Group trips can be a lot more trouble than they’re worth. It’ll be fun to take all your friends off on a plane and explore a new city together, but if someone has already caused an argument and someone else won’t stop complaining and you’re not even sure where the 6th member of the group even is right now, you might start regretting ever suggesting it!
Once you’re home again, you may only consider solo travel in the future – that’s just how annoying a group trip can end up when people don’t seem to want to work together. That’s why a group trip takes some careful discipline. If you’re going to plan one, you need to be cutthroat and ruthless about the rules and how they apply.
And that’s where our tips come in. Use the five below to make sure your next group trip goes off without (much of) a hitch and come home feeling like it was all time well spent.
Privately Double Check the Budget
You might already know what the budget should ideally be, but it’s best to go round and check what’s OK with everyone. Do this privately to ensure no one gets embarrassed or shamed, even in a light hearted and teasing way. Group trips are only fun when everyone can afford to go on it!
Once you’ve found out what everyone’s maximum is, you can start looking at flight and accommodation options. These can be reported in the group chat just fine, but try to keep any purely financial talk in here to a minimum.
If you like, you can also send out the reminder that people can reach out to you directly if they’ve got any questions or concerns regarding the overall trip price.
Book Seats All at Once
This is the only way to be sure your group gets on the same flight at the same time and has seats at least sort of near each other. We all know just how awkward it can feel when there’s five people going but only four of you are in the same row on the aisle!
Book seats all at once in the same booking and then hand out the appropriate info once it’s all gone through. Doing this will also ensure everyone actually books their tickets in time; we all have that one friend who leaves things to the last minute and even then sometimes forgets!
Take a Car to the Airport
If someone says they’ll have to come by train or bus, try to offer them a lift. That way you can be sure you’re all moving along to the airport at the same time in the same car and you’re going to arrive all in one piece. That’s a weight off before you’ve even really got going!
You can also pre book your Airport Car Parking to make it very simple to find a space and/or drop off the car with the service, meaning you can then all dash out once you’ve arrived and head for some food or duty free shopping. The fun starts here!
Design an Itinerary with One Idea From Everyone
Everyone going on the trip should get to do one thing they want. We say only one thing as this ensures you’re not overpacking the trip schedule with things to do and then running out of time. One thing for every person, get those locked in, and then see what time there is left over.
Don’t Make it an Obligation to Spend Every Moment Together
Group trips are for the group, but you’re going to need a bit of alone time as well. Because of this, remind everyone that there’s no obligation to spend every moment together.
If someone wants to go off and do their own thing for a while, or someone wants to stay behind at the hotel whilst the rest of you head out, that’s OK.
People need some space even when they’re with people they know and love, and if you try to force everyone together hour after hour you have a much higher chance of rising tension.
If you’re the one coordinating the next group trip, don’t panic – we’ve got you covered. You can turn the trip into a success from the moment you start planning it. From here you’ve just got to be careful about what you’re spending, take everyone’s activity desires into account, and be strict about where people need to be and when.
