Does every Welsh council use Tariff 2 at night?

Most publish a night or weekend band. The hours differ. Cardiff Tariff 3 is 10 pm–5 am. Swansea Tariff 2 covers late weekday nights and Friday evening into the weekend. Read that council’s table.

Is the Cardiff night flag higher than the day flag?

No. Cardiff’s flag stays £3.50. The night and late bands charge the same 20p on fewer yards, so a longer trip costs more. That is not a private-hire quote.

Does an app use the night meter?

No. A pre-booked private-hire car is the price you agreed when you booked. The council night table is for licensed hackneys on journeys those rules cover.

Friday night taxi vs the weekday table

A weekday daytime hackney and a Friday night hackney are often two lines on the same council table. The flag you remember from lunchtime may still be on the meter. The yards, or the whole band, may not.

Cardiff: same flag, steeper yards

Cardiff Council’s table, checked 24 August 2026, keeps a £3.50 flag for the first 250 yards on Tariff 1, 2 and 3.

Tariff 1 — Monday to Friday, 5 am to 8 pm, except public holidays. Then 20p per 170 yards.
Tariff 2 — Monday to Friday 8 pm to 10 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 5 am to 10 pm. Then 20p per 150 yards.
Tariff 3 — 10 pm to 5 am any day, or any time on a public holiday. Then 20p per 130 yards.

The night bill rises because the increments are shorter, not because the flag jumps. A planning example on the Cardiff fare page puts about two miles on Tariff 1, no waiting, near £7.50. The same road after 10 pm uses Tariff 3. Waiting is also charged more often on the night bands (every 30 seconds at 30p under Tariff 3, versus every 40 seconds on Tariff 1).

Swansea: the flag rises

Swansea’s table, checked 19 August 2026, changes the start as well as the hours.

Tariff 1 — weekdays and Saturday daytime as published: flag £2.50 for the first ⅛ mile, then 30p per ⅛ mile.
Tariff 2 — late nights, Friday evening into Saturday morning, Saturday evening into Monday morning, and bank holidays: flag £3.00, then 40p per 251 yards.
Tariff 3 — Christmas and New Year windows on the Swansea page: flag £4.50 (published as Tariff 2 plus 50%).

A Friday after 6 pm in Swansea is already Tariff 2 on that table. See Swansea taxi fares.

Wrexham and the quiet table

Wrexham’s published template on this site, checked 19 August 2026, shows a single Tariff 1 band (flag £2.80 for the first half-mile). If the live council page still has only one band, do not invent a Friday night rise. Open Wrexham taxi fares and the council link on that page before you argue with the driver.

What this is not

A pre-booked app or minicab does not flip to Tariff 3 at 10 pm. That car is private hire. The price is the one you agreed when you booked. See hackney vs private hire.

Stadium and concert nights still use the same rule: rank and meter for a hackney, quote for a booked car. See Six Nations in Cardiff for the match-weekend version of that split.

What to do before you get in

Ask which tariff the meter is on, or look at the hours on the town fare page. If it is private hire, agree the price before the bags go in. The Friday night surprise is usually the wrong product, or the right product on the night band you had not read.