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Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

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Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#41

Post by nemomarx »

darth_avocado wrote: post #31
Aurornis wrote: 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…

We as a society already penalize people without families: 1. Higher taxes and fewer deductions 2. Higher workplace performance expectations 3. Higher costs in every aspect of life 4. Fewer options eat out, expensive solo tickets at events etc. This is just one more example in a long list of examples of how being by yourself is penalized in the society.

how are there less options for people without families to eat out? I'm not following that part

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#42

Post by ghaff »

n8cpdx wrote: post #20
Aurornis wrote: 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?

I see people complaining a lot about single traveler (with their own room) surcharges on both group and self-guided trips. But, you're right, while per-person-double-occupancy rates make it explicit, it's pretty much the norm at most hotels whether stated as such or not.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#43

Post by phyzix5761 »

desireco42 wrote: post #14

I think they because so custom in their pricing that is becoming insane... I wish they are more predictable in how much things cost, it is almost like weather, how much will airfare cost.

If you can predict consumer demand, trade policy, interest rates, and money printing schedules then you can predict prices. Problem is we can't predict any of those things.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#44

Post by dandelany »

omosubi wrote: 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 suspect they also empirically have less price-sensitivity on average, for a variety of reasons

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#45

Post by sidewndr46 »

n8cpdx wrote: post #20
Aurornis wrote: 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?

I don't really find this relevant in the US because airline pricing is already the ultimate brutal form of pricing. Not only are they allowed to bill you whatever they want, they are never under any actual obligation to put you on the plane.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#46

Post by darth_avocado »

nemomarx wrote: post #41
darth_avocado wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We as a society already penalize people without families: 1. Higher taxes and fewer deductions 2. Higher workplace performance expectations 3. Higher costs in every aspect of life 4. Fewer options eat out, expensive solo tickets at events etc. This is just one more example in a long list of examples of how being by yourself is penalized in the society.

how are there less options for people without families to eat out? I'm not following that part

You can’t eat out alone everywhere

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#47

Post by frank_nitti »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #34
n8cpdx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Some countries (e.g. Japan) charge per person in non-Western hotels. Even then, you may get different prices for a solo traveler because the lower overall price means they need to increase the per person rate to make enough margin with their fixed costs.

They do this in Mexico as well. Always just seems like an honor system thing unless they are checking people at the door to the hotel and/or room each time they enter, which only seems realistic in very small hotels who have no e.g. restaurant open to the public.

Otherwise can’t one just rent the room as a solo guest, and just have someone come through later, as long as there isn’t an obvious group activity going on inside the room?

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#48

Post by derac »

freehorse wrote: post #25
omosubi wrote: 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.

Yes, it's already baked in. A cancellable ticket is more expensive.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#49

Post by atonse »

Matheus28 wrote: post #29
Aurornis wrote: 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.

Or it could just be a certain way of framing things?

But for the benefit of this debate I'll state my bias. Almost all my travel is as a group.

But in most other facets of life, we save by buying more, right? (buying wholesale, buying bulk, etc).

So I've actually had the other feeling... if I'm buying 4 tickets at once, can I get a bit of a volume discount? And I'm not sure that's what the airlines are doing here (I don't ascribe any altruism, it's probably more that families were getting cold feet with increasing prices), but I like that I get some kind of cheaper rate when I'm buying 4x of something, just like in just about every other purchase in life.

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