How Single Parents Can Save More Money on Vacations

Andrea Romano
Updated

Pricing for many family travel packages still works on the idea of a nuclear family, with two parents and two children, but what we think of as “traditional” often doesn't match reality.

In an effort to offer single parents better options for getting away with their kids, U.K.-based Virgin Holidays is offering vacation packages for single-parent families. Instead of a pricing structure based on two adults, there will be a discount when the second guest is a child, according to The Telegraph.

Related: The World’s Best Hotels and Resorts for Families

The initiative is being launched with 10 Caribbean resorts, including all four resorts within the all-inclusive Elite Island Resorts Collection. Single-parent families from the U.K. could save up to £1,000 ($1,292 USD), according to Sky News.

“We are starting with a relatively small group of properties but we are really excited about where it could lead,” Joe Thompson, managing director of Virgin Holidays, told Sky News.

However, some parents believe the initiative doesn’t go far enough in making travel easier and more convenient for single-parent households. There are about 2 million single-parent households in the U.K., The Telegraph reported. (There are about 12 million in the U.S.)

“The logistics of going on holiday as a single parent with two or more children [are] very, very tricky and I think it would work well for tour operators to look at that experience,” Alice Judge-Talbot, a writer and single mother of two, told Sky News.

Related: The Top Trending Destinations for Families in 2017

Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of single-parent charity Gingerbread, believes the initiative is a big step in getting the travel industry to recognize different family dynamics in society.

“One in four families [in the U.K.] are headed by a single parent and companies are currently missing out on reaching those potential customers as well as those families missing out on holidays and other services,” she told SkyNews. “So by offering the right price point which is welcoming to single parent families, we can really change the value of single parents in society.”

The participating resorts are in destinations including Antigua, Mexico, Barbados, and St. Lucia.