It's not really hard to figure who owes what. For years I've kept track in a little notebook as to who paid for what. I often have the extra glass of wine and would be mortified to have my friend pay for half of it (you can easily offset by cost of dinne). I know, no big deal, but it adds up. Just deduct that from the bill/your list, i.e, dinner $40, extra wine $5, split at $20 each. We usually trade off paying with credit cards; if it's cash only, whoever has enough pays. Just keep adding back and forth on your list and try to keep it even so there's no big payoff at the end. The most we've I've ever differed is about $40. Write a check as no one wants to have foreign money at the end of the trip.

Barb, when my friend and I travel, we use a kitty. But, like you, my friend usually spends more on dinner. She will have a couple of glasses of wine. But she's very considerate, and even though we have a kitty, when she has wine, she will always put down more money. I will pay the bill out of the kitty (my job) and she will quietly put down some extra money. We never make a big deal out of it and it never has to be exactly they cost of the wine.
Since you are the one that thinks your bill will be more, and you sound like a very considerate lady, I think the kitty would work, if you just kicked in the extra bit sometimes, like my friend does. NEver have I felt shortchanged., and I don't think your friend would either.
I'm not sure what you would accomplish by putting it all on your credit card ( except the air miles). YOu'd have a lot of figuring out to do when you got home. For the sake of a few extra dollars here or there, is it worth all the trouble?
Being a considerate person, I don't think you'd let your friend get short changed.

Last summer a friend and I drove for over a month on a European trip that involved several currencies.

We did not do the "kitty" thing. She kept a journal and I kept a journal of our common expenses. We had different methods of tracking expenses, but when we totalled everything up at the end of our trip, we came out pretty much the same. Amazing!

I can't tell you how she kept her accounting because it was a mystery to me! :) My method was to note down how much was paid for hotel, gas, dinner, etc. and then to put an initial next to the noted expense. At the end of the day I totalled the amount each person had spent in that currency. I did the same for each week. Then a grand total for the entire trip. By my accounting I ended up owing her about $200 US; by her accounting, the amount was about $150. For a trip that cost several thousand dollars, that was not much of a difference. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the method doesn't matter so much, as long as it is accurate.

Hotel, gas, admissions and other such expenses were easily split in half. It appears from the above postings that meals are the potential source for problems.

I can only tell you what we did: we split the meals 50-50. She drank wine with a bottle of water, I drank whatever the locals drank: beer, wine, water. Neither one of us ordered anything that was extremely disproportionate or outrageous in price; it just came out that way. We happened to like the same kind of food. Once in Bratislava I ordered a complete dinner and she ordered only a drink because she wasn't hungry. I paid for the meal including the drink and, in my accounting, I did not add the meal into the totals to be divided, it was noted down as a personal expense.

Hope this helps!

Oh, BTW, in the States when going out with friends and dining Dutch, we split the dinner bill, but the liquor becomes an individual item. Let's say each person's portion comes to $30, then those people who drank pays extra for his/her own drink(s). Sometimes the nondrinkers want to be fair and will chip in for their softdrinks - which is only fair, but we don't insist on that because the amounts are not overwhelming.

I think this is a really easy or very touchy question ~ depending on personalities, your relationship, habits, etc. If you are not close to your travel-mate, talk this one out ahead of time - before you board the plane!!

I traveled 3-weeks (Switzerland, Paris, Venice) with a male not-lover, close friend and we split it by instinct. We never kept records. We have similar tastes in food and wine fortunately. We both used ATM's and had cash (Euro or Swiss Franc) on hand.

He was in charge of Paris plans (and paid the hotel bill), I was in chage of Venice plans (and paid the hotel bill). Meals we just took turns paying. Train fares we paid our own.

Fortunately it was not "sticky" at all for us!

we always split things right down the middle...if you are one who things that you get the end of the stick---always order the most expensive thing on the menu....we sometimes keep a little book and write things down and then settle up at the end of the day or periodically....

I do the kitty thing if we rent a car so road fees are taken care of quickly. At the end of the meal I don't drag out the caculator but I scan the bill and figure out appx who had what.
Most of my friends have the same view of money as I do so it's never a problem.

Hi Barb,

Sounds to me as if your only real difficulty is what to do with meal tabs.

I would go with your idea of charging it all and letting your friend pay you cash.

Other expenses should be easy to just split in half.

Barb, Last year when I had a similar question about traveling with another couple I got some great advice from this site that made our trip a wonderful experience. We used the kitty for car expenses, like gas, tolls, parking etc and that made it easy. For food and car rental we used a dedicated credit card that had nothing on it but those expenses incurred during our trip. We just divided it in half when the bill came after the trip. We found when traveling in France we almost always chose the prix fixe menu so our expenses were comparable, maybe you will find the same occurs with you and your friend. We all enjoyed our two week trip and look forward to another traveling together. Hope you have a great time. Deborah

A lot of restaurants will give you separate tabs if you ask -- the waiter will just come to the table, figure out what everyone had, and give you separate totals. ((b))

DeborahAnn, in theory, you idea should work about splitting the credit card bills at the end of the trip.

We travelled with a couple -- they both drank wine with their meal, and if there were lobster on the menu, she would order it. I have a couple glasses of wine, and my wife a soda and usually some sort of salad. The other couple would just want to split the bill in half. Finally, I told my wife that I wasn't going to pay for the other wife's freakin lobster anymore, and the next dinner, when it came time to pay, I suggested that we should ask the waiter for separate tabs. No problem. ((b))

Budman, it did work but that was because these were very good friends and we knew each others eating habits, I would have the same reaction as you did if our friends were like yours and had more extravagant tastes. Hopefully your travel partners made up for their "eating disorders" in being great travel companions. Deborah

For several years four of us traveled together usually to Europe for two weeks. We did the "scorecard" idea, taking turns buying the entire meal and recording how much was paid by whom. We never paid attention to who had what, although after a meal in which one person had splurged excessively compared to the others, that person would usually buy us all a drink at a bar or the next afternoon to "make up for it" and keep that one off the list. We'd tally every few days (one gal was a banker -- we gave her the job) and then decide who'd pay next according to who was furthest behind. One year on the plane home, we did a final tally and decided that one person owed each of the other three 11 cents. We laughed, but a week later we each got a dime and a penny mailed to us (funny that the postage cost three times that!)

I just heard about a system that I am certainly going to try next trip we go on with friends.

The idea is that the two couples (or whatever) each put in the entire calculated amount 50/50 for the trip in advance in cash, plus a ten percent "buffer".

The kitty pays for everything equally throughout. Then the kitty buys dinner upon the return when the friends get together to see the pictures.

If there is still some leftover they either split it or make it a donwpayment on the next trip.

Thank you guys for all your great ideas. I think we will sit down before we leave and iron this all out. I think I may just be anticipating problems because I am so used to traveling solo. Maybe a combination of kitty for groceries (we're staying in apts.), rental car/gas/tolls, metro, taxis, entrance fees, gelato and splitting the dinner bill 50/50 with either cash, or separate credit cards, w/me making up the difference if mine is much more expensive than hers. So, merci & grazie!!!

I think I have a solution:

Let her pay for all meals today and you will pay for all the meals tomorrow,
so this way everyone pays the same, aren't they ?

I do not like sharing bills as if I know we are sharing I will withold myself from ordering what I want just to not to make my friends pay "my half of lobster" they haven't eaten.

I would ask for split bill at the beginning of dinner. Why someone said it is a bad idea ???

LJ, just one problem. I would not want to carry that much cash around with me. Yikes.

We just split everything down the middle (or however many ways necessary). It's just not worth the trouble for a few bucks here & there & I am certain it all evens out in the end.

One other idea....since you are concerned that you might be taking advantage of your friend...figure out the restaurant bill and tell your friend how much she should pay. Then tell the waiter how much to put on the two credit cards. No need to keep a journal of expenses or receipts. Last week in Paris my husband wanted to have a certain (very expensive) wine. It was not fair to have our friend pay for our extravagance..so when we got the bill, my husband told the waiter how much to put on each credit card...this was in a two star restaurant. No problem, no funny looks. Use a kitty for the apartment, food shopping, taxis, etc. with ne person the kitty person. We shared an apartment in Rome with 3 friends last year, when we went food shopping and each wanted something special that they thought the others would not want..so that person paid for it. I was not going to eat All Bran in Rome and my friend was not planning to share it. As long as nobody feels "taken advantage of"' sharing is great.

Most restaurants I have been in in France and Italy will split the bill. From my experience, women, more so than men, occasionally seem to get tangled up in trying to divvy up a bill.

If you are with true friends down the middle should be adequate. If you have any qualms, separate checks. Sitting at the end of a meal and quibbling over "Who had the escargot.." seems just a bit tacky and embarrassing.

Well if waiters will split the bill that would seem to solve the dilemma. I was not sure if that would be bad taste or not to ask.