discrimination against solo travellers
Feb 14, 2019, 6:27 pm
#61
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Riberas del Pilar, Mexico
Posts: 437
I’m never given a bad table in a restaurant because I won’t allow it. Often, I think it’s down to how you carry yourself when you enter the establishment. If they lead you to a dark corner by the ladies room, just say “No, this won’t do.”
This has worked for me for ages. No need to be nasty or haughty, just confident.
This has worked for me for ages. No need to be nasty or haughty, just confident.
Feb 14, 2019, 10:24 pm
#62
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: NY Metro Area
Programs: AA 2MM Yay!, UA MM, Costco General Member
Posts: 49,025
Those aren’t even remotely close to some of the extravagances on this forum.
Last edited by StartinSanDiego; Feb 15, 2019 at 7:44 am Reason: removed quote that was deleted by its author
Feb 15, 2019, 7:09 am
#63
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13,573
I’m never given a bad table in a restaurant because I won’t allow it. Often, I think it’s down to how you carry yourself when you enter the establishment. If they lead you to a dark corner by the ladies room, just say “No, this won’t do.”
This has worked for me for ages. No need to be nasty or haughty, just confident.
This has worked for me for ages. No need to be nasty or haughty, just confident.
Feb 15, 2019, 9:42 am
#64
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,808
I remember once being solo and going into a Red Lobster in Tucson (it was the only place near the hotel). The hostess brought me past dozens of empty tables and tried to sit me at a table beside a family with a screming toddler. I asked her flat out to be seated away from that child, and she looked at me like I was making her day harder..probably was, because they try to seat by server sections..but that's not MY problem. MY problem was that I didn't want to be close to a screaming toddler. But if you don't ask, you don't get.
Feb 15, 2019, 12:44 pm
#65
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: Delta Gold, Marriott Platinum, Former Amtrak Select, Former Hilton Gold
Posts: 422
Solo travelers take up the space of two people but only provide the revenue of one. So of course you get a supplementary charge on cruises and the worst table in a restaurant.
What I object to is being a solo female traveler and the treatment I get.
1. Some restaurants don't want single females and ditto bars. You are viewed as soliciting for pay-to-play male company
2. You get the WORST hotel room always. I've been on trips with our company in groups, and because I'm single, I invariably get the view of the carpark or the back alley. Finally once, in Florence, I objected. I learned to speak enough Italian in two days to tell the concierge that my room smelled of cigar smoke from the alley below and I was done with it. I got moved. What a revelation; all the rooms were larger and had double sinks. And air without smoke.
3. You get the seat next to the infant and some flight attendant smirking at you "you won't mind will you?" and the kid throws eggs all over your silk suit and you have a speech in Tokyo the minute you deplane and can't change.
4. If you are tall and a woman, you are viewed as not having any right to complain about crushed knees on planes "The MAN wants to recline, chided a flight attendant." I got bruised knees for his wishes.
What I object to is being a solo female traveler and the treatment I get.
1. Some restaurants don't want single females and ditto bars. You are viewed as soliciting for pay-to-play male company
2. You get the WORST hotel room always. I've been on trips with our company in groups, and because I'm single, I invariably get the view of the carpark or the back alley. Finally once, in Florence, I objected. I learned to speak enough Italian in two days to tell the concierge that my room smelled of cigar smoke from the alley below and I was done with it. I got moved. What a revelation; all the rooms were larger and had double sinks. And air without smoke.
3. You get the seat next to the infant and some flight attendant smirking at you "you won't mind will you?" and the kid throws eggs all over your silk suit and you have a speech in Tokyo the minute you deplane and can't change.
4. If you are tall and a woman, you are viewed as not having any right to complain about crushed knees on planes "The MAN wants to recline, chided a flight attendant." I got bruised knees for his wishes.
I can't say I've ever felt discriminated against as a solo traveler. I always request a room away from the elevators so there's less foot traffic outside my room and I get more walking in.
Feb 15, 2019, 1:09 pm
#66
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Prince Edward Island
Programs: Air Canada P25K, Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Gold, MGM Gold
Posts: 1,582
I remember once being solo and going into a Red Lobster in Tucson (it was the only place near the hotel). The hostess brought me past dozens of empty tables and tried to sit me at a table beside a family with a screming toddler. I asked her flat out to be seated away from that child, and she looked at me like I was making her day harder..probably was, because they try to seat by server sections..but that's not MY problem. MY problem was that I didn't want to be close to a screaming toddler. But if you don't ask, you don't get.
Mar 4, 2019, 7:08 am
#67
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: Rapid Rewards, AAdvantage,
Posts: 120
Solo travelers take up the space of two people but only provide the revenue of one. So of course you get a supplementary charge on cruises and the worst table in a restaurant.
What I object to is being a solo female traveler and the treatment I get.
1. Some restaurants don't want single females and ditto bars. You are viewed as soliciting for pay-to-play male company
2. You get the WORST hotel room always. I've been on trips with our company in groups, and because I'm single, I invariably get the view of the carpark or the back alley. Finally once, in Florence, I objected. I learned to speak enough Italian in two days to tell the concierge that my room smelled of cigar smoke from the alley below and I was done with it. I got moved. What a revelation; all the rooms were larger and had double sinks. And air without smoke.
3. You get the seat next to the infant and some flight attendant smirking at you "you won't mind will you?" and the kid throws eggs all over your silk suit and you have a speech in Tokyo the minute you deplane and can't change.
4. If you are tall and a woman, you are viewed as not having any right to complain about crushed knees on planes "The MAN wants to recline, chided a flight attendant." I got bruised knees for his wishes.
What I object to is being a solo female traveler and the treatment I get.
1. Some restaurants don't want single females and ditto bars. You are viewed as soliciting for pay-to-play male company
2. You get the WORST hotel room always. I've been on trips with our company in groups, and because I'm single, I invariably get the view of the carpark or the back alley. Finally once, in Florence, I objected. I learned to speak enough Italian in two days to tell the concierge that my room smelled of cigar smoke from the alley below and I was done with it. I got moved. What a revelation; all the rooms were larger and had double sinks. And air without smoke.
3. You get the seat next to the infant and some flight attendant smirking at you "you won't mind will you?" and the kid throws eggs all over your silk suit and you have a speech in Tokyo the minute you deplane and can't change.
4. If you are tall and a woman, you are viewed as not having any right to complain about crushed knees on planes "The MAN wants to recline, chided a flight attendant." I got bruised knees for his wishes.
Mar 5, 2019, 2:59 pm
#68
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,555
Sometimes I feel like I live in a different planet from the rest of you.
- 80% of my hotel stays are solo. I've never seen this result in getting the "WORST" hotel room. I'm guilty of the common FT whinge - a lack of upgrades - but I don't believe the hotels I visit alter their room selection for me based on the number of guests I book for. I get the same not-a-suite when I check in with my wife and/or kids.
- There are some restaurants I'd probably avoid as a solo diner, but when I do go into a place I've never noticed poor treatment. I tend to aim for sushi when I'm doing a solo meal on a business trip, and they can often get you right in as a single. Sit down, chat with the chef a bit, and usually get really nice treatment.
- People can try the seat-swap game with me on a flight, but am pretty consistent in the answer I give. Accommodating if it is a thoughtful request that results in me getting an equal or slightly better seat. I'm not overly picky - I consider one aisle seat in the general area of another aisle seat equal unless there's some obvious difference in the seats. But I'm not accommodating if the people proposing the swap are using it to try to get better seats for themselves. It's not that I'm greedy, it's just that I would personally never approach someone and ask them to take the worse seat. I'll offer up my better seat in exchange for their worse one - or I just won't ask.
- I'm not a woman, so if people assume that solo business travelers are in *that* industry, I've never noticed it. I travel with female colleagues all the time and have not personally witnessed this, nor heard them complain about problems if they happened to be the first person to show up at a hotel or dinner location. I've sat next to women at hotel bars many times, had completely normal conversations with them about whatever, and not seen others either approaching for "services" or thinking I was doing the same. Maybe I go to the wrong hotels?
- 80% of my hotel stays are solo. I've never seen this result in getting the "WORST" hotel room. I'm guilty of the common FT whinge - a lack of upgrades - but I don't believe the hotels I visit alter their room selection for me based on the number of guests I book for. I get the same not-a-suite when I check in with my wife and/or kids.
- There are some restaurants I'd probably avoid as a solo diner, but when I do go into a place I've never noticed poor treatment. I tend to aim for sushi when I'm doing a solo meal on a business trip, and they can often get you right in as a single. Sit down, chat with the chef a bit, and usually get really nice treatment.
- People can try the seat-swap game with me on a flight, but am pretty consistent in the answer I give. Accommodating if it is a thoughtful request that results in me getting an equal or slightly better seat. I'm not overly picky - I consider one aisle seat in the general area of another aisle seat equal unless there's some obvious difference in the seats. But I'm not accommodating if the people proposing the swap are using it to try to get better seats for themselves. It's not that I'm greedy, it's just that I would personally never approach someone and ask them to take the worse seat. I'll offer up my better seat in exchange for their worse one - or I just won't ask.
- I'm not a woman, so if people assume that solo business travelers are in *that* industry, I've never noticed it. I travel with female colleagues all the time and have not personally witnessed this, nor heard them complain about problems if they happened to be the first person to show up at a hotel or dinner location. I've sat next to women at hotel bars many times, had completely normal conversations with them about whatever, and not seen others either approaching for "services" or thinking I was doing the same. Maybe I go to the wrong hotels?
Mar 14, 2019, 2:06 pm
#70
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
On Southwest they asking for a solo traveller (literally 'travelling by yourself') with a free center seat willing to move for a mom and her child.
Why discriminate like that?
Are people unable to move if they are seated next to someone they know?
It ended up two men travelling together moved.
Why discriminate like that?
Are people unable to move if they are seated next to someone they know?
It ended up two men travelling together moved.
Mar 14, 2019, 3:40 pm
#72
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,555
About once a year, I'll be on a WN flight where the FA gets on the intercom and says "we have a late-boarding family with a small child...anyone willing to move in exchange for free drinks?" That usually does it - everybody's happy. If they were forcing travelers to move to accommodate children, I would think at least one of those situations would have blown up into a big news story with a viral video by now.
We invited lots of single people to our wedding (all invited to bring their significant other of course). A few people came solo and sat with other friends. We didn't do assigned seating so we didn't have an opportunity to stick 'em at a small table by the toilets and then ask them to swap seats with a family with children halfway through the meal. 
Mar 14, 2019, 4:08 pm
#73
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVPG & BoardRoom
Posts: 289
On Southwest they asking for a solo traveller (literally 'travelling by yourself') with a free center seat willing to move for a mom and her child.
Why discriminate like that?
Are people unable to move if they are seated next to someone they know?
It ended up two men travelling together moved.
Why discriminate like that?
Are people unable to move if they are seated next to someone they know?
It ended up two men travelling together moved.
If two business associates were stuck sitting next to each other on that Southwest flight, I can only imagine they leapt at the chance to switch seats under the guise of helping a mother and child.
I know I would have.
Last edited by arcticflier; Mar 14, 2019 at 5:07 pm
Mar 14, 2019, 4:43 pm
#74
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: SNA
Programs: AA gold, DL Gold, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Plat
Posts: 446
I hadn't given this much thought but on a solo stay at a Hilton i had booked for two guests. The breakfast benefit was a Starbucks voucher and i ended up with two of those. Ever since i make sure to reserve for two guests on solo trips if there is no price difference.
Mar 14, 2019, 4:48 pm
#75
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 457
Noticed on ebay, some cunning sellers are selling a geroup of items, one of which is what you searched for. In price order, the cheapest is selling something very cheaply but it's not what you searched. The item you searched is more expensive, sometimes substantially.