Solo traveling? Deals and savings can be had

Dear Savvy Senior: Can you recommend some good travel companies that offer good deals for single travelers? I’ve taken a couple tours since I retired a few years ago, but the single-supplement fee really cuts into my budget. — Solo Sally

Dear Sally: Solo traveling is a growing trend among baby boomers and retirees. Nearly one in four travelers today go it alone, according to a recent Visa Global Intentions Study. One of the drawbacks among solo travelers is the single supplemental fee — which is an extra fee charged to single travelers who stay in a double occupancy room. Here are some tips:

Singles travel

There are a variety of travel companies today that specialize in vacations for solo travelers, including Singles Travel International (SinglesTravelIntl.com) and Singles Travel Getaways (SinglesTravelGetaways.com). Both companies will match you with a roommate to avoid the single supplement, or won’t charge you if a match can’t be arranged.

General tour operators

Intrepid Travel (IntrepidTravel.com), which handles more than 100,000 travelers each year, sending them to more than 100 countries, and G Adventures (Gadventures.com), which has more than 700 tours around the globe, will both pair solo travelers with a roommate.

And for higher-end luxury travel check out Abercrombie & Kent (AbercrombieKent.com), which offers a 50 percent single supplement discount on some trips, and Tauck (Tauck.com), which has no single supplement on their European river cruises.

50-plus travel

If you’re interested in trips designed for adults 50 and older consider ElderTreks (exotic adventures worldwide at ElderTreks.com), Road Scholar (worldwide learning adventures, RoadScholar.org) and Overseas Adventure Travel (free or low-cost single supplements on land and small-ship adventures, OATtravel.com).

Cruise lines

If cruising is your thing, there are some cruise lines with single- occupancy cabins, including Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL.com), Royal Caribbean (RoyalCaribbean.com) and Vantage Deluxe World Travel (VantageTravel.com).

Solo women

For solo women travelers, there are a host of tour companies and clubs, like GutsyWomenTravel.com, Women-Traveling.com, SerenDipityTraveler.com, TheWomensTravelGroup.com and Womens-Travel-Club.com that will either match you up with a roommate, or reduce their single supplement fee.

Jim Miller is a contributor to NBC-TV’s “Today” program and author of “The Savvy Senior.” Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070; or visit savvysenior.org.