Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China + Tibet

Guest Post by Kristie Zhou at Windhorse Tour

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China . You are about to travel solo on China and Tibet tour, and your agent tells you the amount you need to pay for the whole trip and for the hotel room.

You have the calculation, but something is wrong. Your friends who are pair will pay less in comparison with you, and yet they are two, and you are solo.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: How?

It is a single supplement that solo travelers paid when they book a single room.

In general, it is a regulation of hotels or cruise ships to compensate for the loss that the hotel has.

Hotel rooms or cruise cabins are usually made as a twin or double rooms, sometimes even more, so when a single-room solo traveler pays a rate far more than half the price of a double room.

Hotels claim that you must pay a single supplement to be able to recover the fixed maintenance costs of the room such as heating, cleaning, changing linens, etc.

The truth is that the heating in the room is the same whether there are one or more persons in the room. Cleaning the room is the same whether it is one person or more.

The only thing that hoteliers lose is that the second traveler is not here to spend money in the hotel.

You are a solo traveler, and you do not want to feel discriminated because of that and want to pay the same as others.

Before you pack your suitcase read how you can avoid paying single supplement when booking China and Tibet tour.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Travel at the right time of the year

Hotels claim that a solo traveler pays a single supplement to compensate for the cost that the hotel has. Or they will tell you that the hotel is full of guests, that they do not have free rooms so your single room must be charged with a single supplement.

But what if you travel in a low or shoulder season?

Low season is an ideal time when you can avoid the single supplement, but you can also get exclusive discounts. Apart from avoiding a single supplement in China and Tibet, you can also get free entrance to monasteries if you travel in a low season.

Shoulder season is a period between high season and low season. You can also use this period to travel and avoid single supplementation, especially in Tibet.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Negotiate

If you have good negotiating skills, now is the time to use them. First, consult with the tour operator and ask if there is a chance to avoid the single supplement.

Be persistent, and prove that they are not right to charge you an absurdly higher price just because you have chosen to travel alone.

However please keep in mind that tour operators do not profit from a single supplement, it is a regulation set by hotels, so negotiating with the operator is an opportunity to avoid paying.

If you choose a competent and experienced tour operator, be sure that he will do everything in his power to avoid the single supplement.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Early or Late booking

If you travel frequently, then early and late booking is known to you. Tour operators and hoteliers almost always give significant discounts if you book a trip or room much earlier than the date of travel. Great opportunity to avoid the single supplement.

While late booking is also a possibility of avoiding a single supplement because operators and hotels want to fill all the vacancies for that trip so as not to lose passengers/guests, they make excellent offers. Some of those outstanding offers that are not deductible include avoiding a single supplement.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Travel with other solo travelers

Explore! Many companies are specialized in solo travelers and offer services with affordable offers which are an excellent opportunity to avoid the single supplement.

Be careful, however. Some of them may be companies that connect with other single travelers. If you are not sure, or you do not want to look for a partner, you simply just want to travel, select an operator who organizes trips for women or for men only.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Share a room- if you have to

If in none of the ways you manage to avoid the single supplement, then accept a roommate.

Indeed, this takes away your privacy. However, it is not that bad to have a roommate. From this opportunity, you can get good friendships in the future.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Ask for discounts

Ask! If you do not ask, you will never get it!

If there is no possibility to altogether avoid the single supplement, then ask for a discount. This mainly works in low season.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Can you book by yourself in Tibet

In Tibet you cannot travel alone, you must be accompanied by a tour guide and a group. However, you can book your room directly at the hotel. You can reserve in the same hotel where the operator has reserved rooms for the group, of course, if there are free rooms.

Reservation room directly at the hotel always has advantages apart from reservations via OTAs.

Go to the hotel website, and you will see all the advantages offered by the hotel if you book a room that way. Keep in mind that most online travel agencies have a high commission that hotels have to pay, so the prices there are slightly higher than the regular rates of the hotel room.

Solo Travel-Avoid Single Supplements in China: Ask for upgrade

If you already have to pay a single supplement then ask a better room. This works perfectly if you ask for a reception at the hotel during check-in.

Single rooms are generally smaller and unattractive rooms, either on the top floor of the hotel or at the lowest. Imagine if you have a single room on the top of the hotel and there is no elevator.

The upgrade request is similar to the discount. No one will give it to you if you do not ask.

Final words

We know how frustrating you are paying a single supplement, so I hope these few tips will help you with your next trip to China and Tibet.

These are two completely different and completely amazing countries that are worth visiting.

Do not give up traveling only because you need to pay a single supplement, if you don’t get a chance to avoid it, then ask for a discount in another part of the offer. I’m sure every tour operator wants to provide an excellent service as possible to the travelers. However, they work for the satisfaction of travelers.