I submitted my online school trip request, now what?
If this is your first time leading a school trip with Scholastica, you may be wondering how the whole trip planning process works. How often will you be communicating with us? What can you expect?
You will receive ongoing communication from us throughout the tour planning process by both e-mail and snail mail. The details and timeline are outlined below.
You Will Receive a Proposal
After you submit your online school trip request, you will receive a follow-up email from one of our professional travel consultants within the next business day. Learn more about what information you need to receive a price and customized proposal. Your travel consultant will discuss your ideas for your school trip and work with you to customize the details for your proposal. You will receive your customized proposal by email within 7-10 business days. With your proposal you will receive:
- An itinerary customized to your preferences and travel dates
- A line item listing of everything included in your package (taxes, gratuity, insurance, night supervision, meals, admissions, tour leaders, transportation)
- A 5-tier pricing scheme based on the number of paid participants per bus. The 5 categories of prices are:
- 46-50 paid participants per bus
- 41-45 paid participants per bus
- 36-40 paid participants per bus
- 31-35 paid participants per bus
- 26-30 paid participants per bus
- Package supplement rates for participants not staying at the requested room occupancy.
This proposal is a starting point. Changes can always be made to any of the trip components, including itinerary, trip dates, and attractions.
You Will Receive a Trip Agreement
Once you approve the proposal, your professional travel consultant will prepare a Trip Agreement. This Trip Agreement includes:
- An itinerary customized to your travel dates and preferences.
- A line item listing of everything included in your travel package.
- A 5-tier pricing scheme based on the number of paid participants per bus.
- Package supplement rates for participants not staying at the requested room occupancy.
- Trip deposit amounts and corresponding due dates.
- Due date for your hotel rooming list.
- An outline of our cancellation and refund policies.
We request that this document be signed and returned to us within 30 days. Receipt of the Trip Agreement will confirm your trip and corresponding reservations.
You Will Receive Regular Communication by Email
Throughout the tour planning process, your professional travel consultant will communicate with you by email and by phone. Should you have any questions at any time, you will be able to reach your travel consultant by email or by their direct telephone extension.
You Will Receive a Final Information Packet
Once your trip is paid in full, we will send you a final information packet. This packet includes:
- Your finalized custom itinerary
- One destination map per bus (for Washington DC and New York City school trips)
- Name tag lanyards with emergency contact information (one for each traveler)
- A bus organization tote bag (one per bus) with corresponding recommended packing list.
You Will Receive Bus Organization Bags
Scholastica provides a bus organization tote bag for each bus on your school trip. The bus organization bag is accompanied by a recommended bus packing list that will help you prepare a kit for all bus circumstances, whether it be motion sickness or slow traffic. Taking these advanced preparations will make the journey to and from your destination comfortable and smooth. You will receive the bus organization bags with your final information packet.
You Will Receive Lanyards with Emergency Contact Information
Scholastica provides lanyards for every student on a school trip. The lanyards have a name tag attached. On the back of the name tag is contact information for Scholastica’s 24-hour emergency assistance team and space to write chaperone contact information. Students are to wear these lanyards while on tour so that they are never without emergency assistance information. You will receive these lanyards with your final information packet.
You Will Receive a Follow-Up
After you return home from your destination, your travel consultant will contact you within a week to discuss the details of your trip. What did you enjoy most? What would you like to change for next year?