Planning checklist
The complete group trip planning checklist
A start-to-finish checklist for organising a group holiday: constraints, destination, voting, commitments, bookings, tasks and final checks.
What matters most
- Move through constraints, decision, commitment and booking in order.
- Give every important task an owner and a deadline.
- Reconfirm documents, prices and cancellation terms before payment.
Phase 1: define the group and collect inputs
Finish this phase before researching detailed itineraries.
- Name one organiser and confirm the invited travellers.
- Collect departure cities, travel documents, date ranges and budgets privately.
- Record pace, accessibility, dietary and accommodation preferences.
- Set a response deadline and mark non-responses clearly.
Phase 2: shortlist and decide
Present only realistic choices and keep the decision window short.
- Estimate full per-person costs using current prices.
- Check date overlap and travel time for every departure city.
- Verify entry requirements with official government sources.
- Collect private votes, apply the agreed tie-break and lock the winner.
Phase 3: collect commitments and book
A vote shows preference; a commitment shows readiness to proceed. Confirm who is in before anyone takes on a non-refundable obligation.
- Record each traveller’s commitment status.
- Agree on cancellation and reimbursement rules.
- Recheck names, dates, baggage, refund terms and total prices.
- Store booking references somewhere the group can access.
Phase 4: turn the itinerary into assigned tasks
Create a lightweight day-by-day plan, then assign visas, insurance, transfers, bookings and shared purchases to named people. Add deadlines early enough to recover if a task slips.
Phase 5: run the final check
Before departure, reconfirm documents, transport times, accommodation details, emergency contacts, payment methods and the plan for meeting. Download essential information for offline access.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What should be decided first for a group trip?
Start with who is travelling, overlapping dates, comfortable budgets and departure locations. Destination research becomes useful only after those constraints are known.
When should a group make bookings?
Book after the destination wins, current prices and terms are rechecked, and each traveller explicitly commits to the plan.
How do we stop one person doing everything?
Break the plan into concrete tasks, assign each task to a named owner and set deadlines visible to the group.