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Solo travelers often pay a hefty price for going it alone

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Times Staff Writer

For solo travelers, dining alone can feel awkward. But at least they pay the same price for their salads and steaks as the twosome seated at the next table.

Imagine being charged twice as much.

That’s what can happen when trip operators impose extra fees known as single supplements. These fees, typically required of those who don’t share accommodations, can add 50% or 100% to the double-occupancy price for a tour or cruise.

Companies say they need to charge singles more to make up for lost revenue from the room itself and for the absence of food, drink, spa services and other purchases.

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But there are ways to dodge this financial bullet. You can sign up with singles-only tour groups; find specials and last-minute deals that waive or reduce the supplement; or, if all else fails, share a room with a stranger.

I wish I could say it’s getting easier to travel alone. But there’s little evidence of that. The forces that drive the single supplement are stubborn.

“There’s a built-in discrimination against the single traveler,” said Diane Redfern, a former journalist and travel agent living near Vancouver, Canada. For 14 years, she has operated “Connecting ... Solo Travel Network,” an information source for singles, at www.cstn.org.

Cabins and hotel rooms are usually sized for two or more, which is how most people take vacations. Only 28% of Americans said they took solo leisure trips in the last year, according to the 2004 National Leisure Travel Monitor, an annual survey by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell and Yankelovich Partners Inc.

“Until people build single-sized rooms with single-sized prices that are not next to the kitchen, the problem won’t be solved,” Redfern said.

Single cabins, once common on transatlantic cruise ships, are disappearing, partly because modern, modular construction favors uniformity. Cunard’s venerable Queen Elizabeth 2, for instance, still offers single cabins; the line’s new Queen Mary 2 does not.

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The recent surge in travel doesn’t help singles either. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, many trip operators, desperate to fill spaces, eliminated or reduced single supplements. Now the travel industry, Redfern said, “is settling right back into its old ways.” Her roster of singles-only trips, she added, was half the size it was last year.

Such trips may still be a single traveler’s best option. Because they book hotel rooms and cruise cabins in bulk, these groups, organized by travel agents or tour operators, can often negotiate lower rates with innkeepers and cruise lines.

An added bonus: You’re less apt to feel like a third wheel when surrounded by other singles.

Among well-regarded websites that list solo trips, besides Redfern’s site, are www.cruisemates.com, www.singlestravelintl.com and www.osolomio.com.

Don’t equate “solo traveler” with “swinging single” or “dating service.” Widowed seniors, spouses stuck with different vacation times, those who like to travel alone -- people of any age and interest may be going solo. At O Solo Mio most clients are between ages 35 and 65.

Not the group type? Look for specials and deals.

Although cruise lines usually don’t waive single supplements, you may find reductions on repositioning cruises (which occur when lines move their ships into other regions) and other hard-to-sell itineraries, said Cheryl Carter, who teaches cruise-line management at Florida International University in Miami. That’s especially true on high-end ships, she added, because there’s a surplus of them.

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In early September, when hurricanes were raging through the region, Crystal Cruises, a luxury cruise line, cut single supplements to 5% for five Caribbean sailings departing Oct. 24 to Dec. 15.

Pat Hagan, singles editor for www.cruisemates.com, suggested checking several weeks before departure, when unsold cabins might be released to singles.

Tour companies may also waive single supplements on some trips or regularly offer modest ones. At Backroads, an active-travel purveyor at www.backroads.com, the supplement is often 25% or less.

Quark Expeditions, an adventure travel company based in Darien, Conn., was recently waiving single supplements for two Antarctic trips, a savings of nearly $2,000 a person.

Another option for singles is guaranteed sharing. Under these programs, tour and cruise operators offer to find a roommate for you. They guarantee you’ll pay the cheaper double- occupancy rate even if they can’t find a roommate.

Usually they will match you based on gender, smoking habits and maybe sleeping habits. But that’s about it.

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I recently had a good experience being matched up with a roommate by a spa hotel. She was friendly and cheerful and, most important, kept the same hours I did.

“I’ve heard of more good experiences sharing with a stranger than bad,” Hagan of Cruisemates said.

But it’s a gamble.

Several years ago, Hagan said, a cruise tour matched her with a late riser. As Hagan showered at 7 a.m. for an appointment, her cabin mate pounded on the bathroom door and yelled, “How much longer are you going to be? I want you out of here.” The cabin mate asked to be assigned to another cabin.

Sharing a room with a stranger raises other issues too, said Florida International’s Carter, such as security and liability for the cruise line.

Citing a “minuscule percentage of bookings,” Carnival dropped its share program four years ago. Its single supplements are generally 150% to 200% of double-occupancy fares.

But many cruise and tour companies, including Backroads, still offer guaranteed sharing -- worth a try if you’ve exhausted other options. You may even make a new friend.

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Hear more tips from Jane Engle on Travel Insider topics at www.latimes.com/engle. She welcomes comments but can’t respond individually to letters and calls. Write to Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane.engle@latimes .com.

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