Singles no longer to be matched with a roomie?

Yes, this is a policy change for 2026.

Here's a thread on it:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/mandatory-single-supplement

And here is the official link about it:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/policy-updates

Well, apologies for continuing to edit, lol....but wanted to add that Road Scholar does continue to match on many of its tours.

https://www.roadscholar.org/practical-information/solo-travelers/

Yes, this is the new policy. There are some upsides to this. They have actually lowered the single supplement in many cases as they standardize the cost to $50 per day. Participants on tours with only one person who has not paid for the single supplement will no longer be subsidizing that one person’s fare.

I am also a solo traveler and I have always paid for the single supplement. I still feel like I am traveling with others, but I cherish my “alone” time at the end of the day.

There are a few tour companies that do not charge solo supplements or waive them a few times a year. I went on a Gate 1 tour to Turkey last fall where I took advantage of their waived solo supplement sale. It was excellent. I’ve signed up for an 18 day combination land tour/river cruise with Gate 1 for this summer. River cruising is usually off the table for most of us solo travelers due to high solo supplements. $3900 was waived during their sale. So far, this sale has been happening twice a year in March and September.

I’m still signed up for a Rick Steves Sicily tour next spring and simply count that solo supplements as part of my budget.

I haven’t taken a Rick Steves tour and haven’t been solo on the tours I’ve taken, but I wonder: will Rick Steves’ Europe facilitate singles contacting the other singles on the trip, to see if there’s a possibility of pairing up people? I’m sure there could be liability concerns, but if there’s no obligation, letting strangers decide to opt to save some money by pairing up would be helpful, and would free up rooms for others who aren’t on the tour. Maybe if there were enough complaints in the past, this new policy was implemented, and it’s seen as an overall improvement.

but I wonder: will Rick Steves’ Europe facilitate singles contacting the other singles on the trip, to see if there’s a possibility of pairing up people?

Apparently, this was the Rick Steve’s model until this year. Which is why people are asking these questions. I personally can understand why they have chosen not to do this anymore. I’m sure for 90% it worked well and then there was the other 10% of the time where that was two people should never have been together.

There is a Travel Partners forum on this site specifically to find a travel partner. I have no idea how active it is.

There is also a Rick Steves Facebook Group fir travelers.

I'm sure they're other ways to find travel partners: your church, a social club, local senior center.... Be resourceful.

but I wonder: will Rick Steves’ Europe facilitate singles contacting
the other singles on the trip, to see if there’s a possibility of
pairing up people?

Apparently, this was the Rick Steve’s model until this year. Which is
why people are asking these questions.

Just to clarify, this was not the prior RS model - there was zero contact with other solo travelers prior to the tour. You meet your roommate(s) the first day of the tour, unless you somehow connected with them in the RS forum ahead of time (very rare).

As noted in the RS policy link shared by Pam, they've made a business decision to standardize the process for solo travelers based on their past booking patterns (a small number choosing the room share option) and the hassle factor when things didn't go well. I am sure they made the decision after a lot of careful consideration - maybe not what some people are happy with, but that is what happens with change.

I appreciate that they’ve changed the price for singles to now be $50/night more instead of previous pricing. That is worth it to me to ensure a good night’s sleep, so I’m fully enjoying the tour during the day. And I wash my clothes each night in the sink - something I wouldn’t want to do with another single in my room since I would feel it’s infringing upon their space.