Is It Normal For 2 Year Olds to Cost As Much As An Adult??

[TmarieJmarie]

Am I going mad, or was I under the wrong impression that flights and accommodation for young children would cost less than it would be for an adult?? My daughter is two; she hardy takes up any space, so I can't wrap my head around the logic of me having to pay the same price as me for both the flights and the accommodation (even though she would of course be in the same room - and bed - as me). What is meant to be a quick getaway for myself and my daughter, to somewhere just across the pond, costs a fortune because I'm practically paying for two adults.

I don't have a lot of experience in booking holidays, so maybe this is completely normal and I am just out of touch (I have only booked one holiday before, when it was just me)... But jeez!! It seems so unfair. Or am I just looking in the wrong places?

I'd love to hear some thoughts on this. Thanks in advance. :)

I think our kids went free when they were under one.

After that we had to pay in full for them. She'll be sitting in her own seat - so they charge you for a seat.

If it is just you and dd, you will be charged an underoccupancy charge which will equate to second adult.

I don't know about hotels but if you are only a single adult rooms are often more expensive anyway, child or no child.

Flights - from 2 onwards the child needs a space. This space is gone so the airline charges the full price. They would make a loss if they would give discounts for children as they aren't able to get the seat booked by a full paying adult.

It is the same with theatre tickets, more than once I grumbled that I have to fork 3x the full price despite DD being only a child and we saw children plays or concerts.

Well, on the plane she's taking up the same space as an adult, as she would need a seat. There maybe some discount, but generally little.

Accommodation - well, I guess it depends. If she's in a twin or double room with you, again she's taking up an adult space. And unfortunately you might get charged under occupancy.

Have you tried some of the single parent specialists , such as mango holidays?

If she has a seat on the flight then you should be paying the same as anyone else.
Not sure about the hotel though

Thanks for the responses, guys!! Much appreciated.

I suppose it does make sense that each seat costs the same amount regardless of who is sitting in it, but I thought that child prices were less than adult prices... That certainly used to be the case, so I'm guessing that has completely changed now, unfortunately.

I hadn't heard of under-occupancy, and a room being more expensive with just one adult in there... It's a conspiracy!! I swear they are trolling our lives on purpose. Ridiculous policy.

I've not heard of Mango Holidays, so I'll check them out. Thank you!! As you can tell I am very new to this, haha. :/

By the time they stick all the under occupancy fees and other extras back on, yes small DCs cost as much as adults for accommodation.

Only saving you seem to make is on upgrading food to 1/2 board.

Different going to the USA where airfare is much cheaper for under 16s

Yeah, I was looking around at holiday deals, and found 5* 7 night holiday somewhere (can't remember where but not that far, like Lanzarote or something - £265pp).
The flight was £74something for me and the same for my daughter, then on accommodation page a double room was £211 for me and another £211 for my daughter which I thought was just ridiculous!! So I thought that I'd ask to see if this was normal!! I can more understand that flights just want money for the seat nowadays (what's the point in asking who's flying though, if everyone has to pay the same price :/). But I was shocked that for one room I was asked to pay two lots of £211.

What others have said. If you pay for full price airlines, there might be a discount of 75% of the air fare, but not the tax. I remember a flight to NZ works out to be like £100 cheaper only compared to full adult fee. For hotels, I suspect you are paying for the full room, with maybe a small discount for under occupancy. If you are two adults, you will then be paying for the room + a small surcharge for a third bed. If you think about it, it's the same for hotels as with airline seats. If you are occupying a room, they can't get two adults to pay for that same room. So therefore it's common to charge you nearly the full price, but a bit of a discount for the included breakfast. Hope it makes sense.

The discount is probably applicable if there's an included breakfast. That's what I meant.

It's enraging. But, nothing that can be done about it. u_u

Thanks everybody for your input xoxoxox