In Reply to: Single supplement? posted by natrowe on Tuesday, 1. February 2005 at 10:57 Bali Time:
Packages are always twin share because the hotels are subsidising the flight and/or giving cheap accommodation because they make most of their money on food/beverages and overpriced services. So a single person taking the package is not as attractive to them.
If you have a good travel agent, they will have to make phone calls and negotiate a new price.
If you're just planning to go and stay in the one place for the whole two weeks, you'll probably still get a better deal through a package. If you're planning to move around a bit or visit other islands, you're probably better off looking for a cheap flight and then booking cheap accommodation over the net.
The other thing is that often you'll see a price advertised long after all those seats are taken. For some reason you can still buy a package on the same flights but in different seats that cost more. On one occasion, I could only get a return flight to Adelaide, even though the plane I got off was going to Melbourne with my empty seat. Why? Because that seat was an "N", rather than a "G", or something. Maybe "N" seats explode when they cross the border.
One way or another, unless you are extremely lucky or willing to bend yourself to fit the exact shape of the package, you can expect to pay more. If you can keep it within $150 of the advertised price, you're probably doing well. Make sure you get a rough idea of how much you'd be paying if you booked the flight and accommodation seperately yourself before you agree to a package, though.