Daughter Blasts Mom for Inviting Her on Cruise, Then Asking Her for $500 Day Before Flight
Published June 12 2023, 8:21 a.m. ET
It almost always leaves a bad taste in your mouth when somebody pretends to be someone they're not, or when they try to rope you in on something under false pretenses.
Like, let's say a friend of yours has an extra ticket to a show because somebody they were supposed to go with dropped out and asks you if you want to go but doesn't mention anything about the price of the ticket until you're on your way to the venue, or right before you're set to go.
You, thought that you were being gifted a ticket because they would have lost the value of it anyway, and now you find yourself in a predicament. How do you politely tell this person that you had no intention of paying for this ticket and were only going because it was free?
That's what a woman named Krystal (@krystalfauxshizzle) said happened with her and her sibling who are invited to go on a cruise by their mother. They thought their mom had already booked the vacation and was buying it for them as a family, but then, the day before they were supposed to go on their flight, their mother dropped on them that they would need to pony up $500 each for the trip.
And Krystal wasn't cool with that.
Krystal writes in a text overlay of the video: "When my mom tells me and my brother she wants to take us on a cruise to the Bahamas then asks us to contribute $500 the day before the flight'
In a caption on the video, Krystal asked if she was in the wrong being miffed that her mother would invite her and her sibling on a vacation, but then only spring on them the night before but they would have to pay to join.
She wrote: "Like AITA? Why did you say you wanted to take us on vacation for the summer then ask us for money the day before the flight leaves?? Like Ms. girl I am not spending money to hang out with people I see everyday for free, yall can go without me"
She records herself, as she sifts through packed luggage, arguing with her mother about the fact that she is only just now asking for money for the trip.
The TikToker's mom can be heard off camera, mentioning costs for "activities" and telling her daughter that she did indeed mention that they had to pay.
Krystal maintains throughout the video that she was not aware that she had to pay anything for the trip. "You said that this was a vacation, you said that this was a vacation that you were trying to do for us because we hadn't done anything, and now all of a sudden you're asking us to pay."
It seems that the old vacation bait and switch is not uncommon. One forum post on the site Mr. Money Mustache features a jaded friend who says that one of their pals invited them on a weekend trip at a cabin that was "already paid for."
After debating whether or not they should go, they accepted their friend's offer, and as the trip date neared, their friend sprung the following text on them: "Yay! I'll have to look it up, I can't remember all the details. Want to get together to discuss details before we go — take my car?"
They continued: "Buy groceries beforehand? I have to pay for the cabin when we get there. I didn't know if you would be willing to pay for gas and groceries if I pay for the cabin or what you were thinking about the costs. The cabin is $420."
OP added: "It seems like she wants to go halvsies which strikes me as rude with my understanding of the initial invite. Am I just being touchy? I'm not sure how to respond without coming off as rude."
A lot of folks who saw the post responded that it's not unreasonable to split groceries and gas for the trip, but that if the friend brought up possibly splitting a cabin, they should simply tell them that they don't have the budget for it that month.
Commenters who saw Krystal's TikTck video, on the other hand, thought that the mom was clearly planning to get money from her kids at the last minute intentionally.
"She knew what she was doing smh," one person wrote. Another said: "She can go by herself atp," while someone else wrote: "I would’ve unpacked that bag and went to bed so fast."
Another TikToker said that the situation would have been different if her mother just told her about the costs upfront: "I could understand if she said to pay $500 at the beginning but $500 the day before in this economy is crazyyyy."
What do you think? Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Or do you think that it's just understood that if you're going on vacation with somebody that you're going to have to pitch in?