Guides · Rendezvous · Then the plan
Meeting points vs venues — how to choose for a London group
Foyers, gates and station landmarks solve a different problem from pubs, parks and courts. Use the right shortlist.
Two different jobs
A venue answers: where should we spend the evening? A meeting point answers: where do we find each other without a twenty-minute scavenger hunt?
Londoners blur them. “Meet at the Tate” might mean the riverside terrace, the Turbine Hall, or the wrong entrance entirely. FairWhere splits the jobs into separate Placelists so the shortlist matches the problem.
Use a meeting-points Placelist when…
The destination is a long strip or a huge park. South Bank, Hampstead Heath and Richmond Park all need exact pins — gates, viewpoints, foyers — not vague neighbourhood names.
People arrive on different trains. A covered foyer or station landmark lets early birds wait without burning the plan.
You still need to choose the pub. Converge first; decide second. Rank the pin fairly so the person from Zone 4 isn’t walking an extra mile to a “central” bench.
Use a venue Placelist when…
You’re booking a table, a court, or a timed visit. After-work drinks, free museums, parks for barbecues, padel and tennis are venue jobs — activity filters (`bookable`, `rainy day`, `picnic`) narrow the shortlist before fairness ranking.
The group already knows how to find the door. If everyone’s done this pub before, skip the pin and rank the shortlist.
Fairness still matters for pins
A meeting point can be as unfair as a venue. The “obvious” South Bank landmark may be a long walk from the wrong Tube exit for half the group. Enter starting points and rank the pin shortlist the same way you’d rank pubs.
For the midpoint-vs-fairness argument in plain language, see Meet in the middle vs FairWhere. For score weights and modes, see How FairWhere decides.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a meeting point on FairWhere?
- A specific, textable landmark — a foyer, gate, terrace or station exit — so the group converges before (or instead of) committing to a bookable venue.
- When should we meet at a pin first?
- When arrival times differ, the activity is still undecided, or the place is large (South Bank, Heath, Richmond Park). A pin stops people wandering in opposite directions.
- When should we go straight to a venue?
- When the activity is clear and bookable (a table, a court, a timed museum plan). Rank the venue shortlist by journey fairness so one postcode doesn’t always lose.
- Can we do both?
- Yes. Rank meeting points for the rendezvous, then rank a drinks or museum Placelist for what happens next — especially useful for staggered after-work arrivals.