How to avoid screwing up a friendship when travelling together?

I'm going on a 3 week vacation with a close friend. How do I avoid screwing up the friendship on the trip?

I have been best friends with "Samantha" for the last two years. We have planned a 3 week trip to Europe together with both our boyfriends.

I care for this friend deeply, and she has many wonderful qualities. However, she seems easily offended by small gestures that aren't meant to offend. Also, both of us tend to avoid confrontation, so things can build up to a crisis before the brakes are applied.

We've gotten off on the wrong foot already. She had said that she was really looking forward to flying in to the European city together. She also said that they strongly prefer to travel on one specific airline. The difference in ticket price was $1000 for me and my boyfriend. That's a lot of money for me. I didn't explain myself directly, but bought discount tickets on another airline. A few weeks later, she told me that she was quite angry and disappointed with me because of it.

Now I feel like I'm walking on eggshells. I don't know what will anger or disappoint her next.

Questions:

1. Has anyone been in this situation before? How did you deal with it?

2. Was I "unreasonable" in not spending an extra $1000 to get on the flight she was on?

3. They like hotels that are over $200 a night. I prefer hotels that are less than $100 a night. Do I just suck it up for the sake of friendship?

Some more information:
- I've tried to address the issue of money with her. She asked about my finances and then said "well, you don't have anything to worry about."

- I'm open to the concept that perhaps I'm too cheap in social situations, and that I should relax the pursestrings a bit to appear more hospitable in social situations. I'm working on it, really I am. However, I am just deeply, personally uncomfortable spending money on $100/plate dinners and $200/night hotels. I "run with" upper-side-of-middle-class yuppies so maybe I need to pony up more often?

- This is not the trip of a lifetime for these friends. They go on foreign trips two to three times a year and this is their style of travel.

- I've asked a couple of guy friends about this, and they both said relax and do whatever makes my friend happy.

Any words of advice you can spare would be much appreciated!!!

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