WHEN PLANNING A BIG NIGHT OUT, WE’LL ADMIT THAT MOST OF OUR ‘PLANNING TIME’ USED TO GO ON FINDING THE PERFECT BAR, THE PERFECT COMPANY AND THE PERFECT OUTFIT (NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER).

However, now that the His & Hers team is a little older and (ahem) hopefully wiser, we’ve started working out how we’re going to get home in advance and, trust us, it’s a revelation. Like discovering the joys of getting into bed under freshly washed bed linen, it turns out that ordering your ride home before you’ve even taken the first sip of your cocktail is the way forward.

Yes, we know it’s tempting to wait ’til the end of the night and then hastily order an Uber. However, as much as we like the speed and convenience of this option, it’s almost impossible to predict what your final bill will be due to surge charging (the system under which Uber raises prices when demand is high). Just ask this Wallasey woman, featured in the Echo, who paid £90 for a 25-minute journey that would usually cost less than £30 due to high demand for taxis during the Champions League final.

So if sticking to a budget is important to you (and frankly it is to the His & Hers team, as we’d much rather spend our cocktail budget on cocktails, rather than big taxi fares) it could be well worth working out when you’ll be ready to head home in advance and getting a quote from a local taxi company in advance. That way you’ll be able to pre-book your ride and enjoy your evening even more, secure in the knowledge that when you’re ready to call it a night, your driver will be ready and waiting to whisk you home.

Alternatively, if you know that you or one of your friends won’t be drinking, this could provide another perfect opportunity to get organised and arrange to travel home together. And if you get together with the same group of friends regularly, taking it in turns to be the designated driver could take the hassle out of getting home (and ensure that at least one of you will be waking up feeling fresh the next morning!)

And if you and your friends really enjoy driving, you could even pool your resources and invest all of the money you’ve saved on taxis into owning your own, using a company like Cab Direct to snap up a new or used taxi. We know this sounds extreme, but if you’re looking for a career change or even just a side hustle, it’s worth a google, as companies like Addison Lee are currently running initiatives to entice more women into the career.

If you have any other tips for planning your travel for the perfect night out, please share them with us in the comments section or via our social media channels below.

We’re proud to bring you this feature in association with Cab Direct, the UK’s leading taxi sales specialist.

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Image courtesy of: Cath Kidston.