Some time ago I was at an event where I happened to meet a colleague, he drove there and I took public transport. We live almost next door to each other, and at the end he gave me a ride home (I don’t even remember who brought it up first, me or him, it kind of evolved from the conversation). When I got out of the car, I said ‘let me know what I owe you for patrol’, more out of politeness. It was not a very long distance and I’d have expected him to say ‘no worries, that’s alright’. He said he’ll have to work it out first. Later that evening I received a payment link for…£2.56. It made me giggle. I’m not saying he did anything wrong and I don’t expect free lifts (or any lifts for that matter, if I go somewhere on public transport then I’m fully prepared to go back the same way), but is it a bit strange? I wouldn’t ask for anything in this situation, and for longer rides, it’s more like ‘petrol comes in at around £15 each’ rather than a calculation to the penny.
I think my threshold for asking to be paid back any money that’s technically owed is at £10 with colleagues or acquaintances, and with friends at £20, below that I’d just say it’s fine.
(This is light hearted chat because I’m ill in bed and bored, and for some reason it just popped up in my mind).