A question about transportation expenses.

I’m Tetsu, a male member. I’ve never met a woman like that. If it were only a few thousand yen, I’d cover it on the spot since it’s not a big amount—but that would definitely be the end of the arrangement.

I’m a male member, Paper Airplane. It’s because she saw you as someone who didn’t really matter to her. The fact that you’re even asking this should be embarrassing. Become the kind of man no one would ever say something like that to.

Maezawa from Shacho-shitsu here. Hmm, it sounds like the woman is the one breaking the rules... > < For long-distance meetings, the club tells the man to cover the woman’s actual travel expenses separately from the ¥5,000–¥10,000 allowance. We tell the woman the same thing—that the man will cover her actual transportation costs. If she doesn’t receive reimbursement for her actual travel expenses and only gets the ¥5,000–¥10,000 allowance, she’s supposed to mention it to the man on the spot, since he’s trying to break the rules. However, if it’s a date from Saitama to Tokyo, or from Kobe to Osaka, for example, women generally can’t ask for transportation costs for a Universe-arranged date. The idea is that they should manage within the ¥5,000–¥10,000 they receive. That’s why most men give ¥10,000, thinking that the woman has it tough too. Giving only ¥5,000 isn’t against the rules, so it isn’t technically a problem, but it does make the man seem somewhat lacking in consideration for the woman. Women are also not allowed to negotiate the amount for a dinner date. Asking for ¥20,000, for example, isn’t allowed, and neither is asking a man who only gives ¥5,000 to give ¥10,000 instead. However, if the man voluntarily gives ¥20,000 or ¥30,000, the woman is allowed to accept it. > I met a woman who wanted an extra ¥2,000, rounding up her round-trip transportation costs of a little over ¥1,000. So in this case, the woman was breaking the rules. From the second date onward, though, she’s free to negotiate those things. It’s fine to ask for an additional ¥200 for transportation, for example. That said, I can’t say how the man will judge her.

I’m in Seattle. For a first meeting in the same state, I’ve never come across anyone like that. Maybe she’s just being cheap and planning to turn down a second meeting. If she wanted to continue, saying something like that would obviously leave a bad impression.

I’m Kazu, a male member. Basically, I’ve only ever given ¥10,000, so I’m not really sure. No woman has ever asked me to cover her actual transportation costs. Come to think of it, although I didn’t make her an offer, I remember seeing a woman’s profile that said she lived in the prefecture next to Sendai in Tohoku and wanted the transportation cost for the first date covered—several thousand yen for the bullet train fare. Update: I remembered and searched for it. Apparently, some staff members copy and paste that wording.