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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think taxi should be split 3 ways?

168 replies

MyNewBearTotoro · 04/01/2016 14:45

I volunteer for a charity. Once a week myself and two other volunteers need to get a taxi together as part of our work for the charity. None of us receive any expenses from the charity so the taxis are paid from our household finances.

The other two volunteers are married and share all of their funds. The first time we got a taxi they paid the driver and I then gave them a third of the fare to cover my share. The last two times I have paid and they have given me 50% of the fare to cover their share.

AIBU to think if 3 people get a taxi then each person pays a third (and so they should be giving me two thirds of the fare when I pay) or are they right in thinking as a married unit with shared finances they count as one?

We will be getting a taxi together next week so it would be good to know what others think is fair before then. Thanks!

OP posts:
LyndaNotLinda · 04/01/2016 16:37

I want all these people who think the couple are being fair to tell me where they live so that I can share cabs with them for free! After all, they're going anyway, so I don't need to pay at all, do it? :)

GarlicCake · 04/01/2016 16:38

Yes - Exactly as Maid and Wood say, the group is three people.

Not two people, one of whom has two heads!

Moob · 04/01/2016 16:39

if they travelled two separate groups they would pay for two taxis.

The benefit of sharing is that they get one taxi, so they split 50/50

If i get off a plane and there is a family of four heading from the taxi rank to the same place I am going I don't only pay 20% if we agree to share, I pay half the fare same as they do as that is what each group has saved

MaidOfStars · 04/01/2016 16:39

I've often shared £50 taxis home with my husband and his best mate (we go out a fair bit together). There's no way I'd accept £25 from his best mate, even though that would be his normal share on the nights I am not there.

To accept that £25 would make me a freeloader.

Original poster
MyNewBearTotoro · 04/01/2016 16:40

Sorry, I probably should have made it clearer earlier they are very much volunteering as individuals. It is coincidence they work on this project together, on other days they travel separately to different projects from each other. (I work with the husband again on Wednesday with two other volunteers. Obviously then we split 4 ways and he covers his travel.) If one half of the couple was unwell or moved to another project then they would be replaced by another volunteer as this particular project needs 3 volunteers. My DP also volunteers but never on the same days as me as we have young DC so we'll never have the chance to count as one!

OP posts:
Whathaveilost · 04/01/2016 16:42

I would say the fare should be split in hslf as it is going to two destinations. I'd all 3 of you were going to the same place then I would expect it to be split 3 ways.

GarlicCake · 04/01/2016 16:42

Moob, why are you unable to see a couple as two individuals?

Perhaps OP should have an affair with the man Grin Then he'll have to pay half as he's in 2 couples!

OnlyLovers · 04/01/2016 16:42

Garlic, that's a bit different isn't it? If a friend is giving you a lift as a one-off then you don't need to pay anything, IMO.

Also, that's a favour, and will presumably be 'repaid' in another way – the friend may buy you a coffee when you get where you're going/give you a lift next time/pay for petrol if they get frequent lifts or come on long journeys – whereas this group aren't really friends in that sense and are unlikely to be able to repay each other in kind.

MaidOfStars · 04/01/2016 16:43

Moob If you had agreed to travel together as a group of five (just as the OP and this couple have agreed to travel as a group of three), then you should only pay 20%.

MaidOfStars · 04/01/2016 16:46

Moob Let's say we are sharing a taxi home, same pick up and drop off. £20, tenner each.

We split it down the middle.

Now let's say that at the taxi rank, I run into a couple of my mates who are also going to the same place. I offer for them to jump into our taxi. Me and my mates now form a group of three. Do we still only pay £10? According to you, yes.

And what if you hear those two friends offer to give me some money towards my share of the fare? So we are each paying £3.50, and you are paying a tenner. What do you think then?

GarlicCake · 04/01/2016 16:47

I didn't specify a one-off, Only. By your logic, the friend shouldn't pay anything if you gave her the same lift every day.

fascicle · 04/01/2016 16:47

GarlicCake
I cannot understand people seeing couples as one person. It's weird.

Agreed. The couple's relationship/shared finances is irrelevant to the splitting of the taxi fare. As are hypothetical taxi rides with different parties present. With no other variables to consider, the fare should be split equally between the three people in the taxi. I can't think of any other forms of transport where the default is for related/connected people to share one fare.

MaidOfStars · 04/01/2016 16:49

I can't think of any other forms of transport where the default is for related/connected people to share one fare
Agreed.

What if it's you and a couple, but you are best mates with one of the couple? Is that a suitable connection to be considered a group? What if one of the couple is your child? What relationships count towards the "group" category?

OnlyLovers · 04/01/2016 16:51

Garlic, no. I said a favour will presumably be 'repaid' by e.g. the friend giving you lifts in turn or paying for petrol if they get frequent lifts.

If the lift is every day, to work or something, then I'd see it as a carshare rather than a favour and expect the friend to pay something towards petrol.

Moob · 04/01/2016 16:51

I have given two other examples of why i think it should be 50/50.

It simply depends on if you see each person in the cab as a percentage of the fare, or each group who would be paying as a percentage of the fare.

In this instance I would split 50/50 as if OP didn't share it would cost her twice as much.

Doesn't make it right, just my opinion and one which I guess is shared by the couple in this particular scenario

OnlyLovers · 04/01/2016 16:51

Garlic, no. I said a favour will presumably be 'repaid' by e.g. the friend giving you lifts in turn or paying for petrol if they get frequent lifts.

If the lift is every day, to work or something, then I'd see it as a carshare rather than a favour and expect the friend to pay something towards petrol.

LumelaMme · 04/01/2016 16:54

We are getting a taxi as for three people it is cheaper than the bus but actually if I am paying 50% of the fare then it works out more expensive for me!
Tell them that. You are not being U - they are.

MaidOfStars · 04/01/2016 16:56

In this instance I would split 50/50 as if OP didn't share it would cost her twice as much

Taxi cost £12. 3 way split is £4 pp. 2 way split is £6 for OP and £3 pp for couple.

OP takes taxi on her own, £12 pp.
Couple takes taxi on their own, £6 pp.

It would cost both OP and the couple twice as much if they took separate taxis, but the cost to the couple is mitigated by the fact that there are more people to share that cost out.

In your model, the couple are freeloading. They have an extra person riding for no added cost.

ADishBestEatenCold · 04/01/2016 16:57

"If the three of them weren't sharing it would cost the couple twice as much to get their own taxi, and it would cost OP twice as much. Therefore you split 50/50. Each travelling group pays their share."

They are three individual voluntary charity workers (presumably the charity for which they voluntarily work does not count the couple as one worker). If three people share transport, they should split the cost of that transport three ways, irrespective of how much it would cost them to travel alone (or with one other ... or with ten others, come to that!).

You are not being unreasonable, OP, and if they disagree then take the bus. In fact, if the bus works out more cheaply for you, I can't think why you're not already taking the bus ... who suggested sharing a taxi?

Earlybird · 04/01/2016 16:58

Just out of curiosity, approximately how much is the taxi fare?

If you don't want to faff about with percentages / who owes what each time, why don't you just alternate paying by person? You could write it in your diary to keep track.

ADishBestEatenCold · 04/01/2016 16:59

"I can't think of any other forms of transport where the default is for related/connected people to share one fare"

Agree with this ^^

Optimist1 · 04/01/2016 17:00

But that's the point, Maid - a taxi taking two people on the same journey costs no more than taking one person!

SoupDragon · 04/01/2016 17:00

It simply depends on if you see each person in the cab as a percentage of the fare, or each group who would be paying as a percentage of the fare.

The fact that the other two are a couple is a red herring. They are travelling as part of their work and are two individuals.

Three people are getting the cab from one single location to another. The fare should be split 3 ways. If the other two were not a couple there would be no argument about this.

6cats3gingerkittens · 04/01/2016 17:00

Please. Just take the bus.

RudeElf · 04/01/2016 17:03

Definitley should be split 3 ways!

I had a similar situation a few years ago when going out for drinks with a married couple. (If it matters i am a lone parent on part time wage, they both work full time and have no DC) We would agree on buying rounds but it transpired that they meant they would buy a round then i would buy a round. Rather than each one of us buying a round. So for every drink i got from them, they got two from me! I learned fast to just buy my own drinks when with them.

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