boldlygosolo

I'm a travel writer researching a story on single supplements. Has anyone found any tips for avoiding them? Or any specific places that reduce them or don't charge them? I'm hoping that hotels and tour operators will start to see that there are lots of us who travel solo and don't want to have to pay double for everything we do. I've also written some entries about the single supplement on my blog: boldlygosolo.com. If you'd like to be interviewed by phone for this story, contact me at [email protected]
Thanks. Ellen

JBHapgood

It's very easy to avoid the "single supplement." Just avoid packaged tours and cruises that are priced "per person, double occupancy" and book your own independent arrangements. You can choose smaller hotels that will be cheaper than the ones the packagers use, even though you're still paying by the room. Or if cost and sociability matter more than privacy, you can stay at hostels and maximize your opportunities to meet great new friends while minimizing your costs!

The best thing a solo traveler can do is to forget that packaged tours and cruises even exist. The packagers prefer to ignore solo travelers, so we should return the favor. Save packaged travel for those times when you've got a Special Someone with whom you can share a vacation and a bargain.

As for your research, today's demographic reality is such that tour and cruise operators may well have to change their business model to accommodate the millions of single people who want to travel but who resent paying double. But as long as the packagers continue to fill their rooms and cabins with people who travel in couples, families, and groups, I think they'll continue to ignore singles. The effort may succeed, but it will be a very steep uphill climb.

suze

Ellen,
The way to avoid single supplements is very easy - Just travel on your own independently don't pay and join organized group tours, cruises, etc.

I have never once run into a single supplement and I have gone on approx 30 trips so far probably half of them alone (Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii).

kindly, Suze

beachdreams3

Ellen,

I enjoyed your website/blog. It is different than many of the other solo travel sites I found that simply seem to be promoting singles cruises or offering to match people up to avoid the single supplement. I guess there is a market for those types of vacations or services, but for me, sharing a room with a stranger is not an option I would consider.

Like you, I hope that the travel industry will offer a wider range of fairly priced options for solo travelers, but I don't think that will happen on a widespread basis until solo travelers unite and demand more. I understand that the travel industry is built on a double occupancy model, but other groups get special treatment (e.g., allowing children to stay free with parents, offering discounts to senior citizens) because of their market power.

Anyway, regarding your questions, I usually don't choose group tours, cruises, or AI resorts for my solo vacations, but I still find single supplements to be one of the biggest issues for solo travel. I think single supplements are huge deterrents to travel for many people who do not have travel companions and would not travel independently.

I have seen a couple of positive developments in my travel and research the last few years.

- There are two sister resorts (The BodyHoliday at LeSport in St. Lucia and the recently re-opened LaSource in Grenada) that are all-inclusive spa resorts that offer "single" rooms. I have no personal experience with LaSource, but believe it operates similarly to LeSport, which prices its single rooms close to half the price a double room and welcomes solo travelers. LeSport also provides a communal table where individuals traveling alone can dine with other solo travelers.

- I also have discovered a few non-AI hotels in Anguilla that offer single occupancy rates that are slightly lower than the double occupancy rates. In some cases, this is in a smaller "single" room, and in other cases, it seems to be for the same room. One of the hotels even had something about a "solo travelers" week on its website (for last year, and when I contacted them to see if they were planning one for 2008, the reservations manager indicated that they did not have anything planned yet) which included a package of activities in addition to occupancy in single room.

Interestingly, the positive steps I noted above and other solo travelers' experiences indicate that it is primarily smaller, independent hotels that are beginning to target solo travelers.

ncounty

I think the single supplement is hidden and not easily avoided just by avoiding tours and cruises. That is where it is most blatant but any time you book a hotel room that can accommodate two but the cost is only divided by one, you are paying a single supplement. I usually travel to Europe where they often have smaller rooms with lower costs for singles.

boldlygosolo

Thanks for your great comments. I agree with ncounty that you pay a "single supplement" every time you book a hotel room that two people ordinarily would pay for.
And JBH has a point about avoiding the single supplement by avoiding package tours and choosing smaller hotels that will be cheaper overall. It would be nice if the business model would change to consider the single traveler and that day may be coming. Demographically, there are more solo travelers than ever.
Suze, what kind of places do you stay in? Are you actually paying the "supplement" by booking a room that two people ordinarily would stay in?

boldlygosolo

To continue...
beachdream, thanks so much for your nice words about my blog/website. Made my day.
I'm hoping the continuing discussion about this issue picks up steam and things begin to change. And that solo travelers begin to represent market power, as you say.
And thanks so much for your specifics on the places that waive the single supplement. I've actually talked to The Body Holiday because a friend of mine used to have them as a client. But I didn't know about the others. When you say "AI" do you mean all-inclusive? Thanks again.

boldlygosolo

A request for those of you who have posted responses. Can I use your comments in my newspaper story? If so, could you send me your full name to ellenelp at yahoo? Thank you very much.

suze

I stay in hotels (Puerto Vallarta Mexico and Waikiki Hawaii) of the 3-star persuasion $45 to $95/night price range.

In Mexico hotels change me less as a "1-person" instead of a "2-person" but I get the same room.

while in Hawaii I pay the same as two people sharing would. I never found that odd or thought of it as a "supplement" because the maid still needs to clean the room, etc. just the same doesn't much matter one or two people.

I guess you could look at it like anytime you travel alone you are paying a supplement because you don't have someone to split costs with...

But I never thought of it that way.

suze

Yes, beachdreams means all-inclusive with the term "AI resorts".

boldlygosolo

Suze,

I don't think about it as paying a single supplement when I'm one person in a room that normally two people would share.
But that's what the single supplement is based on when someone takes a package tour.
The single supplement generally is the total extra amount that lodging will cost if only one person is paying for it.
Even if you didn't go through a tour operator, but did the same trip, your trip would be more expensive than a couple's would because you're not sharing room costs. The tour operators have to spell it out in their pricing and call it the single supplement.
On the other hand, simply booking a room at the Hilton costs twice as much as for a single person as a two people who would split it, but no one calls it a single supplement. But if a tour operator used a Hilton for, say, a bike trip, and is paying a per room price for a set of rooms, the full price of the room gets charged to the solo traveler (unless the packager gives a break.)
So as far as I can see, the only difference is how the pricing looks in the tour operator's brochure and whether you pay attention to this fact or not.
Now, of course you can save money by not going to a Hilton. But that's a different issue. And yes, it's likely a less expensive trip when Hilton's aren't part of the itinerary. But that same cheaper itinerary would be even LESS expensive if two people were sharing the room.
Is this making any sense at all? I'm not sure...basic point. Seems like semantics, and solo travelers pay more.

suze

It's not just semantics, single travelers DO pay more. Heck my entire life is one gigantic single supplement -LOL!

As people pointed out right from the start (but you seemed to disagree) single supplement comes from *organzied packaged tours and cruises* and do not necessarily apply when you travel independently.

Obviously it is less expensive (in most circumstances) at whatever price point you are traveling, when two people share a room. When two people share a taxi ride, it's less expensive too. Point is?

To your original question "tips for avoiding" single supplements, is to not travel thru companies that are specifically set up to accomodate couples with everything based on double occupancy.

boldlygosolo

You could look at it another way.
A tour operator says, "hey, we're taking a tour to Philly with an overnight to the Hilton. It's $300 for the tour per person. But if you bring along a second person, and you're willing to share your room with her, we'll give her a $100 discount and only charge her $200 for the tour." Not called a single supplement but it's done for the same reason. The tour operator doesn't have to buy another room and therefore doesn't have to charge the second person for another room.
For the same reason, staying at a hostel will cost a couple exactly twice what it costs a single person, because the charge is per person, not per room.
The single supplement problem stems from the hotel pricing model that charges by the room.
The main point is that the burden is on us solo travelers under that model, tour or no. I'm going to stop trying to explain why I think a single supplement is just a way for tour operators to say you have to pay for the whole room yourself, as you would when traveling on your own. I'm afraid I'm getting annoying. But it's such a fun semantic discussion.
Cheers,
Ellen

JBHapgood

Yes, two can always travel cheaper than one. And packagers get their economies of scale by negotiating discounted blocks of rooms at large hotels and reselling them on a double-occupancy basis. Both are facts of life, and the only practical way for a committed soloist to reduce his or her costs is to book lower-cost accommodations where the bottom-line cost for a room is less than the packager's per-person double-occupancy cost. Of course, pursuing the same strategy and sharing the room will reduce costs even further. There's really no way round that.

Ellen, I suggest that you interview the executives of those British companies that sell packages specifically for singles at what seems a reasonable price. Somehow they've figured out how to violate the Law of Double Occupancy and still make a profit. Perhaps they could offer you information that you could share with the executives of American companies that continue to insist that "economics" requires them to charge singles double the price.

There are also some tours that offer reasonable single supplements of 25-30%. They could be a fair deal, since they're apparently passing on the minimum extra cost of occupying a room meant for two and not trying to gouge additional profit. Given the actual "economics" of hotel rooms built for two, that may be the best any single person who insists on a package tour can hope for.

At the other end of the spectrum are the cruise lines that insist on charging singles a 200% penalty (plus double the "per-person non-commissionable surcharges") to fully compensate their shareholders for the "spoilage" of half a cabin that isn't buying overpriced shore excursions, drinks, pictures, inches of gold, and everything else from which they make their actual profits. That's their business model, and it's unfortunately hostile to singles. A soloist who enjoys cruising but can't afford to pay double has few options other than convincing a friend to come along or joining an organized singles group who will provide a stranger to fix the "spoilage."

The storm clouds of the current economic downturn may well have a silver lining (or at least an aluminium one) for soloists. If the packagers can't keep their buses and ships filled with couples, families, and groups, desperation may force them to welcome singles who otherwise would be spurned as "spoilage."

LoveItaly

Hi Ellen, I don't take tours or cruises.

As far as travelling independently if one person flies somewhere there is only the cost on one airline ticket versus the cost of two airline tickets if a couple flies somewhere.

In Italy a single room (although small) cost less than a room intended for a couple.

In restaurants a meal for one cost less than a meal for two people, the same for wine, coffee etc.

So travelling independently and solo does cost less than when a couple travels.

But tours and cruises with their price per person/double occupancy is certainly way more expensive for a solo traveller.

I recently read that something like 48% of the households in the US are singles versus couples. It would seem to me at some point tour group companies and cruise lines would get the message they have to refigure their pricing but obviously until the market place forces them to they will not.

So for solo travellers independent travel is the way to go money wise.

boldlygosolo

These comments are great. All us "soloists" know the penalties and find ways to work around them that are acceptable to each of us.
Again, if anyone is willing to tell me your full name for use in a newspaper story, I'd really appreciate it.
Send to [email protected]. Thanks.

thursdaysd

I might be more inclined to participate in this if I knew which newspaper you represented. Or are you a freelancer? Where have you been published before?

boldlygosolo

To Thursdaysd and others,

Of course. I totally understand your desire for more information. Sorry I didn't think to provide it sooner.

Go to my Web site, ellenperlman.com, and you'll see some of the stories I've written. I've written a bunch for The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the St. Petersburg Times and others.

If we talk one to one I'll be happy to tell you the newspaper I'm writing for on this story. I feel funny about broadcasting it because I'm not sure how the editor feels about telling the world what he has scheduled for the future. That's not usually common knowledge before publication.
But of course I tell the people I'm interviewing what I'm doing. You can also google me and you will see a whole lot of stories I've written on all sorts of things besides travel, for Governing Magazine. Thanks.

boldlygosolo

JBH - I neglected to thank you for all that great information in your post. I will go after that in my reporting. Much appreciated.
Ellen

suze

Ellen, I don't want to participate because there is a not-so-subtle chip on your shoulder about this entire subject.

"The main point is that the burden is on us solo travelers..." what BS.

I secondly lost faith when you do not even know that AI in the abbreviation for all-inclusive.

You asked us questions, and people answered thoughtfully and most of a similar mind, BUT you just keep saying what you said in the first place over and over.

Independent travel IS what is economical for a single person, that IS how you avoid a single supplement... yet you continue to talk about $300 Hiltons and tour packages.