Single supplements

CharleeeFarleee

This is not a direct criticism of the tour company Explore (explore.co.uk): they have usually looked after me very well on any of the tours I have taken with them. I think all tour operators do what I am going to outline

My warning today concerns single supplements.

In this message I am referring specifically to the research I have done on one of their trips which I was thinking of taking, until I saw the (in my opinion, unjustified) single supplement.

It is a 14 day trip with a single supplement of over £1000!!!

For me a single supplement is justified if the tour operator directly or via their appointed agent in the relevant country has to pay the hotel more when booking a room for a single traveller as opposed to one for a couple for a particular night or set of nights.

I know that some hotels charge a single traveller more if he/she is occupying a double room or even just a single room, possibly because they consider that it costs them more to offer a room to a sole traveller or because they want to offset the possible extra revenue (bar, restaurant etc.) that they may not get from a sole traveller as opposed to from a couple.

However, if the hotel charges the same for a room for a sole traveller or for two travelling together there is, in my opinion, no justification at all for charging a single supplement.

In the specific case of the Explore trip to which I am referring, I managed to price up all the hotels, except for one (one night). In all other cases except two, the price of a room for two is the same as for the same room for one.

In the two cases mentioned the rooms for a sole traveller actually cost less than for a couple. The total difference amounts to nearly £150.

So, Explore want a single supplement of over £1000, whereas there should be a discount of almost £150 for a sole traveller.

I know that after two years of Covid many people are desperate to see more than their own country but inflation is raging and incomes are not keeping pace, so Think, Watch out!

Good travelling.

Westin

Wrong forum board.

Unless you have sight of the commercial agreements which Explore hold with ground handlers and hoteliers you can not have accurately costed out the single traveller supplement.

heatherw_01

Sadly as ambassador tools aren't working still, I can't move this but I will as soon as I get my access back.

maisie_cat

I went on several explore holidays when I was single and always had the option to share or pay a single supplement

CharleeeFarleee

Westin: Sorry for the wrong board. If it can be moved, let it.

I admit that I don’t have knowledge of the agreements you mentioned: do you? Please enlighten us.

How many significant factors can you think of that form part of the single supplement apart from the charges by the hotels for the rooms that the tour companies book. There most likely are some (the actual admin cost of, say, booking a couple as opposed to two individuals), but how significant are they?

I think a lot of people, especially those who get annoyed (possibly wrongly), due to tour operators not giving out satisfactory reasons for such supplements, would like to know.

Look at the press. This subject is always present. However, I and others, are still to be given reasons that we can understand and accept.

Alan_Bowen

Yes the price of the room may well be the same whether there is one person or a couple sharing but if there are two, the price per person is actually half the cost for one person and that is the basis for a supplement

katejo

CharleeeFarleee said:

This is not a direct criticism of the tour company Explore (explore.co.uk): they have usually looked after me very well on any of the tours I have taken with them. I think all tour operators do what I am going to outline

My warning today concerns single supplements.

In this message I am referring specifically to the research I have done on one of their trips which I was thinking of taking, until I saw the (in my opinion, unjustified) single supplement.

It is a 14 day trip with a single supplement of over £1000!!!

For me a single supplement is justified if the tour operator directly or via their appointed agent in the relevant country has to pay the hotel more when booking a room for a single traveller as opposed to one for a couple for a particular night or set of nights.

I know that some hotels charge a single traveller more if he/she is occupying a double room or even just a single room, possibly because they consider that it costs them more to offer a room to a sole traveller or because they want to offset the possible extra revenue (bar, restaurant etc.) that they may not get from a sole traveller as opposed to from a couple.

However, if the hotel charges the same for a room for a sole traveller or for two travelling together there is, in my opinion, no justification at all for charging a single supplement.

In the specific case of the Explore trip to which I am referring, I managed to price up all the hotels, except for one (one night). In all other cases except two, the price of a room for two is the same as for the same room for one.

In the two cases mentioned the rooms for a sole traveller actually cost less than for a couple. The total difference amounts to nearly £150.

So, Explore want a single supplement of over £1000, whereas there should be a discount of almost £150 for a sole traveller.

I know that after two years of Covid many people are desperate to see more than their own country but inflation is raging and incomes are not keeping pace, so Think, Watch out!

Good travelling.

I have been on many Explore trips but so far have always shared. I did notice (prior to Covid) that if someone requested a share but there wasn't one available, they could get a single for no extra charge. I don't know whether this still exists. Explore did have an offer on earlier this year of single rooms without any supplement but it expired in late February. I wasn't yet ready to book (and still haven't done so). 

TELLIT01

There are companies which do not charge single supplements but they need to be searched for.  You also undermined your own case by saying that the company does offer holidays with no single supplement under some conditions.  At busier times of year they will want to maximise their income by filling every space.