Something I've been wondering about lately....

When you book a luxury hotel, do you "default" to using the hotel's own airport transfer service? If so, why?

The FS Florence quoted me 195Eur for a daytime (S Class) transfer from FLR, which, to me, seems a bit nutty for a 20-minute ride. For comparison, Blacklane offers the same transfer in an S Class for 82 Eur (or a lowly E Class for 50Eur, which is what I'd probably opt for).

I understand the argument that it could make the check-in process smoother, but are there other benefits? Are you more likely to get an upgrade? Early check-in?

How do you make your decision when booking a transfer?

For the purposes of this thread, I'm not really referring to remote resorts where the hotel transfer is the only option, or where local options might be harder to research.

For the record, I'll typically opt for trains and public transportation where it's faster and traffic can be awful (e.g., Tokyo or London), and then about a 60/40 split of Uber/Blacklane (or other prebooked car service) for the rest.