cannot do that. Under current legislation and rules access to airside (transit) areas is severely restricted, especially for international transit areas. If the passengers require security protection (eg if they are well known celebrities or important officials) then this can be arranged with airport security staff for an extra cost.

If you have booked a departure service and will be late reaching the airport, please inform your greeter on the number we have provided. We will not be responsible for the consequences of a missed flight: if the airline check in or transfer desk closes a flight for check in before you get there you will likely be offloaded or denied boarding.

This can be very complex. In general, if both flights are using scheduled commercial airlines (not low cost, point to point airlines) then providing you get your checked labelled (tagged) through to your final destination, you will not have to collect you bags and pass into the transit country. But we will advise more when we know the airport and flights

If it is an international to domestic connection, most usually you will collect your bags and pass them through customs inspection at your international arrival airport. If it is a domestic to international connection, quite often your bags will be checked though onto the international flight. But the devil is in the detail and we will advise case by case.

Any online payments made in us are processed through STRIPE which a highly secure payment global card processing gateway with full SSL certification. We never request and we do not know or keep your sensitive card information. The parent company Airport VIP Pte Ltd is incorporated in Singapore and its registration details and officers are publicly available from Singapore’s Corporate registry.

You may use our online booking tool 24/7 to book and pay; or you can communicate by e-mail with us and we will create an invoice and payment link.

Like Airlines, we require full payment for the service in advance It not possible to pay in cash or using digital crypto currency.

No, all services are prices and billed in USD.

No, all services are prices and billed in USD.

Yes, we are a one-stop-shopping services We serve over 300 airports around the world. You can book any and all with us.

Passengers travelling alone and who are under the age of 18 (“unaccompanied minors”) will only be accepted often a case review. This is because, for example, some airport lounges will not permit unaccompanied minors entry due to alcohol availability; some airlines will not release unaccompanied minors to the care of local greeters. Also, it may not be possible to serve certain nationalities who require visa on arrival or special routing at immigration. We may not be able or allowed to assist passengers with special needs or medical conditions. In all cases we will review the special request and let you know.

Rates vary a lot – it depends on the airport, the level of service wanted, the time of day, the date or day of the week, and when they are being booked. When we quote you all these factors will be considered and explained.

The rate quoted is inclusive of all GST/VAT taxes. But it does not include local airport departure/arrival tax, visa and immigration fees & charges, excess baggage charges, etc etc.

We will supply you with the mobile number of your local greeter or their duty manager in advance. If you cannot locate your greeter, you must call number(s)to try to locate them or tell them where you are.

Only if you are there…Passengers must be physically present at some point during departure for ID verification by airline staff – it’s a legal and security requirement.

Generally no, unless it is a VIP service that is given in a special terminal or lounge. We don’t include a lounge as (i) for departures, many passengers already have access to an airline or a membership lounge; and (ii) for arrivals most passenger want to get through and out as quickly as possible, so a lounge on arrival (if even it is available – and in some airports it isn’t) is of little added value.

Yes, we have “Elite VIP” options in many airports. These high level (and so expensive) services may include use of a separate facility or or terminal, tarmac transfers form or two the airplane, private VIP suites, and of course special customs, security and passport clearance. It means that that Elite VIP passegers will pass through the airport without having to walk in the regular, public areas, so giving VVIPs enhanced privacy and security.

Yes, we can engage airport or police security staff and/or close protection guards to help. Our agents can request special entry or exit routes, or have a private lounge areas arranged, and of course they know the best ways to avoid unwanted disturbance.

No. If you require a wheelchair, you should contact your airline and ask to have a wheelchair added to your passenger record (PNR). However, our greeter will liaise with the airline and make sure they have remembered to arrange a wheelchair for you.

Case by case we can arrange or recommend these services in some locations. But we are Meet and Assist specialist, and there are many good airport taxi services, limo/chauffeur companies, or hotel car services who can provide or arrange ground transportation for you. The exception to this is where you want to be driven between distant airports or terminals as part of a connection. Then we can help arrange this “inter-terminal” or “inter-airport” transfer.