Airlines caught out charging solo travellers higher fares
With nearly half of Aussies planning to take a holiday on their own in the next two years, solo travel is well and truly a trend that's here to stay.
The benefits are endless: you get to do what you want, when you want, and maybe meet some new friends along the way.
But some airlines in the US have been caught out charging extra for anyone booking a single flight ticket.
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You could be charged more for travelling on your own. Getty
According to View From The Wing, three US-based airlines have been charging extra for individual plane tickets on some routes, stipulating in their fare rules that passengers will be charged more unless they have someone accompanying them on the flight.
And on some airlines, the price hike was up to 70 per cent.
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Thrifty Traveler, a website dedicated to budget travel, did some digging. They found that a single one-way standard economy United ticket travelling from Chicago-O'Hare to Peoria costs $269.
But if you tack on a few more people to the reservation, that almost $300 ticket fare dropped to less than $200 per person.
Hidden fees coud be making your travel more expensive. Getty
According to the site, the airline wasn't trying to be sneaky about it either - it's written in the fare rules for this ticket: "Must be accompanied on all sectors in same compartment by at least 1 adult 15 or older."
Unlike other junk fees, which are added on at checkout and can be seen on an itemised receipt, this solo traveller charge isn't easy to spot unless you're really looking for it.
According to Thrifty Traveler, after the airlines were called out for charging solo travellers more, they quietly walked back the practice. The fare rules about needing to travel with another passenger have been removed - though there's no guarantee they won't come back.
So why was this allowed?
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The price hike could be an attempt to target business travellers. Getty
One reason could be that the extra fees for solo travellers are airlines taking aim at business travellers. When people are travelling for work - and not paying for tickets themselves - they're less likely to bat an eyelid at expensive flights.
They care more about flight schedule than price, and they're happy to charge the right fare, no matter what it is, to the corporate card. It's an easy way for airlines to make a little extra money on the side.
Another reason behind the surcharge is solo travellers may be less likely to pay for flight extras - like seat selection - making the profit per traveller lower for the airline.
As someone who has done a lot of solo travel (usually on a pretty tight budget) in the past, I'm bummed at the prospect of potentially being charged more to do so.
Solo travel is a really fun way to see the world. Supplied
Last year I travelled around the US with a friend, and because we booked our flights separately, I'm now wondering if we were also hit with these random solo traveller 'taxes'.
It's also unclear how long this practice has been going on - have solo travellers been hit with sneaky surcharges for years now without us being any the wiser?
Maybe we need to invent some kind of dating-style app to match solo travellers eyeing off the same flights, so they can book together and outsmart the airlines.
