Optional Events and Traveler Voting

When to Use Optional Events

Group trips involve a lot of "should we do this?" questions. Optional events let the group weigh in without making a commitment.

Common use cases:

• Activities that cost extra. A boat tour, a cooking class, a day trip — anyone who wants to go votes, and the rest can opt out.
• Flexible mealtimes. Two restaurant options for the same evening? Make both optional and let people vote on which to pick.
• Rest days. Mark an optional low-key activity so the exhausted travelers can bail without feeling bad.

How Optional Events Work

When you create or edit an event, the drawer has an Optional Event section with a yellow highlight. Toggle it on and save.

On the calendar, optional events get a yellow-tinted background to distinguish them from committed activities.

Inside the event drawer, optional events show:

• The Optional Event switch (on)
• A description: "Let your travel companions vote on this activity"
• A Vote button — or Liked if you've already voted
• An avatar group showing everyone who has voted so far

Clicking Vote registers your vote. Clicking Liked removes it. The vote count updates for everyone on the trip.

Who Can Vote

Every logged-in guest on the trip with an active Plan Harmony account can vote. That includes:

• The trip owner
• Organizers
• Editors (the default guest role)
• Viewers (read-only guests)
• Agency members and planners on agency-planned trips

Placeholder guests (name-only records without an email or account) cannot vote. To include them, edit the placeholder to add an email and send them an invitation.

Deciding Based on Votes

Plan Harmony doesn't automatically act on vote counts — it's a tool for consensus, not a gate. You'll still need the trip owner or an organizer to make the final call.

Once you've decided:

• Keep it. Toggle Optional off and save — the event becomes a regular, confirmed activity.
• Drop it. Delete the event. Votes are deleted with it.
• Leave it optional. Plenty of trips keep a flexible "maybe" shelf of activities and let travelers self-organize on the day.

Tips

• Use optional events to surface AI suggestions politely. If the AI Travel Planner proposes an interesting but non-essential activity, mark it optional before adding and let the group decide.
• Pair optional events with budget estimates. Put the expected cost on the event so voters can factor it into their choice.
• Put the decision deadline in the description. If you need to book by a certain date, say so: "Vote by April 1 — reservations need to be made 2 weeks out."
• Link to the booking page. Use the Link field so voters can read about the activity before deciding.