I’ve been in a similar situation where I won some Katy Perry tickets and took my niece, my best friend and her daughter the same age as my niece. They were really good seats but I wouldn’t have even considered asking for money, I was happy to treat a friend.
I hadn’t passed my driving test so the plan was to get a coach, my friend offered to drive and fuel was £50. I paid for us all to go to a restaurant before the concert as well so I was surprised when asked for my half of the fuel money.
I didn’t comment I just paid £21.36 into my friends bank account. I chose a random amount because I thought it’d be a talking point and waited to see if she brought up it not being split equally or mentioned it to other friends.
If I’d been asked about why fuel wasn’t split in half I was going to use that opportunity to say it wasn’t an equal situation! My friend didn’t raise it with me but it obviously annoyed her because she did complain to mutual friends, she also couldn’t deny discussing it afterwards with it being such a random amount.
It was also extra hurtful in my situation because my friend was in a far better financial situation and didn’t have to work as her husband earned a lot - I was working 55 hours a week as a mental health carer. I often paid for lunches and meals out and bought my friends daughter gifts but it was rarely reciprocated, it made me realise how unbalanced our friendship was.
This was 10 years ago and paying that random amount saved our friendship as we were able to have an honest discussion about it. My friend realised she didn’t really bother thinking about money because she was used to having it. After that she was far more respectful of my financial situation and when her husband left her and I finished training and got a better paid job the roles reversed.
If a friendship is strong and can survive the discussion then it’s worth bringing it up when things like this happen. If it can’t survive then it wasn’t a true friendship anyway.