Who pays what?

[MotherOfOlafs]

Couple A have a voucher for a very nice seafood restaurant that was given to them as a gift, it’s for £100. They want to treat themselves to a platter for £75 because why not.

Couple A have invited good friends couple B to join them. Couple A will pay for their own food and put the rest towards whatever couple B order, so around £15-20 after accounting for soft drinks.

Couple B have asked if couple A will use the voucher then whatever is left to pay is split between both couples equally.

Couple A think that on one hand it’s their voucher so their items are covered, but on the other hand they did invite couple B to join them.

Which is the best option?

They definitely should have used the voucher on an occasion when nobody else was dining with them. What a carry on it's caused. I think they should cancel as it's fraught with difficulty now and what should be a nice meal is now not.

It’s really not caused a carry on? It was brought up and I just wanted an opinion. Nothing is fraught.

Couple b are cheeky.

Voucher is the same as cash.

Yeah, it was a mistake to ask anyone else along.

I think it's was a mistake to invite other people to join when you pay on a voucher. If you still plan on having them join you I would tell them you are using the voucher towards your and spouse's meal.

Either bill is split 50:50 and couple A use their voucher towards their half

Or, as couple A have decided to order something more expensive, bill is split based on actual spend and couple A use the voucher against their part

It's a bit if a grey area from the info provided.

It's unclear if B are expecting you to share the voucher or asking you to clarify if you are or not?

I'd be inclined to reply and say how you intended to use the voucher and see what they say.

Couple B are chancing it.

Couple A shouldn’t have asked couple B to join if they didn’t want to split the bill 50:50.
alternatively go to the restaurant and split 50:50 and use the voucher another time.

I’d take the value of the voucher off the bill and then split what’s left to pay in half.
But then no one we would go out to dinner with is on the breadline/penny pinching and this would never come up!

Couple a should go on their own and when couple b mention it, say, oh we've already gone.

If couple a have a voucher and want to push the boat out 50/50 is probably not fair to b so I would say each pay for their meals and split the drinks. I don't see that couple a necessarily need to use the remaining voucher for bs food.

I would normally agree but I wouldn't want to impose 50% of a pricey seafood platter on friends

For me, if I was in couple A it would depend on my friendship with couple B. If they were great friends, and/or if they were short of cash and I wanted to treat them/share our gift then I'd be happy to use the voucher then split the bill 50/50. If they were more casual friends and could afford the meal then I'd think they are being CFs - my voucher pays for our meal and they pay for theirs. So based on your saying they are good friends I'd probably treat them.

Surely there won't be any change?

£75 platter

Assume 2 soft drinks each minimum so £12-£15

10% min tip
That's £100.

Couple A use their voucher to cover there's and pay anything else THEY go over. Couple B pay for their own..I invite people to all sorts it doesn't mean I'm going to pay towards them coming 🤣🫠

I've seen this alot lately where if a couple asks another couple to go out (or a person) they are expected to pay...

Both couples should pay for their own bill. It's fine to split the bill 50/50 but couple A can use their voucher to pay their share and couple B just pay theirs. We generally just split a bill between the amount of people and pay equal but to use a voucher they've been given to pay the majority and then split the rest 50/50 that's a no no. Couple A are then paying a massive share

100% this. Absolutely idiotic of couple A to 'invite' couple B when it is known there is a £100 voucher and then to have the bare-faced cheek to spend it on themselves. It's beyond rude. Now that Couple A has invited Couple B then the £100 must be put towards the bill and the remainder split between the four of you.

I'm not sure that "would you like to tag along to this restaurant where WE will be having a free meal and if you're lucky, there will be a bit left on the voucher to go towards YOUR meal" is a good look. But neither is "hey you should use half your voucher to treat us". Couple A should have just gone alone.
Edited for typo

Couple A will need to add their own money to the £100 voucher, as if the ' platter ' is £75 by the time they add on a bottle of wine or / and drinks, water if usual ? starter ? sides ? and dessert and potentially service charge - they are over £100...

Couple B are being a bit cheeky, but I think couple A are insensitive to order such an expensive dish if that would be too pricey for couple B.

Personally if it was me and I'd invited friends to join us I would chuck the voucher in the middle and split the bill 50/50.
If you're going to invite someone to join you, you should be considerate and kind enough to share the voucher with them so everyone can have the benefit of it.
Just my opinion as a gentleman

But it probably will cause grief, once it's been decided how the payment is going to be!! Either A or B will be 'put out'

Just to add, for what it is worth, Couple A should have not invited B if they wanted to spend their voucher.

There are issues whichever way you go. If you use the voucher to be taken off the total bill first and then split the rest 50/50 either Couple A or Couple B will end up paying more than their fair share of the 50/50. Couple A want an expensive dish, because they have a voucher, so unless Couple B spend exactly the same amount they will be subsidising Couple A for their expensive dish. You could argue that Couple A have the voucher which has brought the bill down anyway, but could be awkward.

If Couple A use their voucher towards their total expenses ( and if the seafood platter is £75 there won't BE any change from £100 once starters, desserts, drinks, coffee etc are added on ( Pus a tip).

It's all been badly thought out before the invitation was issued. It would be fairer for Couple A to use their £100 voucher towards their own bill, and let Couple B pay their own costs, but it's difficult now the invitation has been given and depending what was actually said at the time

I wouldn't invite someone else out knowing I had a voucher without applying the voucher to the entire meal.

If you didn't want the voucher to apply to their food, why invite them out at all and just use it for your own food as a couple? I wouldn't invite another couple personally if I was spending a gift intended for the two of us to enjoy. If I was spending a coupon out of the newspaper or something then I'd definitely share the benefit.