It doesn’t sound fair to me. I would expect a single room to be more than half the price of a double room because it takes up more than half the space and more than half the furniture, cleaning and so on.

However, if it’s a room designed for one person then you shouldn’t charge a single supplement.

It’s what is so wrong with per-person room rates. Charge by the room not by the person!

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I generally think of myself as a fairly savvy traveller, but I must admit, I don’t really check or know if or when I’m paying a single supplement most of the time. Expedia are pretty good for making this stuff clear, but most of the time I’m staying alone, it’s an off the cuff thing & so not planned and booked through a site like that.

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How can they get away with that??

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It has happened to me on two occassions. The first time I put it down to experience, the second time I put in an official complaint and received my “under occupancy” payment back.

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I have travelled on my own many times and have always had to pay under occupancy, many years ago I was put in a single room, complained to First Choice & got the lot back. In November 2009 it happened again this time with Thomas Cook. I complained 3 times but can’t get anywhere. Now I have asked Darren for advice, it makes me so angry. I took photos of the room.

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I work for a tour operator and know what a sticky subject single occupancy rates can be.

It’s a difficult charge to explain to first time travelers; many people ask why they have to pay extra for not having a companion. Perhaps we could rename it the freedom fund…?

I can’t imagine asking solo trekkers to pay more and then sticking them in a shabby room. It’s totally unethical and should be reported! The whole point of the charge is to pay for the other half of a double bed.

Space costs money and if you’ve paid for it – you should enjoy it!

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Isn’t it all in the wording/marketing? In the U.S., for example, you customarily just get charged for “double occupancy” — sort of a shell game wherein everyone whether traveling two to a room or single are quoted the same base rate. It’s rare to see anything priced out as “single occupancy only” rate online over here, in my experience. I suppose you could reply that “yes, but aren’t you pissed off that you’re still paying twice as much as a solo traveler for the same room as two people traveling together and who might each be chipping in half toward the same rate?” And the answer would be yes — but as I said, it’s all in the presentation — they know how to sugarcoat things better in America:)

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Wow, that seems really harsh with the caveat that this is a personal opinion without knowing the companies involved just going by what I’ve read above, it should be the same room if you’re paying a single occupancy unless the operator said to you it is or would be x single occupancy (which is still less than 2 people sharing that room would pay per person) or y single occupancy (with y being less than x) if you will take a single room (as there may be other factors at play beyond pure accommodation costs). If you are paying the same as two people who are sharing a room, then you should have a lovely room to yourself!

Agreed people should inform the tour op straight away, in any way you can, it may be the hotel trying to pull a fast one because of other bookings (not through the tour operator you booked with), so it’s better they know and the sooner the better.

As an aside, I would suspect in cases of some of the trips mentioned on the solo traveller threads, e.g. 320 pounds on one, we may be talking about trips by big tour ops who have committed to paying for lots of seats on planes, amount of money paid to hotels regardless of how many rooms actually occupied in the end, and their margins are much much slimmer than anyone outside the industry would realise, so they really have to take into account how much it costs to acquire a customer, process a booking etc. So they priced it mainly on x number of couples booking, and if they had to account for more solo travellers then the price would have to go up for everyone, hence the higher prices on the solo traveller trips people mentioned.

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Several companies (in Australia) offer a choice of a single supplement or share with another single (of the same sex). They are up-front about it but single supplements do irritate me if that is how I am travelling. As I have typically avoided a single supplement, I can’t comment on room differences but as has been indicated several times above, if you complain about such inequities, typically it is acted upon.

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Well, I feel that I have to weigh in on this one. You’re right Darren, in North America hotels charge per room not per person. This makes total sense to me and, certainly, charging a single supplement on a single room is simply an unconsiounable money grab.

However, the single supplement for tours and special deals seems to be a universal problem. Look at the fine print of those great deals on Travel Zoo or Independent Traveler and you usually see the requirement for two people traveling. And I get it. By requiring two travelers, you double your sales and, more importantly, you double your incidental sales without any greater cost. How nice!

Twenty-five years ago when I started to travel solo, I went independently (and I still do for the most part). The tours, resorts and cruises were more or less for couples. But that’s no longer the case. There has been a demographic shift. People are single longer and often become single once again. Some want the tours, resorts and cruises (and hotels!) and they don’t want to be charged extra or paired up with a roommate for doing so. The industry is starting to notice.

It’s not yet perfect but I am finding deals that waive the single supplement on a fairly regular basis now. When I find them I add them to my Solo Travel Deals page. . I hope this service helps.

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I booked a walking holiday with Exodus Travel and paid single supplement and was put into a small single room, I have contacted Exodus and await their reply. Its outragous that I paid more than my fellow walkers for a tiny little room and I am feeling quite annoyed at being cheated like this, after all it was not a cheap holiday, There was also a huge difference it size and luxury of all the rooms in the hotel some were lucky others definately not what a shame its down to pot luck!!!

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