Six requirements from six people up

Group travel app: what to look for

With two of you, a group chat is enough to organise a trip. With eight people, three families and two cars it stops working — not because there is more to arrange, but because nobody can see what has already been arranged. Here is where it breaks down, and where an app genuinely helps.

When does a group outgrow the group chat?

Somewhere between four and six people. Below that everyone still follows the conversation; above it half the group reads without replying and the rest assumes silence means agreement. The tipping point is not the number of messages but the number of decisions you need to be able to find again.

A group chat is an excellent place to talk and a terrible archive. Group travel needs both: talk where you already talk, but put the outcome — who books, who drives, who brings the tent, who paid for what — somewhere it will still be in two weeks.

Six things that only matter with a group

With two people these barely register. From six up they decide whether the app still gets used after one trip.

  1. Can everyone join without paying? This is the big one. An app the rest of the group needs a subscription for will not get used — half of them fall back to the group chat and you are worse off than before.
  2. Can everyone add things, not just read? Otherwise one person keeps entering everything and you are back to the organiser doing it alone. With a group, read-only is not enough.
  3. Are costs and planning the same app? Two separate apps means half the group installs one of them. Who fronted what belongs to the same trip as who brings what.
  4. Can you set unequal shares? Group trips rarely consist of adults splitting everything evenly. Children count for less, someone joins for three of the seven days, and not everyone does every outing.
  5. Does it work offline? With a group it fails at exactly one moment: arrival. Everyone looks up the address at once, somewhere with poor signal. An app that fetches everything live is useless right then.
  6. Does it survive to next time? Groups that travel together once usually do it again. If every trip starts from scratch, nobody opens it a second time.

Group chat, spreadsheet or a group travel app?

How most groups do it now, and where that runs aground.

Group chatShared documentGroup travel app
DiscussingExcellentAwkwardStays in the group chat
Finding a decision againNear impossibleReasonableYes
Everyone sees the same thingOnly if you scroll backIf you share itAlways current
Who brings whatScattered messagesManuallyRecorded per item
Splitting costsScreenshots of payment requestsA tab with formulasBuilt in
Children at half a shareManuallyBuild a formulaSet per person
Offline on arrivalPartlyUsuallyYes
Reuse for the next tripNoCopy and clean upTemplate or copy

What PAKT does

PAKT is built for families and groups travelling together. You create the trip once, invite everyone and fill in the packing list, plans, trip info and costs together. Joining is free: the people you invite do not need to buy anything.

For each member you record who they are, who they belong with and what cost share they carry — children count for less by default. The packing list records who brings each item, so you do not end up with three hairdryers and no adapter.

Download PAKT
PAKT group travel app — everyone on the trip, with their role and cost share

What PAKT does not do

PAKT does not book anything. No flights, no houses, no rental cars, and there is no price comparison in it. You book the way you always do and put the confirmation into the trip afterwards.

It is also not a chat: you keep discussing where you discuss now. PAKT is where the outcome of that discussion lands. And it is not a corporate travel tool — no expense claims, no approvals, no invoices.

Amounts are shown in euros, so for a trip where you pay in several currencies you will need to convert yourself. One thing that does work in a group’s favour: PAKT is on both the App Store and Google Play, so everyone can join whatever phone they carry. Beyond that: no tracking and no ads. The core features are free and PAKT Pro is a one-off purchase, not a subscription.

Costs Splitting holiday costs Four methods, and when someone should count for less. Planning together Planning a holiday together Agreements per situation: partner, family or friends. Step by step Plan a group trip in 7 steps Tasks, budget and ground rules for a larger group.

Organise your next group trip in one place

Create the trip in PAKT and invite the whole group. Packing list, plans and costs together — and joining is free.

Download PAKT

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app for group travel?

The one the rest of the group will actually open. So check first whether joining is free and whether everyone can add things rather than only read along — an app the others have to pay for will not get used. Only then look at features: costs and planning in one app, unequal shares, offline access and lists that carry over to the next trip.

How do you organise a trip with a large group?

Assign one owner per area — transport, accommodation, activities — instead of deciding everything collectively. Keep discussing in the group chat, but put the outcome somewhere everyone can still find it in two weeks. Agree upfront how you split the costs, including the children’s share.

From how many people do you need an app?

In practice from around six. Below that everyone still keeps up with the group chat. Above it some people read without replying, and the number of decisions you need to retrieve grows beyond what a chat can hold.

Does everyone in the group have to buy the app?

No. PAKT’s core features are free: creating a trip together, using the shared packing list, keeping the plans and splitting costs. The people you invite do not need to buy anything, and it does not matter whether they carry an iPhone or an Android phone. PAKT Pro is a one-off €14.99 purchase — not a subscription — for custom templates and unlimited history.

Can you split group travel costs unequally?

Yes. You set a cost share per person, so children count for less or someone joining for part of the trip pays proportionally. If somebody sits out one specific expense, you leave them off that expense without changing their share of everything else.