Single supplement
Encyclopedia
In the travel industry, package-deal and accommodation prices may be quoted per-person but are generally structured on the basis that two people will travel and room together. The surcharge
that this entails for a solo traveller is known as the single-person supplement (sometimes single supplement). This surcharge is widely unpopular amongst solo travellers. James Lyon describes the single person supplement as solo travellers "hav[ing] to pay […] for the privilege of having a room all to themselves".
Tony Cram observes that part of its unpopularity lies in what Thomas Nagle and Reed Holden (listed in further reading) describe as a "framing effect". Given the following two holiday package prices, for the same airline travel, destination, hotel:
customers will choose the former over the latter, even though the total cost, £275, is in fact the same. The reason for this choice is Nagle and Holden's "framing effect". Purchases are "framed" by customers when they evaluate them as bundles of gains and losses; and customers choose gains over losses. An early booking discount is a gain, whereas a surcharge is a loss. Cram propounds the principle that prices are always more flexible downwards rather than upwards. Pricing structures that appear to penalize the small-scale or one-off buyer, such as a solo traveller, are unpopular.
The single-person supplement can form a significant extra cost to a holiday. Travel expert Pauline Frommer observes that the single-person supplements for rooms, tours, and cruises can form up to 40% of the total cost of a vacation, and cannot be evaded or negotiated down.
Surcharge
A surcharge may mean:*an extra fee added onto another fee or charge** Fuel surcharge, sky freight charges which represents additions due to jet fuel prices.** Bunker adjustment factor, sea freight charges which represents additions due to oil prices....
that this entails for a solo traveller is known as the single-person supplement (sometimes single supplement). This surcharge is widely unpopular amongst solo travellers. James Lyon describes the single person supplement as solo travellers "hav[ing] to pay […] for the privilege of having a room all to themselves".
Tony Cram observes that part of its unpopularity lies in what Thomas Nagle and Reed Holden (listed in further reading) describe as a "framing effect". Given the following two holiday package prices, for the same airline travel, destination, hotel:
- £300, with a £25 discount for early booking
- £250, with a 10% single person surcharge
customers will choose the former over the latter, even though the total cost, £275, is in fact the same. The reason for this choice is Nagle and Holden's "framing effect". Purchases are "framed" by customers when they evaluate them as bundles of gains and losses; and customers choose gains over losses. An early booking discount is a gain, whereas a surcharge is a loss. Cram propounds the principle that prices are always more flexible downwards rather than upwards. Pricing structures that appear to penalize the small-scale or one-off buyer, such as a solo traveller, are unpopular.
The single-person supplement can form a significant extra cost to a holiday. Travel expert Pauline Frommer observes that the single-person supplements for rooms, tours, and cruises can form up to 40% of the total cost of a vacation, and cannot be evaded or negotiated down.