The Good Flight and Travel Guide

Jan. 15, 2010 — -- Q: My sister wants to rent a cabin in upstate New York with my other sister and me, my husband and our daughter. She thinks I should pay 60% of the rent and she and my other sister should pay 20% each. I don't want to sound cheap, but I don't think that's fair—I think it should be divided evenly. What say you?

A: This is a bit tricky to comment on without knowing more about the cabin itself. With a rental, I think it's mostly about how the bedrooms are divided up. If there are three bedrooms of roughly even size, and your sisters will each have one while you, your husband and daughter share the third, then I think each of them should pay 1/3 and you should pay 1/3 to cover all three of you.

If they share one room and the three of you share one, they each owe 25% and your family owes 50%. If it's the kind of cabin that's one big room, and each person's in a bunk, I think the 60-20-20 split your sister suggested is appropriate.

The most important thing, though, is to resolve this now, before anyone makes firm plans. You don't want to be miles away from nowhere, deep in the woods, and get in a huge family squabble about how to split the bill—that sounds like the plot of a horror movie.

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Q: Is it ever okay to take your shoes off on a plane? I remember that back in the day, some airlines gave you slippers on overnight flights, so I assume it used to be, but I don't know if that's still true.

A: Sure, as long as you are absolutely certain you're not violating any airplane rules (security policies have been changing so frequently lately that I wouldn't be surprised if some airline bans this) and you are positive your feet don't stink. If you have even the slightest suspicion they are, shall we say, fragrant, keep your shoes on. Breathing recirculated airplane air is bad enough already—please don't make it worse.