Ask me anything: charging for travel
My ‘ask me anything’ segment is where I take questions about live illustration asked in my Insta Broadcast Channel and answer them, first and foremost, in my newsletter. Which, if you’re not on my emailing list, do yourself a solid and sign up here.
To kick off the series, some graduates from my course Learn & Master Live Illustration @cherepearstudio and @divinelines_adelaide asked:
“How do you factor in travel and accommodation to the job quote?” and “… decision factors when jobs are far?”
There are two ways to charge your client for travel and accommodation:
Ask the client to handle all travel (flights + accommodation)
Charge a travel fee, and handle it all yourself. You can charge additional fees (like an additional 20% admin fee).
I prefer the first option because I hate admin haha, so for my recent Adelaide trip for Paspaley’s event, they handled the logistics and just sent me the flight and accommodation details. It means a little bit of blind trust with their decisions, but honestly it saves me so much time doing it myself that I don't mind.
Whichever way you choose, always make sure travel is accounted for in the total quote and that you’re not absorbing the cost!
And just a little reminder: all business-related travel expenses, including meals and Ubers, are tax-deductible. Keep those receipts!
As for my decision factors, the main one is ‘how badly do I want this job?’ compared to ‘what I'll be sacrificing?’. If I have to drive 1 hour+ to an event, the answer is usually no because a) I dislike driving for long periods, and b) It usually means I get home late and am tired the next day for my kids. Honestly, if I had a chauffeur, I'd probably do it more often haha.
That said, I’ve said yes to jobs where the couple have offered accommodation for my family and I, so it becomes a ‘mini-holiday’. It’s rare, but I’m grateful for those opportunities! Remember, every job is different, and only you know what you’re willing to sacrifice.
I mentioned to always make sure travel is accounted for in the total quote. The standard is between 50c-$1 per km. For me, I include all travel within Sydney metro in my regular booking fee. But anywhere outside that gets charged at $1/km. And don’t forget to include the return trip, too!
Remember: your time is valuable. Your energy is valuable. And your car (or flights and accommodation!) cost money.
If you’ve got more questions like this, pop them into my Instagram Broadcast Channel and I’ll keep answering them in my newsletters (and here on the blog)!
