Douglas Rydbom, CEO of Premiere #1 Limousine Service, and Carl Restivo, regional sales manager at Don Brown Bus Sales, stand in front of Premiere's new 40-passenger Tiffany motorcoach. 

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Before Premiere #1 Limousine Service of Middletown, Pa. bought its first 40-passenger Tiffany motorcoach earlier this year, the limo company used to farm out its bus business to local motorcoach operators. But as demand rose, Premiere found it harder to find available coaches. “Most of the time they were fully booked,” said Douglas Rydbom, CEO of Premiere #1 Limousine Service. “We felt there was a need for more buses in our market.”

Demand for group travel rose even further, at an almost even split between corporate and retail clients, so Premiere added a second 40-passenger Tiffany coach on July 24. That brings its fleet to 24 vehicles, including luxury sedans, stretch limousines, stretch SUV limos, executive vans, a party bus, a minibus and motorcoaches.

“Clients love [the motorcoaches] for shuttling guests, day trips, multi-day charters, business meetings, corporate sponsored events, and we even shuttle the press corps around when Mitt Romney visits Pennsylvania,” Rydbom said.

Premiere's twin Tiffany motorcoaches.

The new Tiffany coach was bought from Carl Restivo, regional sales manager at Don Brown Bus Sales, for $180,000. It is built on a Freightliner chassis and features wood floors, air suspension, CD/DVD player, restroom, premium leather seats, overhead luggage compartment, 400 cubic feet of rear luggage storage, six drop-down entertainment monitors, widescreen front monitor, Wi-Fi and 110V AC outlets.

The team at Premiere chose Tiffany because they liked the overall appearance, found it to be the most cost effective option, and believed it was the best choice among the buses with the same price point.

“We never thought we would be adding another bus this year, but the demand was calling for it,” said Jonathan Snavely, Premiere’s general manager. He said the company plans to focus more attention on the bus market. “Our stretch limousines are great and still profitable; however, they are not moving seven days a week like our buses. We charge $1,500 for a 12-hour rental of the Tiffany motorcoach and a minimum three-hour rental of $600.”

Premiere #1 Limousine Service provides chauffeured ground transportation to the Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington D.C. markets. The clientele split is about 65% corporate and 35% retail.

— Michael Campos, LCT associate editor