Plan a group trip on a budget

Agree the number before the place

Once someone has said "Lisbon", the person who can afford Leeds has to argue against a plan. Set the number first and nobody has to.

1. One person asks everyone, by direct message, for the most they are comfortable spending in total.
2. That person keeps the answers to themselves.
3. The budget a head is set at or near the lowest answer.
4. Only then does anyone suggest where.

"In total" matters. A budget a head should cover the whole trip, from front door to front door.

What the headline price leaves out

The price in the advert is rarely the price of the trip. Before you compare options, add these.

• Getting there. Fares or fuel, parking at the other end, and the taxi from the station when the last bus has gone.
• Fees on the booking. Booking fees, and for a house, any cleaning charge or refundable damage deposit.
• Food and drink. The big one. A cheap house with three restaurant meals costs more than a dearer one where you cook.
• The thing you came for. Tickets, green fees, entry.
• A float. Something for the round, the ice creams and the forgotten phone charger.

Vennado's guide prices say what they cover for this reason. These three are for a night or two away.

They are guide prices a head for a typical UK city, to show what a budget covers. They are not quotes. The price you pay is the one on the seller's site on the day you book. There is more under city breaks and weekends away.

Splitting costs without a row

Decide the rules before the first payment and put them in the group chat.

Cost	Usual split	Decide in advance
A house or lodge	Equally by head	Whether a couple in the double pays the same as someone on the sofa bed
Hotel rooms	Each room pays for itself	Who shares, and who pays a single supplement
Fuel and parking	By head, across everyone in the car	Whether the driver pays a share
Train or plane tickets	Each person pays their own	Whether you must all travel together to get a group fare
Food shop and kitty	Equally by head	Whether non-drinkers pay into the drinks
Someone joining for one night	Pro rata on beds, by meal on food	That this is allowed at all

Keep one running list of who has paid what, and settle up within a week of getting home, while people still remember.

Deposits and who holds the booking

Somebody has to press "pay". That person makes the contract with the seller in their own name, so the seller's emails, and any bill for damage, come to them.

• Collect before you pay. Each person sends their share, or at least a deposit, to the booker before the booker pays the seller. A deposit is also how you find out who is really coming.
• Pay by card, not bank transfer, where you can. The Financial Ombudsman Service explains that Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act lets you take a claim to your credit card provider if the supplier breaks the contract or misrepresents what it sold. It applies when the cash price is more than £100 and not more than £30,000, even if only part of it went on the credit card. With a debit card, your bank may be able to raise a chargeback, usually within about 120 days, though it does not have to. Neither applies to a bank transfer.
• Know the limit of that protection. Section 75 depends on a clear agreement between the cardholder, the supplier and the lender, and the ombudsman says that is not always straightforward. With one person paying for eight, treat it as a backstop.

Cancellation terms

Read them before you pay, and tell the group:

• the date after which the deposit is lost
• the date the balance is due
• whether names or numbers can change, and what it costs

Then agree your own rule for dropouts. The common one is fair and simple: once it is booked, you owe your share unless you find someone to take your place. In a house priced as a whole, one person leaving puts everyone else's price up, so say this out loud before booking.

The booking order

1. Fix the date. Everything else is priced by date. A plan with "the 14th or the 21st" still in it cannot be booked.
2. Book the thing that sells out. Match or gig tickets, the tee time, the only house that sleeps twelve.
3. Book travel. The times you can travel decide when you arrive, when you must leave and whether you need the extra night.
4. Book beds. Last, because the date, the main event and your arrival time are now fixed, so you know exactly which nights you need. If the bed is the thing that sells out, it moves to step two.

When a trip counts as a package

If one company sells you transport and accommodation together for the same trip, or another combination of different kinds of travel service, that is generally a package. Government guidance on the Package Travel Regulations, which is written for businesses, says the organiser is then liable for the services in the package being delivered and must protect your money against its own insolvency. For packages that include a flight, that protection comes through ATOL.

A trip you put together yourself from separate sellers is usually not a package. You are relying on each seller's own terms and on how you paid. That is not a reason to avoid doing it. It is a reason to read each set of cancellation terms.

Where Vennado fits

Vennado does the first part. It finds the dates the whole group is free, including runs of days long enough for a night away, and it suggests trips that fit those days and the budget a head you set. The group shortlists, votes and locks one in.

It does not take payments, split costs, hold deposits or make bookings. Links go out to the seller, and the contract is between the booker and the seller. Today those links earn Vennado nothing. When a link is paid it will be labelled "Paid link", and Vennado never adds a fee. How we make money explains that in full.

If the group cannot find a date at all, start with finding a date everyone is free.