Travel fee calculator
Mileage past your free radius, the drive time you cannot sell, and the hotel when the day runs late. One figure for the quote and a policy line for your packages.
Free, no account, nothing to install. Your answers stay in your browser.
$693.20 worked out, rounded up to the next 5. Put it on the quote as one line.
How it adds up
For your package description
Travel within 30 miles of my studio is included. Beyond that, travel is charged at $0.76 per mile by road, round trip, plus $50 an hour for driving time over 30 minutes each way. Accommodation and flights, where needed, are billed at cost.
Three parts to a travel fee
A travel fee that holds up covers the cost of getting there, the value of the time it takes, and the accommodation when the job cannot be done in a day. Most photographers charge the first and stop.
How the calculator works
- Mileage. Round trip distance, less the free radius on the way out and the way back, at your per mile or per kilometre rate.
- Time. Round trip driving time, less the included minutes each way, at your travel time rate. Half your hourly rate is the usual figure.
- At cost. Tolls, parking, flights and accommodation, as you pay them. A per diem for food for each night away, if you charge one.
- Rounded up. The total goes up to the next 5, the way you would quote it.
The defaults are the wedding from our travel fees guide: 190 miles and three and a half hours each way, one hotel night at $150, a 30 mile free radius, 30 minutes of driving included each way, travel time at $50 an hour and the 76 cent IRS rate. The result is $693.20, quoted as $695.
Set the radius from your market
If most of your clients live in a city 20 miles across, a 30 mile radius covers your normal work and charges for the outliers. In a rural area where an hour's drive is normal, 50 is the more sensible figure. Measure from your home or studio, by road, and say so in the contract.
For the time rate you need to know what your hour is worth. The effective hourly rate calculator works it out once culling, editing and admin are counted.
Common questions
- How much should a photographer charge per mile?
- Use your government business mileage rate. In the US that is the IRS standard rate, 76 cents a mile from 1 July 2026. In the UK it is HMRC’s 55p a mile. It already covers tyres, servicing, insurance and depreciation, which is most of what driving costs. Fuel alone is about a third.
- Should the free radius be measured each way or round trip?
- Each way, from your home or studio, by road. The calculator takes the round trip distance and subtracts the radius twice, once for the drive out and once for the drive back.
- Why charge for driving time as well as miles?
- Because the time is the bigger cost. In both worked examples in our travel fees guide, the time line is larger than the mileage line. Billing the first 30 minutes each way as included and the rest at half your hourly rate costs nearby clients nothing.
- When should I add a hotel night?
- Over two hours each way with an evening finish, one night. Over four hours, or a flight, two nights and arrive the day before. Bill accommodation at cost with the receipt, not marked up.
- Should I show the client the breakdown?
- Show one number on the quote, rounded up to a clean figure. Keep the breakdown ready in case they ask. Itemised travel invites an argument over each line.
- Does switching between miles and kilometres change the fee?
- No. The distances and the per unit rate convert together, so the fee stays the same apart from a few cents of rounding.
Quote travel before the client books
On Xposure your packages, contract and deposit sit on one booking page, so the travel line is in front of the client before they pay.
See how bookings work7 more free tools for photographers are on the tools index: gallery platform cost calculator, delivery count planner, package builder, effective hourly rate, photo licensing fee calculator, cancellation policy generator and portfolio speed check.