How Can Coach Trip Firms

[tamaris]

charge a single holiday goer a supplement when they are in a single room and there is a single bed ?
There were seats on the bus vacant as well.
The coach people say they don't charge it but the hotel do, but the hotel say they do not charge the supplement. I took this up with Just go last year and now I have taken up the same issue with David Urquart. The coach people are just passing the buck it seems

[Zacs-Master]

It costs the same to heat, light and clean a single room as it does a double. Two people will spend more in the hotel. Simple economics.

[tamaris]

But you don't put 2 people in a single room

[EcclesCake]

Because people (like you) agree to the Ts&Cs at point of purchase.

If folk just shrugged and walked away then perhaps the holiday companies would get the message.

[sunny-dave]

I dislike single supplements - but can see how a hotel can justify them.

Just say that a single room is 2/3 the size of a double room - so in the same space you could have 4 people in two double rooms or 3 people in three singles. That would seem to suggest that a 33% premium for single travellers is defensible..

[ubasses]

If you have a look at most hotel sites, the price of a single room is more than half of the price for a double. When booking direct you would probably accept this. Heating and servicing will also cost more than half of a double.
The Coach Company will quote a price per person, and call the extra cost for the single a supplement and blame the hotel. The hotel do not see it as as a supplement just the cost, so tell you they have not charged the Coach Co a supplement.

[Zacs-Master]

Tamaris, I think you need to re read my post. The hotel makes less money out of a single room but it costs the same to run.

[237SJ]

^^ If that`s the case then why does a single person pay the same as a couple in an all inclusive? The couple are eating twice the amount of food, drinking twice the amount of alcohol/beverages but are paying the same as the single.

[jno]

The couple are eating twice the amount of food

they might be, or they might not. I don't think food costs are a significant factor in their calculations, since it's impossible to tell how much any given person will consume. It might be if each meal is five-star waiter-service, but most all-inclusives I've been on are mainly buffets. Room costs seem to be the main factor.

[237SJ]

Large companies negotiate VERY advantageous hotel rates for their employees for single room occupancy. Holidaymakers are just easier to con

[jno]

that's always the advantage of bulk buying, though. If Universal Exports routinely takes 10 single rooms a week, planning is easier for everyone. Tour operators, apart from single specialists, never know how many singles they're getting till someone actually books.

[furrypusscat]

As a former coach & tour operator I can confirm that it isn't the coach firm, it is the hotel that puts the extra premium on for single supplement. It doesn't just apply for coach holidays.

[ummmm]

237 - are you sure a single person pays the same as a couple in AI. I understand that the hotel might charge per room instead of per person but the AI bit surely would be for one person.

[jno]

tamaris, you can always try googling "no single supplements" - you won't find vast numbers of such holidays but there may be one or two that suit you.

[atalanta]

I bet the single rooms all have worse views and no balconies, whereas the double rooms usually have better furniture, too. Chinese hotels are particularly bad, usually with single rooms overlooking the dustbins or carpark, while the doubles have sea-views. And still you pay the extra when you are single.

[237SJ]

Yes they do, Atlanta.

[furrypusscat]

Often the room a single person gets is actually a double room as single rooms are usually limited, therefore when a single person books whether on coach tour or as a private guest the hotel are having to let out a double room which in turn leads to losing trade when the hotel is fully booked as they could have got more money selling the same room to a couple. So charging a single supplement helps to cover losses, which means as standard a single person pays more.