Best Apps to Split Travel Expenses

Group trips are fun, but let’s face it, calculating and splitting expenses while traveling is not, and can actually deter you from traveling together.  Luckily there are some easy tips to follow and several apps for splitting expenses while traveling with a group.

Here are some tips for how to approach setting a group budget while traveling, as well as some of the best apps to split expenses on your trip.

Agree to a Plan Before You Travel
There are many shared expenses that can come up during a group trip such as hotel rooms or Airbnbs, dining out, transportation & group activities.  In order to avoid any awkward confrontations or unpaid tabs, your group should agree upon how you plan to split expenses before your trip.  You can split everything equally, so everyone pays the same exact amount, or figure out a more itemized way to split expenses.  Make sure everyone in the group is on the same page before you even leave for your trip, and if possible, go with a group of people with similar spending habits. 

Set Up Accounts Ahead of Time
Several services such as Uber, Lyft let you invite people from your contact list and the bill will automatically be split between those in the group. Door Dash has a similar feature where everyone can order from one restaurant and pay individually on the group order.

Choose The Right Type of Trip for Your Group
Traveling in a group is a lot of fun, but keep in mind there are a lot of different interests, personalities and even tastes in foods. If it’s your first time traveling to together or don’t know everyone well, then consider taking a trip that allows for a balance of time together but plenty to do on your own as well. You can also take the stress out of money issues by choosing vacations where things are paid for prior to leaving. On a cruise for example, you can also pre-pay things like a beverage or dining package and gratuities, so you have little to no expenses while on your trip since meals, entertainment and onboard activities are included in the price. If you book an all inclusive resort including airfare, again you would have no expenses to worry about splitting once you arrive to the resort, since it is all meals, drinks and non-motorized water sports are all included.

For cruises & group vacations, we recommend you go through a travel agent. You don’t pay extra for using a travel professional, on the contrary, you often get savings and additional perks not available to consumers who book direct. Also, unlike many online booking engines where only 1 form of payment is accepted, we set up a free custom website for your group, where each traveler logs in and manages their own reservations & makes online payments. No worries, no stress.

Suggest Everyone Bring Some Cash Along
If you plan to shop for local goods, or try food from a street vendor, most often credit cards are not accepted, so it’s always good to have a few bucks on hand.

Best Apps to Split Travel Expenses

Splitwise
Splitwise tracks spending among multiple people and allows you to easily split costs.  You can create different groups and Splitwise will calculate what each person owes. What’s great about Splitwise is it organizes all of your groups’ spending in one place and allows each member to see the amount they owe and pay using Venmo or PayPal.  It even emails receipts to others in your group and can send automatic reminders if there is an outstanding balance.  Splitwise is free and available for both iPhone and Android.

Splid
Similar to Splid allows you to track group expenses and split them among each member of your group with the added bonus of the ability to use over 150 different currencies, making it perfect for group traveling.  You can also export a PDF or Excel summary of expenses to share with your group.  Splid is available for Android and IOS and is free to use for one group. The paid version allows you to use more than one group.

Divvy
A great app for splitting dining expenses while traveling is Divvy.  With Divvy, you use your iPhone’s camera to take a picture of a receipt, then drag and drop each line item to the person who it belongs to.  Divvy calculates each person’s share plus tax and the tip amount of your choice.  Divvy is 99 cents to download and is currently only available for iPhone.

SettleUp
Another great app for splitting expenses while traveling is SettleUp.  You can choose to split payments evenly or divide amounts up any way you would like and then share it with members of your group using email, WhatsApp, or other messaging apps.  SettleUp can also calculate the local currency exchange rate, making it ideal for international travel.  Available for both iPhone and Android, there is a free version of SettleUp available, as well as a paid version that lets you store snapshots of receipts.

Billr Me
Billr Me is another app aimed at splitting expenses when dining out.  It is well designed and allows you to split up a bill with as many as 16 people.  Billr Me calculates tax and tip for you and you can send a copy of the bill to group members via text or email.  Billr Me is currently available for iPhone for 99 cents.

You may also find the following blogs related to group travel helpful. Places in the U.S. that are perfect for group travel, Planning a large group cruise and how to plan a family reunion cruise.

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