Dad refuses to pay for his 17-year-old daughter's boyfriend of 2 months to go on their family vacation to Europe: 'My daughter is mad at me and it’s honestly ruining the whole vacation for me.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 31, 2025 8:00 AM EST

His daughter is way out of line.

It's complicated to plan a trip with a new partner, no matter your age. If you've only been together for less than a year, you don't know if you're still going to be together in two months when you go on vacation together. Vacations are expensive, no matter how you slice or dice them, and nobody wants to lose out on money when they cancel their trip, even if it is just Amtrak tickets to Philadelphia to check out the Eastern State Penitentiary.

At the same time, optimistic people are very willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a vacation with their new partner because they have such faith in their relationship, even when they have no reason to. Love, or the belief that you are in love, can drive a lot of crazy decision-making, especially decisions that affect the contents of your wallet. Love was the only thing that turned Mr. Krabs from a cheapskate into a crazy spender…Mrs. Puff did something to him that nobody else could do.

It's one thing to make a risky financial decision that could only negatively affect you. It's a whole other thing to get someone outside of the relationship involved in your bad choices. Let's say your boyfriend of 6 months wants to come to your family's Christmas, and you want your dad to pay for his plane ticket. Your dad's not going to be happy when you and your boyfriend break up days after Thanksgiving, and he can't get a refund for his plane ticket.

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  • A man and a woman standing next to each other
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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  • The dad in this story did not want to get roped into paying for his teenage daughter's boyfriend's plane ticket to their family vacation. What father would? But now that they're on the trip, his daughter keeps complaining about her boyfriend's absence. Did I mention that they've only been dating for two months?

  • Am I the bad guy for not paying for my daughter’s boyfriend to come with us on our holiday?

    I took my family out on a holiday vacation to Europe, we went from the day before. Christmas and we're staying till January 4th, it was a surprise to everyone except my wife who planned everything because
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  • she's way better at planning things than me, we have 4 kids the oldest being a 17 year old daughter, she's been dating her classmate for 2 months, ever since we surprised them and every single day she's been
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • asking why we didn't include her boyfriend as well, I tell her it's a family trip and he's not family and that I'm already paying too much adding an extra person who isn't even family isn't easy, and I told her I
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • White printer paper on glass window during sunset
    via Mariya Oliynyk

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • don't wanna pay for my underage daughter's underage boyfriend to come with her to Europe so that they can do that, they're young and full of hormones and dating, I told her once they grew up and she's an
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • adult and if they're still together they can pay to go wherever they wanted but not now and not on my dime. She's mad at me and is calling me a controlling dickhead and it's honestly ruining the whole
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  • vacation for me, I was looking forward so much to this to get away from work because I barely get any free time to spend with my family. But am I the ass for not bringing her boyfriend with us?
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • Man standing in front of ornate building facade
    via Karsten Winegeart

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • akaredshasta NTA That's ridiculous. She sounds entitled AF and like maybe going to stay with a relative would be a better choice than going to Europe, since she so clearly doesn't value family time.
    via u/akaredshasta
  • OP Over-Humor-1172 Well I have alot of family in Europe so I'm visiting them as well
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • ApartmentMaterial950 she's been with him 2 months, he's not even a long term bf. chances are when you booked the trip the relationship didn't exist. Do you even know if he had a passport or if his parents would have been ok with him leaving for the holidays? I would tell her moving forward if she's in a long term relationship (over a year at least) and you plan another then if they want to come they can but they would have to pay their share.
    via u/ApartmentMaterial950
  • OP Over-Humor-1172 We booked everything back in July so a whole season before they got together
    via u/Over-Humor-1172
  • texan-yankee If my kid called me a dickhead, she'd definitely not be rewarded with a trip to Europe.
    via u/texan-yankee
  • feyinbetween Lol. They've been together 2 months. I have things in my vegetable drawer that have been there longer than that. Absolutely NTA but I do question why your daughter thinks her entitlement and calling you names is okay.
    via u/feyinbetween
  • Puppylover10002 If you have to ask this question, it explains why your daughter is being an arse. Of course you wouldn't include a short term boyfriend on a trip like this and for your daughter to even think it was a possibility is bizarre. Chances are very good they'd break up during the trip. Wouldn't that have been fun? Give her a strong ultimatum of behaving herself or some huge penalty will happen and stick to it. Don't let her ruin such a great experience for the rest of the family.
    via u/Puppylover10002
  • solitarywayfarer She sounds like a brat. If I called my father a dickhead, I would be grounded for weeks, not to mention disinvited from the trip. Do your daughter a favor and don't let her get away with these kinds of behaviors!
    via u/solitarywayfarer
  • GoopInThis BowllsVile Yeah, I would consider leaving her too. She's likely going to be on her phone the entire time so she can pout. Not to mention the daughter ruining it for everyone.
    via u/GoopInThis BowllsVile
  • cottagecheezplz NTA - It's your money. And daughter sounds spoiled assuming she deserves to bring somebody else along while you pay for it. They've only dated 2 months that's not family-status.
    via u/cottagecheezplz
  • Senior_Parking6305 YTA for raising a child who at 17 thinks she is entitled to dictate who goes on a family trip and treat you with disrespect.
    via u/Senior_Parking6305

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europe boyfriend teenagers parenting girlfriend dad spoiled daughter dating vacation
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