May 09, 2008 05:08 PM

THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL–Air Canada (TSX: AC.A) has quietly imposed domestic fuel charges for the first time in four years that could cost Canadians flying across the country an extra $120 for a round-trip ticket.

The price increases, imposed Friday, would add $120 a round-trip for flights of more than 1,001 miles, or 1,601.6 kilometers, each way. Smaller surcharges would be slapped on tickets for shorter trips.

For example, people flying from Halifax, Montreal and Toronto to Calgary, Edmonton, Regina or Vancouver would pay the highest surcharges as the country's largest airline tries to recoup soaring costs for jet fuel.

Air Canada applied the surcharge to transborder flights to the United States on Thursday, matching similar moves by the big American carriers. It added the surcharge to domestic trips Friday.

The new surcharges are $40 return for flights of less than 480 kilometers, $80 return on flights between 480 kilometers and 1,600 kilometers and $120 for longer flights.

The fuel surcharges are effective immediately on all flights booked, the airline says.

On Thursday, the three biggest U.S. air carriers, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, raised fares to improve their finances.

With the price of oil soaring to record highs, Air Canada decided for the first time in four years to no longer include fuel costs in base fares.

International tickets already have fuel surcharges, but those rates are adjusted case by case.

It wasn't immediately clear whether other Canadian carriers will apply similar surcharges.

Calgary-based WestJet Airlines (TSX: WJA), the No. 2 airline, and Porter Airlines, which flies from the Toronto Island Airport to domestic and U.S. cities, are studying the move.

WestJet also hasn't followed Air Canada's lead of charging the $25 for second checked bags on North American flights for the cheapest fares.

"The cost of everything is going up due to the rapid and unprecedented rise in the price of oil and we are no exception," Air Canada spokeswoman Isabelle Arthur said in an e-mail Friday.

"The situation for airlines is compounded by the fact jet fuel prices have risen even more and as of this week are up 78 per cent from a year ago."

Incorporating fuel costs within fares is no longer workable because of the volatility of fuel prices. On Friday, the world price of oil increased to a record US$126.20 per barrel.

Without the surcharges, fares would have to be changed daily, confusing customers, Arthur added.

Air Canada said the new fuel surcharges won't allow the Montreal carrier to recoup the full added cost of fuel. The airline's fuel bill increased by $130 million in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier. That number is expected to increase by more than $220 million in the coming quarter, intensifying pressure for the carrier to add more charges or reduce costs.

Overall, Air Canada lost $288 million in the first quarter, more than eight times the $34 million loss for the same period in 2007, when oil prices were about half of today's levels.

Airlines around the world have been racing to boost airfares, tack on surcharges, and charge for amenities such as extra bags and legroom as they struggle to cope with soaring world energy prices. Many airlines now count fuel as their biggest cost.

The price of jet fuel, like gasoline, has risen rapidly along with the price of crude. A gallon on the spot market in New York was selling for US$3.57 – or 94 cents a litre – this week. That's up about 78 per cent from this time last year.

At the same time, carriers are cutting back on flights to reduce costs and maintain their pricing power as the economy slows. Even so, analysts expect many large carriers to post large losses.

http://www.thestar.com/article/423846

Vancouver resident Lori Sgarbossa says she was hardly doing handsprings when she signed on for a Caribbean singles cruise in 2005, but she was ready to take a chance - or at least have a good laugh. "I thought I'd be on a boat with a bunch of losers," she admits now.

But between the cabin crawls, cocktail parties, salsa lessons, rock climbing and mingling with other travellers who, like her, were busy professionals looking for friends and fun, Sgarbossa realized she was having a blast.

Not only that, she bumped into Jim Robertson, a fellow Canadian and singles cruiser. She married him last March.

"People always ask us how we met, and we say, 'The old-fashioned way: on a singles cruise,' " Sgarbossa jokes.

Of course, cruises such as those offered by SinglesCruise.com aren't the only way to travel solo, especially if your idea of a good time leans more toward hiking in Peru or cycling through Tuscany. In fact, a growing number of companies are itching to accommodate solo travel by making it easier and cheaper.

According to a recent Travel Industry Association of America survey, 11 per cent of all American leisure travellers are leaving friends and family behind when they hit the open road. Meanwhile, 27 per cent of the AAA/CAA club's U.S. and Canadian travel counsellors say they are seeing an increase in the number of trips for single travellers.

While some vacationers are hooking up with companies such as Contiki Holidays or All Singles Travel looking for romance, there are a myriad of reasons to pack a one-man tent. Maybe you want to backpack along Yellowstone trails, but your spouse is more of an all-inclusive-resort kind of gal. Or perhaps it's tough to find friends to get away with at the same time.

But the world doesn't seem built for solo travellers.

"Singles get a little bit tired of going on a trip and finding out they're travelling with a whole bunch of couples," says Jacquie Burnside, vice-president of sales and marketing for Intrepid Travel in Los Angeles, an adventure travel company that plans to launch its own solo packages next spring.

Then there are the financial penalties for travelling without a partner: Think "prices based on double occupancy." Travel companies know that single rooms lose them money, so solo travellers must cough up a "single supplement." For example, guests who want a stateroom to themselves on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship must pay 200 per cent of the category rate, according to the company's website. In other words, they're forced to pay for a person who does not exist.

Fortunately, single-friendly travel companies such as Cruise West offer "single share" cabins so cruisers can avoid the markup. If the company is unable to find someone to share a stateroom with you, you get to travel alone for the same price you would pay if you were half of a couple. Meanwhile, Crystal Cruises offers select sailings for single travellers with a low 25-per-cent supplement, while Cunard Line, Orient Line and Cruise West have a small number of cabins designated for single travellers - but at an additional charge.

Resorts, hotels, tour companies and travel clubs are also getting into the single-travel market, offering their own incentives.

All Singles Travel and Singles Travel International run cruises, escorted tours and outdoorsy vacations geared toward solo travellers, while G.A.P Adventures boasts a no-single-supplement policy (they pair same-sex travellers together in rooms). Many Club Med resorts offer single-supplement savings of 30 to 100 per cent, depending on the resort and the time of year. Then there is Go Ireland Activity Holidays. The tour company recently introduced solo dates on its most popular walking tour with one bonus: The first six people to book get a room to themselves without paying a supplement. The rest are paired off.

Even high-end hotels such as the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., are developing packages to lure single guests. It recently launched its "Single & the City" room package, which includes accommodations, breakfast - which can be eaten at the more casual Koi Pond for those uncomfortable with the idea of tucking into their croissant and coffee in the formal dining room - and a kit with a map and information on solo-friendly destinations, starting from $400.

Meanwhile, the Westin St. John Resort and Villas of the U.S. Virgin Islands has a "Solo-cation for Her" package that begins at $8,063 for three nights and includes the use of a private cabana complete with a plasma TV, iPod docking stations, a butler and Evian spritzing water. After a morning of pedicures and cocktails, guests can tour the island in a private jeep with a "non-chatty driver," the resort promises.

Still, the opportunity to travel solo, whether it's roughing it in Australia's Outback or spritzing it up in the Caribbean, is one thing; getting over the fear of spending days or weeks all alone is quite another.

Beth Whitman, author of Wanderlust and Lipstick: The Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo, conquered her fears when she hopped on a BMW motorcycle 10 years ago and rode from Seattle, Wash., to Panama and back, an 11,265-kilometre journey.

"People told me I was going to die, get raped or that my motorcycle would get stolen. None of that happened," she says.

Sure, the odds that something will go terribly wrong are slim, but it's always a good idea to keep safety in mind. Whitman says meeting up with other travellers makes sense if you want to visit an area that is intimidating. Internet cafés are a good place to meet. So are hostels. And keep a rubber doorstop with you, she recommends. Slip it under the door when you're in the shower or before you go to bed so no one - not even someone with a key - can gain access to your room.

Or travel with a tour group. Most tours have at least two guides who know the lay of the land, which tourist areas to hit and which are best avoided. Besides, there's safety in numbers.

Kate Moeller, public-relations manager for Club Med and an avid traveller, remembers wanting to go to Morocco after university but being unable to find anyone to go with. Too frightened to visit the country by herself, she gave up on the idea. It wasn't until she started working for Club Med and visited its Morocco property that she ever saw the place.

"If you want to go to a country that you find a little bit intimidating, staying at a secure resort [and going out on day trips] is a really good option," she says.

But how about loneliness? Travel solo and you're only as alone as you want to be, say most experienced single travellers.

"Your mindset is different and you're much more approachable," Moeller says.

And if you're still afraid to head out on your own for two weeks in Tibet, start small instead. Do a couple of weekend trips. Or, for those who can't imagine being alone for even that amount of time, go to a movie unaccompanied or out to dinner. "Even that is hard for some people," Whitman says.

Making the effort is worth it, though. Travelling solo has overwhelming benefits. "You can come and go as you please," Whitman says. "You can eat when you want - or miss the bus if you want to hang out."

Besides, the stigma of single travel is slowly ebbing away, says Travis Hartley, chief executive officer and founder of Meet Market Adventures in Toronto. Seven years ago, he launched the business, offering a new, adventurous take on dating clubs. Singles sign up to go skydiving, rock climbing or whitewater rafting together.

"When I started the company, my biggest challenge was to convince people that it was okay to be single and travel. Back then, there were just divorcée dances and dating services," he says.

But within a few years, as sites such as Lavalife and Match.com gained respectability, Meet Market, which now has offices all over Canada and the United States, branched out to offer vacations and cruises. This summer, singles from around the world signed up for tours such as "Highlights of Sri Lanka and Kandy Perahera" or the "Singles Dude Ranch Experience."

And despite slogging with strangers, there's no awkward small talk. It's not exactly difficult to find something to chat about when you're sharing a Yangtze River cruise with 11 other like-minded people.

And even if a single traveller doesn't find the love of her life while taking to the open road - or water, like Sgarbossa - solo trips often lead to lifelong pals.

"The first night, everyone's a stranger," says Vickie Meeuwsen, public-relations rep for SinglesCruise.com. "By the end of the week, everyone is hugging and crying. They're just best friends."