Why Is It More Expensive To Travel On Your Own?

We get a lot of solo travellers booking with us we’re pleased to say.  However, we get asked a lot about the cost of Solo Travel and so, we wanted to give our thoughts on the matter.

The first thing to note is, if you’re a solo traveller on almost all of our trips, you’ll be paired with someone of the same sex to share a room with.  There are of course pros and cons to this -(see this post for more details).  But a large pro is that this keeps the cost down.  Why ?!?

The answer is to do with hotels pricing models …zzzzzzz

Basically, the hotel price is based on two people sharing.  Of course, if two people share one room then the price per person is half of the room itself.  An easy example is:

Room cost £100 per night

Room sleeps 2 people

Cost per person per night in room:  £50 each

In short, this is the problem solo travellers face.  If you want your own room, you’ve got to pay for the entire room which often means doubling the cost of your accommodation.

Now, not all hotels price this way but many do, as do many of the partners we work with.  We of course try to keep these ‘single supplements’ down as low as we can.

Another reason for the expense rising if travelling alone, is, if you fancy a guide, you’ll be the only persons paying for the service.  Joining a group means the cost gets divided by the group and so is lower for everyone.  This is true of many other factors too such as tickets (group discounts), sometimes food and more…

So, clearly travelling with a group offers financial advantages but as we note, there maybe downsides too, please see our post The Pros and Cons of Group Tours