'AITA for refusing to pay $200 to share a hotel room with five people at Comic Con?' UPDATED
"AITAH for refusing to pay $200 to share a hotel room?"
Hey everyone, bare with me it's 3am and I'm tired of overthinking this stupid situation. So my husband (M.22) and myself (F.22) were invited to Denver comic con by my friends Nikki (F.26) and Braxton (M.44) as well as Nikki's mom (F.49).
We had been saving up for the better part of a year just to make sure we could afford to go and had finally been able to pull together enough cash for tickets, some for a hotel and food while we were there.
This last month Nikki offered to let us stay with her and everyone else in the hotel room that they booked in August of 2023 (relevant later). My husband and I agreed since we would be sleeping on the couches and we're expecting to pay like $50 each.
Two days ago she called me and asked me if we wanted to pay her before the trip for this hotel room I asked how much we owe her and she said $450 I immediately knew we couldn't afford that and started asking a whole bunch of questions. She said it was $225 for each of us, (we are going to sleep there that is it), she said it was our portion of the hotel bill split 5 ways between everyone else.
I told her there was no way we could afford that and she offered to pay what we couldn't but she expected us to pay her back. I told her thank you but we won't be able to due to us living paycheck to paycheck while trying to get a house when our lease is up.
After asking a whole bunch more questions she told me when they booked the hotel we hadn't even been invited yet, and they booked an 8 person hotel suite for the three of them. This suite has 3 bedrooms and a living room, they each get their own rooms while we get the couch but are paying the same amount?
It kinda pissed me off so I've been stewing and told her no way in hell am I paying $450 to sleep on a couch for 10 hours and not be there anymore than that. So AITAH? If you need more info let me know this is the gist of it tbh. Also we leave July 3rd and won't be back til July 7th. Please help.
The internet had plenty to say about the scenario.
-snowflower wrote:
$450 could get them an a really great hotel room! Why would anyone pay that much just to sleep on a couch? Their friends are delusional if they think anyone would pay any amount of money for that.
OP responded:
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it, I think the hotel they booked was an 8 room suite in the hiatt
CombinationCalm9616 wrote:
NTA. She’s taking the piss. No way would I pay $450 to sleep on a couch when everyone else pays to get a room. Also the maths seems off so does everyone pay $225 to have their own room while you and your husband spend $450 to share a couch? You would literally be subsidizing there holiday and for them to have a bedroom.
You also say you’re only there for 10 hours? So how many nights are you planning on spending at the hotel? Just get your own hotel room or Airbnb as they are being ridiculous and theirs no point you trying to work this out with them since they seem to not have any common sense.
OP responded:
So everyone is paying $225 for their own rooms, my husband and I will be out of the hotel room by 8 every morning and get back at 10, they also expect us to bring food to cover some expenses at the con because the food is super pricey there so they are planning on bringing sandwiches and stuff but asked us to supply bread condiments meats etc.
Historical_Page_7693 wrote:
Why is Braxton hanging out with all these young people?
OP responded:
So Nikki and I worked at DQ and he was our manager for multiple years, they work together at another company but he's really cool, mentally he's closer to our interests even though he is much older.
Skygriffin wrote:
I mean, I invited a friend on my kids' birthday Disney Vacation. We stayed in their hotel for a week and everything, and I only made her pay for her own tickets. And I'm not rich (seriously, this was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing I always said I'd do with my kids), but inviting her didn't change the price of the room. So...do they really value your presence?? Or are you there to help with the bills?
Last_Friend_6350 wrote:
What a cheek! There’s no way would I pay that for a night when I’m on the couch and they’re all in comfy beds with their own rooms. You could get your own rooms for much less. Those couches would still be there without anyone sleeping on them regardless. It’s part of the suite.
It’s not like they’re getting an additional room for you to stay in with an additional cost to be paid. I think she saw you two as spending money.
This is a good lesson to always check the costs up front, even ‘friends’ can try and take advantage of you.
Youdontuderstandme wrote:
NTA.
It is NOT reasonable to expect you to pay the same amount when you are sleeping on the sofa. That’s BS.
If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. Pay her back for the difference later? Please.
She should have told you the price up front. Mind you, you should have asked upfront as well (lesson to you), but since she’s footing the bill she should have been crystal clear on the terms.
She should still be in the cancellation period and can change her reservation to something less expensive if she can’t afford it.
A week later, OP shared an update.
So in my OG post I explained that my husband and I were invited to Comic Con by a few friends. Nikki (26 F) Braxton (44 M) and Nikkei’s mom (49 F). So in that post, my husband and I were sharing a pullout bed and they would each have a queen size bed, they booked the room about a year in advance and we were last minute add ons.
Originally my husband and I were asked to pay $450 which is half of the hotel cost. So we were also supposed to supply sandwich stuff for the 4 days of the con. We ended up with a bed and are paying about $250 for our portion and will not be paying any more.
A lot of you were saying that they really only invited us for a cheaper vacation so basically you all were correct. so far we have had a good time but still running across some guilt tripping issues with Nikki.
Commenters had lots to say in response.
That_Survey5021 wrote:
They wanted you to subsidize their vacation with their mom. Mom should have been on the pullout.
OP responded:
Yeah I figured that out, Nikki told me that my husbands and i‘s portion of the hotel room would be about $225 a piece, I talk to her mom (who paid for the hotel up front) and she said it would be about $200 for both of us combined. the hotel room itself was around $850 and parking was $40 per vehicle.
We helped with most of the food, gas costs to and from the con and parking garage tickets during the con, which she was more than happy with (Nikki’s mom).
Evening_Relief9922 wrote:
Hell the way I see it is if I’m paying half the cost and then some then I’m getting a bed and not a pull out. I wouldn’t pay any more then what I had to and that’s it and as for food I’d be buying my own or supplying my own.
Mechya wrote:
You end up walking around a lot at the cons, any guilt-tripping would be quickly met with a bit of a laugh followed by me questioning why they didn't just take the pull-out or be honest about it if it was about the money. Nobody wants to get sore from sleeping on a bad bed and then walking all day for a couple of days.
parker3309 wrote:
So are Nikki and Braxton a couple?
OP responded:
Nope although Nikki wishes they were. Braxton has made it evidently clear he isn’t interested granted it’s probably A good thing for Nikki’s sake. (Braxton is a know it all AH that has to prove he’s right even when is very very wrong).
KalliMae wrote:
NTA, but I want to know who actually sleeps during a Con? We use to go to DragonCon in ATL every year. It took a week to recover. The last one I think we slept six hours the entire weekend. I hope you had a good time!
OP responded:
We really didn’t, I think total sleep we got was like 10 hours max, not to mention it was really hard to sleep when everyone was blaring the tv til midnight and blaring the tv at 5:30 am. I’m glad to be home to my own bed and fur babies though.