Local package or point-to-point: which one actually costs less

People often assume the hourly package is the expensive option because the number looks bigger up front. On a day with more than two stops it usually is not, and the reason is waiting rather than distance.

What the package actually buys

Our local package is 4 hours and 40 kilometres — ₹1,200 in an Etios, ₹1,500 in an Ertiga, ₹2,000 in an Innova and ₹2,500 in an Innova Crysta. Beyond the limit you pay the per-kilometre rate for that vehicle.

The important part is not the distance. It is that the same car and driver stay with you, so the cab waits at each stop instead of you rebooking.

Where the line falls

One stop and back, under about 20 km each way, is cheaper as two separate point-to-point rides. Three or more stops in a half day is almost always cheaper as a package, because every rebooking carries its own minimum and its own wait for a car to arrive.

Two stops is the genuinely marginal case, and it usually comes down to how long you will spend at the middle one.

What the package does not cover

• Distance beyond 40 km, charged per kilometre
• Time beyond 4 hours
• Parking at any stop
• Night charges after 10pm
• Any trip that leaves the city limits — that is outstation, priced differently

If your day has a gap in the middle — a meeting, a hospital appointment, a temple visit — the package is nearly always the cheaper instrument.