Travelling solo is a truly enriching and rewarding experience that I’d encourage anyone to try. Those who haven’t do it tend to turn their nose up at it as weird or a lonely thing to do. I can understand that perspective but it couldn’t be further from the truth, it is a truly liberating experience allowing you time to unwind, reflect and crucially not have to worry or consider anyone else. It gives you the freedom to do what you want, when you want, you are in the driver’s seat and that’s exhilarating.

Single Supplement

However, if joining a tour there is a catch. The dreaded single supplement, the bane of a solo traveller’s life, but unfortunately, it is largely unavoidable. The single supplement, for those who exclusively travel with companions, is the additional cost for a solo traveller’s accommodation, given they are not sharing that cost with a partner or a friend who is sharing their room. The price for a solo occupancy room is generally a little cheaper but normally just the value of one breakfast and it’s certainly not half the price so there has to be a supplement applied so the room receives it’s full value.

Single Supplement is not Profit

As frustrating as this cost is to some solo travellers, it is always worth remembering that this supplement is dictated to tour operators by hotel prices, it isn’t to create additional profit, in fact it’s only there to maintain the margin per person. The higher the supplement cost is generally a testament to the quality of hotels used. The more expensive the hotels the more expensive the single supplement.

How to Reduce the Single Supplement

If the supplement is prohibitive then the only way you can reduce it is by reducing the cost of the accommodation by downgrading the room or the hotel itself which is something Untravelled Paths is always happy to assist with. This doesn’t necessarily need to deflect from the overall experience. As someone who regularly travels on my own, I know that my priorities are different than when travelling with my partner. On my own, I want something convenient and comfortable, beyond that, I’m pretty relaxed, however, when with my partner I’ll look for something with a little more polish and am willing to pay the extra.

How to Calculate a Single Supplement

The single supplement calculation is simple enough, you note the price of a single occupancy room and double/twin room. Divide the price of the double/twin room by two before subtracting the resulting amount from the price of a single occupancy room and that gives you the single supplement for that night. For those who are particularly comfortable or keen on figures you can download our single supplement Calculator attached below, simply add in the figures and it will calculate the rest for you.

For many of our experiences we have centrally located, well regarded but cheaper alternatives so if the supplement is too high for you but you are happy to stay in cheaper accommodation to reduce it then please don’t hesitate to let us know and we will be happy to accommodate. Our priority is to do all we can to make it possible for you to join us on one of our adventures.