Don’t wait for the perfect travel partner for day trips or lifetime adventures – here’s how to make the most of holidaying alone

Lonely Planet’s new book, ‘Women Travel Solo’, meets the growing trend for women travelling on their own terms with a collection of essays. Here, its team share their tips for staying safe, grounded and inspired as you set out alone.

If I’m booking accommodation online, I tend to opt for women owners (preferably with pets in their host photos). This is partly psychological, but I’ve also found that women tend to think about things like where to go to avoid crowds, or safer alternatives to more touristy places. It’s nice how protective women are of each other, especially when we’re travelling alone. — Akanksha Singh

These airlines have been overcharging solo travelers in the US for sometime, media reports said. Two major US airlines, American and United, are facing criticism for charging higher ticket prices to passengers flying alone. A recent analysis highlights how solo travelers often pay more than those booking as a group.

Solo Travelers Face Higher Ticket Charges

The pricing controversy first came to light in May when Kyle Potter, executive editor at Thrifty Traveler, discovered that solo travelers were consistently being charged more than groups. His research covered Delta, United and American Airlines.
Data revealed a pattern in which individuals booking flights alone faced higher ticket prices. This was especially true on weekday flights, while group travelers received better deals.
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Solo Travelers High Ticket Fares: Delta Ends Practice, Others Continue

Delta Airlines responded to the report by stopping the practice. United briefly followed suit but has now reportedly returned to charging solo passengers more, media reports said.

According to The Economist, American Airlines has continued with the pricing model. The data suggests American Airlines is more aggressive in targeting solo weekday travelers with higher prices.Also Read: What to Watch This Weekend: New movies and TV shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV, HBO Max and more

American Airlines Leads in Solo Traveler Price Hikes

The analysis shows American Airlines applied higher fares to solo weekday passengers on 57 percent of its routes. These increases were more common on short-haul flights and where there was no competition from budget airlines such as Southwest. In comparison, United Airlines used similar pricing tactics on only 8 percent of its routes.

FAQs

Why are solo passengers being charged more by American and United Airlines?
Airlines like American and United have applied higher fares to solo travelers, especially on weekday flights, as part of dynamic pricing strategies that favor group bookings.

Which airline is most aggressive in charging solo travelers more?
American Airlines leads in applying higher fares to solo weekday flyers, using the pricing strategy on 57 percent of its routes, mostly short-haul routes without budget airline competition.

We may be living in an era of carry-on-only travel as the cultural norm, but Tracee Ellis Ross has never been one to follow a trend. The actress, Pattern Beauty founder, and host of the new series Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross overpacks with gusto. You could say it’s in her DNA. “I mean, come on. We all know who my mom is. What do you think? She was only doing a carry-on? Get out of here!” the daughter of Diana Ross says over Zoom during a recent interview (wearing her signature red lips, of course).

In Solo Traveling, which premieres on The Roku Channel July 25, the star offers a deeper look into her jet-setting lifestyle. Each episode opens with a sprawl of clothing: wide-brimmed hats, racks of skirts and printed jackets, rows of perfectly folded tops, while Ross shows off her meticulous packing process for each trip. (“There are way more outfits than I’ll be able to wear here,” she says in one scene, ruminating over what to leave behind. And anyone familiar with Ross’s fashion game knows she makes no bones about pushing the boundaries of style.)

Across three 30-minute-long episodes, the actress traverses the red-walled medina of Marrakesh, a rainy Cancún, and sunny Marbella, Spain. Of course, between the lavish resorts and hotels, there’s a healthy dose of glam. But the show also comes with a sense of vulnerability in her confessional-style musings on being “a single Black woman,” she says. “Not having long relationships, not having children, has allowed me to explore things of my own humanity,” Ross tells viewers in another scene, clad in a terrycloth robe, preparing for a solo night out. “It has deposited me here, at 52, in an experience filled with joy, loneliness, grief, delight—all of it.”

These kinds of reflective moments, often filmed on her iPhone, set Solo Traveling apart from prescriptive travel shows. Viewers, beware: if you’re searching for a series where the lead climbs Mount Everest and samples fermented mystery meats for kicks, it’s not here.

“When I was on Black-ish, [creator] Kenya Barris used to say, ‘Would a human do that?’” Ross adds. “In comedy, things are sometimes embellished for the sake of a laugh, in a way that you lose sight of the grounding humanness. But travel offers a heightened life experience. The joyous things might be more acute, and so might the hard things.”

The stunning locations featured in the series are eye candy, no doubt. But the draw is the peek into the interior life of a self-possessed woman who loves a good meal, a good buy, and talking endlessly with strangers. When it comes to travel necessities, Ross emphasizes that being human is at the fore—keep yourself open to new experiences, people, and places. And when in doubt, reach for the compression socks. Below, Ross shares her travel necessities.

The Basics:

“I love compression socks: thigh-high, toes out!” she says. “I buy them on Amazon. I also still wear KN95 masks; I don’t go into airports and airplane bathrooms without one. And hand sanitizer and wipes—I was a wiper-downer before COVID, and I maintained that. I use Sono Wipes to clean off bedside tables, bathrooms, my airplane seat, all of it.”

Clean Air:

“I wear a personal air purifier called an AirTamer around my neck, particularly in the airport and in shared cars where you don’t know who’s been in it before you.”

Some Comfort:

“I never forget to pack a Save My Face pillow—it’s the same pillow that I sleep with at home. I have two, one is for the house, and one is for travel. I buy their pillowcase, and then there’s a company that makes organic pillow stuffing, and you can buy bags of it. So I make my pillows to the exact density that I like.”

First Aid:

“I always bring an extensive medical kit on my travels. It has everything from Neosporin to alcohol pads and anti-nausea medication. The truth is, I’ve never had to go into that medical kit until my trip [to Spain], where I got food poisoning. I had charcoal, I had Peptol Bismol, I had all of that stuff. I even had electrolytes.”

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.