Darren, I feel further explanation has to be made on this entry, as someone who works in the travel industry. I must stress though, not for a package holiday operator. I also travel solo on occassion myself, and would of course love to pay the same per person as a couple sharing a room. However this makes no economic sense to the hotel owner, and I think that you have missed this point slightly. Do you think that when you pay on a room basis you are not paying a supplement ? If the next people to stay in the room in Sydney are a couple they will pay the same total amount as you, ie, half the amount per person. Many comments are made by travellers about room supplements, but it is the same for car hire. Would you expect the hire firm to rent you a vehicle for less because you are using it alone, rather than with three friends.

It is simply more transparent pricing because by adding in those costs at the outset operators would not have such appealing lead-in prices to advertise.
I am not trying to pick a fight over this issue, and certainly I wish I had the answer, but just wanted to make sure people thought about this scenario from all angles.

On a slightly different point, yes the hotel rooms are generally much bigger in Australia/NZ hotels. It is a standing joke with many Aussie travel industry workers that I have met.

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Darren

Simple reason behind single supplement is that hotels charge by the room.

Say for example on your Sydney hotel. If you paid a room cost of 100.00. From a tour operator it would cost 50.00 per person based on 2 share.

Also most tour operators try there hardest to get no single supplements’ and advertise these in brochures on the hotels pages. This means if we take example above, hotel charges 100.00 for room and the Tour operator charges a single person 50.00.

The reason this came around was show the brochures could show a price per person for flight, transfers, financial protection, disaster protection and hotel.

Keep in mind Darren how many properties you sell that charge less for 1 person than they do for 2 or 4….

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Hi Darren, I would say that on a recent holiday I went on, where there was a couple and a single, the single guy was definitely discriminated against – we as the couple always had a room with a better view/location/state of repair than he did (we stayed in 4 different hotels over 10 days).

And he was paying almost as much as we were. And his rooms were singles – smaller and no chance of putting another person in them. His flight and meals were the same, it was just the room cost that had the supplement. I’ll agree that he cost the hotels extra in terms of room cleaning and laundry, but over ten days that cost him hundreds and hundreds of pounds!

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That sounds like a whole load of hassle.

I wouldn’t bother travelling solo because of that.

I would luv to get away from the family for a few days!!

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He says it’s pretty normal, and he’s used to it by now!

I used to work for a sailing company, and I always thought that *was* a good deal for single travellers – same deal as everyone else and it is all about working as a team so it integrates the people on board really quickly.

Are there not any holiday companies that specilise in solo travellers?

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I have to give praise to people who travel alone.

I couldn’t do it, I hate my own company.

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hi, iv just been reading up on solo holidays, it all sounds a bit scary now, i was really up for booking something through a company called travel one, its taken me a while to pluck up the couargae but as my partner does not like going on holidays i feel as i though i need to do this on my own now, i would a appreciate if any one can give a little advice or has been with this company before, regards, jullie

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The Hyatt Regency hotel in Taba, Egypt doesn’t charge a single supplement and is 5* heaven on earth. I paid £500 for 2 weeks h/b last Nov (inc. flight). Have a look on Longwood Travel website – I thoroughly recommend it and will definitely be going back!

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It would be a good idea if people wishing to travel alone could team up with other lone travellers, just to share accommodation.
There must be travel sites out there where people can pair up for travel to make the cost cheaper. Anywone had experience of this?
You can still do your own thing but get the bargain deals.

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Dawn

In the UK there are companies like these Solo’s spring to mind.

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Well, that’s another year’s holiday over and done with, got back from Turkey yesterday afternoon.
The flights with Onur Airlines (replaced tckets with XL) were OK, just another means of getting ‘cattle’ to their destinations, to be fair the outward flight was pretty good, but drinks and very poor food were exhorbitant. The flight back left at 6am which meant leaving the hotel at 2am after just a couple of hours sleep, so I wasn’t in any kind of mood to appreciate the lengthy line ups at security, passport cotrol and at boarding, but hey, one has to have something to complain about being a Brit, as well as the legroom on the return flight.
Now to the good part and the accolades, Solitair didf a fantastically excellent job of co-ordination. We were met by a friendly and efficient agent and transported to the Gulet in a modern and safe (the brakes worked very well) mini coach. On arrival the skipper welcomed us aboard and supplied a takeaway dinner of chicken and chips as there were repairs being carried out on the fresh water tank.
The cabins were double berth, a bit on the small side but with ensuite shower, toilet and washbasin which all worked well. Very comfortable and clean for a boat.
We started the cruising the following morning after a nice Turkish breakfast and over the week we visited some lovely bays, islands and a couple of villages. The swimming was first rate and the food was very good, 3 meals a day, fresh fish, vegies and some meat, the crew looked after us very well, just the 2 guys, skipper plus one male crew member, both worked very hard. All drinking water and ice was bottled fresh water available on board…expensive drinks.
The second week was in a small hotel in Ulu Deniz, 16 rooms, a more lovely hotel would be hard to find, half board and again the food was very good, the service was excellent, the rooms were a decent size, doubles with twin beds, with clean ensuite facilities and cleaned every day, fesh towels daily and the beds made. The location was nice and quiet at night. The bar prices a little on the high side but the drinks were good with a good selection. The pool was very well maintained, very clean and refreshing.
The staff at the hotel were friendly and efficient and did an excellent job of looking after us. So all in all a very satisfactory holiday, rating 8 out of 10 for value for money.
So a very well deserved ‘WELL DONE’ to Solitair and all involved, would I book again with this company?…you can bet your sweet bippy I would, Thank you all.

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