Family ticket discount v's lone parents paying full price

[CaramelAndBiscuit]

Locally I see it most of the time. If you are a two parent family, you can get a family ticket, with 10% to 20% knocked off the price. As a lone parent, you get to pay full price.

Or with camping, they charge as a basic price - 1 tent, 1 car, 2 occupants (adults). I then have to pay an adult price for one child as the 2nd occupant, then a child price for my other child. Its not like we are a single occupant where you are charged extra, its a case of 1 adult, 2 children, 2 dogs.

It often feels discriminatory but I'm guessing there are sound business reason's why we often have to pay more? Please say their is because it gets my goat! Let alone when you do get a 1 adult offer, its for 1 adult and 3 children...like all single parents have 3 children?!

I always find married people get all defensive on threads like these though, like it would kill them to admit there are clear financial benefits to being married. A real tone of " how dare you question this you fool," tends to permeate the thread, as is already the case here.

I always understood that there were financial advantages to being married because statistically married parents are more likely to stay together and being brought up in a two parent household is generally considered better for children. So it makes sense to incentivise it.

So how exactly do you prove your single parent status then?

I think a lot of times if it gets too expensive we only send one adult so the discount is an insenstive to bring an extra (unecessary) adult and the company can make a little extra - particularly somewhere thats is really kid focussed.

Often they don't actually care if you are a family or not. I have been places with a friend and her dc and the people on the door actually suggest that we get a family ticket because it is cheaper. So say on the Harry Potter example a parent and child buddying up with another parent and child could save money. Ultimately two adults are likely to spend more than one adult plus if it is too expensive then only one adult might go, so they lose all the extra adult place. Not all two parent families have loads of money plus one might be working so they decide to just send one parent unless there is a good deal.

Have you tried asking the venues you are interested in whether they have considered any other offer structures?

It's not fair (one adult, 3 kids here) but they are teens so I am usually able to take advantage of 2 adults 2 kids offers as dc1 is 18.

I always find married people get all defensive on threads like these though, like it would kill them to admit there are clear financial benefits to being married. A real tone of " how dare you question this you fool," tends to permeate the thread, as is already the case here.

Agree with this.

I'm a single parent and most places I visit do price per head and things like

2 adults 2 children
2 adults 4 children
1 adult 2 children
1 adult 3 children

Etc. But regardless of that it is still cheaper for me to go anywhere alone with DD than if say my mum comes. If I want to take DD somewhere and it's £25pp for example £50 for a day out is a lot easier to stomach than £75 or £100 if one or both of my parents come so I think YABU

Some places are catching on to this and offering 3 person family, 4 person, 5 person options so more people get the benefit.

Two parents and one child don’t always get a good deal. It’s cheaper to bring two children.

Local music festival

£28 for 2 adults and 2 kids

£12 per adult and £9 per child

So £33 for us three.

Also have a look at the advance ticket prices for places like peppa pig world. Unless they’ve changed significantly it only used to work out about £1 saving for booking online.

Why should a business subsidise single parents specifically? People can choose whether to go into a tourist attraction or not. Many families don’t take two parents because one is working and would pay the same as a single parent, The business is about anything but profit. Two adults are going to spend more once inside than one adult with a child.

I do wish they would do free child paces for single parents.

I always find married people get all defensive on threads like these
not really, just factual.

When I take the kids on my own, it costs me less if DH comes too.
If there were special discount that would mean it cost less to go separately when we're a family, I would take half the kids as a single person, he would take the other half as a single. I'd be happy with that frankly, who wants to be more? The only ones losing out would be 2 adults with 1 child.

There might be clear financial advantages of being married, there might be more expenses, not really the point.

2 adults can be 2 friends taking their kids together, me and my mum.. doesn't matter.

The ticket cost is a business decision, not a judgement of your situation.

I do wish they would do free child paces for single parents.

as long as you have more than 1 kid, most people would too!

Where does an nrp taking kids out on access day fit into this?

Holidays are worse, only a free child place with 2 adults :/

It wouldn’t necessarily have to be just for ‘single’ parents. It could be for any party where there is one adult.

That said - I’ve never been asked for proof of my child’s age when, for example, under 5s get in free. I also go out with my Mum who uses OAP discounts without being asked for proof of age. Based on this I guess they could just take your word for it that you were a single parent if they were offering a single parent discount.

Where does an nrp taking kids out on access day fit into this?

I don't know what you mean.

The business has no interest in the family set up.

They offer discounts if more people attend.

NRP alone or with another adult would be treated exactly the same as RP alone or with another adult would be.

Why do they need to offer a discount at all if the child ticket is already cheaper? Just drop the cost of the child ticket so it works out the same as a family ticket to pay for two adults and two children, then single parents don't miss out.

Life is in general more expensive for single people - 50% more council tax, only one lot of tax allowance etc. This is just one more example of it.

I do a lot with my DC without DH as we want to go out all day Saturday and Sunday and he likes a lot of downtime at the weekend. It's absolutely no problem I recognise I m a bit over the top with days out and I don't mind being on my own with the DC. Anyway, I have noticed a lot of places do 1 adult 2 children family tickets and our National Trust pass is 1 adult and up to I think 4 children so some places do recognise not everyone is a 2A 2C family.

@justbeniceplease I understand that. It was more a question to those saying single parents should get discount.

A two parent family with two kids pays £148, or £37 per head.

Your maths is off. It’d be £39.33 a head. So 30p difference per head, which is hardly something to get worked up about.

£148 split between two adults is a lot easier to manage than one forking out £119 though.

£148 split between two adults is a lot easier to manage than one forking out £119 though.

only if you assume all families have the same income.

It's not a tax, it's a ticket to some tourist attraction or other. It might be easier to manage for the higher incomes, but as long as the business is running, who cares?