Etiquette / protocol

March 29, 2009 8:34 PM

I and four friends have rented a condo in Kona for four nights. Now, a cousin of one of us is going to "crash" in the condo for two nights. How should we share the costs? (other logistics within...)

Here is the accommodation set up:
King size room (me and partner)
Queen size room (a single female friend)
Two singles room (two female sisters).

We are all good friends - including the extra female cousin - so I don't want to cause trouble, but I feel like she should contribute something. Even if she is sleeping on a couch or floor somewhere, it is still an extra body in the space.

Or - should I just suggest she buys the wine for the two nights?

posted by SSinVan to society & culture (7 comments total)

There are twenty-two people-nights here. She accounts for two of those people-nights.

So I would suggest that she pays somewhere between a minimum of zero and a maximum of one-eleventh of the total cost.
posted by Flunkie at 8:41 PM on March 29

Here's what I would do: two nights with five people and two nights with six people means 22 person-nights. Divide the total cost by 22, each person pays that amount per night.
posted by number9dream at 8:43 PM on March 29

Yar! do it like pirates!
5 people
4 nights
We'll say a bed is worth 2 shares, and the couch is worth one
We'll assume those are the only important factors.
We'll assume the total fee is $1000 (HA!)

originally
5x4x2=40 shares base. $1000/40=25$ a share. Each person has 8 shares, 8x25=$200 each.

Now:
5x4x2+1x2x1=42. $1000/42=$23.81. 5 people have 8 shares for ~$190.00, 1 person has 2 shares for ~$50.00.
posted by Nanukthedog at 8:51 PM on March 29

You can figure out the money pretty easily what you really need is a way to bring up the subject without looking like a cheapskate or spoilsport. I would do this:

Casually ask the cousin of the gate crasher "Hey were you thinking of asking your cousin to chip in some cash for the nights that she's there?"

If she says "Oh totally!", then your are home free.

If she responds in anyway that is negative you then play it off like this, "I mean it's no big deal or anything I was just wondering."

If the cousin persists and wants to know whether you expect the crasher to pay something you can pull this one out
"Really, I don't care either way. It's not that much money. I mean she could like stock the fridge a little. It would make the math easier/consistent and it wouldn't have to be a big deal."
posted by oddman at 9:08 PM on March 29

I think it depends on if the extra person gets a bed or not. If she doesn't get a bed, I don't think she should have to pay an equal person-share of a night, but maybe she could pay a half of a person-share of a night. The way my friends do it is to divide the costs out and send an email out delineating what everyone owes.

But it gets really complicated. It's probably easier to just divide the cost between 5 people for all four nights and tell her to buy two bottles of wine for each night she stays there. I would definitely write an email to everyone and delineate all costs - even if her cost is four bottles of wine.
posted by gt2 at 10:25 PM on March 29

My advice would echo oddman's. But I don't think the issue of the cousin's liability comes down to whether she gets a bed. "Crashing" somewhere isn't about the bed, it's about either the roof or the company.

Among my group of friends, I would simply ask the cousin how they'd like to contribute, because I don't have any close friends who would expect a free stay in a paid space. If you think the crashing cousin would want to avoid costs or would interpret your expectations as greedy or petty, then raise the issue with whoever first said "sure, you can crash with us".
posted by chudmonkey at 10:37 PM on March 29

Follow up from the OP:
So, I found out that the condo actually have a sofa bed so the cousin will have a bed afterall - although not a bedroom. So, I sent the e-mail with the person-nights method, and the only replies I got back were asking me if I wanted USD or CAD form of payment!

Thanks for the advice all! Now, I've been scrolling through the threads trying to find somewhere to contribute aka pay back the Ask.MeFi
posted by SSinVan at 1:28 AM on April 3