As SM said

in Tunisia it is nearly always possible to get sole use of a double or twin either with no single supplement at all or a very nominal one

I go out twice a year and I've found the 'single' rooms always to be twins, and with a decent balcony.:lol: The TO's have put up prices this year and started quoting single supplements so I cut them out and e-mailed the hotel myself. I got a very good price for half board at a 4* hotel, which even undercut Alpharooms by about £80 for the fortnight in April.

An Interesting Article On Single Room Supplements

I can understand the supplements if you are to be staying in a room meant for two. Most holiday complexes don't tend to have many, if any, actual single rooms, unlike city hotels. A single traveller will never pay the full amount that 2 people are paying, but then again the tour operators have deals with hotels which mean they are paying very low rates for their rooms. It has always tended to be the flights which have been the most costly part of the holiday.

Those companies who specialise in singles travel and don't charge supplements do tend to be quite pricey, but then you have to pay a certain amount per room regardless.

As a single traveller in the past myself I can see both sides. If I had a single room I would expect to pay the same for myself as each person would pay for a double/twin room. Even though the room would be inferior. Having had double rooms to myself I can see why we have to pay more than two people sharing a room. This will always be the case and without hotels suddenly making lots of single rooms this can't change. The rise in the single traveller doesn't justify having a lot of rooms which two people could never stay in. The risk of them staying empty because they haven't had the single bookings is too great for hoteliers to take the risk and provide them.

We are fortunate now that we don't have to go through a TO if we don't want to. We can negotiate a room rate and book flights if we wish. We know then that we are not being ripped off. If people do this more and more the prices generally on packages will eventually come down. Incidentally from looking at holidays in the costas, balearics etc. the prices have come down considerably in recent years.

This is sometimes why it is cheaper for a single person to book a DIY. Whenever we book accommodation only the price is always per room and not per person.

Recently 3 of us went to Majorca for a quick 3 night break. I was travelling with a married couple (my husband was away working) and we got 2 x1 bedroomed apartments. It was the same price for me as it was for the couple.

But isn't this the way Tour Operators operatare Glynis?

Say the price was £ 100.00 for each room - £ 100.00 to you and £ 50.00 each for the couple. Add to this say a flight price of £ 100.00 per person and the brochure would say something like this:

7 nights Room Only based on two people sharing:

£ 150.00 p.p.

Single supplement: £ 50.00

Mark

That does make sense Mark, but as a *single* traveller I still feel I am being ripped off.
**(PS, I could not find the original thread about Single Room Supplements, but I know there was one somewhere because I had posted some replies. I started this new thread as I could not find it but at the risk of a duplicate conversation developing maybe Mark you could see if you could locate the original topic and merge the two :hmmm)**

I have merged all the single room suplement threads into one.

Mark

Apparantley Thomsons are to abolish their Single Room Supplements. Check out THIS article

Click on the link for more on this story.


Post edited for copyright reasons
David HT Mod

mark,
i appreciate your answer and agree with the maths, but you appear to have fallen in to the same trap as everyone else in that you assume that all single travellers will get a double room to themselves, and to this end your argument and figures are correct.
the bit that riles single passengers most is that the will very often get a single room(usually without all the benefits that are available in normal double rooms). as all tour operators say in the brochures that you are only paying for privacy and not facilities, for them then to charge a supplement in this case(especially as hotels will still just charge them a flat rate for the room) is blatant profiteering.

the bit that riles single passengers most is that they will very often get a single room(usually without all the benefits that are available in normal double rooms). as all tour operators say in the brochures that you are only paying for privacy and not facilities, for them then to charge a supplement in this case(especially as hotels will still just charge them a flat rate for the room) is blatant profiteering

Precisely. This makes my blood boil. Because I think it is grossly unfair, but from reading the article to which I have provided a link above, it seems that Thomsons may finally be doing something about it?. I always travel with Thomsoms so I certainly hope so. Mind you it may only be for a 'trail period'. If not, lets hope all the other Tour Operators follow suit. Its about time!!!

I have no objections whatsoever in paying a supplement if the room I am to be allocated is a Twin or Double room with all the additional facilities etc, but when I am thrown into a 'Broom Cupboard' devoid of all the extra facilities, such as a Balcony I simply cannot understand why I should be charged extra for this. Why should I have to pay more than a couple for a smaller room, with no balcony, hardly any room to swing a cat (not that I am accustomed to that practice), with a bath that you can barely sit down it and that only has one single bed in it? These rooms cannot be 'under occupied' as they are only designed for one guest!

And you are correct, the Hotels themselves do not make any extra charges themselves for 'sole occupancy' in single room....I make it my business to check out their Tariff Boards....and no extra supplement is shown.....it is the Tour Operators that are adding on this extra sum....as you say just to make a few extra bucks.....unfairly!! They obviously see Single Travellers as sitting targets. Its about time that the Tour Operators realised not all holiday makers come in pairs. The Hotel Groups could help to solve the problem by designing and building their new establishments with the Single Traveller in mind. But that might be asking a wee bit too much I guess.

Spammer posting under two usernames trying to deceive our members.

Duly dealt with

luci

Spammer posting under two usernames trying to deceive our members.

Duly dealt with

luci

Spammer posting under two usernames trying to deceive our members.

Duly dealt with

luci