Group trips are complicated enough without a mandatory fundraiser attached to the itinerary.

One man had been saving for a three-week Japan trip with his friend group when he found out the plan came with an additional requirement: everyone going was expected to chip in and fully cover a college friend of the group’s expenses, including care for his mother back home.

The biggest catch? This man had never even met this person. And besides, he didn’t have that kind of money.

When he said so, his friends told him it would be best if he just didn’t come.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA for not wanting to contribute for someone I barely know to go on a group vacation cause we share friends?

So my friend group is planning a vacation to Japan.

They want to surprise a long-time friend that they knew from college but had to drop out to care for their mom who was diagnosed with early onset dementia.

I am fine, but they are asking everyone that is going to chip in and cover everything for them because they don’t really have money like that since his full-time job is taking care of his mom.

This includes covering for his mother’s care.

This presents a real financial challenge to this man.

I don’t have enough to chip in. We are going for three weeks and have been saving a long time for this.

When I told them I don’t have the means to contribute the same way as they are, they told me it is fine but it would probably be best for me to not go then.

He clearly doesn’t see eye-to-eye with this group and wonders if he’s going about this all wrong.

I told them this is not fair, but they feel since we are all going we should all chip in.

This seems messed up. I get they have known this guy far longer than I have, but I have never met this person and they want me to spend thousands I don’t have to surprise him with a dream vacation?

AITA for feeling this is not my problem?

What an unfair situation to put him in.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who was stunned when her friends finally admitted the reason for their falling out.

What did Reddit make of this?

If these friends want to donate, then great, but they shouldn’t be dictating what anyone else does.

Maybe it’s time to ditch these friends altogether.

These “friends” cared way more about money than anything else.

This commenter calls the behavior out for what it really is: performative.

The gesture itself is genuinely lovely. Surprising a struggling friend with a dream trip is the kind of thing that restores faith in people.

The problem is that the cost got distributed to someone who never met the guest of honor and didn’t agree to the arrangement upfront.

Asking someone to fund a stranger’s vacation is just weird, and this man isn’t wrong for feeling like the terms changed after he’d already committed.

No one deserves to be handed a bill they never agreed to pay.