At least three major airlines have been accused of charging lone passengers more than those flying in pairs or groups. The price discrepancies are being reported in the wake of research by two consumer advice sites that found solo flyers paying up to 70% extra in some cases.
According to Thrifty Traveler and View From The Wing, the pricing tactic is deployed by American Airlines, Delta, and United, the three biggest US carriers, and none of them are transparent about the difference in cost for solo voyagers.
The comparisons
In a comparison verified by the UK’s Independent, the price of a flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Fort Myers, Florida, with American Airlines, was cheaper by over 30%, falling from $482 to $333, if two seats were booked instead of one, meaning solo flyers would have to pay out $149 more than those travelling as a couple.
A Google Flights comparison of ticket prices on an American flight from Chicago O’Hare one-way to Kentucky’s Lexington dropped by 50%, from $215 to $107, when two people were said to be travelling instead of one.
Morning Brew also tried the comparison and found tickets for Chicago O’Hare to Peoria, Illinois, next month, cost $269 for those flying alone, and $181 for those booking together with others.
Rhys Jones, Aviation Editor at headforpoints.com, speaking to The Independent, denounced the “unfair” practice, which penalises single people who “already often pay more versus those who are coupled up.”
…business travels to pay more* than leisure travelers who typically travel in groups or have a weekend stayover, and it's a pretty core element of AA's new "pricing strategy"
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) May 29, 2025
* the airline would probably rather describe it as discounting for leisure travel 😉
Not a widespread practice?
Travel Tomorrow used Skyscanner, as well as Delta and United’s own websites to compare solo tickets and pairs of tickets on flights from Brussels to New York and from Los Angeles LAX to New York. We found no price differences based on the number of travellers, which ties in with remarks by Thrifty Traveler’s Kyle Potter who says the practice is “not widespread” and adds, “you won’t see it on each and every route.” Nonetheless, he insists, “it’s real and undeniable.”
Thrifty Traveler has gone as far as claiming that Delta and United stopped the practice after reporting emerged, while American Airlines continues the strategy. Travel Tomorrow could find no evidence of this, having checked several routes on which the price per passenger in groups was exactly the same as the price for a solo flyer.
Meanwhile, Gilbert Ott of godsavethepoints.com notes that deals for bulk purchases are nothing new. He also points out that personalised pricing based on algorithmic analysis of customer habits, and the advent of AI, mean that different prices for different customers are just something consumers will have to become accustomed to.
