"Boy, did you ever hit a sore spot with me."
That was the comment from a woman named Martha Miller who was responding to my story on single supplements, published recently in the Dallas Morning News. (and also here, if that link's expired)
Her anger is directed at the tour operators I wrote about. It's misplaced. But it gave me an idea. About how travel companies could eliminate the traditional single supplement and take the heat off themselves. I'll get to that in a minute. But first, Miller's peeves.
You know how some tour companies think they're offering a service matching solo guests up so they can avoid the single supplement? Doesn't sit real well with Miller. Living quarters are intimate, she says. A place where you bathe, sleep, change clothes and take care of "hygiene issues."
Sharing with a stranger? "That simply boggles my mind! I'm not a 12-year-old girl going off to Scout Camp, for God's sake!" The single supplement is "astoundingly insulting" and "blatant discrimation."
Miller, 48, enjoys traveling on her own, so she's paid the single supplement many times. So obviously she can afford it. But she begins these trips with a sense of annoyance, and a feeling that she is being "blatantly" robbed. "With the robber smiling straight in my face while doing the robbing!!"
Let's go to the root of the problem. It's not the tour operators. It's the hotels, motels, inns. They build rooms for two and charge a solo traveler the same room price. It would be nice if they built some single rooms and charged less. But I don't see that happening any time
soon (although hotels in other countries have done so.)
Yet I don't recall hearing anyone in my presence getting angry at hotels for this policy. They accept that that's the way it is.
Yet when, say, a biking company puts together meals, routes, guides and hotel rooms and tells people there is a single supplement – which essentially is the cost that the hotel charges the company for the room – people get spitting mad…at the biking company.
In thinking about it, I wondered if an alternative is possible. What if travel companies charge per person whether you're traveling solo or as part of a couple? They can start by calculating their costs based on one person occupying each room. They tally that cost and put that price in the catalog. It would be higher than under the "normal" way.
Try to stick with me here.
Now, let's say the travel company ends up booking 10 "solo" rooms at $100 apiece for a six-night trip. And then, 15 people sign up. Including six couples. And every individual pays the same price.
But couples paid double the room cost, you say. Here's the next part. The travel company sends a notice that everyone's going to get a refund of $120. That's based on dividing the entire week's hotel bill for 15 people into 15 equal parts. And refunding the amount gained by having three extra people in three of the rooms.
Double occupancy travelers (the DOT's) might shout, "Unfair, unfair!!" (Instead of the solo travelers, for a change.) Yes, couples are paying more for a room than they would have if they were on their own.
But if the trip is unique, or isn't outrageously more expensive than a comparable trip, it could be a non-issue.
On the other hand, solo travelers might flock to a company that prices this way.
Couples could complain, "But they're getting a whole big room for themselves." Except, that couples don't want a private room. They prefer to be together, don't they?
Two people sharing a room could shout, "We're being charged double for the hotel room." (Which isn't technically true. Keep reading.)
Those couples or pairs of friends don't have to take such a trip. They could book everything on their own. But it's possible they'll end up paying more doing that. By not reaping the benefits of a tour operator's volume discount. And they'll certainly spend a whole lot of time planning, and time is money.
In addition, the couples also will get some money back. The more couples there are, the more that refund would be. While couples would pay more for the room than if they'd stayed at the hotel on their own, they won't end up paying twice as much.
Okay, that was a lot to follow. And I don't suspect that I will start a trend. It just was a fun first stab at trying to figure out how to give solo travelers some slack. Comments welcome.
Boldly Go Solo 
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