According to CNN and a number of travel-related blogs, major US airlines, including United Airlines, have been caught charging up to 70% more for tickets of solo travelers than for groups of two or more. Claimed to be due to the fact that selling a seat or hotel room to a single person brings in less money than selling it to two, this so-called “single supplement” is prevalent in the travel industry now.

The lowest prices may be unavailable to lone travelers because discounted fare buckets frequently depend on demand as well as the quantity of tickets purchased in a single transaction. To avoid the surcharge, make reservations well in advance, select off-peak flights, change your travel dates, or compare prices on meta-search websites.

What’s The Deal With Prices?

The strategy primarily targets business travelers, who typically make last-minute, solo reservations. In order to manage it, airlines use layered fare classes, each with its own set of regulations. Some of these now require a minimum of two passengers per reservation.

The reasoning is simple, according to analysts: since a company credit card covers the expense, corporate flyers are usually less price-sensitive. As a result, airlines modify their fare policies to increase profits from passengers who are perceived as willing to pay more.

The Thrifty Traveler has closely followed the situation with multiple reports on the roller-coaster of single-traveler ticket prices. In the latest update, no airlines responded to requests for comments. Executive editor Kyle Potter wrote:

“Airlines have entire departments whose sole purpose is to leverage that system in order fill planes at the highest ticket prices as possible. And that’s likely what they’re trying to do with this new tactic: Squeeze business travelers who are more likely to be flying alone … and who would easily pay more for flights than a vacationing family, because their employer is footing the bill.”

AI To Maximize Fare Profits

Lawmakers in the US are criticizing Delta Air Lines for preparing to implement artificial intelligence fare pricing, which would use travel and passenger information to determine the highest prices passengers are willing to pay. Three Democratic senators have questioned Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, about the airline’s plan to use artificial intelligence to set ticket prices.

Given the existing high costs for consumers, lawmakers fear that the system will use personal information to increase charges to each traveler’s “pain point.” Delta is working with Israel-based AI pricing company Fetcherr and plans to implement the technology on 20% of its US network by late 2025, and maintains that it will not set personalized prices.

Demand-based pricing would be automated by AI while remaining transparent to all customers. The inquiry follows senators questioning similar practices at Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines in a letter they wrote in January.

Deregulation: Cut-Throat Flying Business

The Airline Deregulation Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law in October 1978, is the source of the current pricing environment. The law replaced regulation with a free-market model and eliminated federal control over routes, fares, and market entry. Ten major airlines controlled about 90% of the market at the end of the 1970s, with the majority of the remaining service being provided by eight regional carriers.

Flying went from being a luxury to a mass-market service after it was freed from regulatory restrictions. By the early 2000s, half of Americans had booked at least one round-trip flight annually, and passenger numbers in 2011 were triple those of the late 1970s, due to a surge of low-cost entrants that had slashed prices.

The airline sector transformed due to deregulation, which has both advantages and disadvantages for customers and carriers, such as giving rise to Southwest Airlines. Even though it may boost competition and result in cheaper tickets, it can also lead to service cuts and unstable finances. As mergers restrict the number of rivals and AI optimizes every tariff, the issue that remains unresolved is whether travelers will have fewer real alternatives and ever-higher expenses.