A personal bodyguard covers one person rather than a property, a venue, or an event. Coverage moves with you, which sounds obvious but changes almost everything about how the service is planned and priced.
What the service actually includes
Before the booking. Your assigned protector reviews your itinerary, checks each location, examines route options and traffic, and identifies alternate exits. On longer or higher-profile engagements this extends to a physical walk-through. Most incidents that never happen are prevented here rather than in the moment.
During movement. Your protector controls pace and route and manages the space between you and everyone else. In a crowd that means holding a distance close enough to intervene but positioned to avoid creating a scene. Our piece on what a bodyguard actually does walks through an ordinary day.
At each location. On arrival the protector identifies exits, notes who is present, and positions to watch approaches rather than to be seen. Most of this is invisible to you and to everyone else, which is the point.
Communication. You get a direct line to your protector before the engagement and a briefing at the start covering how they will work, what they will ask of you, and what happens if something changes.
What it costs
A four-hour minimum applies to every booking. Additional protectors are $99 an hour, additional vehicles $79 an hour with a driver.
City multipliers apply in major markets: twenty percent in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; ten percent in Miami, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, and Las Vegas. Weekends add twenty percent, holidays twenty-five, same-day requests thirty.
Discounts stack in your favor. Booking online takes off ten percent, booking fourteen days ahead another five, and longer engagements ten to fifteen percent depending on length. A weekday eight-hour booking made three weeks ahead comes to roughly $790 rather than the $1,032 list figure.
Do you need one protector or more
One protector covers most situations where you are moving through ordinary environments and no specific threat exists. This is the correct answer far more often than the industry admits.
A second protector becomes worthwhile when your day involves a vehicle that cannot be left unattended, when you will separate from your vehicle for extended periods, or when you will be in venues with multiple uncontrolled entrances.
Three or more is a detail rather than a booking, appropriate for public exposure or an assessed threat. Our guide to VIP bodyguard services covers that tier.
Personal, event, and residential coverage
These are priced differently because the work differs.
Personal coverage follows a person and is billed hourly with a four-hour floor.
Event coverage staffs a venue by headcount rather than following an individual. A ninety-guest private event with two protectors over six hours runs roughly $1,368 at base rates. Our event security planning checklist covers venue requirements, which often mandate a minimum number of licensed staff regardless of your own assessment.
Residential coverage holds a fixed post at a property. Continuous residential coverage requires a rotating team and is quoted as a retainer. Our guide to residential security for families covers how those programs are built.
How to tell a real service from an individual
This is the part that matters most, because the downside is not a disappointing experience but an uninsured liability.
Ask for the state security license number and verify it with the issuing agency directly. Every state maintains a lookup.
Ask for a certificate of insurance naming the firm, with an armed endorsement if the engagement is armed. A firm that cannot produce one within a business day does not carry one.
Ask what background screening the assigned protector passed and when it was last repeated.
Ask who is liable if something happens during the engagement. The answer should be the firm, in writing.
A rate far below market is the clearest signal of all. Licensing, insurance, vetting, and dispatch cost real money, and a price that leaves no room for them means they are not being paid for. Our ten-step vetting checklist covers the full sequence, and the legal exposure of unlicensed protection explains what is actually at stake.
Booking
You can see all pricing, read more about our personal bodyguard service, or book online with the discount applied automatically. If you are not certain what you need, talk to our team first.
FAQ
How much does a personal bodyguard cost? $129 an hour for one protector without a vehicle, $199 with a luxury SUV, $299 for executive transport with one to two protectors, and $599 for a two to four person detail. Every booking has a four-hour minimum, so the smallest engagement is $516 before discounts.
Can I hire a personal bodyguard for one day? Yes. An eight-hour day runs $1,032 for a single protector at base rates, and bookings of eight hours or more receive a ten percent discount. Booking online at least fourteen days ahead takes off another fifteen percent.
What does a personal bodyguard do? Reviews your itinerary and routes before the engagement, controls pace and positioning while you move, identifies exits and monitors approaches at each location, and manages arrivals and departures. The majority of the work happens before you meet them.
Do personal bodyguards carry weapons? Only where state law permits and the protector holds a current armed carry permit for that state. Armed coverage requires separate licensing verification and a liability endorsement and is quoted per engagement rather than assumed.
How do I know a personal bodyguard is licensed? Ask for the state license number and verify it directly with the issuing agency, which every state allows. Also request a certificate of insurance naming the firm. A provider who cannot supply both is not a licensed service.