Carrier or Aggregator-Intermediary: How Not to End Up Without a Seat

Carrier or aggregator: what's the difference

In short: a direct carrier owns its minibuses and employs its drivers, and personally takes you to Lithuania. An aggregator-intermediary has no transport of its own — it only collects bookings through a website or ads and passes them on (often resells them) to third-party carriers.

For the passenger, the difference becomes noticeable exactly on the road. With a direct carrier, you know from the start who is driving you and in what vehicle. With an aggregator, you might not know who's coming — or whether anyone is coming at all — until the very last moment.

What risks an aggregator's passenger takes on

An intermediary is interested in selling a seat, not in being accountable for the trip. That leads to typical problems:

• the seat was resold — there aren't enough seats in the cabin;
• the carrier was swapped at the last moment, and the vehicle isn't the one promised;
• the price "shifts": one number on the website, a different one at boarding, plus hidden fees;
• if there's a delay or a problem, there's no one to resolve it with.

Advantages of a direct carrier

A direct carrier is responsible for the entire trip, from pickup to drop-off. You communicate directly with the dispatcher who knows the schedule, and with the driver who's actually taking you there.

The price is fixed and final, because there's no extra link with its own markup between you and the carrier. Every question — about luggage, a parcel, the pickup address — gets resolved in one place.

How to tell a direct carrier from an intermediary

Before booking, ask a few simple questions:

• Whose minibus is it, and who will be driving?
• Is the price fixed, or can it change at boarding?
• Can you reach the dispatcher directly before and during the trip?
• Are there real passenger reviews specifically about this carrier?

Why AlexTransfer is a direct carrier

AlexTransfer transports passengers in its own Mercedes Sprinter minibuses and other vehicles in our fleet. You know the price and route from the start, and two drivers work every trip — no transfers, no overnight stops.

You can see all our routes and fixed prices in the routes section at alextransfer.net, and real passenger reviews on the homepage.

Want to book a seat or check the details? Phone and Viber: +380 66 625 22 25, Telegram: @alex_litva_zp.