The invisible price of travelling safely as a woman

Women-only rooms are in high demand – and sometimes cost more. What does that tell us about the price of feeling safe?

At 23:00 on a wet Friday night in central London, I'm standing in the glowing lobby of a pod hotel in Piccadilly Circus staring at two nearly identical booking options on a self-service screen. A capsule on a mixed-gender floor costs £35 ($47) whilst a capsule on the women-only floor is £45 ($60). 

The extra £10 doesn't buy a bigger room, complimentary breakfast or a better view. The capsules are exactly the same: compact cocoons fitted with a mattress, mood lighting and just enough space to fully open a small suitcase. What the nearly 30% surcharge offers instead is a keycard-restricted corridor, a floor without men and, perhaps most importantly, the promise of sleeping a little easier in an unfamiliar city.

Most of the women around me barely glance at the price difference. But as I tap my card against the reader, I realise I'm not really weighing one room against another. I am weighing whether my peace of mind is worth the extra £10.

Because of the heightened risks of sexual harassment, physical assault and unwanted attention, travel often comes with a series of financial trade-offs for many women, such as paying more for centrally located hotels, taking taxis rather than walking at night or choosing women-only spaces over cheaper mixed accommodation.

It's tempting to compare this with the "pink tax", the term used to describe products or services marketed to women at a higher price than equivalent versions for men. But the costs of travelling safely are often less direct.

Women are not necessarily being charged more for the same journey. Instead, safety concerns can push them towards different – and sometimes more expensive choices. Stephanie Boyle, campaign director of the Safer Tourism Foundation's She Travels Safe campaign, calls it an "avoidance tax", noting that women often alter their behaviour before anything has gone wrong.

"Women aren't travelling less because they're less adventurous than men," she says. "They face a different risk environment."

Research from the Safer Tourism Foundation, which tracks gendered travel behaviour, found that 64% of women avoid walking back to their accommodation alone at night while abroad compared to 43% of men, and 56% avoid areas they perceive as unsafe versus 37% of men who do the same. Nearly half of women (48%) avoid exploring their destination at night altogether.

These decisions also affect spending. Women are more likely to book travel insurance and more likely to pay for transport that ensures arrival in daylight hours – each choice small in isolation but collectively adding to the overall cost of travel.

When safety shapes the journey

Solo female traveller Jen Kaarlo........

© BBC