How to Split Bungee Costs in a Group

Group bungee math is not hard. People get mad when the rules show up after the bill.

Write the split before anyone books: what is shared, what is personal, and what happens if someone cancels or doesn't jump. That's the whole fix.

Friends at a bridge jump site sorting a shared outdoor adventure day — Photo: Marjolein from The Netherlands / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Split costs into clear buckets

Put this in the group chat once:

Shared: van/shuttle, parking, reserved group deposit if the site takes one card
Personal: each jump ticket, each person's lunch if they order alone
Optional personal: photo/video package, hoodie, second jump
Optional shared: one group reel only if everyone on it actually wants to pay for it

If two loud people "agree" for twelve, it is not an agreement. Ask for a yes from each name paying.

Major operators sell group rates on request and include or sell media as its own product - treat media as optional unless the site already bundles it.^[1] Classic bridge products are built for shared jump days; still buy tickets per person, not as one mystery lump sum.^[4]

Deposits, cancellations, and no-shows

If one card holds the booking, that person gets repaid the same day through the app you all already use. No "I'll get you next weekend."

Read the operator's cancel window before you take deposits. On AJ Hackett NZ, cancel more than 48 hours out and you generally get the money back minus card fees; inside 48 hours is usually non-refundable; walking away on the day is treated as a no-show.^[1] Canyon Swing's sheet says full refund if you cancel 24 hours out - different site, different clock.^[2]

Simple group rule that works: if you cancel after the free window for a non-weather reason, you still cover your share of any nonrefundable group costs you locked in. Operator cancels for weather or safety - you follow their refund/reschedule, not a group tribunal.

Photo and video packages

Don't force a full pro package on someone who is already stretching for the ticket. Options that work:

Each person who wants media buys their own
Only the people on a group clip split that clip
One person shoots from the spectator area if the site allows it

Plenty of big sites ban personal cameras during the jump and push their own media portal instead.^[1] Budget for that if the video is the point of the day.

Who pays if someone doesn't jump

Decide before the van leaves.

Usual clean version: jump tickets are personal. Shared transport is split by seats in the vehicle. Spectator pays transport (and food if you're splitting a table). They don't pay a jump they didn't take - unless they locked a nonrefundable ticket under their name and the operator won't move it.

Weights and medical limits are individual. Someone who can't jump because of the site's limits is not a group joke. Confirm eligibility against the product's posted range before money moves.^[1]

Travel insurance for adventure sports is also individual, even on a group trip - group chat coverage is not a policy.^[3]

A worked example

Six people. Van split six ways. Five jump. One watches.

Five jump tickets - those five pay their own
Van - all six
Shared lunch - all six if you booked a table for six
Two people want the video package - those two pay it

Everyone knew that at booking. Dinner is for eating, not for reconciling surprise add-ons.

Bottom line: buckets first, cancel rules in writing, media optional, one person fronts and gets paid back same day. The jump is short. The spreadsheet should already be done.

Sources

Image credits

Photo: Jocelyn Kinghorn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Photo: Marjolein from The Netherlands / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)