A Redditor is questioning whether they should have to pay the same amount as their friends with children on vacation after a group trip led to a disagreement over money. Reddit user u/Rough_Bet1422 raised the question in the r/AmITheAsshole subreddit, explaining that the vacation plans were going smoothly until it was time to divide the expenses. The Redditor doesn’t have children and questioned the arrangement, especially after the group had to book a larger Airbnb to accommodate the kids. The post had received approximately 6,100 upvotes and 1,100 comments at the time of writing.
The Redditor initially agreed to split the vacation costs but reconsidered when the expenses increased because of the children. “When it came time to divide the cost, everyone suggested splitting the total equally among the five adults. I disagreed,” they wrote.
They explained that their objection wasn’t about the children themselves. Instead, they didn’t think it was fair to charge everyone the same amount when some of the additional costs came from accommodating the kids.
The suggestion didn’t go over well with the group.
“One of my friends said children shouldn’t count when splitting expenses because they don’t have jobs or incomes. Another said I was being selfish and that vacations with friends are about sharing experiences, not calculating every dollar,” the Redditor continued.
They pushed back, arguing that having children shouldn’t make the resulting expenses everyone else’s responsibility.
However, their friends reportedly viewed the comment as insensitive toward the parents and accused the Redditor of potentially ruining the vacation over money.
The disagreement prompted the Redditor to ask the internet whether they were wrong for refusing to split the costs equally.
Redditors Side With Vacationer Who Refuses to Split Costs for Friends’ Kids
Many commenters agreed with the original poster (OP), arguing that parents should generally be responsible for the additional expenses associated with their children.
One commenter pointed out that the arrangement could depend on how the group planned to use the Airbnb. “If the kids sleep in sleeping bags on the floor of their parents' rooms, it wouldn't cost extra for anybody. If the parents want some privacy and want to buy rooms for their kids, they can buy rooms for their kids,” they wrote.
Another commenter compared the situation to booking hotel rooms, arguing that parents likely wouldn’t ask their friends to subsidize separate rooms for their children. “If they were all staying in the same hotel, the friends bringing their kids wouldn't message the rest and say ‘Hey, can we split our kid's rooms 5 ways because, I mean, they're just kids. They don't have jobs.!’” the commenter wrote.
They added that asking friends to cover those costs would be unreasonable unless the group had agreed to the arrangement beforehand. “They are asking their friends to subsidize their vacation - that's rude,” they concluded.
Even parents weighed in to support the OP. “I have kids, and I think that your acquaintances are wrong. Parents pay for their kids and shouldn't expect others to pay for them...period,” one parent commented. “I say ‘acquaintances’ because I wouldn't consider these people friends.”
Overall, the discussion leaned toward the argument that parents shouldn’t automatically expect child-free friends to cover part of their children’s expenses. Several commenters noted that adding children can change a trip’s accommodation needs and overall costs, and that those expenses should be discussed before the group makes a booking.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made in the Reddit post, which are based solely on the author's account shared on r/AmITheAsshole.
