March 7, 2025 • 39 mins
Traveling with friends and family is all fun and games—until the bill arrives! 🤑 Who gets the master suite, and who’s stuck on the sleeper sofa? Should the big eaters and cocktail lovers pay the same as the light snackers? And what about those must-do activities—do you split them evenly or let everyone do their own thing?
In this episode, we’re tackling the sometimes awkward (but totally necessary) conversation about who pays for what on group trips. We’ll break down the best ways to divide accommodation costs, split meal tabs without drama, and balance group adventures with solo time—all while keeping the travel vibes stress-free. 🌍✨
Join us as we share real-life travel money mishaps, expert tips on keeping things fair, and must-know tools to make expense tracking a breeze. Whether you’re the planner of the group or just along for the ride, this episode will help you keep your friendships and your budget intact!
📢 Have a group travel money horror story? Email us or drop us a voicemail—we just might share it in a future episode!
#GroupTravel #TravelMoneyMatters #SuitcaseDivas #WhoPaysForWhat #TravelWithFriends
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hey guys, so welcome to Suitcase Divas.
Today we are going to betalking about group travel and
how you split the cost for that.
Talking about group travel andhow you split the cost for that.
So traveling with friends andfamily is amazing until it's
time to split the bill, and Ithink that we're going to talk a
little bit more about how to gointo doing it more fairly.
(00:37):
So in this episode, we'rediving into the nitty gritty of
group travel, from dividingaccommodations fairly, uh, to
planning activities that arekind of balancing the group
versus solo time, and, um, we'llhelp you to navigate the tricky
world of the shared expenses,hopefully without trying to
avoid the drama.
(00:58):
Right, that's what our goal istoday.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Cause you can't.
We've we've been on these tripsand if you don't have
conversations before, it canlead to drama and who's doing
what.
So and we've talked about thisbefore this type of this is.
This topic has come up inmultiple conversations about how
do you split it up, where doyou split it up and what are you
(01:21):
splitting up?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, and I think that I think what the biggest
takeaway here is going to be iscommunication is key.
It's always going into it withan under clear understanding of
of who's paying for what andwho's sleeping where and how
you're structuring thatbreakdown so what are your
expectations as a traveler?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
as someone who's spending the money Like if I'm
forking over money I have acertain expectation of how I've
spent that money.
So it's very interesting whenwe were doing research for this,
the different things that wefound.
Yeah, with our own experiencesas well.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So let's talk accommodations, sleeping
arrangements.
Okay.
So equal splitting versustiered splitting.
Does the person that's sleepingon the sleeper sofa in the
living room split the sameamount or pay the same amount as
the friends or couple that isin the master suite with a big
private bathroom in the shower?
(02:19):
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I think that's probably the first question most
people talk about, and when Isay I'm going to say argue about
.
But what's what I found inthese chats and discussing with
other people is so many peopledon't really want to have the
conversations of who's gettingthe twin bed or who's for the
bunk beds, or the children'sbunk beds.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I'm not paying the same for a bunk bed.
I know that I'm probably goingto be cracked out in by the
second night and I mean I needat at this point in my life.
Ms D is not sleeping on a bunkbed.
I'm just telling you that.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I will say there I like how you said at your point
in your life right now, becausethere are plenty of times where
I've gone on group trips,especially with kids, like, if
I've gone with other moms, ourkids, I'm like I'll take the
sleeper sofa or I'll take thetwin, or we've even taken air
mattresses and I'm like, yeah,I'm bringing a good air mattress
, I'll I'll sleep on that andthe the price has been split
(03:20):
evenly.
However, now I want a bed.
I really it depends on thelength of the trip, but I really
want a bed.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And, and I always had no problem.
What if we were doing it with?
Each family got a room.
We had no problem If there wasonly one bed and our kids would
sleep on the sleeper sofa.
I mean that?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I mean, oh, that's another thing that came up was
when you're traveling withfamily and let's say they got a
big Airbnb or a big cabin orsomething like that the families
and there's five rooms, butthere's six family members this
isn't counting like theiroffspring so you've got like mom
and dad in one room and thenyou've got the married siblings
(04:02):
in the other room and then youhave one single sibling dad in
one room, and then you've gotthe married siblings in the
other room and then you have onesingle sibling.
A lot of things I read is thatsingle sibling usually gets
stuck to the sleeper sofa.
While the kids might get a room, the grandkids, the younger
kids might get a room, insteadof putting that single adult
sibling in their own room andletting the kids sleep on the
(04:23):
sleeper sofa.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I saw that a lot in the Reddit threads when I was
looking at that situation Ithink the adult should get his
own room, absolutely the adultsibling, because kids, kids can
sleep anywhere in their littlebodies.
They get the damn sleeper sofa.
The bar in the back is not myfriend, but I will say oh sorry,
(04:46):
go ahead.
No, I'm just saying I would giveprecedent over.
But I will say if we're in aroom and you want two rooms out
of that house and because youwant your husband and wife to
sleep together and then you wantyour kids in a separate room,
you should have to pay twice asmuch than me fitting all my two
(05:07):
children and in my room on asleeper sofa.
I mean, I don't want to keepcalling it a sleeper sofa.
It's always an air mattress,it's that kind of plug in and
it's a sleeping setup and mykids were always fine and
sometimes the closet would bebig enough that they had their
own little kind of fort type ofdeal.
Like've done, try to make itfun or whatever.
But the point is I'm not payingthe same amount.
(05:32):
If all my children are in oneroom and you've bedroom house,
you're dividing by the bedrooms.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
But if you have a five bedroom house, say, with a
loft, and someone is expected tosleep in that loft, are you
then splitting it by person?
Are you then that person justdoesn't like?
Then I think you have to takeinto consideration a different
(05:58):
style of split.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Right, and that should be a discussion you have
up front before you take thetrip.
Because, like my friend, mybestie, tony, he always wants
his own room and his ownbathroom, and he is not.
He makes really good money, sohe doesn't have a problem with
paying Like he's one person in aroom, but he wants his own room
and he doesn't mind splittingit per room because he wants
(06:20):
that extra space for himself.
Right, and we've always hadthat understanding up front.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You know I agree with that.
My next question, talking aboutaccommodations, would be
Splitting up the rooms, becauseusually there's always the
master and then there's one thathas like four beds in it or
three beds, whatever it's gotlike a queen and a bunk bed or
something.
How do you decide who gets themaster?
And then also to follow up withthat, does the planner slash
(06:48):
organizer of this entire tripget first dibs on the room, like
what?
That's another.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
My friend group, the answer is no, I do not.
But what we have done in thepast, usually when we have a
girl, our college besties, agroup of six of us ladies, and
so we always try to get a threebedroom.
Now we do just to be mindful.
In the past we've tried to belike okay, you guys got the
master suite last time, so thistime somebody else gets it, and
(07:14):
we've had to draw straws too.
We've even drawn straws for whorooms with who as not to have
to be like I don't, I don't wanta room with her.
No, I don't want to room withher.
You know what I mean.
Like we're all friends and atthe end of the day, you're just
sleeping in a bed for whateveramount of time.
Um my only requirement there isI'll sleep with whichever of my
lovely friends I get the name of, but I do want to bet.
(07:38):
I don't want and I don't thinkthat the sleeper sofa person in
the living room that does nothave their own bathroom, that
does not have their own privacy,should have to pay the same
amount as somebody that has alegit bed in bathroom and shower
at their disposal.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You know there is a lot that goes into figuring out,
um, who gets to bed, who'spaying for what, which is why,
honestly, most of the time, Iprefer a hotel.
I really would rather we blockrooms in a hotel.
We put that way Everybody hasbeds, there's a bathroom.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I just I think what takes the fun out of that a
little bit is, at least in anAirbnb or in a house, you have
that common living room whereyou can watch movies or play
games late night.
I did like that, like when wewent to the beach we had the
three bedroom condo.
Airbnb or in a house, you havethat common living room where
you can watch movies or playgames late night.
I did like that, like when wewent to the beach we had the
three bedroom condo.
It was perfect because weeverybody had their own bed,
everybody got their own bed, um,and it was nice to have the
(08:37):
kitchen in the living room wherewe played board games and cards
and we had that bonding time.
And I think that it takes awayin a hotel, but if you're at a,
it depends on what you're tryingto get out of that trip.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That was our girl's trip retreat where we were doing
at the beach, which you do havea lot more downtime.
I and you're not going out andabout as much.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I totally get that I think that depends on you know
what you're looking to get outof the trip too.
You know, Yep, and it's hardfor us to justify not getting
the discount at the Marriott's,but we have the Marriott villas
and stuff too, so we're kind ofextra yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And I think that might be some of it too is like
if I'm going to be paying thismuch for a room and an Airbnb
that I one would have topotentially clean up, which I
did not, that I messy, I doclean up, but I like the, I like
the perks of a hotel.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I don't go down and get breakfast coffee.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I don't have to do anything now with the girls trip
or with a group trip wherewe're all trying to hang out and
it's more of a social wherewe're really chilling at the loc
, at the lodging, as opposed tospending a lot of time out and
about, and our plans are to likecook meals or eat, and I
totally get the value in that.
And that kind of leads us intothe next conversation.
(09:56):
The next thing you have toconsider on group trips is food.
Are you, if you're at an Airbnb?
Are you and you're cooking?
How are you splitting groceries?
Are you if you're at an Airbnband you're cooking?
How are you splitting groceries?
If you do go out to dinner andyou have a large group, how are
you splitting that?
bill Are you splitting it evenly?
Are you doing single checks?
But here's the kicker with thatSome places don't.
(10:17):
Once you have like I think it'seight or more, some are six or
more they don't let you splitthe check and then they already
charge gratuity on top of that.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
So how?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
are we splitting the checks?
What do we do with the drinkersversus the non-drinkers?
Like that goes into, and also,like you and I've had this
discussion, we don't we pick, wesplit an entree.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
We can split an appetizer and be fully,
completely full Cause we're justsnacking, we're drinking some
vino.
So this is a.
This has definitely been apoint of contention when I've
gone on two trips because,because of that same thing, some
of my friends are reallyfoodies and they want to get an
appetizer and they want to getthe meals, and then they want to
(11:00):
get dessert, and then they wantto.
You know what I mean.
Like that's a lot of layers offood that I don't want anything
to do with.
Like you know what I mean.
Like I don't eat a lot of foodand I'm not really a foodie.
So I for me, when it was thesix of us and they've all had
appetizers and the main dishesand the desserts and stuff like
that, and I've had like a saladin my glass of wine.
(11:22):
It's like the friends episode.
She's like oh, yes.
She's like I'll have a sidesalad on whatever they're having
and thank you.
And she's like and what elseshe's like?
You can just put it right here,but she's just like.
She's like I don't think youguys understand that we don't
make as much money as you orwe're not as invested in food as
you.
We're not as invested in foodas you.
(11:45):
You know what I mean.
Like if all you're interested inis having a dessert and a glass
of wine, whereas person theother person has an appetizer
and a meal and a dessert, thatperson that just had a piece of
pie and a glass of winedefinitely shouldn't be
splitting equally with whateverybody else at the table got,
you know.
So I I've had to bring that upin my friend group and my friend
group has been amazing about itand they they're like we
(12:06):
totally agree, cause we see thatyou eat like a bird and we're
over here noshing on our lasagnaand we're still going to get
the cheesecake.
So you know, they do realizethat we have very different
eating habits.
Um, so my friend group has beengreat about it, but I do know
that it's a point of contentionwithin a lot of other group
(12:27):
parties.
Have you had it come up whereyou are with a group.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Not particularly where it was such a habit.
But honestly, I don't go out aton where we're in such large
groups that I can't get a splitbill or I can't go up and pay at
the bar or something like thatI can.
I can't say, hey, can I have mybill on the side, or something
like that.
But what makes it awkward forme is if we're at a group
(12:56):
setting and the server comes upto ask split check and we hadn't
had that conversation, I don'twant to answer it that I
hesitate to answer.
Well, I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I've.
I can't want to answer it, thatI hesitate to answer.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Well, I don't, I've, I can't speak for the whole
group.
I don't feel comfortable.
I'm fine with a group check andI said, if I'm with a group of
people I know and I'mcomfortable with, because I and
which is usually how it is I'massuming we're all on the same
page and I trust my friends forus to settle up, and it's and
often it's like okay, I grabbeddinner tonight, you grab it
(13:29):
tomorrow, kind of thing If we'reout and about.
But that can bite you in theass too, because you have a big
dinner one night and I don't I'mwith you.
I don't like to eat unless I'mgoing somewhere where food is.
Like when we went to Hawaii, Iate everywhere I could because I
was experienced.
I'm not a foodie, but I likefood.
(13:50):
I don't know enough about food.
I don't have the fancy palate,but if you put something in
front of me that looks or smellsor I'm in a new area, I want to
try something new.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And you like seafood, so that would be the perfect
place in Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, just anywhere I go that's different from
outside of what I would normallyget.
I'm absolutely going to try itbut I'm not going to eat heavy
like that.
I don't eat heavy when I travel.
I have this.
I'm one of those people thathave this huge phobia of getting
some type of stomach issue on avacation, so I'm very cautious
about what I eat.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I'm not a huge branch or outer.
You know this.
You're not, and I am.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So there are times where, like I'll eat, well I'll,
we'll go out.
I would rather go out one nightand then just splurge on dinner
and figure out, like, try allthe things of the area that
we're in, and then the rest ofthe time I'm fine having smaller
meals throughout the day, orsnacks or packing as we go.
I don't like sit down dinners alot.
I want to once in a while Idon't want to sit in a
(14:48):
restaurant all night and shootthe shit.
I really want to kind of go dosomething or listen to music or
whatever.
So my biggest thing is when Iwant to know what our plan is
going in.
Are we splitting the check orare we settling up later?
That's really just.
My thing is, I will go alongwith it until it becomes a
(15:09):
problem within that friend groupwhere it's somewhat, if we're
splitting the check evenly andit's becoming known, oh well,
this person's constantlyordering most expensive item on
the meal and I'm ordering overhere my go-to chicken quesadilla
.
If it's a place I really like,you know and I go too often,
kind of thing, whatever it is.
Yeah, I hear you.
Ultimately, like you said againin this convert, in this, in
(15:32):
this part, you've got to have aconversation, make a plan now
buying groceries If you'restaying at Airbnb, yeah, I've
done this with family, um, whenI've traveled with family, we
have talked about, okay, youhave dinner this night or you're
in charge of the meals that day, lunch and dinner, um, but that
just means you have to bringstuff for everybody to make a
(15:54):
sandwich or make something forlunch.
You don't have to cook that,but you do have to figure, you
have to plan this day's mealsperiod.
And they kind of alternate.
Everybody had a day.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
We've done that before in the big family beach
trips and stuff, and we all havea night.
We're responsible for cookingif we're not going out to dinner
that night and and that worksout, that's.
That wasn't a big group.
There was like 25 of us in this, that spring break group, so it
just made more sense foreverybody to kind of take on a
(16:24):
night of dinner.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
But you know, what stresses me out is when we try
to make a menu.
When we were planning the beachtrip in October and everybody
wanted to plan the menu menulike we're having this this
night for dinner, we're havingthis this night for dinner, so
we got to bring this seasoning,we got to bring this and that
let's try to bring X, y, z fromhome so we don't have to buy a
grocery store, right, we bringthe bare necessities, like we
(16:46):
will bring our bread, maybe some, and actually now that the kids
are older, we don't travel withthem as often.
We rarely pack anything exceptfor what we already have in our
house that we might want, andthen we just grocery shop when
we're there.
I don't want to have to at thispoint that stressed me out.
I was like guys, I really don'tcare what we eat, because, if it
(17:07):
comes down to it, I will eatsome ramen and a sandwich.
If we're sitting out at thehotel or at the Airbnb drinking
and playing games, I'm good,Give me some chips and salsa.
I don't want to have to workthat hard to go on vacation.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah absolutely, I'm totally on board with you there
and I think that, as long asyou're having discussions about
what the expectations are goinginto the trip um, because
there's been there's been somepeople that are like I'm not
cooking for a group of 25 onthat night.
I'll have it catered in andI'll pay for it or whatever, but
I don't want to cook, and thenthat's your choice too.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
No worries.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I would rather you know I don't mind, I don't mind
doing the cooking for one night.
That's not a big deal, but, um.
But when you are going out torestaurants and trying to figure
all that all out, um, we cameacross an amazing app, um, when
we were just doing our umresearch.
And what is that app?
Called Cheryl.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Split wise.
I had never heard of this, butwhen it's fabulous, right.
So Denise and I pulled andcreated a mock trip just to see
what it was like.
I put in some expenses, she putin some expenses, so we were
able to create the trip and onour dashboard it shows just that
trip and so obviously, if wehad more we could, it would show
different trips or familygroups.
(18:25):
That's the other thing I hadwas family groups, but this is
for trip purposes.
We created the trip and I threwin some expenses and who was
paying, how the split was.
Are we splitting it evenly?
Who paid it?
And then she threw in some sothat I could see what it looked
like.
This app told us okay, so andso, like, denise paid this, so
(18:46):
you owe her this.
And then, if I yeah, it keepstrack of everything for you.
And we added a third personjust so we could see, because
obviously two is easy to figureout.
But we did add a third personjust to see what it was, and it
said what the split would belike, three ways.
So we could even take that andsay, okay, don't split this
(19:07):
evenly.
Split, give us like 20% to thethird person, because they may
have not ordered drinks thatnight and we want to take that
off if it was a drinking eventor whatever.
So I really liked that you wereable to do that, and then there
was a settle button so you canhit the settle up to show.
So-and-so, settled up with X, y, z.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And you can even take pictures of your receipts, like
now that was, I will.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
that was on the pro version, so the free version
lets you do what I had, justwhat we were just talking about
creating the group, adding yourpeople, and everybody can add
the expenses and how they'resplit, for I think it was like
$40 for the year you can.
Can you do it monthly or it'sonly?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
a year.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
You can do monthly.
It was four, 94, 99, I think, amonth, um.
But if you were someone whotravels a lot or goes out with
groups or or has a family andyou want to keep track, I would
check into it, cause to me ifI'm paying three, three or four
months, it's just worth it forme to pay that one time.
So I don't forget to not renewevery month.
Yeah, no, I get you, if you doget the um pro version, you do
(20:16):
get to upload your receipts,which, honestly, that right
there is huge.
So while you're at therestaurant you already have this
group trip set up in your app.
You just open the app, add theexpense, scan it right there.
You don't have to worry aboutlosing it.
I was just telling Denise Istill have not entered in our
receipts from our last divastrip from January.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
They're still in a Ziploc bag on.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I actually think they're in my coat pocket that I
wore on that trip.
I don't think I've even takenthem out.
But this way I could easily dothat.
But you get unlimited expenses.
What else does it have?
Um, we don't need that one.
Charts and graphs receiptreceipts was the biggest thing.
Itemization Uh, what else doyou get?
There's some other new features, but yes, I definitely check
(21:03):
out split wise guys.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
It's it's worth checking into.
Um, if you do group outingswith food in in lodging in any
of that good stuff.
So definitely definitely checkthat out.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
All right.
So we talked about likesplitting rooms and splitting
meals and how does that work?
But what about time?
We've previously talked aboutdifferent types of travelers,
those that just like to kind oftake, take it slower.
Either their morning people andthey're up and going, or their
night people, or whatever.
Or they want a group activity,or they just want to sit back
(21:36):
and relax.
So when you're planning a grouptrip and you're planning your
time and your activities, howare we splitting that?
Are you allowing time for solo?
Are you expecting everybody todo everything together?
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I think when you're on vacation, you should.
You should be able to do whatas much as you want together,
and if, but if you want somedowntime, like this is going to
be an uh.
I I keep talking about ourupcoming trip to Napa, Um, but
so some people want to do like amud bath and I you would not
pay me to sit inside of my bath,so, but there's other things at
(22:11):
the spa I want to do.
But if that was something thatthey just wanted to do and I
just wanted to, like, buy abottle of wine and overlook, you
know, just sit outside andenjoy whatever with my book, I
think it should be whatever youwant to do.
It should never be mandatory.
And not to mention, the otherthing was that was like $270 for
this mud bath, and I thinkthat's such a waste of money.
(22:34):
I'd rather be buying wine,bottles of wine with that money.
That's my priority.
We're in Napa.
I'd much rather spend my extrafunds or my vacation funds on a
wine tasting versus sitting in amud bath.
So I think that I think youshould definitely be allowed to
do both.
I don't think anything shouldbe mandatory, you know, because
(22:55):
then it's just not.
As you're not.
You don't have the freedom todo what you want to do on
vacation, and it's not going tobe the best vacation you could
have, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I agree.
I think when you're planning agroup vacation or a group
getaway, you should plan foryour own downtime or not have
the expectation that everybody'stogether.
I think when it's a specificstyle of trip, whether it's like
take a bridal party, forexample, if you're going away
for a bridal weekend, abachelorette party.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
there's expectations that that is a group outing and
you're there to support thebride, so you really need to go
along with what she wants.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
But even in that, instance, before you plan those
activities and I say this to theplanners of the group as part
of I like to be the planner ofactivities like that You've got
to make sure the activitiesyou're planning especially if
you're expecting everybody toparticipate you're staying
within everybody's budget.
You need to know upfront whatthe expectations are of what
(23:58):
people are willing to spend,cause usually, if it's some type
of like wedding celebration orbirthday celebration, you're
covering somebody else's cost aswell.
So not only are you paying foryour own, but you're kicking in
some for whoever you'recelebrating.
So there needs to be it needsto be very transparent on what's
going on and what theexpectations are from the
(24:18):
planner, from the person beingcelebrated as well as from the
travelers.
Like that's a lot to navigateand make sure you're being
respectful of everybody.
And I think even in thatinstance of a bachelorette party
let's use that as an exampleyou can have a plan and have
five activities for the weekendand someone still be able to sit
(24:40):
it out because they're like one.
I don't like it.
It's not my jam If I were tosay, hey, denise, we're going to
, I want to go celebrate for mybirthday and I want to go back
to Vegas and jump off thestratosphere.
You're not going to do that.
I sure am not, sweetie, I wouldnever expect that Exactly, like
we can make a combo of thosethings.
(25:00):
Or if I was doing somethinglike it was going to take a
couple hours, like zip lining,you wouldn't want to go, so I'd
be like, girl, you sit back hereand have some drink and read
your book, and then I'll tellyou about it and show you the
pictures when I get back.
Like I think we need to berespectful of our fellow
travelers just as much as we areof the person we're celebrating
.
When it comes to planninggroups, like group trips, where
(25:21):
that is the expectation, Right?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, I agree, Like in and for this Napa trip, they
want to hire a private chef onenight to come in and cook and
and I can appreciate that and sofor that I, depending on the
cost I mean I'm not spendinglike $300 a person but if it's
kind of you know, within areasonable budget of what I
would have spent eating out at arestaurant that night, then
(25:45):
then I'll take one for the teamthere, Cause they really want to
do it.
There's six of us, even thoughI'm not a foodie and I would
probably pay way less.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
It's still part of the experience at that point.
It's part of the friend groupexperience.
You're talking that up to theexperience.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I think that that's why youhave to be a little bit flexible
when you're with a group andand I will say it comes with
experience too Our girl group inour twenties was a bit more uh,
not as understanding, I wouldsay, maybe just because they
they come from differentbackgrounds.
You know I'm, I put myselfthrough college.
(26:17):
I was always working two jobs.
I was always more mindful ofwhat I was spending because I
didn't have.
I didn't have.
My parents didn't just send meoff to college and I had certain
amount of money.
I was given a month that thatdid not happen.
I put myself through school andyou know so.
So we all have differentbackgrounds and dynamics, and
(26:39):
financial situations is what itreally comes down to, especially
when you're young.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Well, even as we get older, we're all in different
phases of our life, even thoughwe might be in the same.
We all might be married withkids, but we're still at
different financial stages ofour life.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
And I think we're more understanding.
You see what I'm saying.
I think as adults we're moremature about it and we
understand that Sally might nothave as much money as Katie, but
you know we can figure it outso that Sally's not
uncomfortable.
You know what I mean.
We want to make everybody feellike they're having a good trip.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
So yeah, how do we?
What are some good ideas orgood ways to avoid all this
money drama before a group trip?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I think I really think it comes down to just
clear communication of whatyou're willing to spend,
understanding the expectationthat everybody is allowed to
participate in whateverexcursions they want, and if
they don't want to go, theyshould be able to kick it back
(27:47):
home and read a book, versus godrop $150 on a wine tasting.
You know what I mean.
Like we have this gorgeoushouse rented with a beautiful
fenced in backyard and a hot tuband all that stuff, so I'm
probably not going to be goingout wine tasting every single
time.
I probably just buy a bottle atOxbow market and come, kick it
(28:08):
in the hot tub and listen to mymusic and just chillax Cause you
know that's that is kind of myhappy place, that downtime and
that just enjoying theenvironment that, to me, I look
forward to.
So it doesn't have to be likego, go, go, go.
You know yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I definitely think communication is key Number one.
Let everybody know whateverybody's expectation is.
I also think this is somethingthat people often don't think
about when they're planninggroup trips what happens if
someone has to cancel after thenumber and the budget has been
set or even deposits are beingmade Because they think you have
(28:45):
to divide it by five instead ofsix or whatever Then it becomes
.
so there needs to be a plan inplace for is any of the money
refundable?
Or I actually read a story onreddit about someone from a
group trip suing the planner ofthat trip because it was a
planner or a friend that wasplanning, because it was the
(29:07):
planner of the trip, the friendwho was the organizer of the
trip, not a traveling, not aprofessional or anything like
that this was just because inevery group trip there is
someone who is organizing it.
The level of what they dodepends on that personality and
that friend.
But, there's usually someonewho's spearheading hey, let's
get this going, who's making thereservations, who's doing this
(29:29):
and that?
So this planner, the organizerof this group, got sued by the
person who canceled after allthe deposits and everything had
been paid.
It was almost, I think, at thefinal payment towards.
So they were that close toleaving and they couldn't get
the money back becauseeverything had been paid for.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
I think you are responsible as somebody going on
the trip.
You shouldn't be able to justwash your hands of all the money
you know.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I mean, I guess it depends on the situation and it
depends on when you cancel andhow far along in the planning
are we Right?
And what's the reason forcanceling.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
If it's that you got another, better offer, then I
think you should have be heldaccountable.
If your mom died or somethinglike that, there was a death in
the family where you lost.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah because I think, um, this particular one, I
don't remember because I read acouple one lady had, um, lost
her job and she had tried, andthen she was just like I can't,
but this one, the one that sued,what would?
Oh, I, oh, I know why.
It was um, a group, oh, andthis is something I don't
(30:37):
recommend, and this is why Irecommend, if you are trying to
put a large group together,reach out to a professional
planner, a travel agent or atravel concierge or travel
organizer, because they have thetools to keep the personal out
of this.
But these two ladies decidedthey they do a yearly trip and
they wanted to make it a women'strip.
(30:58):
So they advertised it in liketheir local chat group, whatever
they were in Facebook.
They had some connection, butthey didn't personally know
these people.
They ended up, say, with 10people going as they were going
through the stages.
It ended up being six and someof the things that they had
scheduled, they had originallyplanned for, they had to scale
(31:19):
back as people dropped off.
So right before near departuretime, I mean, I don't know, I
don't remember how far apart itwas from them leaving the lady
who wanted to cancel let's callher Karen, not that I know she's
been a Karen, but I'm justsaying that.
So, anyway, she said I thoughtthere would be more going on
(31:42):
this trip and you didn't do X, yand Z.
You, instead of getting thishouse, you got this house.
Well, they scaled back thehouse because they scaled back
the people and they weretransparent about this.
Through all this Going, throughall of this, they had made them
, them, they had paid all of it.
At this point, I believe,everything had been paid for
pretty much, and she's like Iwant the money back and you
(32:03):
can't really do that, you can'treally get that, because that
lady, the planner, would havebeen paying out of pocket
because everything had been paidfor at this point.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, um so at that point I think that's on karen
unless, if so, the girl thatlost her job hold on this wasn't
in here.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
That was a different one.
This one who's getting?
Who is suing the two?
This is why I want to be clearabout um.
So when you're planning a grouplike this, especially with
people that aren't the, youdon't know them super well
because I wouldn't do that.
First of all, she said you brokethe contract.
This was the keyword you thisis what you originally said in
(32:44):
your email, in your Facebookposts, whatever it was.
She said this is what you saidyou were, we were going to do,
and throughout, let's say, ittook them six months to plan
this.
Throughout the six months,these three things change.
That's why you broke thiscontract and I'm suing you for
it because you won't give me themoney.
First, that wasn't a contract.
Um, this lady isn't a travelagent, right?
(33:06):
She's just she's just uh, shejust like somebody out there who
said let me put this grouptogether.
So I'm just forewarning peopleI had never heard of this.
The headline on Reddit drew mein because I'm like oh, who is
suing somebody from a group tripand what?
What did that entail?
And I don't think she canlegally do that.
Who knows?
I mean, you can sue foranything, but whether she'll win
is neither here nor there.
(33:27):
But just to prevent that typeof thing, cover yourself, guys,
you want to.
It's a CYA moment.
Be careful about how you'rewording things, be careful where
you're advertising this stuffand make sure you're being super
transparent and can and keepingwritten, keeping everything
documented.
That's what I'm looking for.
(33:48):
But anyway, that was just mylittle warning and, like hey,
seek out help.
There are people out there liketravel professionals, yes,
travel professionals that.
Do that.
I was shocked when I read thatone, that one.
I actually saved that onebecause I'm like, ooh, I'm going
to go back and read the wholecomments.
I read some of the comments.
I didn't get a chance to readthem all, but I thought that was
(34:08):
interesting.
Um, what do you think abouthaving a designated money person
?
That was one of the thingssuggested.
In a group setting like that, Idon't we've never done that.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I've never done that either.
That seems weird.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I actually saw a TikTok the other day and maybe
it's because I've beenresearching this and looking up
stories, but it was a guy sayingmy wife and her friends have a
shared bank account where theyall put in a certain amount of
money.
They just drop things in hereand there and they use it for
trips.
They use it for each other'sbirthdays, so if they have to
buy a gift or they're going out,to dinner, as long as you have
(34:48):
an understanding going into it.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
We always joke that we're going to have a compound
someday right, but we've nevertalked about the finance part of
it, which this makes me think.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
But this guy was like this, he thought it was genius.
He says, first of all my wife.
He was like my wife has a bankaccount with five other women.
I don't remember how many therewere, and then in the comments
it was so it was like 50, 50,like oh, this is a sisterhood.
They're amazing.
They've established this,they've made each other
priorities.
And then there were others inhere like those are more of the
(35:19):
legal and the financialprofessionals, like guys, this
is a nightmare, please don't dothis.
And it was just veryinteresting.
That is interesting.
Yeah, so I thought having thatand they're like are, do you?
Are there groups out?
This is a good question.
Hey, do you know, or are youpart of groups that have a
shared friend, either bankaccount or you or you?
Speaker 1 (35:39):
This is a bizarre concept.
I want to know who out there,what besties, have a shared bank
account out there, yeah, and,and has it ever caused any kind
of drama with one friend maybetaking buying something out of
the group?
Speaker 2 (35:53):
that not everybody approved of.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Right, that's a crazy dynamic concept.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
But the way he was describing it was beautiful,
cause he's like if they have afriend that has a milestone,
they they just automaticallyknow they can send her flowers
from that account.
If they have someone pass awayin their family, they
automatically know they can sendthat someone's taking care of
that.
I just he was like all for it.
He was like I was surprised,but also me and my wife's got
(36:20):
some good people in her life andI'm like I could see how that
could go both ways Right.
That's how I was feeling.
I was like I don't know if.
But then, like you said, wejoke about creating a compound
and living on it with our groupof friends and we've never even
thought about the financial,because, honestly, we probably
all just be like either we'recooking or we're ordering in and
(36:42):
someone's gonna take over.
That's funny though, but I justthought it was interesting.
I don't know anybody.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I don't know any of my friend girls that have like a
joint bank account um Me either.
It is an interesting concept,so let us know if you guys have
got that situation going on,then we want to hear about it
and how's it working out.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Also, let us know what you your thoughts are on
planning group trips and how yousplit everything up.
How are you splitting up therooms and the cost of the room
and who gets what room?
How are you planning youractivities?
Are you expecting the group toparticipate in all or, hey,
we're putting this agendatogether?
(37:26):
If you come, you come.
How are you putting your grouptrips together?
Let us know.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
That is about all we have fortoday, just again.
I think the big key takeaway isgo into it with open
communication.
You know what I mean.
The communication is key andnot all friend groups may have
may vacation the way others will.
Maybe there's somebody that'slike I don't care if it's a
sleeper sofa, I sleep like ababy.
(37:53):
I like when I hit my head, hitsthe pillow, I'm out, so I don't
.
All it's a sleeper sofa, Isleep like a baby.
I like when I hit my head, hitsthe pillow, I'm out, so I don't
.
All right If you come back withthat answer.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
let let us know what age group you're into what?
What generation are you?
Because I is this an age thing?
Cause I am too old to settlefor the air mattress.
Now that my thought I am tooold for the air mattress and too
fluffy because and check outsplitwise guys.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Check out splitwise the app it's.
They've got a free version andlet us know if you've been using
it and how you like it.
Um, so yeah, the group travelcan be amazing.
You just have to to have clearcommunication of what you're
getting out of the trip ahead oftime, and that will cut back on
the drama.
So we hope that you found thisepisode helpful and I think
(38:44):
that's going to do it for today.
Happy traveling, guys.
Bye, guys, bye.
Hey guys, so welcome to Suitcase Divas.
Today we are going to betalking about group travel and
how you split the cost for that.
Talking about group travel andhow you split the cost for that.
So traveling with friends andfamily is amazing until it's
time to split the bill, and Ithink that we're going to talk a
little bit more about how to gointo doing it more fairly.
(00:37):
So in this episode, we'rediving into the nitty gritty of
group travel, from dividingaccommodations fairly, uh, to
planning activities that arekind of balancing the group
versus solo time, and, um, we'llhelp you to navigate the tricky
world of the shared expenses,hopefully without trying to
avoid the drama.
(00:58):
Right, that's what our goal istoday.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Cause you can't.
We've we've been on these tripsand if you don't have
conversations before, it canlead to drama and who's doing
what.
So and we've talked about thisbefore this type of this is.
This topic has come up inmultiple conversations about how
do you split it up, where doyou split it up and what are you
(01:21):
splitting up?
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, and I think that I think what the biggest
takeaway here is going to be iscommunication is key.
It's always going into it withan under clear understanding of
of who's paying for what andwho's sleeping where and how
you're structuring thatbreakdown so what are your
expectations as a traveler?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
as someone who's spending the money Like if I'm
forking over money I have acertain expectation of how I've
spent that money.
So it's very interesting whenwe were doing research for this,
the different things that wefound.
Yeah, with our own experiencesas well.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
So let's talk accommodations, sleeping
arrangements.
Okay.
So equal splitting versustiered splitting.
Does the person that's sleepingon the sleeper sofa in the
living room split the sameamount or pay the same amount as
the friends or couple that isin the master suite with a big
private bathroom in the shower?
(02:19):
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I think that's probably the first question most
people talk about, and when Isay I'm going to say argue about
.
But what's what I found inthese chats and discussing with
other people is so many peopledon't really want to have the
conversations of who's gettingthe twin bed or who's for the
bunk beds, or the children'sbunk beds.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I'm not paying the same for a bunk bed.
I know that I'm probably goingto be cracked out in by the
second night and I mean I needat at this point in my life.
Ms D is not sleeping on a bunkbed.
I'm just telling you that.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I will say there I like how you said at your point
in your life right now, becausethere are plenty of times where
I've gone on group trips,especially with kids, like, if
I've gone with other moms, ourkids, I'm like I'll take the
sleeper sofa or I'll take thetwin, or we've even taken air
mattresses and I'm like, yeah,I'm bringing a good air mattress
, I'll I'll sleep on that andthe the price has been split
(03:20):
evenly.
However, now I want a bed.
I really it depends on thelength of the trip, but I really
want a bed.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
And, and I always had no problem.
What if we were doing it with?
Each family got a room.
We had no problem If there wasonly one bed and our kids would
sleep on the sleeper sofa.
I mean that?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I mean, oh, that's another thing that came up was
when you're traveling withfamily and let's say they got a
big Airbnb or a big cabin orsomething like that the families
and there's five rooms, butthere's six family members this
isn't counting like theiroffspring so you've got like mom
and dad in one room and thenyou've got the married siblings
(04:02):
in the other room and then youhave one single sibling dad in
one room, and then you've gotthe married siblings in the
other room and then you have onesingle sibling.
A lot of things I read is thatsingle sibling usually gets
stuck to the sleeper sofa.
While the kids might get a room, the grandkids, the younger
kids might get a room, insteadof putting that single adult
sibling in their own room andletting the kids sleep on the
(04:23):
sleeper sofa.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I saw that a lot in the Reddit threads when I was
looking at that situation Ithink the adult should get his
own room, absolutely the adultsibling, because kids, kids can
sleep anywhere in their littlebodies.
They get the damn sleeper sofa.
The bar in the back is not myfriend, but I will say oh sorry,
(04:46):
go ahead.
No, I'm just saying I would giveprecedent over.
But I will say if we're in aroom and you want two rooms out
of that house and because youwant your husband and wife to
sleep together and then you wantyour kids in a separate room,
you should have to pay twice asmuch than me fitting all my two
(05:07):
children and in my room on asleeper sofa.
I mean, I don't want to keepcalling it a sleeper sofa.
It's always an air mattress,it's that kind of plug in and
it's a sleeping setup and mykids were always fine and
sometimes the closet would bebig enough that they had their
own little kind of fort type ofdeal.
Like've done, try to make itfun or whatever.
But the point is I'm not payingthe same amount.
(05:32):
If all my children are in oneroom and you've bedroom house,
you're dividing by the bedrooms.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
But if you have a five bedroom house, say, with a
loft, and someone is expected tosleep in that loft, are you
then splitting it by person?
Are you then that person justdoesn't like?
Then I think you have to takeinto consideration a different
(05:58):
style of split.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Right, and that should be a discussion you have
up front before you take thetrip.
Because, like my friend, mybestie, tony, he always wants
his own room and his ownbathroom, and he is not.
He makes really good money, sohe doesn't have a problem with
paying Like he's one person in aroom, but he wants his own room
and he doesn't mind splittingit per room because he wants
(06:20):
that extra space for himself.
Right, and we've always hadthat understanding up front.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You know I agree with that.
My next question, talking aboutaccommodations, would be
Splitting up the rooms, becauseusually there's always the
master and then there's one thathas like four beds in it or
three beds, whatever it's gotlike a queen and a bunk bed or
something.
How do you decide who gets themaster?
And then also to follow up withthat, does the planner slash
(06:48):
organizer of this entire tripget first dibs on the room, like
what?
That's another.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
My friend group, the answer is no, I do not.
But what we have done in thepast, usually when we have a
girl, our college besties, agroup of six of us ladies, and
so we always try to get a threebedroom.
Now we do just to be mindful.
In the past we've tried to belike okay, you guys got the
master suite last time, so thistime somebody else gets it, and
(07:14):
we've had to draw straws too.
We've even drawn straws for whorooms with who as not to have
to be like I don't, I don't wanta room with her.
No, I don't want to room withher.
You know what I mean.
Like we're all friends and atthe end of the day, you're just
sleeping in a bed for whateveramount of time.
Um my only requirement there isI'll sleep with whichever of my
lovely friends I get the name of, but I do want to bet.
(07:38):
I don't want and I don't thinkthat the sleeper sofa person in
the living room that does nothave their own bathroom, that
does not have their own privacy,should have to pay the same
amount as somebody that has alegit bed in bathroom and shower
at their disposal.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You know there is a lot that goes into figuring out,
um, who gets to bed, who'spaying for what, which is why,
honestly, most of the time, Iprefer a hotel.
I really would rather we blockrooms in a hotel.
We put that way Everybody hasbeds, there's a bathroom.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I just I think what takes the fun out of that a
little bit is, at least in anAirbnb or in a house, you have
that common living room whereyou can watch movies or play
games late night.
I did like that, like when wewent to the beach we had the
three bedroom condo.
Airbnb or in a house, you havethat common living room where
you can watch movies or playgames late night.
I did like that, like when wewent to the beach we had the
three bedroom condo.
It was perfect because weeverybody had their own bed,
everybody got their own bed, um,and it was nice to have the
(08:37):
kitchen in the living room wherewe played board games and cards
and we had that bonding time.
And I think that it takes awayin a hotel, but if you're at a,
it depends on what you're tryingto get out of that trip.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That was our girl's trip retreat where we were doing
at the beach, which you do havea lot more downtime.
I and you're not going out andabout as much.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I totally get that I think that depends on you know
what you're looking to get outof the trip too.
You know, Yep, and it's hardfor us to justify not getting
the discount at the Marriott's,but we have the Marriott villas
and stuff too, so we're kind ofextra yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
And I think that might be some of it too is like
if I'm going to be paying thismuch for a room and an Airbnb
that I one would have topotentially clean up, which I
did not, that I messy, I doclean up, but I like the, I like
the perks of a hotel.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I don't go down and get breakfast coffee.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I don't have to do anything now with the girls trip
or with a group trip wherewe're all trying to hang out and
it's more of a social wherewe're really chilling at the loc
, at the lodging, as opposed tospending a lot of time out and
about, and our plans are to likecook meals or eat, and I
totally get the value in that.
And that kind of leads us intothe next conversation.
(09:56):
The next thing you have toconsider on group trips is food.
Are you, if you're at an Airbnb?
Are you and you're cooking?
How are you splitting groceries?
Are you if you're at an Airbnband you're cooking?
How are you splitting groceries?
If you do go out to dinner andyou have a large group, how are
you splitting that?
bill Are you splitting it evenly?
Are you doing single checks?
But here's the kicker with thatSome places don't.
(10:17):
Once you have like I think it'seight or more, some are six or
more they don't let you splitthe check and then they already
charge gratuity on top of that.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
So how?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
are we splitting the checks?
What do we do with the drinkersversus the non-drinkers?
Like that goes into, and also,like you and I've had this
discussion, we don't we pick, wesplit an entree.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
We can split an appetizer and be fully,
completely full Cause we're justsnacking, we're drinking some
vino.
So this is a.
This has definitely been apoint of contention when I've
gone on two trips because,because of that same thing, some
of my friends are reallyfoodies and they want to get an
appetizer and they want to getthe meals, and then they want to
(11:00):
get dessert, and then they wantto.
You know what I mean.
Like that's a lot of layers offood that I don't want anything
to do with.
Like you know what I mean.
Like I don't eat a lot of foodand I'm not really a foodie.
So I for me, when it was thesix of us and they've all had
appetizers and the main dishesand the desserts and stuff like
that, and I've had like a saladin my glass of wine.
(11:22):
It's like the friends episode.
She's like oh, yes.
She's like I'll have a sidesalad on whatever they're having
and thank you.
And she's like and what elseshe's like?
You can just put it right here,but she's just like.
She's like I don't think youguys understand that we don't
make as much money as you orwe're not as invested in food as
you.
We're not as invested in foodas you.
(11:45):
You know what I mean.
Like if all you're interested inis having a dessert and a glass
of wine, whereas person theother person has an appetizer
and a meal and a dessert, thatperson that just had a piece of
pie and a glass of winedefinitely shouldn't be
splitting equally with whateverybody else at the table got,
you know.
So I I've had to bring that upin my friend group and my friend
group has been amazing about itand they they're like we
(12:06):
totally agree, cause we see thatyou eat like a bird and we're
over here noshing on our lasagnaand we're still going to get
the cheesecake.
So you know, they do realizethat we have very different
eating habits.
Um, so my friend group has beengreat about it, but I do know
that it's a point of contentionwithin a lot of other group
(12:27):
parties.
Have you had it come up whereyou are with a group.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Not particularly where it was such a habit.
But honestly, I don't go out aton where we're in such large
groups that I can't get a splitbill or I can't go up and pay at
the bar or something like thatI can.
I can't say, hey, can I have mybill on the side, or something
like that.
But what makes it awkward forme is if we're at a group
(12:56):
setting and the server comes upto ask split check and we hadn't
had that conversation, I don'twant to answer it that I
hesitate to answer.
Well, I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I've.
I can't want to answer it, thatI hesitate to answer.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Well, I don't, I've, I can't speak for the whole
group.
I don't feel comfortable.
I'm fine with a group check andI said, if I'm with a group of
people I know and I'mcomfortable with, because I and
which is usually how it is I'massuming we're all on the same
page and I trust my friends forus to settle up, and it's and
often it's like okay, I grabbeddinner tonight, you grab it
(13:29):
tomorrow, kind of thing If we'reout and about.
But that can bite you in theass too, because you have a big
dinner one night and I don't I'mwith you.
I don't like to eat unless I'mgoing somewhere where food is.
Like when we went to Hawaii, Iate everywhere I could because I
was experienced.
I'm not a foodie, but I likefood.
(13:50):
I don't know enough about food.
I don't have the fancy palate,but if you put something in
front of me that looks or smellsor I'm in a new area, I want to
try something new.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And you like seafood, so that would be the perfect
place in Hawaii.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Well, just anywhere I go that's different from
outside of what I would normallyget.
I'm absolutely going to try itbut I'm not going to eat heavy
like that.
I don't eat heavy when I travel.
I have this.
I'm one of those people thathave this huge phobia of getting
some type of stomach issue on avacation, so I'm very cautious
about what I eat.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I'm not a huge branch or outer.
You know this.
You're not, and I am.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So there are times where, like I'll eat, well I'll,
we'll go out.
I would rather go out one nightand then just splurge on dinner
and figure out, like, try allthe things of the area that
we're in, and then the rest ofthe time I'm fine having smaller
meals throughout the day, orsnacks or packing as we go.
I don't like sit down dinners alot.
I want to once in a while Idon't want to sit in a
(14:48):
restaurant all night and shootthe shit.
I really want to kind of go dosomething or listen to music or
whatever.
So my biggest thing is when Iwant to know what our plan is
going in.
Are we splitting the check orare we settling up later?
That's really just.
My thing is, I will go alongwith it until it becomes a
(15:09):
problem within that friend groupwhere it's somewhat, if we're
splitting the check evenly andit's becoming known, oh well,
this person's constantlyordering most expensive item on
the meal and I'm ordering overhere my go-to chicken quesadilla
.
If it's a place I really like,you know and I go too often,
kind of thing, whatever it is.
Yeah, I hear you.
Ultimately, like you said againin this convert, in this, in
(15:32):
this part, you've got to have aconversation, make a plan now
buying groceries If you'restaying at Airbnb, yeah, I've
done this with family, um, whenI've traveled with family, we
have talked about, okay, youhave dinner this night or you're
in charge of the meals that day, lunch and dinner, um, but that
just means you have to bringstuff for everybody to make a
(15:54):
sandwich or make something forlunch.
You don't have to cook that,but you do have to figure, you
have to plan this day's mealsperiod.
And they kind of alternate.
Everybody had a day.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
We've done that before in the big family beach
trips and stuff, and we all havea night.
We're responsible for cookingif we're not going out to dinner
that night and and that worksout, that's.
That wasn't a big group.
There was like 25 of us in this, that spring break group, so it
just made more sense foreverybody to kind of take on a
(16:24):
night of dinner.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
But you know, what stresses me out is when we try
to make a menu.
When we were planning the beachtrip in October and everybody
wanted to plan the menu menulike we're having this this
night for dinner, we're havingthis this night for dinner, so
we got to bring this seasoning,we got to bring this and that
let's try to bring X, y, z fromhome so we don't have to buy a
grocery store, right, we bringthe bare necessities, like we
(16:46):
will bring our bread, maybe some, and actually now that the kids
are older, we don't travel withthem as often.
We rarely pack anything exceptfor what we already have in our
house that we might want, andthen we just grocery shop when
we're there.
I don't want to have to at thispoint that stressed me out.
I was like guys, I really don'tcare what we eat, because, if it
(17:07):
comes down to it, I will eatsome ramen and a sandwich.
If we're sitting out at thehotel or at the Airbnb drinking
and playing games, I'm good,Give me some chips and salsa.
I don't want to have to workthat hard to go on vacation.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah absolutely, I'm totally on board with you there
and I think that, as long asyou're having discussions about
what the expectations are goinginto the trip um, because
there's been there's been somepeople that are like I'm not
cooking for a group of 25 onthat night.
I'll have it catered in andI'll pay for it or whatever, but
I don't want to cook, and thenthat's your choice too.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
No worries.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I would rather you know I don't mind, I don't mind
doing the cooking for one night.
That's not a big deal, but, um.
But when you are going out torestaurants and trying to figure
all that all out, um, we cameacross an amazing app, um, when
we were just doing our umresearch.
And what is that app?
Called Cheryl.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Split wise.
I had never heard of this, butwhen it's fabulous, right.
So Denise and I pulled andcreated a mock trip just to see
what it was like.
I put in some expenses, she putin some expenses, so we were
able to create the trip and onour dashboard it shows just that
trip and so obviously, if wehad more we could, it would show
different trips or familygroups.
(18:25):
That's the other thing I hadwas family groups, but this is
for trip purposes.
We created the trip and I threwin some expenses and who was
paying, how the split was.
Are we splitting it evenly?
Who paid it?
And then she threw in some sothat I could see what it looked
like.
This app told us okay, so andso, like, denise paid this, so
(18:46):
you owe her this.
And then, if I yeah, it keepstrack of everything for you.
And we added a third personjust so we could see, because
obviously two is easy to figureout.
But we did add a third personjust to see what it was, and it
said what the split would belike, three ways.
So we could even take that andsay, okay, don't split this
(19:07):
evenly.
Split, give us like 20% to thethird person, because they may
have not ordered drinks thatnight and we want to take that
off if it was a drinking eventor whatever.
So I really liked that you wereable to do that, and then there
was a settle button so you canhit the settle up to show.
So-and-so, settled up with X, y, z.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And you can even take pictures of your receipts, like
now that was, I will.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
that was on the pro version, so the free version
lets you do what I had, justwhat we were just talking about
creating the group, adding yourpeople, and everybody can add
the expenses and how they'resplit, for I think it was like
$40 for the year you can.
Can you do it monthly or it'sonly?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
a year.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
You can do monthly.
It was four, 94, 99, I think, amonth, um.
But if you were someone whotravels a lot or goes out with
groups or or has a family andyou want to keep track, I would
check into it, cause to me ifI'm paying three, three or four
months, it's just worth it forme to pay that one time.
So I don't forget to not renewevery month.
Yeah, no, I get you, if you doget the um pro version, you do
(20:16):
get to upload your receipts,which, honestly, that right
there is huge.
So while you're at therestaurant you already have this
group trip set up in your app.
You just open the app, add theexpense, scan it right there.
You don't have to worry aboutlosing it.
I was just telling Denise Istill have not entered in our
receipts from our last divastrip from January.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
They're still in a Ziploc bag on.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I actually think they're in my coat pocket that I
wore on that trip.
I don't think I've even takenthem out.
But this way I could easily dothat.
But you get unlimited expenses.
What else does it have?
Um, we don't need that one.
Charts and graphs receiptreceipts was the biggest thing.
Itemization Uh, what else doyou get?
There's some other new features, but yes, I definitely check
(21:03):
out split wise guys.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
It's it's worth checking into.
Um, if you do group outingswith food in in lodging in any
of that good stuff.
So definitely definitely checkthat out.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
All right.
So we talked about likesplitting rooms and splitting
meals and how does that work?
But what about time?
We've previously talked aboutdifferent types of travelers,
those that just like to kind oftake, take it slower.
Either their morning people andthey're up and going, or their
night people, or whatever.
Or they want a group activity,or they just want to sit back
(21:36):
and relax.
So when you're planning a grouptrip and you're planning your
time and your activities, howare we splitting that?
Are you allowing time for solo?
Are you expecting everybody todo everything together?
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I think when you're on vacation, you should.
You should be able to do whatas much as you want together,
and if, but if you want somedowntime, like this is going to
be an uh.
I I keep talking about ourupcoming trip to Napa, Um, but
so some people want to do like amud bath and I you would not
pay me to sit inside of my bath,so, but there's other things at
(22:11):
the spa I want to do.
But if that was something thatthey just wanted to do and I
just wanted to, like, buy abottle of wine and overlook, you
know, just sit outside andenjoy whatever with my book, I
think it should be whatever youwant to do.
It should never be mandatory.
And not to mention, the otherthing was that was like $270 for
this mud bath, and I thinkthat's such a waste of money.
(22:34):
I'd rather be buying wine,bottles of wine with that money.
That's my priority.
We're in Napa.
I'd much rather spend my extrafunds or my vacation funds on a
wine tasting versus sitting in amud bath.
So I think that I think youshould definitely be allowed to
do both.
I don't think anything shouldbe mandatory, you know, because
(22:55):
then it's just not.
As you're not.
You don't have the freedom todo what you want to do on
vacation, and it's not going tobe the best vacation you could
have, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I agree.
I think when you're planning agroup vacation or a group
getaway, you should plan foryour own downtime or not have
the expectation that everybody'stogether.
I think when it's a specificstyle of trip, whether it's like
take a bridal party, forexample, if you're going away
for a bridal weekend, abachelorette party.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
there's expectations that that is a group outing and
you're there to support thebride, so you really need to go
along with what she wants.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
But even in that, instance, before you plan those
activities and I say this to theplanners of the group as part
of I like to be the planner ofactivities like that You've got
to make sure the activitiesyou're planning especially if
you're expecting everybody toparticipate you're staying
within everybody's budget.
You need to know upfront whatthe expectations are of what
(23:58):
people are willing to spend,cause usually, if it's some type
of like wedding celebration orbirthday celebration, you're
covering somebody else's cost aswell.
So not only are you paying foryour own, but you're kicking in
some for whoever you'recelebrating.
So there needs to be it needsto be very transparent on what's
going on and what theexpectations are from the
(24:18):
planner, from the person beingcelebrated as well as from the
travelers.
Like that's a lot to navigateand make sure you're being
respectful of everybody.
And I think even in thatinstance of a bachelorette party
let's use that as an exampleyou can have a plan and have
five activities for the weekendand someone still be able to sit
(24:40):
it out because they're like one.
I don't like it.
It's not my jam If I were tosay, hey, denise, we're going to
, I want to go celebrate for mybirthday and I want to go back
to Vegas and jump off thestratosphere.
You're not going to do that.
I sure am not, sweetie, I wouldnever expect that Exactly, like
we can make a combo of thosethings.
(25:00):
Or if I was doing somethinglike it was going to take a
couple hours, like zip lining,you wouldn't want to go, so I'd
be like, girl, you sit back hereand have some drink and read
your book, and then I'll tellyou about it and show you the
pictures when I get back.
Like I think we need to berespectful of our fellow
travelers just as much as we areof the person we're celebrating
.
When it comes to planninggroups, like group trips, where
(25:21):
that is the expectation, Right?
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Yeah, I agree, Like in and for this Napa trip, they
want to hire a private chef onenight to come in and cook and
and I can appreciate that and sofor that I, depending on the
cost I mean I'm not spendinglike $300 a person but if it's
kind of you know, within areasonable budget of what I
would have spent eating out at arestaurant that night, then
(25:45):
then I'll take one for the teamthere, Cause they really want to
do it.
There's six of us, even thoughI'm not a foodie and I would
probably pay way less.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
It's still part of the experience at that point.
It's part of the friend groupexperience.
You're talking that up to theexperience.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I think that that's why youhave to be a little bit flexible
when you're with a group andand I will say it comes with
experience too Our girl group inour twenties was a bit more uh,
not as understanding, I wouldsay, maybe just because they
they come from differentbackgrounds.
You know I'm, I put myselfthrough college.
(26:17):
I was always working two jobs.
I was always more mindful ofwhat I was spending because I
didn't have.
I didn't have.
My parents didn't just send meoff to college and I had certain
amount of money.
I was given a month that thatdid not happen.
I put myself through school andyou know so.
So we all have differentbackgrounds and dynamics, and
(26:39):
financial situations is what itreally comes down to, especially
when you're young.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Well, even as we get older, we're all in different
phases of our life, even thoughwe might be in the same.
We all might be married withkids, but we're still at
different financial stages ofour life.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
And I think we're more understanding.
You see what I'm saying.
I think as adults we're moremature about it and we
understand that Sally might nothave as much money as Katie, but
you know we can figure it outso that Sally's not
uncomfortable.
You know what I mean.
We want to make everybody feellike they're having a good trip.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
So yeah, how do we?
What are some good ideas orgood ways to avoid all this
money drama before a group trip?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I think I really think it comes down to just
clear communication of whatyou're willing to spend,
understanding the expectationthat everybody is allowed to
participate in whateverexcursions they want, and if
they don't want to go, theyshould be able to kick it back
(27:47):
home and read a book, versus godrop $150 on a wine tasting.
You know what I mean.
Like we have this gorgeoushouse rented with a beautiful
fenced in backyard and a hot tuband all that stuff, so I'm
probably not going to be goingout wine tasting every single
time.
I probably just buy a bottle atOxbow market and come, kick it
(28:08):
in the hot tub and listen to mymusic and just chillax Cause you
know that's that is kind of myhappy place, that downtime and
that just enjoying theenvironment that, to me, I look
forward to.
So it doesn't have to be likego, go, go, go.
You know yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I definitely think communication is key Number one.
Let everybody know whateverybody's expectation is.
I also think this is somethingthat people often don't think
about when they're planninggroup trips what happens if
someone has to cancel after thenumber and the budget has been
set or even deposits are beingmade Because they think you have
(28:45):
to divide it by five instead ofsix or whatever Then it becomes
.
so there needs to be a plan inplace for is any of the money
refundable?
Or I actually read a story onreddit about someone from a
group trip suing the planner ofthat trip because it was a
planner or a friend that wasplanning, because it was the
(29:07):
planner of the trip, the friendwho was the organizer of the
trip, not a traveling, not aprofessional or anything like
that this was just because inevery group trip there is
someone who is organizing it.
The level of what they dodepends on that personality and
that friend.
But, there's usually someonewho's spearheading hey, let's
get this going, who's making thereservations, who's doing this
(29:29):
and that?
So this planner, the organizerof this group, got sued by the
person who canceled after allthe deposits and everything had
been paid.
It was almost, I think, at thefinal payment towards.
So they were that close toleaving and they couldn't get
the money back becauseeverything had been paid for.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
I think you are responsible as somebody going on
the trip.
You shouldn't be able to justwash your hands of all the money
you know.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
I mean, I guess it depends on the situation and it
depends on when you cancel andhow far along in the planning
are we Right?
And what's the reason forcanceling.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
If it's that you got another, better offer, then I
think you should have be heldaccountable.
If your mom died or somethinglike that, there was a death in
the family where you lost.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah because I think, um, this particular one, I
don't remember because I read acouple one lady had, um, lost
her job and she had tried, andthen she was just like I can't,
but this one, the one that sued,what would?
Oh, I, oh, I know why.
It was um, a group, oh, andthis is something I don't
(30:37):
recommend, and this is why Irecommend, if you are trying to
put a large group together,reach out to a professional
planner, a travel agent or atravel concierge or travel
organizer, because they have thetools to keep the personal out
of this.
But these two ladies decidedthey they do a yearly trip and
they wanted to make it a women'strip.
(30:58):
So they advertised it in liketheir local chat group, whatever
they were in Facebook.
They had some connection, butthey didn't personally know
these people.
They ended up, say, with 10people going as they were going
through the stages.
It ended up being six and someof the things that they had
scheduled, they had originallyplanned for, they had to scale
(31:19):
back as people dropped off.
So right before near departuretime, I mean, I don't know, I
don't remember how far apart itwas from them leaving the lady
who wanted to cancel let's callher Karen, not that I know she's
been a Karen, but I'm justsaying that.
So, anyway, she said I thoughtthere would be more going on
(31:42):
this trip and you didn't do X, yand Z.
You, instead of getting thishouse, you got this house.
Well, they scaled back thehouse because they scaled back
the people and they weretransparent about this.
Through all this Going, throughall of this, they had made them
, them, they had paid all of it.
At this point, I believe,everything had been paid for
pretty much, and she's like Iwant the money back and you
(32:03):
can't really do that, you can'treally get that, because that
lady, the planner, would havebeen paying out of pocket
because everything had been paidfor at this point.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah, um so at that point I think that's on karen
unless, if so, the girl thatlost her job hold on this wasn't
in here.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
That was a different one.
This one who's getting?
Who is suing the two?
This is why I want to be clearabout um.
So when you're planning a grouplike this, especially with
people that aren't the, youdon't know them super well
because I wouldn't do that.
First of all, she said you brokethe contract.
This was the keyword you thisis what you originally said in
(32:44):
your email, in your Facebookposts, whatever it was.
She said this is what you saidyou were, we were going to do,
and throughout, let's say, ittook them six months to plan
this.
Throughout the six months,these three things change.
That's why you broke thiscontract and I'm suing you for
it because you won't give me themoney.
First, that wasn't a contract.
Um, this lady isn't a travelagent, right?
(33:06):
She's just she's just uh, shejust like somebody out there who
said let me put this grouptogether.
So I'm just forewarning peopleI had never heard of this.
The headline on Reddit drew mein because I'm like oh, who is
suing somebody from a group tripand what?
What did that entail?
And I don't think she canlegally do that.
Who knows?
I mean, you can sue foranything, but whether she'll win
is neither here nor there.
(33:27):
But just to prevent that typeof thing, cover yourself, guys,
you want to.
It's a CYA moment.
Be careful about how you'rewording things, be careful where
you're advertising this stuffand make sure you're being super
transparent and can and keepingwritten, keeping everything
documented.
That's what I'm looking for.
(33:48):
But anyway, that was just mylittle warning and, like hey,
seek out help.
There are people out there liketravel professionals, yes,
travel professionals that.
Do that.
I was shocked when I read thatone, that one.
I actually saved that onebecause I'm like, ooh, I'm going
to go back and read the wholecomments.
I read some of the comments.
I didn't get a chance to readthem all, but I thought that was
(34:08):
interesting.
Um, what do you think abouthaving a designated money person
?
That was one of the thingssuggested.
In a group setting like that, Idon't we've never done that.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
I've never done that either.
That seems weird.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I actually saw a TikTok the other day and maybe
it's because I've beenresearching this and looking up
stories, but it was a guy sayingmy wife and her friends have a
shared bank account where theyall put in a certain amount of
money.
They just drop things in hereand there and they use it for
trips.
They use it for each other'sbirthdays, so if they have to
buy a gift or they're going out,to dinner, as long as you have
(34:48):
an understanding going into it.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
We always joke that we're going to have a compound
someday right, but we've nevertalked about the finance part of
it, which this makes me think.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
But this guy was like this, he thought it was genius.
He says, first of all my wife.
He was like my wife has a bankaccount with five other women.
I don't remember how many therewere, and then in the comments
it was so it was like 50, 50,like oh, this is a sisterhood.
They're amazing.
They've established this,they've made each other
priorities.
And then there were others inhere like those are more of the
(35:19):
legal and the financialprofessionals, like guys, this
is a nightmare, please don't dothis.
And it was just veryinteresting.
That is interesting.
Yeah, so I thought having thatand they're like are, do you?
Are there groups out?
This is a good question.
Hey, do you know, or are youpart of groups that have a
shared friend, either bankaccount or you or you?
Speaker 1 (35:39):
This is a bizarre concept.
I want to know who out there,what besties, have a shared bank
account out there, yeah, and,and has it ever caused any kind
of drama with one friend maybetaking buying something out of
the group?
Speaker 2 (35:53):
that not everybody approved of.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Right, that's a crazy dynamic concept.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
But the way he was describing it was beautiful,
cause he's like if they have afriend that has a milestone,
they they just automaticallyknow they can send her flowers
from that account.
If they have someone pass awayin their family, they
automatically know they can sendthat someone's taking care of
that.
I just he was like all for it.
He was like I was surprised,but also me and my wife's got
(36:20):
some good people in her life andI'm like I could see how that
could go both ways Right.
That's how I was feeling.
I was like I don't know if.
But then, like you said, wejoke about creating a compound
and living on it with our groupof friends and we've never even
thought about the financial,because, honestly, we probably
all just be like either we'recooking or we're ordering in and
(36:42):
someone's gonna take over.
That's funny though, but I justthought it was interesting.
I don't know anybody.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
I don't know any of my friend girls that have like a
joint bank account um Me either.
It is an interesting concept,so let us know if you guys have
got that situation going on,then we want to hear about it
and how's it working out.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Also, let us know what you your thoughts are on
planning group trips and how yousplit everything up.
How are you splitting up therooms and the cost of the room
and who gets what room?
How are you planning youractivities?
Are you expecting the group toparticipate in all or, hey,
we're putting this agendatogether?
(37:26):
If you come, you come.
How are you putting your grouptrips together?
Let us know.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
That is about all we have fortoday, just again.
I think the big key takeaway isgo into it with open
communication.
You know what I mean.
The communication is key andnot all friend groups may have
may vacation the way others will.
Maybe there's somebody that'slike I don't care if it's a
sleeper sofa, I sleep like ababy.
(37:53):
I like when I hit my head, hitsthe pillow, I'm out, so I don't
.
All it's a sleeper sofa, Isleep like a baby.
I like when I hit my head, hitsthe pillow, I'm out, so I don't
.
All right If you come back withthat answer.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
let let us know what age group you're into what?
What generation are you?
Because I is this an age thing?
Cause I am too old to settlefor the air mattress.
Now that my thought I am tooold for the air mattress and too
fluffy because and check outsplitwise guys.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
Check out splitwise the app it's.
They've got a free version andlet us know if you've been using
it and how you like it.
Um, so yeah, the group travelcan be amazing.
You just have to to have clearcommunication of what you're
getting out of the trip ahead oftime, and that will cut back on
the drama.
So we hope that you found thisepisode helpful and I think
(38:44):
that's going to do it for today.
Happy traveling, guys.
Bye, guys, bye.
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