Single Supplements
 

I would be interested in both industry and traveler views on the single supplement. I find it infuriating as it tends to amount to a 20% to 50% surcharge on the cost for a single as opposed to the pp cost for a couple. How is this justified? If a camp or lodge would otherwise be “full” and the single is occupying a tent or room that would otherwise hold two paying customers, I can see some justification. But if the camp or lodge is not otherwise “full”, isn’t it better to have another seat occupied and paying at the pp rate than to have it go empty? Safari is so expensive to begin with, and this additional tariff just adds to the unaffordability of it for single travelers.

I understand your logic and I agree. However, also, not all camps have single supplements. But it seems most do. Go figure. I guess it is a decision made by each camp from experience. Now I could understand why a camp would have single supplement during peak/high season and not have it during the "off" season. But camps seem to be one way or the other for all year.

I suspect that sometimes the single supplement can be waived. For instance, perhaps if the stay is for several nights not just two or three. This is where a good TA could help or you could call the camp directly and talk with a manager.

And as for the affordability for single travelers, I doubt if camps have any sympathy for single travelers that can not afford the camp rates.

regards - tom

Rick,

I fully agree ....... the single supplement is ridiculous!!! One time, the camp was FULLY EMPTY for a few days. Maybe 4 other co-travellers in camp rest of that particular trip. If the camp was actually full, then i suppose the single supplement was justified to a certain extent - yet, not really fully justifiable if a traveller was to spend quite a bit of time!

But, you know how travel agents are - they tell you that the camp is booking up quick and that you need to book X months in advance and pay up a Y deposit etc etc.,

Again, booking too far in advance nobody can really tell ....... so, i won't blame anyone but, myself for being idiotic. Lesson learned, i suppose!!!!

I will be traveling alone for the first time on a group tour later this year. I have come to accept the single supplement as an understood evil when traveling, but I have another question. How often are two single strangers placed together to share a room? The tour company states they can't guarantee a single room, but if I'm going to share a room then it seems very unfair to still pay an extra $500-$700 more. Can anyone shed any light on this?

No, and I would not pay extra to share a room!!!

regards - tom

I have been travelling my adult life having to pay the singles supplements, which is so unfair. Especially when you are in Europe you are spending much more money than people who are sharing and the single person always gets the smallest room.

However, for my trip to Africa this year I found a tour company that has a program for singles. If you agree that you will share a room you only pay the price for a double, but if they cannot find you a roommate then you pay half of the single supplement. At least this helps a little with the finances.

I often travel alone and, unlike some, I find the single supplement reasonable. The way that I look at it is that there is a room rate (say $800/night), but the lodge advertises it as $400pppn so that it seems less expensive. The room is a fixed cost, and there are some variable costs (food, seats on the safari vehicle, etc.), that can be reduced to reflect a single traveler.

You also ask <<But if the camp or lodge is not otherwise “full”, isn’t it better to have another seat occupied and paying at the pp rate than to have it go empty?>>

I am sure that the Ritz Carltons and Four Seasons of the world are not achieving 100% occupancy every night, but I don't expect we'll see them selling rooms for $10 so that they don't remain vacant.

The answer to your simple question is very complicated and would require a business consultant to provide an economic analysis on average revenue per user, etc.

So, you can't look at teh pp cost for a couple -- its fiction so they can market a lower price.

I am resigned to paying a price for privacy. it is more important to me than- for example,-- spending extra to fly business class - or even staying somewhere an extra day.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if I won a one week trip for two, would they give me two weeks for one person?
Jess

I hate 'single supplement' with a passion.... It's outrageous.

Geoff.

I think we need to be more proactive in asking to have the SS waived or reduced. That's something I need to do too. Even if it does no good for the trip in question, the message that the SS is not desirable gets out. But if there are people willing to pay it, then I guess it will continue.

&quot;<i> have another question. How often are two single strangers placed together to share a room? The tour company states they can't guarantee a single room, but if I'm going to share a room then it seems very unfair to still pay an extra $500-$700 more. Can anyone shed any light on this?</i> I'd get this straightened out before booking or leaving. I know the situation is that sometimes there will be one accommodation on an itinerary that does not have private rooms. But the SS should be pro-rated then.

A couple times I've had this happen when there was dormitory style sleeping for a couple nights on a trip. Obviously, I could not get my own private dorm, so we all shared. But I knew what the deal and costs were up front.

<i>The answer to your simple question is very complicated and would require a business consultant to provide an economic analysis on average revenue per user, etc. </i>

I agree with ThitCho's quote and have found my new job. I want to be hired as that consultant and gather my data with on-site visits, with the SS paid for by the company of course.

But, the single supplement is really a misnomer -- again, there's a charge for the room, and they make the room seem less expensive than it actually is by giving a per person price (even though its based on two people in the room). Its similar to an airline that advertises $199 tickets from US to London, but based on roundrip ticket, where they will not sell you a one-way ticket.

The lodge/hotel likely calculates a rate that they need to be profitable, and then divides by two so they can market it as a lower rate.

If you charter a private plane, the per person rate is much lower if you have six on the plane as opposed to one -- think of the room as a plane. Its not that dissimilar.

Michael

The tour company states they can't guarantee a single room, but if I'm going to share a room then it seems very unfair to still pay an extra $500-$700 more. Can anyone shed any light on this? &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I agree with Lynn that you should get a refund of the SS for those nights when you have to share a room, and this should be resolved before you book. Be sure you know the amount that will be refunded in the event it becomes necessary.

It didn't happen to me in Africa but on a group bike trip to Ireland a few years ago I booked a single room and some of the B&amp;B's we stayed in couldn't accommodate a single so I had to share. And I did get a refund for those nights.

P.S. It can't hurt to try to negotiate a discount on the SS. When I went to Namibia and Botswana in 2006 I booked two back to back Wilderness Safari trips. Although the Botswana safari didn't have a SS, I asked for and received half off the SS on the Namibia trip. It was a savings of about $400.

thit_cho
Using commercial airline ticket pricing is not a great example. Scheduled airline ticket pricing makes no sense and never has. Chartering a private plane is different also. Are there not different way that charters are costed?

&quot;The lodge/hotel likely calculates a rate that they need to be profitable, and then divides by two so they can market it as a lower rate.&quot; For example, are you saying that when a hotel room calculates out to be $200 per night, they then charge $100 per person?

Typically in the USA a hotel room is the same cost per night whether one or two people are in it. One or two people $200 per night. That is the room rate. Now if only one person is staying, still $200. Thus the SS is $100, is it not!!! Yet people don't think of it as such.

It is possible to walk into a hotel towards the end of the day and ask for a discounted room. Works sometimes, depends on a lot of factors. But you are not going to get a $100 room for $10, maybe $60. YMMV :-)

regards -tom

I too travel alone most of the time....so i hate paying single supplements.... like for mombo at present the pprate sharing is around 1500$ but for a single it's 1800$.....i rather spend the 300$ or a little more for a private vehicle.... makes..sense...I think in africa where the costs are soo high... there should be an option... the days the campis full u pay single supplement otherwise u only pay at pprate..it makes sense and creates goodwill

Sonali

&lt;&lt;One or two people $200 per night.&gt;&gt;

Tom, that's exactly right. The industry calculates a rate, and for marketing purposes, advertises the rate, based on two persons sharing the room, on a per person basis. But, the room costs what it costs, whether one person is messing up the bed or two. Without the single supplement, would not some couples book two rooms (at half the price) instead of one?

Again, while they call it a single supplement, all they are doing is charging the single person the regular room rate.

What the safari lodges should have done, which would have obviated this debate, is to charge a room rate, irrespective of whether the room is occupied by one or two.

If you find this objectionable, bring a friend.

I prefer, for the most part, to travel alone, and I don't begrude the lodge charging me a single supplement.

Michael

I bet there have been times when a solo traveler sharing with an incompatible roommate has thought, &quot;In retrospect that single supplement would have been a bargin.&quot;

Hi Rick

I haven't really read everything everyone has said, which I probably should!

I sometimes go by myself and sometimes with a niece. If a lodge is partially full, I strongly object to paying the single supplement. The lodges I stay at and have done in the past, usually are based on per person which is quite different from being quoted as a room rate! I am talking about africa - southern and eastern.

In a room by myself I am eating for one and taking up one space in a vehicle, not for 1.5 people. In a full lodge, I can understand it better as needless to say they are in it for the money, and would prefer two people in a room as opposed to one.

In the past I have stayed at lodges where all alcohol is included and on a few trips I have had nieces 14 to 16 and paid an adult space which is really ridiculous as obviously they are not legally allowed to drink - I find it bad enough when I am legally allowed to drink but don't! But to pay for alcohol for a 14 year old is really outrageous, in my opinion!

I have no problem being by myself, and if I do pay a single supplement there will be no other person in the room with me! I would not want a refund, as I would not want to share a room with a person unknown to me under any circumstance that comes to mind in a normal travel situation.

Comparing hotel rooms to full board/gameviewing lodges is not exactly the same and I do not see the fairness in such a comparison.

But if it really is that unacceptable to you, the answer is clearly only go to lodges that have no single supplement!

Kind regards

Kaye

But prices for children under 16/yrs sharing with adult/s is less than the per person rate. Eg. $310/pp adult sharing; $230/pp child sharing. If beverages are included it's soft drinks, beer, usually house wine and maybe non-luxury spirits. For the child, they can have as much soda as they can handle. There are some properties that have rates that include beverages (non-alcoholic and alcoholic) or without beverages. You have to ask.

Using the same example above, the single supplement rate @ $410/person, doesn't include meals and game drives or airstrip transfers for the non-existent 2nd person, the difference is the actual room rate adjustment. If I figured correctly the additional amount for the single is 34%

As Kaye mentions, I wouldn't compare most (US) hotel rates with safari lodges/camps where all meals and activities are included. Kind of like &quot;all-inclusive&quot; in the Caribbean, though as a single at such a resort, the guest will be charged a single supplement rate.

Those tour groups that offer the option for &quot;room share&quot; if appropriate roommate can be found (by sex, smoker or non-smoker), will charge based on two-people-sharing and not add the single supplement. And while some lodgings on some group tours may have actual single rooms at a reduced rate, if single rooms aren't available guess if you don't want to share, you have to pay the supplement.

The nature of the industry. However, while some are trying to change this, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

It would be interesting if any of the tourism councils have any stats on who is going where. If single travelers start making up a bigger chunk of the industry (and they are not happy about the SS) then that could change the practice.

I would even be happy with second tier accommodations--little cubby holes with no view or vacated staff quarters--in order to pay less. I just would not want to have less time in the vehicle or on the bush activities.

As you probably have figured out, RickMck, the mobiles have a less imposing SS.

I have been following along reading this thinking to myself about single supplements cruisers have to pay. It is frequently double the charge of a per person 2 in a cabin rate. Quite often all tours and meals are included in the cabin rate. I do a lot of expedition small ship cruising but this is standard with large ships also. The first time I ever did a cruise by myself there were two women previously unacquainted who were placed together. The one became ill and the other had to care for her the whole cruise. Although I would never mind caring for someone I know, I swore at that time I would not do a trip with someone I did not know. Getting back to the subject - I am happy to pay the single supplements for land travel. They are much more reasonable.

As Lynn has pointed out, the SS on mobiles often seems less than what you find at fixed camps. Having recently looked at some from WS indicated a number of them with SS rates more in the range of 15%, and some of the WS packages carry no SS for the first single to sign up.

Negotiation also seems to work, sometimes. I have cobbled together 3 weeks in Zambia using three different operators and tried to get concessions on the SS from all of them but succeeded with only one.

It would be interesting to see more input from the perspective of current or former industry insiders.

Hi Sandi

Not where I go - a child 12 and over pays the same rate as me - so if my per person rate is $500 per night, so is the child aged 12 and over!

So staying at Singita or Lion Sands for example, which is clearly a lot more than $500 per night, there is no reduction for a child between the ages of 12 to 17. And as I want them to keep their teeth, one soft drink a day would be enough and I prefer to pay for it, not have it automatically included for obvious reasons.

Kind regards

Kaye

I agree with Kaye - Safari Lodges and camps are very different from hotels around the world and can't compare the PPPN rates to the Nightly rates.

Lynn,

Your reference to statistics - single travellers probably are not the majority of travellers at lodges and camps, but, i have heard from one camp manager one time - that they certainly do make up a huge proportion of repeat clientele.

Kaye -

My example what just that an example.

Some camps, even if traveling with parents/adults (and they should be) don't allow children under 6 or 8/years. Others cut off at 12/yrs, some at 16/yrs. If you have 3/children at various ages up to 17/yrs sharing, prices maybe adjusted accordingly. Likewise, if 1/child under 12 sharing with only 1/adult, the reduction isn't as favorable as if sharing with 2/adults.

Not all properties or countries have the same rate schedule, nor beverage allowances.

Also, not surprising that the highest-end properties, as you show at Singita would have their own set of rules/regs.

Single supplements are what they are till it changes, whenever that might be. Just ask questions for answers that work for your particular kind of travel.

I always travel as a single, and so I choose a travel company that allows you the option to ask them to match you with a roommate. If they match you, there is no supplement. If they fail to match you, the supplement is cut in half anyway.
I've been lucky at having some wonderful roommates, but it is a bit of a gamble, of course.

If solos are repeaters, maybe that's the angle we can use. Give us a break and we'll come back. Maybe not a removal of the SS, but something.