Her Sister Asked For A Luxury European Trip For Her 50th Birthday, Then The $15,000 Cost Came Up

Reddit user u/Luckyphoenix29 explained that she’s doing fine financially, but her sister lives on a completely different planet of wealth. To put it in perspective, her sister paid almost ten times more for her house than the Redditor did.

Her sister is also extremely family-oriented and loves big reunions, even when they end awkwardly or hurt feelings. Since both parents passed away years ago, these gatherings now involve all the siblings and their families.

About a year and a half ago, the sister announced her big plan for her 50th birthday. She wanted a full family reunion at a luxurious European destination for at least a week.

To make things even more elaborate, the sister and her family planned to travel around Europe for six weeks before the celebration. The Redditor felt like this wasn’t just an invitation, but an expectation.

She told her sister she would try to attend, even though she knew the cost would be overwhelming. Flying her large family alone would cost close to $10,000.

Once lodging and other expenses were added, the total came to around $15,000. That amount also happened to equal one full year of college tuition for her oldest child.

With multiple kids and other financial responsibilities, the Redditor knew the trip wasn’t realistic. When a work conflict came up, she felt relieved to finally have a reason to cancel.

Her sister was deeply disappointed and told her that if the trip truly mattered, she would have made it work. Now the Redditor is questioning whether she’s wrong for not wanting to spend tuition-level money on a one-week birthday trip.

With multiple kids and other financial responsibilities, the Redditor knew the trip wasn’t realistic.

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Here’s the original post by Reddit user u/Luckyphoenix29.

AITA for not wanting to dump $15k on my sister's 50th birthday? So, I am doing fine in life financially but my sister is like on another level, way richer than me. She paid for her house x10 what I paid for mine, no exaggerating. She is very family oriented and enjoys family reunions, even when they end badly or hurting people's feelings. Both our parents passed away some years ago. So family reunions are the siblings getting together with their respective families. 1.5 years ago she announced that she wanted to do something special for her birthday: she gave me notice, basically, that she wanted to have a family reunion at a posh European location for at least a week (she and her family are exploring Europe for 6 weeks prior to the actual party). I told her I was going to try to go. I did not have the courage to tell her that for me it would be difficult, just financially speaking. Bringing my whole family (I have many kids) on this trip was going to cost me no less than 15k. Just airfare alone would be close to 10k. 15k is one year of tuition (my oldest is a Junior) and I have other money stuff to think about too. So, when a thing from work created a conflict, I was relieved to have an excuse to cancel. She was super disappointed, particularly because she had made it very clear how important this trip was to her. If it had mattered to me, she said, I would have made the trip happen. So, I guess IATA. But, AITA for not wanting to shell out 1 year worth of tuition $ in a one-week "special birthday celebration" for my rich sister? EDIT: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR HELPING ME PROCESS.

Let’s see how the Reddit community reacted.

Book_Ends44

You should’ve just told her no to start with.

Fearless_Ad1685

ESH.

CoderJoe1

She knows your making an excuse.

thingonething

You should’ve been up front.

LowBalance4404

NTA.

archetyping101

That kind of money is ridiculous.

Artistic_Tough5005

If she really wants you there, she can flip the bill.

GothPenguin

ESH.

Shouldonlytakeaday

This is not a normal expense.

Technical-Edge-6982

That’s an absurd amount of money.

Careless-Ability-748

You’re almost TA here.

Fuzzy-Constant

Time to be honest about your budget.

Holiday_Trainer_2657

In the end, the Redditor isn’t questioning whether her sister’s milestone birthday mattered. She’s questioning whether love should come with a five-figure price tag—and whether setting financial boundaries automatically makes someone the bad guy.