Readers have asked me "IS THERE A WAY TO AVOID THE SINGLE SUPPLEMENT CHARGED TO SINGLE PARENTS?" The answer is both YES and NO. Let's talk about the NO first.

If you are traveling during high season, hotels and cruise lines are not likely to give you any breaks. For example, let's say you are traveling in July to Rapid City, South Dakota, the jumping off point for Mt. Rushmore. The "Wild West" Motel charges $80 for a double and $70 for a single room. Kids under 18 go free in the room. You, as a single parent, want to pay only $40 (half the double rate) and still have your kids go free in the room. Is that likely? NO. Why? The hotel needs to make most of their money during the summer, which is their busy time, so they are going to charge you the single rate of $70. They know the rooms will fill up during the summer and they cannot afford to cut room rates in half and lose expected revenue during the busy season. That would be bad business.

Let's take another example. You are traveling to Phoenix, Arizona during July, which is the off-season for Phoenix. You would like to stay in a resort hotel for several nights and have selected the "Cactus Resort." Rooms at this property, which normally sell for $350 a night in high season, now sell in the summer at $150 a night for a double rate and $120 a night for a single rate. Kids under 18 stay free in the room. Should you call the hotel and bargain for a single parent rate of $75 (half the double rate)? SURE. Why not? What have you got to lose, except the cost of the phone call, or better yet, email them! Are you likely to get the rate of $75? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to try. The hotel, knowing that many of the rooms will remain empty, may offer you a special rate of $90 or $100, banking on the fact that you and your kids will have several meals at the resort hotel, not to mention innumerable poolside beverages and snacks. That makes for good business. (Be aware that if you try bargaining for a lower room rate, you may have bump up your request to a Front Office Manager or Director of Sales. Reservation agents may not be empowered to grant such discounts).

Are there ever Single Parent Specials where single parents really and truly pay half the double rate? The answer is YES! They are hard to find, but we try to find them for you. We list them in our specials section (click here.)

Please note that SingleParentTravel.net is NOT paid to promote these specials, however it is important to track the referrals, so that SingleParentTravel.net has the data it needs to enlighten other travel suppliers about the growing importance of Single Parent Traveling Families, a long neglected market niche of the travel industry. SingleParentTravel.net will continue to advise you of any Single Parent specials we encounter via our newsletter. (If you would like to sign up, click here to go to the newsletter page.) You are welcome to forward us any single parent travel specials you find and we I will be happy to analyze them to see if they are true bargains or merely an excellent marketing campaign (i. e. a single room rate in disguise). Email my daughter at monique@singleparenttravel.net.

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