Where the meeting point actually is

Terminals do provide for this, and the provision is usually a signed meeting area somewhere central, which is exactly the sort of sensible thing an airport should do. It is designed for groups, tour operators and large parties who need somewhere to gather, and it works well for that. For one person looking for one other person it has a specific and obvious problem.

Most terminals designate a meeting area, usually signed and usually in the middle of the concourse. It is a sensible piece of design for groups and tour operators. For one person meeting one chauffeur it is frequently the worst place to stand, because it is where everybody else is also standing.

Standing slightly off the designated point, on the line the passenger will naturally walk, works better in almost every hall in Britain. It is not a clever trick; it is just paying attention to where people actually walk.

The confirmation is the only piece of writing in the whole arrangement that a passenger will actually read, and it will be read once, probably on a phone, possibly at a gate somewhere else in the world. Everything that goes into it competes for a very small amount of attention, and anything that is not immediately useful at the moment of walking out of customs is taking space from something that is.

Plain English, one sentence, no jargon. The terminal, the direction of travel out of customs, and the landmark. Then the chauffeur’s name and the number, and nothing else. A message with six lines of terms and a booking reference is a message nobody reads on the way out of a terminal.

The best version of that message arrives before departure rather than after landing, because there is no guarantee a phone will find a signal in an arrivals hall.