Money Moral Dilemma: Should I pay towards my friend's plane ticket?

aileth

Really depends on the situation.

If I had wanted my friend to come with me, as I had won a freebie ticket and that was the only reason I was going to NY, I would offer to contribute half when I invited her to come.

If it was a pre-booked holiday or even in the planning stages of going, I would have offered to pay the lion's share of food and entertainment whilst there rather than half for the ticket.

warehouse

Tell us the whole story or it's not possible to make an informed reply.

But she sounds like a nightmare!!

NiftyDigits

Dan_Thunder wrote: »

If the holiday was booked before the win then no, I wouldn't pay half.

From your point of view it's a lose/win situation. You have a free trip and now you're expected to be 'X' out of pocket so your friend saves money.

Look at it from another way, imagine you and a friend went to a garage to both buy the same type of new car. You both agreed to pay £10k for your respective vehicles but you entered a draw that meant you could win the car for free. If you then won would it be fair for your friend to ask you to pay for half of their car? Bear in mind this is going to be their own vehicle and you're not going to get any ownership of it or be able to drive it around. Of course not, it's your win solely not a joint win.

That's a unsuitable analogy. It's not as if they will be driving the new cars alongside each other for eternity...

The choice is to go to NY alone....or to have company.
Depends on how much you would like company. If you'd like to go alone, there is no issue. Go alone. If you'd like company...
There is also the issue of the friend missing out of the flexibility of finding a cheaper flight or routing.
Currently you can find flights to NY for around £200.
That option goes if they have to find a matching flight in order to go with you.
Might be cheaper to buy two of the cheaper routing than one expensive matching ticket.
Also dependent on how close a friend and their financial situation. If they have a large disposable income, then perhaps they will not have an issue.


Though in answer to the specific situation.... if you were already able and willing to pay for the ticket in the first place, then not offering to make a contribution is likely to put a dampener on the trip.
So whilst you don't have to pay half, a contribution might go a long way.
£600 ticket...I might offer £200. If they reject it.....if in doubt, kick it out.

happyinflorida

Well as usual this doesn't give full information.

Is your friend loaded or short of cash? Which is it?

If short of cash - choose someone else as she won't be able to afford to splurge on anything whilst there and you won't have a good trip because you'll either be forced to keep paying for this friend in order to do a lot of the usual touristy travel things.

If not short of cash - do not take this friend.

Either way I'd really think hard about going with this person - they sound a bit of a pain to me.

Have you got anyone else you could go with?

Hope it all goes well for you.

mrsamward35_2

I assume you have won accommodation too in NYC as well as maybe extras thrown in while you are there. I would say that if she can come then she would have free accommodation etc.

Augustus_the_Strong

If this person is a good friend, then you can afford to be generous & split your good fortune between the two of you. If she's just a tag-along opportunist, let her pay for her own ticket.

littlereddevil

Why no update on the whole story?

Tlc_2

I think, as the other users have said, there is a possible timing issue of when you agreed with your friend to go to New York and when you won the ticket. However, if it was me and my friend won a ticket I would be delighted for them and never expect them to pay towards my costs. (I'd only be going if I could afford it!)

Also on a side note, having lived in NYC previously, have you thought about the issue of finances generally. No offence, but nothing is even cheap in New York let alone free (museums are a minimum of $20 per adult) so if your friend is struggling to pay for the air fare, will the cost of hotels and spending money be a factor too? Also will have an impact on what you can do/want to do over there?

lizbec

Years ago, I did an assertiveness course which,among other things, tackled issues about friendship. A helpful "acid test" is to weigh up guilt versus resentment. In other words,think about how guilty (or not) you'd feel if you didn't share the cost,compared to how resentful you'd feel if you did. If resentment wins then don't pay. Really it's down to the individual - it's no good all of us saying you should pay if,deep down,you don't want to. The fact that you have to ask (if this is a real question and not hypothetical ) suggests to me that you're not confortable about sharing. A resentful giver is not good company!

JayD

If this had already been a plan and it was just fantastic luck that the win came when it did ... and if you are really close, long term friends, then I think it is sad she asked before you had a chance to offer. But for me, with a very dear friend, in those circumstances, I would gladly pay half and be glad it has cost me half what I had expected to pay.


Also, if you decided to go on this trip just because you won the ticket, and hunted around your friends for someone willing to go with you, I would pay half their ticket.


If you are not very close, then I am not sure why you would be going with this 'friend' anyway - but now they have asked, whether you give them half their air fare or not, it is going to make things a bit uncomfortable for one of you.


However, I am guessing you are good friends and so I would say, 'you didn't need to ask - of course I will go halves with you, it will leave us with a bit more spending money when we are there too! It's going to be brilliant!'