Need help making a decision

[DCbride]

We have brought 3 different girls for my daughter and 1 boy for my son on various trips to Disney. Each time the parents are thrilled their child would have an opportunity to visit Disney, plus they got a few days at home alone. Each time the family paid for air and tickets and contributed some meals. I usually sent home most of the meal money but it was always offered by the family.

I do not see anything wrong with presenting the vacation to the other parents as you would like it to happen. I do agree with the other posts about skipping nice dinners out with the girls and either go yourselves or eat at less fancy places. I wouldn't expect a child to pay for dinner at a $20 and up place.

Now if you think the vacation exchange will happen more regularly since you are also friends with the parents, open communication about expenses right from the start would be great. We did an exchange with a German girl this past summer. Our daughter flew over to visit and we only paid air and a personal items. And when their daughter flew here we covered everything while she visited. It was my decision to either visit a Broadway play or spend the day at a beach.

My only concern would be if the parents would want their child to be gone 9 days. That's a long time.

 

[bethy]

If you invite a guest, she's a guest and shouldn't pay. If you are friends with DD13's friend's parents and know them well enough to discuss your financial situation, you could ask them to pay her airfare and give her pin money for souvenirs. I wouldn't be comfortable asking for anything else.

That's just me. Your mileage may vary.

This is my personal view as well.

FWIW, one of the main reasons we go on vacation is for family immersion bonding time. We don't get enough time together during the other times of the year. So I'm not big on inviting friends anyway. It's good to be forced to hang out together. Kind of like the family road trip of generations past.