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Post by Boop on Sept 3, 2014 22:05:54 GMT
Well......here goes! I have tried to wrap my brain around this concept for years and after several explanations, I just don't get it. When I travel to the States and am investigating room rates, the room cost is the same to me - a single traveller, as it is if I was booking for two people. This is true whether I book a queen, double queen or king size bedded room. During my trip to Italy I found myself in rooms so small I couldn't swing a cat (err, maybe I shouldn't have said that). Having paid the single supplement I would have at the very least expected a double bed I'm just not getting why tour companies charge a single supplement because I'm a single traveller. I apologize in advance, I know you've tried with me Chech..........
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 3, 2014 22:53:56 GMT
Yes, Ms Boop, maybe you shouldn't have used that metaphor. (We do have a certain cat fancier here.... ) I wonder whether booking a room for two but only showing up as a single would make any difference? Any ideas, anyone?
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Post by chech on Sept 3, 2014 23:12:41 GMT
I can try again... A room meant for 2 people (two twins or a double) is $200. Two people would split that so they pay $100 each. The single has to absorb the whole cost if they get the same room. $100 is the cost. $100 is the single supplement. But if you get a smaller room or single room, it isn't always 50% of that cost. The single room in this case could be $150. So, for that "single" room, you pay $100 in cost and $50 in single supplement. People who do tours that have several single rooms wonder why they pay the supplement but the simple explanation is that the single room is rarely half the cost of the full room. If in Italy you had a room smaller than couples, you might have paid less for it....you just likely didn't pay half of what they did. Better?
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 0:26:39 GMT
I can try again... A room meant for 2 people (two twins or a double) is $200. Two people would split that so they pay $100 each. The single has to absorb the whole cost if they get the same room. $100 is the cost. $100 is the single supplement. But if you get a smaller room or single room, it isn't always 50% of that cost. The single room in this case could be $150. So, for that "single" room, you pay $100 in cost and $50 in single supplement. People who do tours that have several single rooms wonder why they pay the supplement but the simple explanation is that the single room is rarely half the cost of the full room. If in Italy you had a room smaller than couples, you might have paid less for it....you just likely didn't pay half of what they did. Better? I guess my problem is in thinking that a husband and wife "split" the cost. I feel that when it comes to couples paying, the cost is charged to either the husband or wife's credit card, not split between two cards, one belonging to the wife and a card belonging to the husband.
My complaint was not that my room was smaller than the couples, but that I consistently was given a small room while the other two singles ended up with double rooms that had two beds or queen sized beds. I had one room that, as I was lying in my cot, I could almost touch the opposite wall. LOL, after a 4 month investigation Trafalgar agreed and discounted my next trip. That said, I believe that most of the tour rooms are a double size now, even if you're travelling as a single.
Thanks again for trying to enlighten me.....again....and for your patience!!
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Post by chech on Sept 4, 2014 0:59:30 GMT
I guess my problem is in thinking that a husband and wife "split" the cost. I feel that when it comes to couples paying, the cost is charged to either the husband or wife's credit card, not split between two cards, one belonging to the wife and a card belonging to the husband. How they pay for it is really irrelevant. We're just talking in terms of breaking down the costs. The $100 share of cost is the same regardless of the relationship of the two people sharing whether it's spouses, siblings or friends. I've yet to be on tour where I've gotten smaller rooms than anyone else. In some cases, I've gotten larger rooms. In Dubrovnik, I got a huge room with balcony....and then I heard the one smoker on the tour complaining to the guide that they had a tiny room with no balcony so he couldn't go outside for a smoke. I didn't say a word. LOL
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 4, 2014 1:11:30 GMT
It's not just the tiny rooms that are a problem, Ms Boop. There's also the problem of having nowhere to sit.... * * No, that wasn't a typo. I said 'sit'.
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 2:08:56 GMT
It's not just the tiny rooms that are a problem, Ms Boop. There's also the problem of having nowhere to sit.... * * No, that wasn't a typo. I said 'sit'. Way too funny Oz-T!! (I knew that..lolol)
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 2:28:38 GMT
Thanks Chech!
I'm a little closer to understanding, I will admit.
But if I'm paying a single supplement I want to have a room that is equal to the rooms the other singles are getting. I don't need a balcony or even a chair to "sit" on......just consistency and fairness.
(Were you a teacher in another life?)
I don't know why sometimes my replies are on top and sometimes on the bottom.......shrug...I'll get it eventually, I hope!
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 4, 2014 3:51:33 GMT
I don't think Chech was ever a teacher, Ms Boop... ... but she did have a certain ability to make people understand what was good for them....
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 5:38:28 GMT
I don't think Chech was ever a teacher, Ms Boop... ... but she did have a certain ability to make people understand what was good for them.... ......and she did it without having to say a word
.......just ask any of her sidekicks......
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Post by Oz-T on Sept 4, 2014 7:24:42 GMT
I definitely would ask them.... .... if only any of her sidekicks were still around and kicking....
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Post by chech on Sept 4, 2014 12:35:58 GMT
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Post by chech on Sept 4, 2014 12:40:05 GMT
But if I'm paying a single supplement I want to have a room that is equal to the rooms the other singles are getting. I don't need a balcony or even a chair to "sit" on......just consistency and fairness. I think wildly different single rooms between singles are rare. I've seen single rooms with two single beds while I had a double or two doubles but the rooms were still spacious even if the two double room had a couple more feet. I've only once heard a single describe a room that was significantly smaller than mine - in Greece. She had a single room with barely enough room to put her luggage down. In Peru, the hotel on Lake Titicaca had an entire floor of single rooms. Enough space and quite cozy. Only time I've seen a hotel like that. I'm guessing the destination sees a lot of solo travellers. And single llamas.
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 16:54:06 GMT
But if I'm paying a single supplement I want to have a room that is equal to the rooms the other singles are getting. I don't need a balcony or even a chair to "sit" on......just consistency and fairness. I think wildly different single rooms between singles are rare. I've seen single rooms with two single beds while I had a double or two doubles but the rooms were still spacious even if the two double room had a couple more feet. I've only once heard a single describe a room that was significantly smaller than mine - in Greece. She had a single room with barely enough room to put her luggage down. In Peru, the hotel on Lake Titicaca had an entire floor of single rooms. Enough space and quite cozy. Only time I've seen a hotel like that. I'm guessing the destination sees a lot of solo travellers. And single llamas. ...and thank you again for my llama...he's out back grazing! You really lucked out with your rooms! I think standards have changed since 2009 but I am the "single" that got stuck with that skinny room, several times, where I barely had room to move or set my luggage down while the other singles were basking in the luxury of their doubles! In fact, I could barely turn over in my cot (bed). But, that's ancient history, on my Switzerland tour my rooms were very nice. You spend very little time in your room anyway, so it's all good!!
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Post by Boop on Sept 4, 2014 17:00:09 GMT
Now this is what I'm talking about....
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Post by chech on Sept 4, 2014 19:51:07 GMT
All the better when we have something to warm our feet....
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Post by Stoker on Sept 5, 2014 20:46:45 GMT
Sorry you have had it rough in the room department Boop. When we took our last trip with Trafalgar my wife and I had a nice room each night but always had twin beds. Our daughter went with us and, like you, had to pay the single supplement, but every night of the almost 3 weeks in France she had a king size beg in a gorgeous room. oh well.
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Post by Tulips on Sept 5, 2014 21:39:10 GMT
I relate to Boop's point about a couple paying the cost. Its paid by the couple, not each person individually.
If I book a hotel room in Canada, I pay the same rate, whether there are 1, 2 or 5 in the room. It's very frustrating when you are looking at prices for a package, like I was with London, and you see the price, but then it says, per person based on double occupancy. When you change the occupancy to single, the price increases significantly.
The room is being used regardless of how many people are in it.
Cruises are the worst because they charge a 100% single supplement.
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Post by Boop on Sept 5, 2014 22:04:04 GMT
Sorry you have had it rough in the room department Boop. When we took our last trip with Trafalgar my wife and I had a nice room each night but always had twin beds. Our daughter went with us and, like you, had to pay the single supplement, but every night of the almost 3 weeks in France she had a king size beg in a gorgeous room. oh well. That's okay Stoker, I tend to roll with the punches and at the time I really didn't know any better, until the other singles and I got together and started "comparing". I never would have been the wiser had that not happened. And honestly, I spend more time shopping than in my room so it was all fine. When I went to Switzerland, two years after Italy, there was a noticeable change in the rooms...there was likely a Boop "red alert" when they allocated my rooms for that trip. From everything I've heard from forum members though, it sounds like a twin/double bed or larger is the standard....not army cots...LOLOL!!
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Post by Boop on Sept 5, 2014 22:10:52 GMT
I relate to Boop's point about a couple paying the cost. Its paid by the couple, not each person individually. If I book a hotel room in Canada, I pay the same rate, whether there are 1, 2 or 5 in the room. It's very frustrating when you are looking at prices for a package, like I was with London, and you see the price, but then it says, per person based on double occupancy. When you change the occupancy to single, the price increases significantly. The room is being used regardless of how many people are in it. Cruises are the worst because they charge a 100% single supplement. Yeah, I have trouble with this, and it seems that when there are two people in a room it would be twice the work to clean and makeup that room, so I should get a cleaning discount..lolol!
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Post by chech on Sept 5, 2014 23:51:53 GMT
Yeah...not to mention how much less toilet paper we use!
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Post by auselle on Sept 6, 2014 0:50:27 GMT
I can sympathise with Boop, I have had several of those tiny rooms in my time, though they are getting a lot less frequent. They are usually in older hotels and often not in big cities. When I book hotels myself I always book for 2 even if I am travelling alone. It costs the same amount and cuts out the option for them to give me a "Boop room" and you get 2 lots of biscuits It has always worked well except for one website I was booking on where they asked me to name the other person. I did consider putting my husband's name down (even though he would thoroughly disapprove, but he would never have known ) but in the end decided to confess that it was just me. I would still rather pay the single supplement and have a tiny room to myself than share a big room with someone else. In paying the single supplement I'm sure we are not paying double the twin share rate anyway.
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