Solo travelers sometimes pay more on American Airlines
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Ridin' solo isn't always better. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images
Solo travelers sometimes pay more for fare on American Airlines, a recent Thrifty Traveler report found.
Why it matters: Not every solo traveler is a business executive with a corporate spending account.
Driving the news: Thrifty Traveler executive editor Kyle Potter noticed a discrepancy between the airfare for a trip he was planning to book when he searched for just himself and when his search included a ticket for his wife.
- The travel deals site searched hundreds of routes and found that American, Delta and United sometimes charged more for one passenger when compared to the same flight when booking for two passengers.
- Delta and United nixed the higher prices for solo flights last week after blowback, but American Airlines has stayed silent.
What they found: The report initially found the fare differences on just Delta Airlines but later spotted a similar pricing tactic on American and United routes.
- The analysts primarily searched one-way domestic tickets. The cost difference for one passenger versus two in a transaction was not consistently found on all flights or routes.
Zoom in: Axios reporters conducted several searches on roundtrip basic economy fares between different destinations and found that the cost was largely the same whether booking one or two passengers in many cases.
- But a few fare differences popped up. For example, when searching for flights on American Airlines from Seattle to Boston from June 20-26, a single passenger would pay $644 compared to the $552 per person fare when two passengers were listed.
- American did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The intrigue: Kayak, The Points Guy and flight deal site Going each had different reactions to the Thrifty Traveler's findings, per the Washington Post.
- Kayak said airfare differences haven't been consistent based on passenger totals, but The Points Guy said American rolled out the pricing difference for solo travelers a couple months ago and was followed by Delta and United.
- "Solo vacationers are innocent bystanders in this whole saga," Going founder Scott Keyes told the Post.
The big picture: Most U.S. airlines offer a variety of economy fares, with costlier tickets usually including better seating options and no change fees.
- Airlines use dynamic pricing, meaning fares vary depending on demand and itinerary. A peak travel time ticket will cost more than a random Tuesday in January.