How to plan a group tripYour guide to finding group

discounts, creating itineraries and having the best

friendcation

by the Tripeese Team

About the authorsTripeese Team

Bobbi Lee Hitchon is a freelance writer whose work you can find on the Tripeese blog. A lifelong vagabond, she’s been traveling for three years straight and has traveled with loads of different people along the way. Her favorite place for group travel: Las Vegas.

Matheus Riolfi is a travel and tech enthusiast. He is proud to be Brazilian but claims to be a citizen of the world after he visiting and living in different countries. Perfect trip: 5-10 friends having fun in a beach party in places like Rio, Koh Phangan, or Playa del Carmen

Rodrigo Boscolo is Tripeese's co-founder. He has already used hundreds of excuses to go traveling around the world and can't get enough of it. He likes to travel by himself, but he loves to travel with friends. The ideal group size? Five...or nine.

Travel seems easy enough when you daydream about it in your head.

Pick a destination, buy a ticket, see the world.

But it gets a bit more complicated as more and more people join the trip.

A lot of people talk big when it comes to travel, but which of your friends will actually follow through? Are you going to have the same dream destination and activities in mind? The same budget? Plus, will you and your friends be able to figure out a date when you can all travel together?

IntroductionPlanning a group trip should be fun

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That day dream just got a bit trickier. Luckily this guide will make planning a group trip simple.

We break down your vacation with friends into seven easy steps. Then list all the things you must consider, like finding hotels and activities that offer discounts to groups and how to split money with everyone traveling, and give you tips on the best way to organize and plan accordingly.

Group travel can be confusing, but it doesn't have to be...

How to plan a group trip

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-How to plan a group trip-in 7 easy steps

1.) Decide who is traveling2.) Pick a date, location and length3.) Choose accommodation with group discounts4.) Pick activities and restaurants - arrange itinerary5.) Organize transportation6.) Split money before and during the trip7.) Enjoy the trip!

Sometimes it's an entire group of friends that comes up with the idea to go on a trip together, but usually it’s one or a few people that are the brains and force behind it.

Whether you own a company and want to treat your employees to a trip or you recently graduated college and just want one last weekend together before you and your friends go your separate ways, there are some things to think about when deciding who to invite on a group trip.

Step 1: Decide who is traveling

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Do you want it to be with your company or just one particular group of friends or are you happy leaving this trip open to everyone?

Contact everyone to see what they think about going on a trip together. Don't forget to open up a trip to their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands and wives.

Create a Google Document or Spreadsheet and invite them to join. This is a free, private service offered by Google, where everyone can not only pitch in with ideas, but also see everyone else's in one online file. Follow these instructions if you’re not sure how to create a Google Document.

Arrange it to collect ideas. If you’re using Spreadsheet, label each column name, destination, budget, length of stay and dates. That way, you’ll learn every person’s wants and needs for the trip. You’ll see an example of this on the previous page.

An alternative is to do this all in a Facebook event or group, you’ll just have to set up your own form of organization that way.

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

Some people might not be able to go. Not everyone is on the same schedule, so do what is best for the group.

Step 2: Pick a date, location and length

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This can go one of two ways, simple and quick or impossible. As mentioned in previous pages, group travel is more about the people with whom you share the experience, than the destination you end up visiting. So if you get upset that your desired destination is not picked, remember that there will be other opportunities in the future to make that trip.

For this trip, it’s all about what the group wants. So give and take and choose according to what is best for everyone.

Use the information from step one to narrow down the choice of destinations, dates and length of stay. You might have to put it to a vote in which case there are two options.

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

Be prepared to compromise. This trip is more about the people than the destination, so give and take.

Open voting

A. You can do this in a Google Doc. again and just have everyone vote from the narrowed down list at their leisure.

B. You could also have a group chat. If you want to do so online, Google has a group chat option, as does Facebook. You can also send out a group email or Facebook message in an open message, so you can see everyone’s response. Doodle is also a valuable tool for this step.

Closed voting

Ideal for people who are afraid of the drama that might come with open votes or just don’t want the hassle of going back and forth.

There are a few online poll services that are free to use and allow people to create their own polls and have others vote. One is Easypolls, which is pretty straightforward. Just follow the steps prompted to you.

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Step 3: Choose accommodation with group discounts

The main reason is that everyone books their trips separately online using services like Kayak, Orbitz, and Expedia. While it may be convenient, travelers lose the chance of saving up to 50% on their hotel rates.

We all love to travel. We all love discounts. But surprisingly most people don't take advantage of group discounts when traveling with friends. Think about the last time you’ve been group trip: a bachelor or bachelorette party in Las Vegas, a getaway with MBA friends in Mexico, a party weekend in Miami with your best friends. For all of these vacations, you could have saved money in accommodations and spent more in the rest of your trip.

The good news is that access to these discounts isn’t only available to professional travel agents. Hotel group discounts are available to anyone who has some time to invest in organizing the trip.

Short list your preferred hotels: Select the three to five hotels the group may like. The criteria to create this list include price, location, numbers of starts, etc.

Contact the group coordinator for each hotel: Most hotels have group (or small group) managers who can provide you discounted rates of up to 50% off the public rate. While most of them require you to book at least ten rooms, if you negotiate well, you can have discounts for smaller groups also.

Make the decision: Email your group the options and prices, and have them help you to make the final decision.

Book the rooms: Call the group manager to confirm your reservation. You will likely be required to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure the group discounts.

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

This process can save you a lot of money, but it will cost you a lot of time, so you need to decide what is more important to you. Try breaking up duties amongst friends and collect money prior to this step if possible.

Step 4: Pick activities & restaurants- Arrange itinerary

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This is where the real fun starts. Picking dates, destinations and accommodation can become tedious sometimes, but when you and your friends start planning exactly what you’ll be doing, the trip becomes more and more exciting.

Some groups prefer to go without planning and booking activities, which can work sometimes. However, this strategy gets more risky the larger the group, as certain activities may sell out or may not be able to accommodate the number of guests in the group.

Since people always do more than one activity on a trip, this part of the planning requires less negotiating, because everyone can pick one thing each. You just need some tips on narrowing things down.

Every person picks one thing: In a new Google Document, have everyone write down one activity they want to do and restaurant they want to visit. Visit the Tripeese blog for inspiration on destinations like Nashville, TN.

Narrow things down: Deduct places based on what the majority wants and which options cater to groups. Go to a vote if you have to. But remember, the group doesn’t have to do the same thing the entire trip.

Make reservations: Find out what times are available at top priority activities and restaurants. Some websites such as Viator and Peek provide online booking for activities and can be useful, although they normally don't provide group rates.

Start a calendar: There are several ways to do this, one is with the app Tripit, which is free. First add reservations to the calendar, then start plugging in the rest based on location, etc. Give yourself enough time to get from one point to the next.

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

Planning activities in advance can be quite time-consuming, but must be done.  Remember to ask friends for money before the trip, as certain activities might require deposits.

Step Five:Organize transportation

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One nice thing about group travel is that usually the more people on the trip, the more people to split the bill and the more likely you are to receive more for your money. This is definitely the case with transportation, but it depends on a lot of things.

When traveling alone or just with one other person, public transportation is easily the most affordable option. But when you have a few people with you, taxis, chauffeurs or personal rentals can actually be cheaper and a lot easier. For this reason, we’re going to give you tips on booking private cars (rentals and chauffeur services), then you can weigh the price difference with public transportation.

Pick a size, vehicle and agency: Look at our vehicle capacity chart on the previous page to see what size is needed for your group. You’ll find rental and chauffeur agencies online. You can also find recommendations airport websites or your hotel.

Get a quote: Inquire with a few different places for the entire holiday if you know you’ll be driving a lot or just a few one-hour services, if your destination is pretty walkable.

Compare prices: Look online for the price of public transportation and check the difference based on how many people would be paying for it.

Some other things to keep in mind: Will someone offer to be DD each night? The price of parking. The price of gas. What is the furthest you’ll want to drive? Are you going to have a lot of late nights?

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

It’s worth it to look into getting a chauffeur or renting your own vehicle, because it’s a much nicer option when trying to keep the group together, but it can take a lot of time to plan.

Step Six:Split money before and during the trip

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That awkward moment.

A bill for $142 arrives after dinner with friends.

You're on a group trip together and while it's the perfect getaway, splitting costs has been somewhat annoying. Some people pay less, others don't take the initiative and one person seems to always feel like he or she has overpaid.

Like anything in life, money shouldn't put a damper on your group holiday and it doesn't have to. There are plenty of ways to avoid any debate over everyone paying their fair share on a holiday. A lot of it is planning and discussing ahead, but there are also tools and routines that make splitting the bill amongst you and your friends a lot easier on a holiday.

How to plan a group trip

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The truth

Though we’ve left this section to the end it should be treated by you and your friends as priority number one. Money woes can ruin the trip for one person or everyone, so it’s very important to talk about things before the trip even starts.

Discuss money before you leave

Nobody likes to talk about money, but you don't want to put it off until it becomes an issue. Work out details on how you are going to split money, who is going to pay for what and what kind of budget everyone is on long before leaving.

Put together a kitty for the trip

Thing can be confused or forgotten when everyone is paying for something different. Avoid this by collecting a lump sum of money prior and keeping it in a kitty (bag of shared money) while on the trip and deposit it all into one person’s Paypal account for booking this before the trip..

There’s an app for that

On top of having a calculator on you at all times in the form of your phone, there are several applications to help with splitting the costs of things amongst groups.These include Splitwise, Billr, Divvy and more They’re free to download and make splitting the bill of an entire trip hassle free.

Step Seven:Enjoy the trip

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Some things to try on your next holiday that will add to the traveling experience:

1. Eat like the locals.2. Say yes to something you normally would not (food, adventure, sport).3. Only pack half your suitcase and shop for a new wardrobe somewhere else.4. Try restaurants you find on local blogs, rather than those just featured in guide books.5. Get off the tourist trail.6. Practice your photography7. Wake up earlier than normal or stay up later.

Closing:Would you like to make it easier?

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As you can see, group travel is a lot of work until you can actually enjoy the trip. If you really want to go on vacation with friends, but don’t want the hassle of planning it, Tripeese is here to help.

We love to travel. We love our friends. We are techies and business people. We want to make travel more fun for all.

We always had a question on our minds: Why does organizing a trip with friends have to be so hard? Think about all those hours and days spent in discussions, deciding where to go, what hotel to pick, how to pay, who pays how much. We understand the pain that organizers feel.

What if we bring travel, technology, and business together to help people organize and book their trips in an easy and fun way? What if we leverage the power of the Web and mobile devices to make this process social, interactive, and simple?

Welcome to Tripeese. Tripeese enables you and your friends to plan and to book your trips online at group discounts, in the most collaborative and hassle-free way. Using our fun, simple one-page interface you can create your itinerary, invite friends, and book flights, hotels, car rentals. And you can even split payments!

Find out how it works at www.tripeese.com and start planning your group holiday today!