she doesn't want the job and is charging you extra for her drive. also with ai you don't need them anymore so she is a moron to do so.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all for posting. I appreciate the varied perspectives. As I said, we liked her work and would like to continue working with her, but I want to see if we can keep the costs down overall. We have a call scheduled today and travel time charges will be an item for discussion.

I don't know how fair it is to ask about this for a professional whose work you value.

I assume you or your spouse work in a business/office role. When (if?) you travel, you do not pay for your own tickets and hotel rooms because your client/company values your contribution and wants to get you in the room. This is the same thing scaled way down. If you don't want to pay her rate, find a more local designer. But don't ask her not to charge it.

I charge travel time. It's a similar (much reduced) rate and based on the Google Maps estimate of the trip, not what it takes in traffic or with stops.

Thanks, all for posting. I appreciate the varied perspectives. As I said, we liked her work and would like to continue working with her, but I want to see if we can keep the costs down overall. We have a call scheduled today and travel time charges will be an item for discussion.

Anonymous wrote:A couple of years ago we worked with an interior designer on a primary bedroom addition to our house. She did a good job and we liked working with her. Now we'd like to hire her to work on our basement remodel (guest bedroom, bath and sitting area). She's now living farther away from our house and is proposing to charge us for travel time at a the rate of $40/hour. If you've worked with a designer or are one yourself, I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether this is customary. Thanks.

So if she sits in traffic accident for 3 hours she gets 120? I wouldnt pay it but I would offer to reimburse mileage at the current govt rate. Thats just asking for abuse.

Mine charged by the hour for her services bur provided me an overall estimate for each portion of the project. She ate some hours on the initial design because she got into the weeds researching some things. I then paid her hourly rate for some additional construction management. I do not know if she charged her travel time. Much of the time she invested in my project was from her own office and invisible to me. However, if she is planning on working an seven or eight hour billable day, I am not too fussed if she charges her one-hour travel time from Northern Va to DC. I too travel to see clients, and spend about half the business day in the car. It sucks, but that's the high traffic reality of our dense region.

I think it’s very fair because you being far away adds considerably to her cost including time. She didn’t want to say flat no to you, and her pricing doesn’t accommodate that extra cost. So she came up with something.

I have had other consultants charge for travel. It is becoming more commonplace with fuel prices being so high. It is fair when you consider that the further away you are from their office, the more time they are being uncompensated for if they do not charge for travel.

$40/hr seems fair to me. I mean she has to buy grocery and pay bills too you know?

Agreed, it doesn’t matter if it’s customary. That’s what it would take to make the job right for her. She will not be upset or offended if you say no.

Doesn't really matter if it's customary, what really matters is if it's worth it to you, and how often you'll have to have her come to your house.


Some charge, some don't. Some charge only outside a certain range.

A couple of years ago we worked with an interior designer on a primary bedroom addition to our house. She did a good job and we liked working with her. Now we'd like to hire her to work on our basement remodel (guest bedroom, bath and sitting area). She's now living farther away from our house and is proposing to charge us for travel time at a the rate of $40/hour. If you've worked with a designer or are one yourself, I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether this is customary. Thanks.