How to collect money for a group trip

One person holds it. Everyone chips in. Everyone sees every dollar.

By the TableCash Team · Updated August 2, 2026

TableCash is a group fund app for trips: one planner creates a table, everyone chips in by card before anything gets booked, the money lands with the planner, and the whole group sees who paid and what's left.

The problem every trip has

Someone has to book the villa, the flights, the table at the restaurant — which means someone fronts the money and then spends weeks asking to be paid back. The group chat goes quiet the moment money comes up. The trip dies, or the planner eats the cost.

The fix: collect first, book second

1. The planner creates a table in TableCash with the trip as its purpose.
2. Everyone chips in with their card. The money goes directly to the planner — it lands in their own Stripe account, not with the app.
3. Set a goal and shares. Split the trip cost equally and each person sees their share and what's still left to chip in. The app can nudge whoever hasn't — so the planner never has to send the awkward text.
4. Book with money you already have. No fronting, no IOUs, no chasing.

Why the whole group trusts it

Everyone at the table sees the same numbers: who chipped in, how much is there, and everything the planner approved out. If anyone needs money from the trip budget — a deposit refund, a shared cost — they request it and the planner approves it, on the record. TableCash never holds the money itself; Stripe moves and holds all of it, and the app is the interface and the record.

Common questions: who holds bachelorette trip money · handling girls trip money · bachelor party money · the vacation rental deposit · group concert tickets · collecting from friends

Also collecting for something else? Group gifts · Team funds and dues · What TableCash is