Are there any tour operators that do not charge a single travel extra?

Great question. For a variety of reasons there are quite a few people that would love to travel but do not have a traveling companion.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any company that has an across-the-board policy of allowing single travelers to stay in their own accommodations on a tour without paying a higher per-person rate than travelers who book as a pair. Essentially, tour companies are charged a flat room rate and two people in a room share this cost by basically paying 50% each while the single traveler pays 100%. It’s not really a penalty or premium tacked on by the tour operator or hotelier rather a fact of pricing. Even when single-person accommodations are available, you'll usually still have to pay a hefty fee, although not as much as if you were staying alone in a double room.

However, this doesn't mean it's impossible to avoid paying a single supplement. The easiest way to keep from paying extra is to book with a tour company that has a roommate-matching program that pairs single travelers together as roommates in double-occupancy accommodations. Tour operators that offer such programs include Elderhostel, Brennan, Collette, Tauck, Trafalgar, and Uniworld. It's not always guaranteed the company will be able to find you a roommate or that roommate will be of the same gender but they will work with you. These are all good companies but tend to be more in the deluxe upper end category.

Another option is to book a tour with a company that specializes in singles travel and offers a roommate-match guarantee. Two singles tour operators worth looking into are Singles Travel International (http://www.singlestravelintl.com) and All Singles Travel (http://www.sparklingspirit.com/allsinglestravel).

I would also check with some of your local travel agencies or tour operators and see if they have any solo travelers looking for roommates. I know that on the educational tours offered by Ohio University and Travel World travel agency, (www.4travelworld.com) they will try to match up same gender travelers. Again they will try but there’s no guarantee that another single traveler will sign up for the trip.

If you'd really rather stay in private single accommodations, it's difficult to dodge the single supplement. However, on rare occasions, a tour operator may reduce or eliminate the extra cost for single accommodations when bookings are slow and a tour is unlikely to fill. One company that regularly promotes solo-traveler deals is Tauck, which offers single accommodations for little or no extra fee on select tour departures. These are generally last minute deals so have your passport ready and check book in hand when you contact these suppliers.