How to plan a trip with friends without falling out
Group trips break in three places: nobody decides, one person pays for everything, and the plan lives in a chat nobody can read back. Six steps, in the order they actually come up.
Agree the dates before anything else
Everyone marks the days they can travel. The overlap is the trip. Whoever lands late gets their own day 1 instead of a plan that assumes they are there.
Set a budget per person, per day
The number nobody says out loud is the one that causes the argument. Fix it early and every suggestion afterwards is either inside it or flagged.
Let everyone throw places in, then vote
Anything with an open question is marked being discussed. For, against, don’t mind — three taps each. What wins gets written into the day at a real time.
Put every booking in one place
Four people book four different things. Forward the confirmations to one address and they all land in the same document, in the right day, with the price attached.
Log money as it happens, not after
Whoever taps the card adds the expense and picks who was in on it. Somebody ate earlier — take them out of that one. At the end it nets to the fewest transfers.
Give the organiser a list of what’s unresolved
One screen: who hasn’t confirmed dates, who hasn’t paid, which vote is one short, which day is still empty. Only the organiser sees it, and one tap nudges everyone.