A Reddit post shared on r/AITApod describes a woman who’s planning a group trip with her sister, her sister’s husband, their brother and another friend, for a total of five people. She said that once everyone was on board, the topic of finances came up, and they had to decide how to split the costs. But because her sister was married, she proposed a breakdown that the writer did not agree with.
She explained that, despite there being five adults planning to go on the trip, her sister suggested that they split the cost four ways. Her logic behind this cost split was that, since she and her husband are a married couple, they should count as a single unit and therefore pay a joint share.
This would result in her and her husband paying 25% of the total cost, as would everyone else in the group. However, the writer, u/Flashy_Librarian_406, didn’t think this was a fair or logical breakdown. She explained, “I feel like this is unfair. There are five human beings going on this trip, consuming food, resources, and taking up space. It feels like the fair thing to do is split everything five ways. . .”
Redditors Debate How Couples Should Split Group Trip Expenses
She continued to explain her payment split and said that if everyone pays 20% of the cost, her sister and husband would contribute 40% combined. This would mean the other three people would each pay 20%, rather than splitting the total cost four ways.
She went on to say that the only exception to her 20% per-person payment split would be the cost of a hotel room, where her sister and her husband would be sharing a bed. But all other expenses, like gas, transportation, groceries and other amenities, should be split individually.
The writer wants to know if she’s wrong for her version of the individual payment shares, or if her sister’s logic is justified since they’re a married couple.
Many commenters reacting to the post thought the writer’s cost split was more balanced in this situation, with some criticizing her sister’s approach. One commenter said that if her sister and her husband wanted to pay as one unit, they needed to do everything on the trip as a unit.
They wrote, “Tell your sister that if she and her husband pay as one unit, ie, only pay the same amount as one person, then for the entire trip, they’re going to have to act as one person, which means share one person’s meal between the two of them, sit together in one person’s seat in the car, take turns using a single ticket for an event, etc.”
Another commenter suggested they split accommodations four ways and everything else five ways. They wrote, “Split accommodation 4 ways, and everything else 5 ways. It’s not fair for your sister and husband who will presumably be sharing a room, to subsidize your rooms (assuming no one else is sharing), but equally, it’s unfair for you to subsidize their food and entertainment. Splitting it that way makes things a bit fairer overall.”
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made in the post, which are based solely on u/Flashy_Librarian_406’s account of the planned group trip and the disagreement with her sister over how the expenses should be split.
