If you prefer to travel solo, should you be charged double?
Although cruise lines do not avidly search for solo travelers, they will 'allow' solo travelers to join the ARK at up to 200% more than other passengers are paying. Cunard has recently and in the past few years offered attractive rates for solo travelers and after taking one of their Atlantic crossings, I can say they are everything you imagine an elegant British ship to be.
The pricing policy for solo travelers has become a ‘movement’ in the ever growing solo traveler market.
If you choose to travel solo or because of circumstances you are traveling solo, why should solo travelers be further restricted by price? There are wonderful trips advertised every day and if they are listed as ‘packages or vacations’ the price is always higher when you select your travel dates and hotels. If you double the price of even the discounted cruises they often are $300 a day and the dream of an around the world cruise equals the price of a high end automobile!
Air travel, although increasingly uncomfortable and expensive, still charges passengers by the seat. Even the airlines offer promotions for your ‘companion to fly free’ or the dreaded 2 for 1 pricing. Travel providers should be challenged on their misleading 2 for 1 advertising….. try to buy this promotion for a cruise as a solo and you are told you will be denied travel if you arrive solo.
What other travel services charge solo travelers more:
As far as I know rental cars do not charge solo travelers any ‘supplements’. Hotels in the USA charge by the room but often do NOT offer single room rates. Some hotels in Europe offer single rooms that are usually very small and not always the best the hotel has to offer. At other times I have received a standard double room, there does not seem to be any standard. When I travel off season I can often book 4 star hotels in Italy for the price of a single room at other times during the year.
The cruise industry continues to charge solo travelers for enjoying the special pleasure of traveling solo.
Alan Fox, the president of Vacations to Go, has one of the few web sites that lists cruises with low or no solo supplement. www.vacationstogo.com/ Recently he posted an answer to this question on his web page. With his earlier permission to share solo cruise information, I am posting his response here.
on line question:
Q: When a cruise ship has less than a full capacity of passengers, why do they not permit someone to travel solo and not pay double occupancy? I would think that since they have to keep a full crew, even one person in a room makes more sense than having the cabin empty for the cruise.
A: Except for 6-star ships, cruise ships generally sail full year-round because cruise lines drop the rate to whatever it takes to sell out. They prefer to fill those empty cabins with two people to maximize their onboard sales and gratuities. However, lines sometimes slash the single supplement for a limited time, and we list every one of these opportunities on our site.
Alan Fox, Chairman & CEO, Vacations To Go, 5851 San Felipe Street, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77057
Why don’t cruise lines charge solo clients double the mandatory gratuities fees and allow solo’s to travel? The staff would not suffer financially. And there are no guarantees two passengers in a room will spend more money on drinks, tours, the casino, alternative restaurants or shopping, other profit areas of the ship.
I troll the cruise web sites months before I begin to plan a trip. Vacationstogo.com will list solo supplement trips but this list does NOT include every sailing. I have tried 4 cruise ‘agents’ with varying results. I have never found any cruise or travel agent who is excited about working with solo travelers. Or perhaps it is just how I travel. I was told off by one specialty agent when I mentioned I would be traveling throughout Italy for a month before the trip and would not be able to bring ‘dress’ clothes with me. Her response was something to “Well you can’t go around the ship in sloppy pants”. A new division of an established cruise booking site opened a ‘solo travel division’ but found the sales after I did!
So now I search any sailing to a location on my ‘bucket list’ with a posted price of $100 a day or less. This may insure a solo price of under $200.00 a day……beyond that price you may be able to fly business class! If you see a great price on a solo cruise let me know at www.maturesolotravel.com
Friday, June 21, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
What is your philosophy on travel?
Travel Philosophy, what is yours?
When travel is no longer the 1 or 2 weeks your don’t work every year but part of your life just as integral as the need that may come over you to see the sea or the view from a mountain………one that expands your viewpoint.
I didn’t think I had a philosophy about travel until I finally decided to have adventures not vacations.
When I travel I try to keep this mantra in mind: Be a Traveler not a Tourist Learn Something New find a New Adventure Experience the Local Life
Last night I read on Budget Travel Adventures the following: To be a better traveler, you can't just visit a place.
You have to experience it with your emotions and soul.
Only when we go beyond what we see can we tell a travel story (through words or photos) that's worth sharing.
I love it when a simple sentence or statement will arrest my thinking or stop the project I am working on.
Too often we don’t take time to think. Until I stopped working a 24/7 job I had no idea there was such an exciting ‘box of chocolates’ (from Forest Gump) out there and I will keep sampling….…..
I asked the author of Budget Travel Adventue, if I could use his motto for his blog:
http://www.budgettraveladventures.com/
Travel passionately, budget wisely, and experience more - that's the motto of the new blog, Budget Travel Adventures.
read more about JereBranham on the above web site.
What is your Philosophy?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Stay in a University Dorm while traveling
Flip Flops and Pajama Bottoms
Stay in a University Dorm during Summer Travel
http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/visitor/international/
I have been searching for alternatives to staying in a hotel when I travel. As I find new opportunities I share them on my blog.
You may have read about staying in convent (hotels) and monasteries in Italy (monastarystays.com) something I have done for the past 8+ years. Each location is a unique experience. I have tried an air stream parked on a beach at KOA on Cape Hatteras. Far better than I expected and somewhere I would be happy to return to. See the story at: http://bit.ly/1a1mCVX
I have read about Universities' offering dorm rooms for rent during summer and/or other times the dorms are not in use. The price is always reasonable and the locations are often in the city and near public transportation.
Planning for a visit to London in May I started to search for Universities offering ‘rooms for rent’. There was as a surprising number of schools participating in ‘summer rooms for rent’. Unfortunately many of the programs did not start until the end of the of the
the school term.
The London University had rooms available and I booked a single room with full bath. Sharing a bathroom with 25 to 50 college students would only make them uncomfortable not to mention me……so rooms with full baths were exactly what I was looking for.
The dorm I was assigned to was a short walk from the St Pancreas train station where I arrived from Dover. After the amazing renovation of this historic station it was a treat to take a walk through the extensive shopping and dinning mall. Cafes were noted for future meals if I needed a ‘solo friendly’ establishment. After all most travelers at a train station are solo.
I had Goggled the walking instructions and picked up a map from the very friendly Tourist Office at the west side of the station. It was an easy walk and more important one with sidewalks and ramps for those dragging a piece of luggage.
Arriving before 2 pm I was told to return at 2. At 2 the small problems started. Even after 5+ emails to assure my room was ensite, I was assigned a room with communal bath. I have to confess to ‘loosing it’. As I am using the buildings WIFI to find a ‘real room’ my savior Sapina arrived. Since this was a weekend there was no one at the University housing office to help. A senior in the building was assigned to ‘fix’ the problems and Sapina did a GREAT job. After a tour of the building I settled into my ‘dorm’ room. Since no other ensuite rooms were available, I was given one with a kitchen, no pots, not pans, no dishes but a kitchen.
A single bed, small kitchenette and on the other wall a large desk area
The bath was modern and had extremely hot water!
Negative: you only get one towel so bring your own second if you need one.
Bed was more of a cot, long term stays might be uncomfortable.
The building has quiet rules and after 11pm is very quiet.
The building has endless facilities: laundry, game room, squash court, courtyard for sunny days, recreation/TV room, movie room and more.
An easy walk from the Russell Square tube station and the St Pancreas train station.
The room comes with daily breakfast but if you are a tourist or have an early appointment don’t plan on breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday, there is brunch and it is at 10:30! Because I wanted to experience the breakfast I returned to the dorm to walk through the line with my other ‘students’.
Apparently many parents visit the university and often stay in the dorms so I did not look too out of place. I think they put me in the grandparents file. What was very interesting is that NO ONE SPOKE TO ME. I suppose some of the students had ‘big’ nights and were not in a chatty mood. Many were wearing sweat pants and flip flops and some of those pants looked like PJ’s.
After all these years I thought I would feel memories from the old days but I just felt foreign, both in nationality and age.
Food hall on the lower level of the building The atrium was bright even on the cloudy day
Rental links:
http://www.westminster.ac.uk/business/facilities-and-services/summer-accommodation
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/accommodation/summer-accommodation/
good article on alternative housing options:
http://golondon.about.com/od/londonhotels/fr/Imperial-College-Rooms.htm
http://www.arts.ac.uk/housing/summeraccommodation/
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/summeraccommodation
Stay in a University Dorm during Summer Travel
http://www.halls.london.ac.uk/visitor/international/
I have been searching for alternatives to staying in a hotel when I travel. As I find new opportunities I share them on my blog.
You may have read about staying in convent (hotels) and monasteries in Italy (monastarystays.com) something I have done for the past 8+ years. Each location is a unique experience. I have tried an air stream parked on a beach at KOA on Cape Hatteras. Far better than I expected and somewhere I would be happy to return to. See the story at: http://bit.ly/1a1mCVX
I have read about Universities' offering dorm rooms for rent during summer and/or other times the dorms are not in use. The price is always reasonable and the locations are often in the city and near public transportation.
Planning for a visit to London in May I started to search for Universities offering ‘rooms for rent’. There was as a surprising number of schools participating in ‘summer rooms for rent’. Unfortunately many of the programs did not start until the end of the of the
the school term.
The London University had rooms available and I booked a single room with full bath. Sharing a bathroom with 25 to 50 college students would only make them uncomfortable not to mention me……so rooms with full baths were exactly what I was looking for.
The dorm I was assigned to was a short walk from the St Pancreas train station where I arrived from Dover. After the amazing renovation of this historic station it was a treat to take a walk through the extensive shopping and dinning mall. Cafes were noted for future meals if I needed a ‘solo friendly’ establishment. After all most travelers at a train station are solo.
I had Goggled the walking instructions and picked up a map from the very friendly Tourist Office at the west side of the station. It was an easy walk and more important one with sidewalks and ramps for those dragging a piece of luggage.
Arriving before 2 pm I was told to return at 2. At 2 the small problems started. Even after 5+ emails to assure my room was ensite, I was assigned a room with communal bath. I have to confess to ‘loosing it’. As I am using the buildings WIFI to find a ‘real room’ my savior Sapina arrived. Since this was a weekend there was no one at the University housing office to help. A senior in the building was assigned to ‘fix’ the problems and Sapina did a GREAT job. After a tour of the building I settled into my ‘dorm’ room. Since no other ensuite rooms were available, I was given one with a kitchen, no pots, not pans, no dishes but a kitchen.
A single bed, small kitchenette and on the other wall a large desk area
The bath was modern and had extremely hot water!
Negative: you only get one towel so bring your own second if you need one.
Bed was more of a cot, long term stays might be uncomfortable.
The building has quiet rules and after 11pm is very quiet.
The building has endless facilities: laundry, game room, squash court, courtyard for sunny days, recreation/TV room, movie room and more.
An easy walk from the Russell Square tube station and the St Pancreas train station.
The room comes with daily breakfast but if you are a tourist or have an early appointment don’t plan on breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday, there is brunch and it is at 10:30! Because I wanted to experience the breakfast I returned to the dorm to walk through the line with my other ‘students’.
Apparently many parents visit the university and often stay in the dorms so I did not look too out of place. I think they put me in the grandparents file. What was very interesting is that NO ONE SPOKE TO ME. I suppose some of the students had ‘big’ nights and were not in a chatty mood. Many were wearing sweat pants and flip flops and some of those pants looked like PJ’s.
After all these years I thought I would feel memories from the old days but I just felt foreign, both in nationality and age.
Food hall on the lower level of the building The atrium was bright even on the cloudy day
Rental links:
http://www.westminster.ac.uk/business/facilities-and-services/summer-accommodation
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/accommodation/summer-accommodation/
good article on alternative housing options:
http://golondon.about.com/od/londonhotels/fr/Imperial-College-Rooms.htm
http://www.arts.ac.uk/housing/summeraccommodation/
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/summeraccommodation
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