The travel calculator works out how far a venue actually is, so you're pricing travel on real numbers rather than a guess at the map.
Using it
- In the Basic step of the proposal builder, find Travel Cost.
- Turn on Use Travel Calculator.
- Enter your starting address.
- Select Calculate.
You get back:
- From — your starting address
- To — the venue
- Distance
- Duration — drive time by car
Turning that into a price
The calculator gives you the journey, not the charge. What to weigh:
Double it. The result is one way. You're going home too.
Cost your time. Drive time is working time. A 45-minute each-way trip is an hour and a half you can't sell to anyone else. Most DJs undercharge here, and it's the main reason a distant booking feels worse than it looked.
Add tolls and parking. City venues in particular.
Consider the hour. A 40-minute drive at 2am is not the same as one at 6pm. If the finish is late, that's worth reflecting.
Check whether you can get home at all. If not, the overnight goes in — as travel cost, or as an additional item so the client can see what it is.
Which starting address
Where you and your equipment actually leave from. If your kit lives at a studio or lock-up, use that.
Sanity-checking the venue
The calculator is also a quick check that the address the client entered is a real place near where they said. A result that comes back much further than expected usually means the address lookup landed on the wrong town — worth confirming in the conversation before you quote.
When to skip it
Local bookings where you already know the drive. Typing the figure in directly is faster.
Setting expectations
Drive time is based on typical traffic. If you're playing a Saturday evening in a city centre, plan your own arrival with more margin than the number suggests.