Traveling alone: 10 ways to save on individual supplements
In your school days, you may have discovered, as I did, that economics really is the “grim science.” However, I did learn a key fact. Supply and demand drive prices. For solo travel, the surcharge or “individual supplement” varies in part according to this proven rule. The good news? If you browse the Internet, you can find ways to save on solo travel when demand is low. The bad news? No or reduced single supplement deals are limited in number and sell out fast.
Here are 10 ways to save.
1. Don’t ask for a room. Ask for a “room for one”. In Europe, accommodation is often sold at individual prices. Make sure to see if it is a single price for a standard room or a small single room. Look at the size offered for single occupants. Next Consider the amount of time you’ll spend in your room I often take 10-12 hour trips abroad spending almost no time in my hotel room except to get some sleep before heading out again.
2. Get there first. Reserve even a year in advance as some solo spaces are reduced. This is very important if you go in season. Resorts and summer hot spots can make returning visitors book next year when they leave.
3. Head to the airport when everyone else is heading home. Off-season travel is the best way to get immediate 50% discounts. In the South of France, rates drop as fast as September 9. Ski resorts, like the legendary Sun Valley Lodge, have specials just before Christmas. In winter and spring, European discounts can also be half price.
4. Get excited about rainy weather or extreme heat and cold. You’ll have to think about how far you want to take this. I had an exciting short-term work trip on January 1st. in siberia I also went on a tour to India during the monsoons. In some cases, negative pronouncements may not affect your trip. A good example? The risk of hurricanes each fall is less likely to hit the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao), which makes for better prices. In Africa, for example, safari rates are lower during the rainy or “green” season if you can get away and don’t mind the chance of short, heavy rains.
5. Look for new travel providers. Hotels that are just opening or reopening after renovations have special offers to gain or regain market share. The Hotel Castille in Paris, for example, was heavily discounted in the short term when it reopened just steps from the trendy boutiques. Thereafter, rates increased in line with other small high-end hotels.
6. Be contrary. Don’t pay a premium for what’s currently in style. Browse the internet looking for underrated regions. If it’s trendy, prices will skyrocket. In the 1980s, I somehow found a resort in Montenegro right next to the Albanian border. Since then, Sveti Stefan, where I stayed, has been updated as reflected in its 5 star price. The moral of the story is to get there before the crowds discover a destination.
7. If you can’t pronounce or spell it, you’ll love the prices! Replace the road less travelled. If you dream of seeing the Parthenon, you should go to Greece. (That is unless you live in North America and would like to see a perfect replica in Nashville, Tenn.!) Regional airlines are a great way to discover great, largely unknown places at low prices. Case in point: I dreamed of Tahiti in my first graduate days. When fares were high there, Air New Zealand suggested alternatives: Rarotonga and Aitutaki. I accepted them and had the ride of my life dining on the stories for years.
8. Search the Internet for national and regional programs offered by tourist boards. Check ahead as they may only be available abroad. One of the best deals I found in the 1990s was with the then “Lan Chile”. From the US, I bought three reservation tickets totaling $200 to go anywhere in the country. At that price, I arrived in Antarctica Chile, at the end of the world!
9. Use flexible dates to get weekend deals. Hotel and airline rates often go up and down together. Why is that? That brings us back to supply and demand. When planes and hotels have low load factors, prices are lower.
10. Share to save. Look for tours that do not have individual supplements accepting sharing. The benefit of this approach? It’s a way to save if your travel dates aren’t flexible and low or low single supplement deals aren’t available.
In any case, before you give up on fitting solo travel into your budget, check out these options.
