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Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

thriftytraveler.com

21–30 of 533 posts

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#21
post #17

Huh if this becomes mainstream there's an opportunity to make a social media website to purchase in groups and make friends for the flights

Good idea in principle. In practice this could invite unscrupulous actors, or people who flake out at higher rates than close family -not that families can’t flake out, but I’d imagine it’d be a lower incidence.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#22
post #2

I never would have understood this as a young, single person. Now that I have a family there are several times per year where we price out the cost of a solo ticket for one parent, the price of taking one or two kids, or the cost of all of us going for something. Having a quantity discount would absolutely tip the scales for us for certain trips. People will look at this as penalizing single travelers and want everyo…

[deleted]

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#23
post #20
post #2

I never would have understood this as a young, single person. Now that I have a family there are several times per year where we price out the cost of a solo ticket for one parent, the price of taking one or two kids, or the cost of all of us going for something. Having a quantity discount would absolutely tip the scales for us for certain trips. People will look at this as penalizing single travelers and want everyo…

Traveling solo is already brutal because hotels and Airbnbs are priced on the assumption of two travelers. Traveling solo essentially costs double automatically because of lodging, and it kind of sucks there’s a double whammy with airfare where, unlike lodging, the penalty doesn’t actually make any sense. I guess as a family be grateful that all hotel rooms come with a 50% (or more) discount per traveler?

Hostels are wonderful for single traveling, though. And that's in spite of the fact that hostels also have bulk discounts.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#24

Apparently the article author hasn't heard about the concept of a "group discount"

Maybe even if it was a possibility before, it wasn't used and now airlines have enough data and market power to actually make different prices for groups

(By the way, if it's about inflating prices for individual, then it's not really volume discounting... it just appears this way on the outside)

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#25
post #12

I don't have any data, but it wouldn't at all surprise me if single/business travelers are way more likely to cancel or change flights, and this is just pricing that into the ticket cost.

Changing/cancelling flights is not usually for free.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#26
post #10

Apparently the article author hasn't heard about the concept of a "group discount"

Part of what makes it seem shady here is that airline ticket prices are pretty opaque. If they advertised it as a group discount, it would be received differently.

Airline pricing in general is pretty opaque. Not hospital pricing opaque, but still pretty opaque. It's one of the few things we regularly purchase where the price changes almost daily (both up and down). For example, bus and train tickets are pretty much the same price each day for the same route. For airlines, I'll often check the price on some future night to see if it is cheaper or not.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#27
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The business traveler who is less price sensitive and almost always books a solo itinerary.

It's a shame this is so far down the page (at least for me, at this moment) because I'm fairly certain you are exactly right.

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Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#28
post #12

I don't have any data, but it wouldn't at all surprise me if single/business travelers are way more likely to cancel or change flights, and this is just pricing that into the ticket cost.

I'm skeptical. Not sure why as a solo traveler I'd be more likely to cancel than a family vacation. If anything, more can go wrong in the case of the latter.

Business traveler maybe. Not my money and business stuff happens. (Usually they want you to book non-refundable because it comes out ahead in the end.)

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#29
post #2

I never would have understood this as a young, single person. Now that I have a family there are several times per year where we price out the cost of a solo ticket for one parent, the price of taking one or two kids, or the cost of all of us going for something. Having a quantity discount would absolutely tip the scales for us for certain trips. People will look at this as penalizing single travelers and want everyo…

Sounds like you’re only fine with it because you personally benefit from it.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#30
post #2

I never would have understood this as a young, single person. Now that I have a family there are several times per year where we price out the cost of a solo ticket for one parent, the price of taking one or two kids, or the cost of all of us going for something. Having a quantity discount would absolutely tip the scales for us for certain trips. People will look at this as penalizing single travelers and want everyo…

Everything hinges on filling the airplane as often as they can. A blend of solo and group travel is probably easier to fill planes. Looking at prices alone is only part of the picture, imo. Group travelers are also more likely to pay for at least 1-2 bags, which brings in some extra $$.
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