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'm not assuming anything.

You're right that tax is a bigger issue though. Single people are totally subsidising married couples there.

It depends on the situation, with camping you are paying for the pitch, I think they should simply charge the same however many in fact. Many attractions have a one adult rate

They might as well just lower the price of all the tickets and make less profit then. The discount is for spending more. If they are going to give discount to just 1 adult then whatever the new discounted rate is is just the new lower price of a ticket.

Do you want to ban group rates so that everybody pays the same per head no matter the size of the group?

@singlebutmarried if it’s cheaper to pay for 2 adults and 2 children than 2 adults and 1 child, just get the family ticket! There’s no law saying you have to bring a second child (or if there is, invite a friend!)

Someone in front of us in the queue for an attraction bought DD1 in with them because the place was doing buy one, get one free. We both had odd numbers so made the most of the deal that way!

Single people are totally subsidising married couples there.

Since when does 2 adults mean a married couple? You don't have friends or relatives?

Anyway, as the "married couple" is actually paying more, it's exactly the opposite, but nice try

@Threesoups you are assuming in your statement about 2 adults finding it easier to pay than 1 adult. 2 adults earning £15k each will find paying more difficult than a single adult earning £50k. But just like family set up, businesses don’t care about your income. Should family tickets include however many children you have because it’s ‘not fair’ on families with 6 kids??

I use ‘family’ discounts all the time with my friends - there’s no rules about who the adults have to be.

I think this is one of the weirder opinions I’ve read on mumsnet - some of the comments on here sound like they think people should be charged in proportion to their income to go to Peppa Pig World, it makes no sense. If you can’t afford it, don’t go - it’s not an essential, there’s plenty of 2 parent families who can’t afford to go on days out costing £100s.

Try staying in a Premier Inn with two adults and 3 kids. Half the price if i leave dh at home.

We are 2 adults and 3 children and we can't afford to spend £148 on a day out before we've even paid for transport and food. So we don't go to places that charge £148 entrance fee. If a single parent can't afford £119 for a day out (which is very extravagant) then they shouldn't go. It's a big treat. There are plenty of cheaper days out.

single can you not buy a famiky ticket? Surrly it is based on up to 2 dc.

I think they are concerned that if they offered discounts for "single adult + kids" this would encourage couples with kids to leave one of the adults at home.

Then attractions would miss out not only on the extra ticket price they can charge two parent families but on food and drink purchases as well.

Never any cheap family tickets for 2adults and one child.

Never any cheap family tickets for two adults and one child

The usual qualification for free child places is to have two adults.As a single parent of two children, my three year old would be charged as an adult when we went on holiday abroad.

Big shout out to Crieff Hydro who still gave me two free child places (full board) and a DISCOUNT for being the only adult in the room. Lots of lovely holidays there with free childcare thrown in

I suppose they don't think families with one child require a discount as the cost is less prohibitive.

The ticket said 2+2

They’re adjusting it for next year

I took my 2 on holiday during Whit Week and got a child free space with Jet2. Their conditions state if you're a single parent with 2 children then you can pay the adult price for the first child and get the second child free. Made my holiday £800 instead of £1000

I suppose they don't think families with one child require a discount as the cost is less prohibitive.

One adult one wage, two adults generally two wages, although I do know families with only one wage but then that tends to be a very high earning man whose able to do that because they never need to bother about childcare. It's well-documented that lone parents are poorer than couples. Having to pay housing costs, utilities, insurance etc. on your own is a big chunk out of your income, which is already limited by the sort of work you can do and be there for your child(ren).

As has been said they are marketing ploys. I have been a single parent since the birth of ds, I don’t expect holiday companies and the likes to subsidise us though as they still have their costs to cover. Yes it’s frustrsting paying full adult price for a 9 year old but that’s not their problem!

You could go on forever trying to be “fair” - if you do a cheaper price for a single person with a child how is that fair on a single person without a child?

Or when somewhere does buy one get one free on meals how is that “fair” when someone has three children?

Look at the price for your family unit. If your happy to pay that go if not don’t. Don’t worry about the cost to others

I suppose they don't think families with one child require a discount as the cost is less prohibitive

Well it penalises people who have kept to what they can afford then.

Surely it’s just fairer to reduce price per child

Yes, it might not be easy, but it is possible for a couple to work different hours and avoid needing much childcare. My mother could stack shelves at night when she had young children to bring in extra money, a single parent doesn't have that option.

But the adult price is generally extortionate, so if a family had one income and two adults to get into Legoland or whatever they are paying a massive amount. These places are trying to stop families twigging that while all the kids will want to go it may be better for one adult to take them, whereby they lose a massive gate fee.

Camping: well the basic price covers the tent pitch and car space, there's going to be a unit price for that isn’t there? It doesn’t cost them less to make that patch of land available to you because the second person is a child. Children use the same resources in showers and toilet blocks etc.

Business ‘discounts’ are always engineered to bring in more money by encouraging more people to come in and increase the per head spend once they get there .

It is the opposite of the welfare state and benefits system.

Business ‘discounts’ are always engineered to bring in more money by encouraging more people to come in and increase the per head spend once they get there . Why not a percentage off per extra person in a group? If I go out as a single parent with my child, elderly grandmother, and adult cousin (student), then we can't get a discount even though there are 4 of us because we are 3+1.

The only thing the business is interested in, is what will earn them the most revenue. There's no moral judgment involved.

These places are trying to stop families twigging that while all the kids will want to go it may be better for one adult to take them, whereby they lose a massive gate fee.

This hits the nail on the head!

I've seen more places doing slightly reduced for both families of 3 and families of 4 recently. The swimming pool we go to does this.

Life is unfair. As a single person I often encounter things that work out far more expensive because it's just me. There's a country park nearby, with lakes and some activities (which you obviously pay extra for) and the admission is £11 PER CAR. I'm me on my own who just wants to go for a walk round the lakes.