The latest news in group travel
Humans have always traveled in packs. But until recently, the internet didn’t make booking this style of travel easy. Oftentimes, one traveler had to become the unofficial “leader of the pack,” fronting the cost of an entire trip. It was difficult to find websites that would allow groups to share both information and payment.
But Airbnb’s recently announced that it’s adding a new “Groups” feature. It allows one member of the group to pick the property and then decide how the payment will be divvied up. Then, he or she makes a booking, paying only his or her share of the rental. All of the “sharers” must put in their credit cards within 72 hours to hold the booking. If they don’t, the original booker gets his or her money back. This means the planner doesn’t get stuck with the bill if the group includes slackers — which is a real problem, according to a study conducted for Airbnb of 2,000 group travelers. Of those polled, some two-thirds never got all the money they were owed by the folks in their travel party. You don’t have to choose Airbnb, though, to plan a group trip online. Expedia, Orbitz, Booking.com and other major online travel agencies have long allowed the booking of blocks for rooms.
There also have been several startups trying to get into the group travel market, and then abruptly switching to business-to-business models. The only one that still will have interest to leisure travelers, I think, is Travefy.com. Ignore its homepage, which seems entirely geared to travel professionals — it works well for amateurs, too. The site (and app) allows users to create and share itineraries and book blocks of rooms for groups small and large (a destination wedding, perhaps?).
But what may be most useful is a feature that allows the members of the party to divvy up costs before, during and after the trip.
So, for example, if a group meal was reserved midway through the trip, the group leader could send out notices of the cost right before the meal (if it’s a set menu), and collect payments with little fuss and muss before fork hits plate. Or, if the group splurged on a night on the town and one member got stuck holding the bag, the planner could send out a notice asking for repayment. And hopefully, that would happen. If it doesn’t, there’s little excuse: the site allows users to pay one another easily and securely online for any expenses.