Who pays for dinner?

The person that issued the invitation should also be the person that pays, that is what formal etiquette states.

Since you are from out of town, and have most likely incurred a lot of travel expenses, and they offer to pay, it is perfectly OK to accept the offer.

It's OK to go dutch. If your relative offers to pay, then you can accept and offer to leave the tip. Or when the check comes try to get it first. You say they are your parents age. depending on how old that is it might be a good idea to let the men folk work it out, they might respect that more. Just tell your husband before hand what you want him to do,then he can act like he's in charge.LOL

Usually the person that invites or mention the idea to go to a restaurant for dinner is the responsible of paying, so you should pay unless they offer to do so, then you can offer to go dutch or whatever. The worst thing you could do is start arguing, so if they insist in paying all, at least live the tip for the service.

Who's idea was it to go out for dinner? That kind of makes a impact. Always offer with a " Can we get this?" Or if you really want to go dutch then say, " Can we get this or do you want to split? What should we do?" Just the fact that you asked means you don't really feel like paying for the dinner so use option 2.

Do not know the Proper way to do this , because I always pick up the tab , no matter if friends invite me or not , I always insist on paying , If they argue I say we split it. Tell them you insist on paying ,and they can pay next time, If you think they will put up a fuss about it , sneak off to the waitress before the bill is brought to the table , and pay it. After all as an adult you do not want them thinking you just came to see them to get a meal , that would be cheap ,and cheesy

Hmm...if you specifically suggested dinner (you just said 'get together), then I think you should at least offer to pay. Generally, whoever extends the invitation should, at the very least, offer.

Otherwise, it's definitely okay to go dutch. I might feel a little weird about letting them pay if I'd suggested the dinner, but they're your family - go with what feels right in that case.

You pay if you invite them out to dinner. Just as with a date, you invite you pay.

However, saying you'd like to get together when you're in town isn't the same as a dinner invitation.

In your case, I'd say you should just go dutch and leave it at that. If they offer to pay, thank them but politely refuse. You can say " No No, thanks so much, but I didn't mean for you to pay when I suggested we get together".

The reason I say you shouldn't accept their paying is because you don't really want to pay for theirs.

If you accept their gift, be prepared to reciprocate when you get together again. Fair is fair.

I know what you mean... I do this to sometimes... usually im too nice and offer to pay and i do get stuck with the bill. If they do offer its ok to accept it... but you did call them and ask to get together.. so they might not offer to pay... I have found that older people seem more financially set so they do offer to pay more often.

It is OK to do any of those. You should offer to pay unless they beat you to it. If they offer to pay before you can, it's ok to accept or you could offer to pay. If they insist on paying, there's no point in arguing. Just treat them to something else later on or give them a gift for their hospitality.

Any of the three options you mentioned would be acceptable...if you can afford to treat make the offer...if not, ask the waitress for a separate tab. I would not go expecting the other couple to pick up your bill, but if offered it would be fine to accept.