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?!

The two adults could each pay for themselves and one child each. That would be cheaper than a single parent paying for themselves and two children.
Again the assumption that every adult has their own income.

If a place is cheap or free we all go. Generally we don't go on expensive day trips but if we do only one of us will go with the children as it is much cheaper for just 1 adult to go. Even with a group discount we choose to just pay for one adult as it is much cheaper than a group ticket.

We only have 1 income but I don't think that is relevant to a money making business. You wouldn't go into a restaurant and expect to pay less for a meal because you had less money but it was only you but do get sometimes get offered a group rate if bringing a large group or even 2 mains and a bottle of wine for £30/£40. Do you and a friend ever go for those? Do you complain it isn't fair for someone without any friends? It's just marketing and business trying to make more money. We can't afford the group discount on places like Harry Potter World anyway and just go as one adult with the DC.

This is why I've been in lots of theoretical lesbian relationships.

2 adults and 1 child isn't much better!
We went to the zoo recently and it was all of £2 cheaper to buy single tickets for the 3 of us than to buy a family ticket!
As others have said though, attractions are businesses there to make profit, they'll never please everyone!

The two adults could each pay for themselves and one child each. That would be cheaper than a single parent paying for themselves and two children.

Oh for fuck sake, stop assuming that all two parent families have a double income. For what it’s worth, me and my partner both don’t work, we claim joint benefits (which means a good chunk less than if we claimed separately, but I won’t do that) and our daughter is disabled so at least we do get DLA for her, most of that goes on daycare though. Anyway, point is some single parent families make more money than two parent families and vice versa and any other combination you can think of. Stop thinking something isn’t fair because it happens to be you that is affected and not someone else. I could cry that it’s unfair about many things but I don’t, because that’s life and sometimes things aren’t fair, a discount on a day out is lovely but if there isn’t one available, so what, we didn’t choose to go out depending on discounts available or not.

Well, in this case it isn't actually me affected and I still think it's not fair.

If a family of four are paying £36 per head and a single parent has to fork our £39 per head then, no, it isn't fair.

Of course life isn't always fair. Yes, businesses are there to make money. But we still get to bitch and moan when it isn't fair.

Suppose the manager at a place singled you out in the queue and told the staff: "Make her pay 10% more than everyone else. Why? Because there is just something about her I don't like. Just tell her that life isn't fair. And of course that we're a business here to make money."

Suppose the manager at a place singled you out in the queue and told the staff: "Make her pay 10% more than everyone else. Why? Because there is just something about her I don't like. Just tell her that life isn't fair. And of course that we're a business here to make money."

I have to say, I find that ridiculous. How is that anything like offering a discount to larger groups of people to entice larger groups inside to spend more money?

This is just like buy 1 for a pound, 2 for £1.50, 3 for £2.

If you only want 1 you pay more per unit. If you buy 3 you pay less per unit but you pay more altogether. It's a classic way of getting people to spend more. That is all it is. You wouldn't complain it was unfair if you were saw a 2 for £5 sign in a shop. Spend more overall, get a slight discount. What's unfair? If you mean the tickets are too expensive to start with I agree but not offering a group discount won't reduce the price of a single ticket. If everyone stopped going and paying the prices that may help reduce the prices though I suspect it may result in places closing. I suggest only paying when you think you are getting value for money. If it seems too dear go elsewhere and vote with your feet.

Lots of people seem unable to hold two contradictory thoughts at the same time:

• Yeah on average things are a bit shit for lone parents financially compared to couples

and

• It makes business sense to charge less to attract more people.

It's fine for both of those things to be true.

(And also true that businesses can charge less to attract single individuals, e.g. the student and pensioner examples.)

Single parents are still in the minority. Businesses offer discounts to attract the larger markets.

Single parent here

I always email and point out unfair and almost without exception I get email back saying that they will offer between 10-20% off our tickets.
Even for theatre tickets I bought last week actually

@Singlebutmarried in your example of the festival ticket ...why didn't you pay for an imaginary child? Ie ask for the family ticket but only take 1 child in?

I'd have done that. It's not like you're sneaking an extra person in, you're paying for your child's imaginary best friend! 🤣

Places also seem to do 2x parents 2x kids They don't seem to realise families can also be 2x parents and 1 kid.

Amibeingdaft81 out of curiosity, what did you say to them? Like how did you word it and how did they reply?

‘I’m very keen to book (insert venue) for my children and I, as gets such great reviews.

However, I went online to book and I’m disappointed to see that whilst you offer a brilliant saving for a family of four, no such offer applies for single parents. I wonder whether you would consider applying the saving discount to my version of a family as you have done for the family of four. It would be hugely helpful. Many thanks’

I send whenever I see a family offer but nothing for version of a family and I’m frequently impressed with responses, which has ranged from 20% discount to free coffee and cake.