What is airport assistance, and how can it support the important clients whose travel you coordinate? Airport assistance is a personalized service that provides professional guidance and coordination during an airport departure, arrival, or flight connection.
When you are responsible for coordinating travel for an important client, the airport experience deserves the same level of planning as the flight, hotel, ground transportation, and destination arrangements.
A complicated terminal, delayed flight, unexpected gate change, tight connection, or missed chauffeur coordination can affect an entire itinerary. For entertainment clients, production teams, touring artists, executives, and high-net-worth travelers, these disruptions can also affect filming schedules, publicity commitments, performances, meetings, and carefully planned private travel.
Airport assistance adds personal guidance and professional coordination to the airport journey. Within the travel industry, the service is also known as Meet and Greet, Meet and Assist, VIP airport service, or airport concierge service.
A professional airport representative meets the passenger and guides them through the applicable stages of a departure, arrival, or connection. The representative may also coordinate with travel advisors, booking agents, assistants, production teams, tour managers, chauffeurs, and other professionals responsible for the itinerary.
At Airport Assistance Worldwide, we coordinate these services at more than 600 airports worldwide, with new locations continually being added.
An Airport Assistance Worldwide concierge meets a traveler for personalized departure assistance.
What Is Airport Assistance?
Airport assistance is a personalized service that helps a passenger navigate an airport during a departure, arrival, or flight connection.
A professional greeter or airport representative meets the passenger at a prearranged location and provides guidance through the airport’s applicable procedures.
Depending on the airport and selected service level, airport assistance may include:
- Flight monitoring
- Coordination with ground transportation
- A personal curbside, terminal, or arrival greeting
- Airline check-in assistance
- Baggage and porter coordination
- Guidance through the terminal
- Security or immigration guidance where permitted
- Fast Track access where available
- Escort to an eligible airline or airport lounge
- Escort to the departure gate
- Guidance between connecting flights
- Assistance locating the correct chauffeur pickup area
- Communication with the booking professional or designated travel contact
For travel professionals, the service provides an additional layer of support within the airport. You have a local representative guiding your client while a central reservations team helps coordinate the service before travel.
The exact experience depends on the airport, terminal, airline, destination, cabin class, connection details, local regulations, and selected service level.
A professional airport assistance representative helps a traveler coordinate his onward journey at the arrivals terminal.
From Meet and Greet to Airport Assistance
When personalized airport services began evolving during the 1980s, the service was known as Meet and Greet.
The term described the foundation of the experience. A professional airport representative personally met the traveler and guided them through the applicable stages of the airport journey.
Meet and Greet became particularly valuable in entertainment travel, where artists, actors, producers, executives, and other high-profile clients often required personal attention, discretion, and careful coordination.
Airport Assistance Worldwide’s founders, Junko and Ray, were part of the travel industry during this formative period. Based at LAX and working directly with VIP and entertainment travelers, they gained firsthand experience as Meet and Greet organically developed during the 1980s and became more widely recognized.
Those years gave Junko and Ray a deep understanding of the professionalism, discretion, local airport knowledge, and personal attention required when caring for a company’s most important travelers.
As the service evolved, airport representatives began providing increasingly comprehensive support. The term Meet and Assist came into use to reflect the broader guidance offered after the personal greeting.
Today, the travel industry uses several related terms:
- Meet and Greet
- Meet and Assist
- Airport assistance
- Airport concierge service
- VIP airport service
- Airport escort service
These terms frequently describe similar services. Exact inclusions vary by airport, provider, itinerary, and service level.
Meet and Greet remains the original industry term. It reflects the personal service model that took shape during the 1980s and created the foundation for what travel professionals now recognize as Meet and Assist and airport assistance.
You can explore more of this history in The Legacy of Airport Assistance Worldwide.
A 1980s-inspired depiction of an airport representative welcoming an entertainment traveler during the formative years of Meet and Greet service.
“Airport Assistance” and Airport Assistance Worldwide
The similarity between airport assistance and Airport Assistance Worldwide can sometimes cause confusion.
Airport assistance is commonly used as a broad description for personalized guidance and support within an airport.
Airport Assistance Worldwide is the name of our family-owned company.
When our company was established in 2004, Airport Assistance Worldwide became the name under which we coordinated personalized Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist services around the world. The name reflected our specialty and our ability to coordinate airport services through a single central team.
Over time, “airport assistance” became widely used throughout the travel industry as a general description for this category of service. Booking professionals may now encounter the phrase across numerous providers, airport programs, and service platforms.
Our history spans the evolution of the service and its terminology:
- Meet and Greet reflects the service’s original roots.
- Meet and Assist reflects the broader guidance built around the personal greeting.
- Airport assistance describes the overall service category recognized today.
- Airport Assistance Worldwide is the company coordinating these services at more than 600 airports worldwide.
Our name reflects what we do. Our experience, global coordination, integrity, discretion, and commitment to personalized service define how we do it.
An experienced reservations specialist coordinates personalized airport assistance worldwide, combining global reach with discreet human oversight.
Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist: Are They the Same?
Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist are generally used interchangeably within the travel industry. Both describe a personalized airport service in which a professional representative meets and guides a passenger.
Meet and Greet is the original industry term, while Meet and Assist came into use later as another way to describe the service. Throughout this guide, both terms refer to the same core airport assistance experience.
Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist generally refer to the same core airport assistance experience, although exact service inclusions may vary.
How Airport Assistance Works
Airport assistance is generally arranged for one of three journey types:
- Departure assistance
- Arrival assistance
- Connection assistance
Each service follows a different path through the airport.
Departure Airport Assistance
Departure assistance begins when the passenger arrives at the airport.
Before the service, the airport representative may coordinate with the passenger, chauffeur, assistant, or designated travel contact to confirm the terminal arrival time and meeting location.
A departure service may include:
- Monitoring the departing flight
- Coordinating with the chauffeur
- Meeting the passenger curbside, inside the terminal, or at a private VIP lounge terminal where available
- Guiding the passenger to the correct airline check-in area
- Assisting with the check-in process
- Coordinating baggage and porter services
- Guiding the passenger toward security
- Providing Fast Track assistance where available
- Escorting the passenger to an eligible lounge
- Confirming flight and gate information
- Escorting the passenger to the boarding gate
- Providing an appropriate service update to the designated booking contact
For entertainment and production travel, departure assistance can help keep the client’s movements coordinated with drivers, assistants, tour teams, security personnel, and the broader itinerary.
Arrival Airport Assistance
Arrival assistance supports the passenger from the approved greeting location to the waiting chauffeur or designated airport exit.
The airport representative monitors the flight and adjusts for an early or delayed arrival. The greeting location depends on airport access rules and whether the flight is domestic or international.
An arrival service may include:
- Monitoring the arriving flight
- Coordinating with the passenger’s chauffeur
- Meeting the passenger at the approved location
- Guiding the passenger through the terminal
- Providing immigration or customs guidance where permitted
- Coordinating baggage and porter services
- Assisting through baggage claim
- Escorting the passenger to the designated pickup point
- Helping identify the correct driver or vehicle
- Providing an appropriate service update to the booking contact
This coordination is especially valuable when the arrival connects to a production call time, hotel check-in, performance, publicity appearance, private event, or onward ground movement.
For international arrivals, passengers complete all required immigration and customs procedures. The representative provides guidance, where available, within the access rules established by the airport and local authorities. International passengers entering the United States must complete the inspection procedures established by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Premium travelers are guided from a private aviation terminal to their waiting chauffeur and executive SUV.
Connection Airport Assistance
Connections can be among the most complex parts of an itinerary.
A passenger may need to change terminals, travel between concourses, complete immigration and customs, pass through another security checkpoint, collect and recheck baggage, or locate an onward flight after a schedule change.
Connection assistance provides personal guidance between the arriving and departing flights.
Depending on the airport and itinerary, the service may include:
- Monitoring the arriving and onward flights
- Meeting the passenger at the approved arrival location
- Confirming the onward flight and departure gate
- Guiding the passenger between terminals or concourses
- Assisting with baggage collection and recheck procedures
- Coordinating porter service
- Providing security, immigration, or customs guidance
- Escorting the passenger to an eligible lounge
- Escorting the passenger to the onward departure gate
- Communicating relevant developments to the designated travel contact
Airline schedules, airport congestion, security procedures, immigration processing, and baggage delivery affect every connection. An experienced local representative helps the passenger follow the appropriate available route and remain informed throughout the airport process.
For a travel advisor, tour manager, executive assistant, or production coordinator, connection assistance also provides a reliable local point of coordination during a sensitive part of the itinerary.
Airline schedules and connection outcomes remain subject to operational conditions, including the types of flight delays and cancellations addressed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Does Airport Assistance Include Fast Track?
Fast Track may be available as part of airport assistance at certain locations.
When permitted, Fast Track provides access to a designated or expedited lane for security, immigration, or another airport checkpoint.
Availability may depend on:
- Airport and terminal
- Local government regulations
- Airline
- Cabin class
- Departure or arrival destination
- Selected service level
- Advance registration requirements
At some airports, Fast Track is included within a particular service. At others, it requires a separate reservation or additional fee.
Booking professionals should confirm availability for the exact flight and terminal. “Fast Track” can represent different procedures at different airports, so the confirmed service description is more important than the service label alone.
An airport assistance coordinator reviews Airport Fast Track availability in advance for each specific flight, terminal, and itinerary.
Does Meet and Greet Include Baggage Assistance?
Meet and Greet may include baggage guidance and coordination with authorized porters.
The airport representative can help locate the appropriate baggage area, communicate with available porters, and coordinate luggage through permitted parts of the terminal.
Porter availability and pricing vary by airport. Some services include porter assistance, while others list it as an additional charge.
When requesting service, include an accurate estimated bag count and details about:
- Excess baggage
- Wardrobe cases
- Production equipment
- Musical instruments
- Sports equipment
- Oversized luggage
- Specialized or high-value items
This information is particularly important for touring, film, television, publicity, and production-related itineraries.
Professional Meet and Greet baggage coordination for touring musicians, with airport representatives and porters managing instrument cases, equipment and luggage.
Who Uses Airport Assistance?
Airport Assistance Worldwide serves travelers across many industries, with particular expertise in high-profile and professionally managed travel.
Film and Television Travel
Actors, directors, producers, executives, and production personnel often travel according to tightly managed schedules. Airport assistance can help coordinate their airport movements with production transportation, lodging, security, and call times.
Touring Artists and Entertainment Professionals
Touring itineraries may involve multiple cities, frequent connections, large travel parties, specialized baggage, and strict performance schedules.
Meet and Greet services can support artists, musicians, dancers, speakers, crew members, and touring executives throughout a domestic or international itinerary.
Publicity and Promotional Travel
Press tours, premieres, festivals, award events, promotional appearances, and media schedules can require precise coordination between flights, drivers, hotels, venues, and publicity teams.
Airport assistance provides local support during arrivals, departures, and connections while keeping the designated travel contact informed.
High-Profile and Recognizable Travelers
Public figures and recognizable clients may require discretion and carefully managed airport movements. A knowledgeable airport representative can coordinate with assistants, security teams, drivers, and other authorized contacts.
High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Travelers
High-net-worth travelers often expect continuity across every part of a carefully planned journey. Airport assistance extends that personalized service into the terminal and can be coordinated with family offices, private travel advisors, chauffeurs, and luxury hospitality providers.
Corporate Executives
Executives may travel on demanding schedules involving meetings, events, roadshows, and multi-city itineraries. Airport assistance can help coordinate arrivals, departures, and connections with the broader business travel plan.
Luxury Leisure Travelers
Luxury travel advisors use Meet and Greet services to provide clients with a more complete journey. Airport assistance can complement premium air travel, private transfers, luxury hotels, villas, cruises, and customized destination experiences.
Additional Travelers
Airport assistance is available to a broad range of eligible travelers. Families, older passengers, and travelers unfamiliar with a particular airport may also benefit from personal guidance. Our central expertise remains professionally coordinated travel for VIP, entertainment, corporate, high-net-worth, and luxury clients.
Airport Assistance Worldwide provides structured airport coordination for high-profile travelers, executives, entertainment clients, luxury travelers and the professionals managing their journeys.
Why Airport Assistance Matters to Booking Professionals
When you arrange travel for another person, you remain responsible for many details that extend beyond the airline ticket.
You may need to know:
- Where the representative will meet the client
- Whether gate access is permitted
- Whether Fast Track is available
- How baggage and porters will be handled
- Whether a lounge escort is included
- How the representative will coordinate with the chauffeur
- What happens if the flight is early or delayed
- Who receives service updates
- Whether additional security or privacy arrangements are required
- How a connection will operate at a particular airport
Airport assistance provides a structured plan for these details.
For multi-city itineraries, working with a centralized provider also reduces the need to identify and manage separate airport contacts in every destination.
One contact for coordinated departure, arrival and connection meets across more than 600 airports worldwide.
Is Airport Assistance the Same at Every Airport?
Airport assistance varies significantly between locations.
Each airport establishes its own access permissions, security procedures, and operating requirements. A service available in one city may function differently in another.
Differences can include:
- Security regulations
- Terminal access restrictions
- Airline procedures
- Immigration and customs requirements
- Fast Track availability
- Porter availability
- Lounge access policies
- Terminal layouts
- Transportation pickup rules
- Local staffing requirements
An arriving passenger may be met at the gate at one airport and outside customs at another. A departure representative may escort a passenger from curb to gate in one location, while access at another may end at the security checkpoint.
Airport Assistance Worldwide coordinates services at more than 600 airports worldwide, and our network continues to grow. Every request is reviewed according to the passenger’s exact itinerary and the procedures available at that location.
The service goal may remain the same, but airport assistance access, meeting points and permitted routes vary by airport.
What Levels of Airport Assistance Are Available?
Airport assistance ranges from essential terminal guidance to highly exclusive private airport experiences.
Airport Assistance Worldwide offers Gold, Platinum, and Silver airport assistance services, subject to local availability, airport access, and regulations.
Gold Airport Assistance
Gold is our standard—and most frequently requested—full Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist service.
Depending on the airport, a personal representative guides the passenger through the applicable stages of a departure, arrival, or flight connection. The service may include check-in guidance, baggage coordination, assistance through security or immigration where permitted, lounge escort, and guidance to the departure gate or waiting chauffeur.
Gold airport assistance provides personal guidance and VIP lounge escort during an international departure.
Platinum Airport Assistance
Platinum is our most exclusive available service level.
At participating airports, it may include private terminal facilities, premium lounges, refreshments, personal attendants, private security or immigration processing, and transportation between the private facility and the aircraft.
Platinum services vary substantially by airport and often require additional advance notice.
Personalized departure assistance in an exclusive private airport terminal with seamless chauffeured airside transfer.
Silver Airport Assistance
Silver provides essential terminal guidance in the airport areas where the representative is permitted access.
For a departure, service may extend from the curb or terminal entrance to the security checkpoint. For an arrival, the representative may meet the passenger after immigration or customs and provide an escort through baggage claim to the chauffeur pickup area.
Silver may be recommended when airport regulations restrict airside access, including certain international arrivals in the United States. The exact meeting point and scope of service depend on the airport and local access rules.
What Information Is Needed to Arrange Airport Assistance?
Accurate information is essential because every service is coordinated around the passenger’s specific itinerary.
A booking request will generally require:
- Passenger’s full legal name
- Preferred name for greeting purposes
- Passenger’s mobile number for the day of travel
- Designated booking or emergency contact
- Travel date
- Airline and flight number
- Cabin class
- Airport where assistance is requested
- Departure, arrival, or connection service
- Total number of travelers
- Estimated baggage count
- Ground transportation details
- Onward flight details for connections
- Relevant mobility requirements
- Privacy or security considerations
- Authorized communication contacts
- Special operational requests
Entertainment and production bookings may also require information about:
- Professional or traveling aliases
- Tour or production names
- Security contacts
- Production transportation
- Separate passenger movements
- Large parties
- Equipment and specialty baggage
- Time-sensitive onward commitments
Complete information allows the reservations team and local representative to prepare appropriately and establish clear meeting arrangements.
The key information needed to arrange airport assistance: flight details, ground transfer details and special requests.
How Far in Advance Should Airport Assistance Be Booked?
Advance booking provides the best opportunity to confirm availability and arrange the appropriate service.
Some airports have staffing requirements, Fast Track registration procedures, lounge reservation deadlines, or security clearance rules. Platinum services and high-volume travel dates may require additional notice.
Early booking is especially important for:
- Entertainment and touring itineraries
- Film and television production travel
- High-profile passengers
- International journeys
- Large groups
- Complex connections
- Platinum services
- Specialized baggage
- Multi-city programs
- Holiday and festival periods
Last-minute requests may be accommodated when local personnel and the required services remain available.
How Much Does Airport Assistance Cost?
Pricing varies by airport, service level, number of passengers, itinerary, and requested inclusions.
Factors may include:
- Departure, arrival, or connection service
- Airport and terminal
- Number of passengers
- Included service time
- Baggage and porter requirements
- Fast Track access
- Lounge access
- Private terminal facilities
- Early-morning or late-night service
- Holiday service
- Additional waiting time
- Specialized coordination requirements
A personalized quote provides the clearest description of the confirmed service, inclusions, and applicable fees.
For agencies and organizations managing frequent travel, Airport Assistance Worldwide can also coordinate services across multiple destinations through one central reservations team.
Why Industry Professionals Choose Airport Assistance Worldwide
Effective airport assistance begins well before the passenger reaches the terminal. It requires accurate planning, clear communication, local airport knowledge, reliable coordination, and experience supporting important travelers.
Airport Assistance Worldwide provides:
- More than four decades of Meet and Greet and airport assistance experience
- Coverage at more than 600 airports worldwide
- A continually expanding international service network
- Centralized coordination for multi-city itineraries
- Extensive entertainment and high-profile travel experience
- Support for film, television, production, touring, and publicity travel
- Experience serving high-net-worth and luxury clients
- Coordination with travel advisors, booking agents, studios, assistants, family offices, chauffeurs, security teams, and tour personnel
- Flight monitoring and day-of-travel communication
- A commitment to discretion, integrity, and personalized care
As a family-owned company, we continue the service philosophy that has guided Airport Assistance Worldwide since 2004 and shaped the careers of Junko and Ray long before it.
Learn more about Airport Assistance Worldwide and our history.
A Trusted Extension of Your Travel Team
Airport assistance adds personal guidance, local knowledge, and active coordination to the airport portion of an itinerary.
For booking professionals, the service provides something equally valuable: a trusted local representative caring for your client while your broader travel arrangements continue moving forward.
That may involve meeting an actor arriving for production, guiding an artist between tour flights, coordinating a chauffeur for an executive, helping publicity talent reach a scheduled appearance, or supporting a high-net-worth client throughout a carefully planned luxury journey.
The terminology has evolved from Meet and Greet to Meet and Assist and airport assistance. The personal foundation remains the same: an experienced representative meets the passenger and guides them through the airport.
Airport Assistance Worldwide has spent decades refining that experience for the travel professionals and organizations that entrust us with their most important clients.
To request assistance for an upcoming departure, arrival, connection, or multi-city itinerary, contact Airport Assistance Worldwide.
Airport Assistance Worldwide provides trusted, personalized airport support for travel professionals and their clients.
Frequently Asked Questions About Airport Assistance
What is the difference between Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist?
Meet and Greet is the original industry term and describes the personal greeting and airport escort experience that developed during the 1980s. Meet and Assist came into use as the service expanded to include broader guidance and coordination. The terms are now frequently used interchangeably.
Is airport assistance the same as Meet and Greet?
Airport assistance is the broad service category. Meet and Greet is the original industry term for personally meeting and guiding a passenger through the airport.
Is Airport Assistance Worldwide the same as airport assistance?
Airport assistance describes the general service category. Airport Assistance Worldwide is the family-owned company established in 2004 that coordinates Meet and Greet and Meet and Assist services at more than 600 airports worldwide.
Can travel agencies book airport assistance for their clients?
Yes. Travel agencies, travel advisors, booking agents, studios, production companies, touring organizations, family offices, executive assistants, and other authorized professionals can arrange services for their clients.
Can an individual traveler book directly?
Yes. Eligible individual travelers may request services directly. Airport Assistance Worldwide specializes in working with travel professionals and organizations coordinating VIP, entertainment, corporate, high-net-worth, and luxury travel.
Can one provider coordinate services in multiple cities?
Airport Assistance Worldwide coordinates services at more than 600 airports through a central reservations team. This allows booking professionals to manage multi-city airport assistance through one primary provider.
Does airport assistance include Fast Track?
Fast Track is available at certain airports and may be included in some service levels. Availability depends on the airport, terminal, airline, itinerary, and local regulations. In the United States, passengers remain subject to all Transportation Security Administration screening requirements, regardless of any airport assistance or expedited service arranged.
Can airport assistance support aliases or privacy requirements?
Privacy, alias, and communication requirements should be provided during the booking process. Available arrangements depend on the airport and itinerary. Airport Assistance Worldwide has extensive experience coordinating services for high-profile and recognizable travelers.
Can the representative coordinate with a chauffeur?
Ground transportation details can be included in the reservation. The airport representative may coordinate with the chauffeur before a departure or arrival, subject to local procedures and available communication.
Is airport assistance available worldwide?
Airport Assistance Worldwide coordinates services at more than 600 airports worldwide, with additional locations continually being added.
How do booking professionals request service?
Submit the passenger, flight, baggage, transportation, and special-request information via email or through the Airport Assistance Worldwide reservation form. Our reservations team will review the itinerary and confirm availability, service details, and pricing.
Continue Reading
If you’re new to airport assistance, you may also enjoy Luxury Travel Has Evolved: Why Airport Assistance Matters More Than Ever, where we explore how personalized airport assistance has become an essential part of modern travel.
To learn more about Airport Assistance Worldwide’s services or to request a personalized quote, contact our team.
About the Author
Posted by the President & CEO, Airport Assistance Worldwide
This article was published by the President & CEO of Airport Assistance Worldwide. With more than two decades of experience coordinating personalized Meet & Assist and concierge airport assistance services, AAW provides professional airport assistance for corporate executives, entertainers, diplomats, luxury travelers, and other VIP clients at hundreds of airports worldwide.
Some images in this article were created with the assistance of AI for illustrative purposes.
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