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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

#181

Post by neutronicus »

4ndrewl wrote: post #106
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.

OTOH when you retire those other people's kids will be powering the economy that will be financing your pension.

It's not even retirement.

When a 25-year-old lands a senior role in 10 years at 35, it's because someone else's 13-year-old grew up, graduated college, and got hired as a junior. Promotions are 10% Crushing It, 90% dumping your grunt work on some poor sap too young to know better.

Society is a pyramid scheme, and, like all pyramid schemes, bringing more people in is ultimately more valuable than actually selling the LuLaRoe or whatever.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#182

Post by Ekaros »

al_borland wrote: post #69
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?

Cruises are especially bad for this. I’ve never gone, but I’ve looked at but after I had 3 independent people tell me to take one in the span of a few months. Most are priced assuming 2 people in the room and if you’re solo it seems like they expect you to buy 2 spots. I’ve seen a couple where they have a few solo cabins, but the amount of effort to surface this stuff turns me off to the whole thing. The only reason…

It is strange balance, but in cruising there is expectation that money is spend outside the base fare on extra experiences. So getting double money from double occupancy is important. Cost of basic food doesn't scale that much. And these extra revenue opportunities is also why occupancy beyond double is so much cheaper.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#183

Post by dlisboa »

hypeatei wrote: post #174
dlisboa wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a society it's not philosophical. If it wishes to exist past a few decades then it needs children, simple as that. Therefore societies are (and should) be skewed towards that.

I'll ask this in response: why does society need to exist at all? Obviously ideas like yours are ingrained into us at a biological level and it logically makes sense if we want to survive as a species... but there is no inherent reason other than "just because" right?

That's indeed a philosophical question. Should we even exist at all?

It's a strange thing of nature and evolution that it creates a species that can plan and execute its own intentional suicide.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#184

Post by kaikai »

patcon wrote: post #76
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?

(Saying all this with respect for those who value privacy more than me ) Hostels are for this market, no? Share physical infra (bathroom/heating/walls) with other humans (aka strangers) and you get the same family discount. You're not obligated to pay the premium unless you want your own bathroom and own personal space like families tend to want As in: families don't get a discount, they just amortise the cost of pri…

There’s a very big difference between sharing sleeping space with multiple complete strangers and sharing space with family.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#185

Post by proee »

This must be a new thing, because I've experienced the opposite. I needed to book 7 tickets, and the price was much higher than a single ticket. So I ended up adjusting the quantity and saw the price increase at around 4 tickets. So I ended up splitting the purchase into two transactions. However, after purchasing the first 4 tickets, the following price for single ticket was now slightly increased - so they were really playing some games or perhaps there was limited availability that was adjusting prices real-time.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#186

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

tshaddox wrote: post #101
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?

It's probably also worth noting that the majority of these hotels and Airbnbs are also designed to accommodate two or more travelers. Thus the complaint isn't really "single-person rooms are priced that same as two-person rooms," but rather "single-person rooms don't exist, which means I have to pay for more space than I need." In this sense it's not really any different than any other product that you wish was sold…

The difference in costs between accommodating one person and two people is pretty minimal. Even things like breakfasts are prepared in bulk.

Most single people own and sleep in double beds, so there's no sense in which a double bed is "designed to accomodate" two travellers.

The issue is more that discounted single room rates would encourage unofficial double stays, which would lose significant income.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#187

Post by eCa »

tshaddox wrote: post #101
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?

It's probably also worth noting that the majority of these hotels and Airbnbs are also designed to accommodate two or more travelers. Thus the complaint isn't really "single-person rooms are priced that same as two-person rooms," but rather "single-person rooms don't exist, which means I have to pay for more space than I need." In this sense it's not really any different than any other product that you wish was sold…

At least here in Europe there are plenty of hotels with solo traveller rooms (I often book a double for myself (often for the same price or €10 more) for a bigger bed.

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#188

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: Airlines are charging solo passengers higher fares than groups

#190

Post by brm »

glitchc wrote: post #171

I'm not sure if this is driven to incentivize having children, but the more general point of incentivizing children for the good of society is a valid one. A society that stops having kids (or importing them) will cease to be a society before too long.

Or, a society will just start having children again once the population gets small enough that having children becomes a more optimal decision or the supply of things that make having children optimal is increased...
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