QUESTION: I am a single who enjoys travel but finds it difficult to get accommodations without paying extra. Could you give the names of organizations that will match you with a roommate? ANSWER: It is always worth asking if a tour company will arrange for participants to share accommodations with others traveling alone and thus avoid the single supplement. This is often called a "share rate."
A tour company that caters to singles and gives them share rates for hotel rooms and cruise-ship cabins is Singleworld (401 Theodore Fremd Avenue, Rye, N.Y. 10580; 800-223-6490 or 914-967-3334).
The company gave this example of rates, per person, for a cruise from New York to Bermuda on the Nordic Prince: its share rates begin at $595, for four in a cabin. Two in a cabin would be $860, and one person in a cabin starts at $1,380.
To use Singleworld, travelers must pay a $20 annual membership fee.
There are organizations that help travelers find their own companions. One is Travel Companion Exchange (Post Office Box 833, Amityville, N.Y. 11701; 516-454-0880), which publishes a newsletter every two months in which its members - there are about 2,000 active at any one time, the organization says - place ads of about 50 words describing themselves and their travel plans.
Members can ask the organization for a profile that advertisers fill out when they join the organization; they can get one profile a month, and additional profiles are $2 each.
Dues are $36 for six months for those looking for travel companions of the same sex and $66 for those looking for companions of the opposite sex. A sample of the newsletter, which also contains travel tips, many aimed at singles, is $4, and a one-year subscription without matching services is $36. Partners in Travel (Post Office Box 491145, Los Angeles, Calif. 90049; 213-476-4869) puts out a bimonthly newsletter with 100 to 150 ads from members, organized by age and listed by first name and a code number.
Respondents send letters to the organization, which forwards them. Membership is $40 for a year. The newsletter also contains consumer information for single travelers.
Travel in Twos (239 North Broadway, Suite 3, North Tarrytown, N.Y. 10591; 914-631-8409) is a subsidiary of ATC travel agency.
It puts members in touch by using questionnaires that include such information as age, preferred destinations, favored activities (museums, beach, etc.) and habits (smoking, late or early riser and so on).
When two members agree to travel together, they plan their trip in a conference call with the agency. The registration fee is $10, which includes a quarterly newsletter listing group tours for singles; members are obliged to use the agency for their travel arrangements. The organization says it has more than 100 members.
Odyssey Network (118 Cedar Street, Wellesley, Mass. 02181; 617-237-2400) is a subsidiary of Charles River Travel. After paying a $50 annual membership fee, members fill out a questionnaire, and the organization uses the information to select four or five names for the member to contact.
Odyssey Network, which says it has around 300 members, also publishes a newsletter with members' travel plans, and advertises cruises and trips.
QUESTION: Are there shuttle vans from the Los Angeles International Airport to Universal City?
ANSWER: There are several shuttle van companies that offer door-to-door service to Universal City. One is Super Shuttle (800-554-6458).
There is no need to make a reservation; call 417-8988 after you pick up your luggage, and a van will be sent within 15 minutes, the company says. The cost of the trip is $27 a person and $7 for each additional passenger.
Metropolitan Express (800-338 3898 or 213-417-5050) charges $13 a person for the ride and requires reservation at least a day ahead.
The following two services suggest you make reservations at least two or three days ahead and then call them at their courtesy phones in the luggage claim area after you have retrieved your bags: Airport Flyer (800-244-5755 or 213-216-1006), which charges $25 a person and $6 for each additional passenger, and Prime Time Shuttle (213-558-1606), which charges $28 plus $7 for additional passengers.