How to Beat the Single Supplement Solo

Updated for 2026 — Accurate as of February 2026.

The single supplement is the tax the travel industry charges you for being independent. It is the surcharge applied to solo travelers who occupy a room designed for two people, and it can add 25% to 100% to the cost of a trip. On a two-week guided tour, the single supplement can easily add $1,000-3,000 to your total. On a cruise, it can double the cabin price. For solo female travelers, who make up the fastest-growing segment of the travel market, this penalty is not just unfair. It is a structural disincentive that the industry has been painfully slow to address.

I have been paying (and fighting) single supplements for over a decade, and I have developed a comprehensive toolkit for minimizing, avoiding, or eliminating this cost entirely. This guide shares every strategy I know, from the obvious to the obscure, tested across dozens of trips and thousands of dollars saved.

According to the Solo Traveler World survey, the single supplement is the number one financial complaint among solo travelers, cited by 68% of respondents as a significant barrier to booking trips. The good news is that the industry is slowly responding to this $130 billion solo travel market, and options for avoiding the surcharge are better than they have ever been.

Understanding the Single Supplement

The single supplement exists because hotels and tour operators price their products based on double occupancy. When a room that could hold two paying guests holds only one, the operator loses half the room revenue. The single supplement covers that gap.

How much does it cost?

Product Type	Typical Single Supplement
Hotel room	30-100% of the double-occupancy rate
Group tour	20-50% of the tour price
Cruise cabin	50-100% of the per-person rate
All-inclusive resort	30-75% of the per-person rate
Safari lodge	40-80% of the per-person rate

On a $5,000 group tour, a 40% single supplement adds $2,000. On a 7-night cruise at $1,500 per person, a 100% supplement doubles your cost to $3,000. These are not trivial amounts.

Strategy 1: Book Tours with No Single Supplement

A growing number of tour operators have eliminated the single supplement entirely or reduced it significantly for solo travelers. This is the simplest and most effective strategy.

Tour Companies with No or Low Single Supplements

Company	Single Supplement Policy	Trip Type
Intrepid Travel	No single supplement (guaranteed roomshare)	Adventure, small group
G Adventures	No single supplement (guaranteed roomshare)	Adventure, small group
Flash Pack	No single supplement (solo travelers only)	Adventure, 30-49 age group
Just You	No single supplement (all solo travelers)	Escorted tours, mostly 45+
Solos Holidays	No single supplement	Solo-specific travel
One Life Adventures	No single supplement	Adventure, 20-40 age group
Wild Women Expeditions	Varies, roomshare available	Women-only adventure

How roomshare works: Companies like Intrepid and G Adventures pair you with another solo traveler of the same gender. You share a room but pay only the standard per-person price. If they cannot find you a roommate, you get a single room at no extra charge. I have been paired with roommates on six different Intrepid trips and had consistently positive experiences. You meet someone new, you have a built-in travel companion for evening activities, and you save hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Flash Pack deserves special mention. It is designed exclusively for solo travelers aged 30-49 and builds its entire pricing model without single supplements. Trips cover 40+ countries and the demographic targeting means you travel with people in a similar life stage.

Strategy 2: Negotiate Directly with Hotels

Hotels would rather sell a room at a discount than leave it empty. Solo travelers have more negotiating power than they realize.

Tactics:

• Email the hotel directly rather than booking through OTAs (Online Travel Agencies like Booking.com). Ask if they offer a solo traveler rate or can waive the single supplement. Many boutique hotels and B&Bs will offer 10-30% off the double rate for solo guests.
• Book during low or shoulder season when occupancy rates are lower and hotels are more flexible.
• Ask for a smaller room. Some hotels have genuine single rooms (designed for one person with a single bed) that are cheaper than doubles. In Europe, particularly in the UK, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, single rooms are common and can be 30-50% cheaper than doubles.
• Stay longer for a better rate. Offer to stay 3-5 nights in exchange for a reduced nightly rate. Hotels prefer guaranteed occupancy over single-night bookings.
• Book last-minute. HotelTonight and same-day booking on Booking.com often offer significant discounts on unsold rooms.

Strategy 3: Use Solo-Friendly Accommodation Types

Some accommodation types are inherently priced per person rather than per room, eliminating the single supplement entirely.

Hostels

Modern hostels have evolved far beyond the dingy dormitory stereotype. Many now offer private rooms with en-suite bathrooms alongside traditional dorms. Private hostel rooms typically cost $25-60 per night in most destinations, significantly less than equivalent hotel rooms. And dorm beds, at $10-30 per night, make the single supplement concept entirely irrelevant.

Best hostel chains for solo women:

• Selina: Stylish co-living/co-working spaces in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Private rooms from $30/night.
• Generator Hostels: Design-forward hostels in European capitals. Excellent facilities and social atmosphere.
• Meininger Hotels: Hybrid hostel-hotels with both dorms and private rooms. Clean and reliable.

Homestays and Guesthouses

Platforms like Homestay.com and Airbnb often list single rooms in shared homes at per-person prices. This is particularly effective in destinations where homestays are culturally normal: Japan (ryokans), Southeast Asia, India, and rural Europe.

House Sitting

House sitting eliminates accommodation costs entirely. In exchange for caring for someone’s home and pets while they travel, you stay for free. TrustedHousesitters, MindMyHouse, and Aussie House Sitters are the main platforms. Annual membership costs $99-130, and in return you get access to thousands of free accommodation opportunities worldwide.

I house-sat in Portugal for three weeks, caring for two cats in a beautiful apartment in Lisbon. My accommodation cost: zero. This is covered in more detail in our dedicated house sitting article.

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing.org connects travelers with hosts offering free accommodation. The platform has become more safety-conscious in recent years, with verified profiles, references, and a new verification fee ($14.29/year or $2.99/month). As a solo woman, I recommend:

• Only stay with hosts who have multiple positive references from women
• Read references carefully for any red flags
• Trust your instincts. If a host or situation feels wrong, leave immediately
• Always have a backup accommodation plan

Strategy 4: Cruise Without the Supplement

Cruises have historically been the worst offenders for single supplements, often charging 100% extra for solo occupancy. But the cruise industry has recognized the solo market and is responding.

Cruise Lines with Solo Cabins

Cruise Line	Solo Option	Supplement
Norwegian Cruise Line	Studio cabins (designed for one, with solo lounge)	No supplement
Royal Caribbean	Studio cabins on some ships	No supplement
Cunard	Single cabins on Queen Mary 2	No supplement
P&O Cruises	Single cabins on Britannia and newer ships	No supplement
Celebrity Cruises	Solo staterooms on Edge-class ships	No supplement

Norwegian’s Studio cabins are the gold standard for solo cruisers. They are small but well-designed private cabins with access to the Studio Lounge, a dedicated social space for solo travelers. I cruised solo on Norwegian and the Studio Lounge became my favorite place on the ship. You meet other solo travelers naturally and have a built-in social group without any effort.

Booking tips:

• Solo cabins sell out fast. Book 6-12 months in advance for popular itineraries.
• Repositioning cruises (when ships move between regions, e.g., transatlantic crossings) often have the best solo pricing.
• Last-minute cruise deals occasionally drop solo supplements. Check CruiseSheet.com and Vacations To Go for deals.

Strategy 5: Travel in Regions Where Singles Pay Less

Some regions and accommodation types are structurally favorable to solo travelers because pricing is per person rather than per room.

Japan: Ryokans (traditional inns) and capsule hotels are priced per person. A ryokan stay with dinner and breakfast costs $80-200 per person regardless of whether you are solo or in a couple.

Southeast Asia: Most guesthouses and budget hotels price rooms so low that the “supplement” is negligible. A $20-30 room in Vietnam or Thailand is affordable regardless of occupancy.

Scandinavian hostels: STF (Sweden), HI Hostels (Norway), and Danhostel (Denmark) offer excellent private rooms at per-person pricing.

Kibbutz guesthouses (Israel): Priced per person with meals included.

African safari lodges: Some lodges (particularly those targeting the conservation-minded traveler) offer single-rate specials during shoulder season. Asilia Africa and Great Plains Conservation occasionally run no-single-supplement promotions.

Strategy 6: Time Your Bookings Strategically

Book early for tours: Single supplement waivers on group tours are often offered as early-bird incentives. Intrepid, Exodus, and Explore all run periodic promotions waiving supplements for early bookers.

Book late for hotels: Hotels and cruises discount unsold inventory as departure dates approach. If you are flexible with dates and itinerary, last-minute bookings can eliminate supplements entirely.

Travel in shoulder or off-season: Single supplements are most aggressively charged during peak season when demand is high. In shoulder season, operators are more willing to waive or reduce supplements to fill spaces.

Strategy 7: Share Strategically

Room matching services: Some tour operators and travel communities offer room-matching services that pair solo travelers for shared accommodation.

• Intrepid and G Adventures handle this automatically.
• Cruise Critic forums have room-share threads for specific sailings.
• Solo Female Travelers Facebook group has a room-share channel.

Important safety note for women: Only share rooms through verified channels with reviews and references. Meeting a random person online to share a hotel room carries risks. Stick to established platforms and trust your instincts.

The Math: How Much Can You Save?

Let me illustrate with a real example from my own travel:

Scenario: 14-day guided tour in Morocco

• Base tour price: $3,200 per person (double occupancy)
• Single supplement: $1,400
• Total solo price with supplement: $4,600

By booking with Intrepid (roomshare):

• Tour price: $3,200
• Savings: $1,400

Scenario: 7-night Mediterranean cruise

• Standard cabin: $1,800 per person (double occupancy)
• Single supplement (100%): $1,800
• Total solo price with supplement: $3,600

By booking a Norwegian Studio cabin:

• Studio cabin: $2,100 (no supplement)
• Savings: $1,500

Over a year of travel, these strategies can save $3,000-8,000 or more.

Final Thoughts

The single supplement is not going away overnight. It is a structural feature of an industry built around the assumption that travelers come in pairs. But the solo travel market is now large enough and vocal enough to force change, and the options for avoiding or minimizing the supplement are better in 2026 than they have ever been.

The most important thing is to know that you have options. You are not stuck paying whatever the brochure says. You can negotiate, you can choose solo-friendly operators, you can use accommodation types that eliminate the issue entirely, and you can time your bookings to maximize leverage.

Traveling solo is not a deficiency to be surcharge. It is a choice. And the travel industry is finally, slowly, starting to agree.

You Might Also Like

• Budget Solo Travel Guide: See the World for Less
• Solo Female Travel Accommodation Guide
• Best Hostels for Solo Female Travelers