To think i shouldn't have to pay HALF of the holiday, just because i have a child?

[WhistlingNun]

My two friends suggested we should go on a caravan holiday this summer with my 5yo dd (neither of my two friends have children).

We've decided on a self-catering Haven holiday and the total price is approx £450 for the week, including funworks passes etc. Only additional costs would be for food and transport, which we'd pay our own way on when we get there.

Anyway, my friends are expecting me to pay half - so £225 - rather than a third - £150.

They say it's because dd will count towards the price too.

I've just checked how much it would be for me and dd to go alone - on the exact same holiday - and it's still £450 - the same price.

The price is based on size and type of caravan, not how many people are in the group. And since the smallest caravan is 2 bedrooms, it's the same price.

(Hope this is making sense).

Anyway, i'm a bit peed off they expect me to pay £225 and they can just pay £112 each. They've reluctantly agreed to go thirds instead (£150) each, but have said it's just to shut me up, they're not happy about it.

AIBU?

I realise that, but the point here is that you should be paying per room - but I did not enforce that policy on my friend, and it left a bad feeling - I felt she should have offered.

Either suck up paying for half, or don't go.

OP, so if you weren't taking DD would you think it was fair that you all paid a 1/3 when you got a room to yourself and they had to share?

If you were my friend, I want to split it 1/3. And the children don't count.

Bun - so long as i wasn't expected to pay for her kids' food, activities, and we wouldn't need an extra room for them - i'd go halfs. She pay one half, and i the other. If it was going to cost the same whether or not her kids were there - of course that's what i'd do.

I wouldn't base the price on who got a room to themselves, no. I'd divide it by amount of adults.

So, if you were single and you had a room to yourself, you'd still expect to pay a third? Would that work in a hotel, do you think? 'Oh, I'm on my own, so my friends are going to pay part of my bill, as well as their own room.' Of course it wouldn't. Can you not see how illogical some of your arguments are?

It'sAll - i wouldn't care who got a room to themselves tbh. And i definitely wouldn't expect one of us to pay more than the others. It wouldn't be anyone's fault that 4 beds is the minimum amount the caravan sleeps.

Look. 225 is still, by your own admission, half what it would cost you to go just you and your daughter.
Is saving 75 quid worth really pissing your mates off and having them feel you're taking the piss? You say you've done it before? Maybe they're tired of subbing you.
How they feel also matters.
They don't want to pay more than what they see as their share.
If you can't afford it - tell them to go by themselves!

I'd make the most of the free ride this year tbh op because I can't imagine you'll be asked again.

If you insist on only paying a third then I think you should get a 3 bed so at least you pals get a bit more for their money considering they are subbing your kid.

And also, some on here have said you're not being unreasonable, OP, and they'd split it by threes - that's great, if everyone agrees. However, that's not how your friends feel, is it? If two people think they're getting a rough deal by splitting it in thirds (which they do in this instance, and fairly I think), then I think the OP needs to respect their opinion and not guilt them into paying more than their fair share by repeating 'but, I have a child' as if this argument entitles her to get a discount!

Dizzy - not sure i understand.

In a hotel, you get to choose a single room if that's what you need. In this holiday, the minimum the caravan provides is 4 beds. It's not possible to get a single bed caravan.

You keep mentioning the fact that you have been before OP, I put it to you that your friends may have reached the conclusion they are being mugged off - hence the suggestion of a change in price plan this time. Next year I doubt they'll invite you at all and you will have to arrange your own holiday and explain to the companies why your daughter should go free. Good luck with that.

Lovely, Mutt.

So, there is a spare bed, so you are taking along your child to fill it.

Re read happy's post about her freeloading sister in law......

Are your friends a couple?

The thing is, it doesn't really matter what we all think.

It matters what your friends think. However good friends you think they are, they may very will get tired of you trying to take advantage of their good nature. You have already admitted that they are not happy with the arrangement.

Don't be surprised if they don't want to go on holiday with you next year.

You need to change your way of looking at it OP.

The caravan is £450 fixed price. So that's £225 per room. End of.

They share 1 room so split their bill 50/50, so that's costing them £112.50 each.

Your room needs to be paid for by you so £225 is your bill, whether you share with your DD or go on your own.

Geddit? The caravan costs £225 per bedroom!!

If my friends weren't going, i would not expect the holiday company to 'let my child go free'. I'd pay for the smallest caravan - £450 and we'd just have an extra room.

"But the way the bedrooms work means that even if dd wasn't coming, there'd still be an extra bed.

It's a double bed and a twin room."

Hang on, one double bed, two singles. No DD. Three adults, three beds. How would there be a spare bed? I thought your friends had offered to share the double bed?

YABU. There is a party of 4, you will all enjoy the holiday, you should all pay 1/4 which means you and DD pay half.

Sorry op but mutt is right, you do not come off well in this post

Okay.

Say i put my daughter into the twin room with one of my friends. I let the other friend have the double room to herself. I sleep on the sofa.

They'd still expect me to pay half because there's me and dd going. They're basing it per person - not by room.

And that is why it's annoying me. because that's not how it's worked out.

OP you say even if your DD didn't go it would still cost £450.

I could argue that when I go away with my DH if he didn't go so there was space in my room it would cost me the same, so he should go free??

It's time to realise that mostly with holiday accommodation your are paying per bed space whether it's a child or an adult that sleeps on it.

You've got a 4 berth caravan, with four people occupying bed space, so you split it 4 ways.

I'd get used to it because in future you will need to pay for daughters accommodation when you take her away.

a 4 bed caravan to yourself is different to a 4 bed caravan with 2 other adults and someone else's child

So you are getting the holiday for half of what you would pay if you went just with dd....plus you have the bonus of 2 friends/adult company and help with dd