Most group trip arguments start before the trip. One person pictured a long weekend and another a week; one budgeted for a hostel and another for a hotel with a pool.
A five-minute survey, sent before anything is booked, settles most of it. Everyone answers the same questions on their own, and you plan around what people actually said rather than what the loudest person typed in the group chat.
When to send it
Send it once the trip is a real idea, and before anyone books. Early enough that the answers can still change the plan, late enough that people take it seriously.
- Keep it short. Five minutes to answer, or people stop halfway.
- One survey, one deadline. “Answer by Friday” works better than “whenever you can”.
- Keep budget answers private. Only the organizer should see them, so nobody feels pushed into a number.
- Ask only what you will act on. If an answer would not change the plan, cut the question.
The questions
Dates and length
Offer a few options instead of asking when people are free. Open questions get open answers, and a week of “I could maybe do the 14th?”.
- Which of these dates work for you? List two to four options and let people tick all that work.
- How many nights can you do?
- Are any dates impossible for you?
Budget
Ask for a range, privately, and leave travel out of it, since flights and trains differ from person to person.
- What can you spend on the trip, not counting getting there? Offer ranges.
- Would you rather save on the stay, or on food and activities?
- Can you pay your share of the stay up front by a set date?
Where
Ask about the kind of trip before naming places. Agreeing on “a city with a beach nearby” is much easier than choosing between five cities at once.
- City, beach, mountains, or a mix?
- How long are you happy to travel to get there?
- Anywhere you have in mind, and anywhere you would rather not go?
The stay
Ask about sleeping arrangements before you book, not after someone has ended up on the sofa for a week.
- One place together, or rooms in a hotel?
- Are you happy to share a room? A bed?
- Must-haves: a kitchen, a pool, air conditioning, parking, walking distance to the center?
What to do
Ask for three favorites and one hard no. A short list of loves and a single “please not this” tells you more than a long checklist.
- Pick three things you would love to do.
- One thing you would rather skip.
- How full should the days be: packed, balanced or slow?
- Early start or late night?
Food and needs
Ask once, kindly, and make it optional. It is much easier to plan around an allergy or a bad knee before the trip than in the middle of it.
- Any dietary needs or allergies?
- Anything we should plan around, like a lot of walking or stairs?
Getting there, and are you in?
End with the question that matters most. Everything above is a wish list until people say they are coming.
- Where will you travel from?
- Can you drive, and are you happy to?
- In, maybe, or out? And by when can you confirm?
Copy the template
Every question above, ready to paste into Google Forms, a shared note or the group chat. Change the dates, the budget ranges and the currency to fit your trip.
GROUP TRIP SURVEY
Trip: [where, if you know]
Please answer by: [date]
DATES
1. Which of these dates work for you? Tick all that work.
[ ] Option A: [dates]
[ ] Option B: [dates]
[ ] Option C: [dates]
2. How many nights can you do? (2 / 3 to 4 / 5 to 7 / more)
3. Are any dates impossible for you?
BUDGET (only the organizer sees these answers)
4. What can you spend on the trip, not counting getting there?
(under $300 / $300 to $600 / $600 to $1,000 / more)
5. Would you rather save on the stay, or on food and activities?
6. Can you pay your share of the stay up front by [date]?
WHERE
7. City, beach, mountains, or a mix?
8. How long are you happy to travel to get there?
(up to 2 hours / up to 5 hours / a long flight is fine)
9. Anywhere you have in mind? Anywhere you would rather not go?
THE STAY
10. One place together, or rooms in a hotel?
11. Are you happy to share a room? A bed?
12. Must-haves: kitchen / pool / air conditioning / parking / walk to the center
WHAT TO DO
13. Pick three things you would love to do:
food / museums / nightlife / beaches / hiking / shopping /
day trips / live music / spa / sports
14. One thing you would rather skip
15. How full should the days be? (packed / balanced / slow)
16. Early start or late night?
FOOD AND NEEDS
17. Any dietary needs or allergies?
18. Anything we should plan around, like a lot of walking or stairs? (optional)
GETTING THERE
19. Where will you travel from?
20. Can you drive, and are you happy to?
ARE YOU IN?
21. In, maybe, or out?
22. By when can you confirm?Reading the answers
- Plan to the lowest comfortable budget, not the average. The person at the bottom of the range is the one who drops out if the trip gets expensive.
- Start with the dates everyone can do. If no option works for all, take the one most people can do and ask the others whether they can join for part of it.
- A hard no beats a nice-to-have. If one person would hate a club night and two would quite like one, plan it as optional.
- Plan the days for the middle. A busy morning for the early risers, a slower afternoon for everyone, and a late night for whoever wants one.
- “Maybe” means no until they confirm. Book for the people who said yes.
Which tool to use
Any form tool works, as long as the answers stay private. Pick whatever your group will actually open.
- Google Forms is free, sends the answers to whoever made the form rather than to the group, and sums them up in charts.
- A trip app with polls. WePlanify has polls that can be anonymous, and Let's Jetty has trip surveys on destination, dates and activities.
- The group chat, for a small group and the easy questions only. Keep the budget out of it.
After the survey: let everyone choose the places
The survey gives you the shape of the trip: when, where, how long and roughly how much. What it does badly is choose the actual places, because “museums” and “food” mean something different to everyone.
That part is what SwipeSights is built for. Create the trip, share the link, and everyone swipes through real places in the city: right to like, up for a must-see, left to skip. A must-see counts for more than a like and is the last thing cut from a full day.
Then the plan is built from the votes: days grouped by area, each in walking order, around opening hours, with meals in between. It is free for groups of up to 3, with the plan open for 3 days.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask in a group trip survey?
The dates and how many nights, a private budget range, the kind of trip and how far people will travel, the stay and the sleeping arrangements, three things each person would love to do and one to skip, dietary needs, and whether they are in.
Should budget answers be anonymous?
Private, at least. Let only the organizer see them, and ask for a range rather than a number, so nobody feels pushed into spending more than they can.
How many questions should a group trip survey have?
Only the ones you will act on. Five minutes to answer is a good limit. The template on this page has more questions than most trips need, so cut what does not apply.
When should we send a group trip survey?
Once the trip is a real idea and before anyone books anything. Give a deadline a few days out, and book only once the people who said yes have confirmed.
What is the best tool for a group trip survey?
Google Forms is free and sends the answers to you, not to the group. WePlanify has polls that can be anonymous, and Let's Jetty has trip surveys. Once you know where and when, SwipeSights lets everyone vote on the places by swiping and builds the plan from the votes.
Turn the answers into a plan
Create the trip, share the link, and let everyone swipe on what to do.
SwipeSights: plan the whole group trip together.
