Group LeadersStudent Trips

Planning a School Trip? Here’s What You Need to Get a Price and Customized Proposal

By July 28, 2014 August 8th, 2014 One Comment

Customized Proposal

You’ve felt it, haven’t you?

That excited feeling moving in your stomach every time you think of taking a school trip with your students.

On one hand, you’re worried you won’t be able to handle the planning on your already full plate. Convincing the school board, the parents, your students to go for the idea seems like a daunting task.

But that daydream keeps turning up in your mind.

What if they love it?

What if this trip can make the curriculum “real” for my students?

What if this trip creates the memories that define this school year?

Just the thought of it sends your head spinning with excitement. After turning the idea over and over, you decide to take the next step. It’s at least worth looking into a price, right?

All you need to do is a quick online search. Everything travel has a fast price calculator these days, doesn’t it? After scrolling through several educational travel websites, you turn up priceless and frustrated.

Where are the prices?

Are they hiding something?

 

The   Truth   About   School   Trip   Prices

We’re not hiding anything. We would LOVE to provide you with a quick school trip price calculator. Trust us, it would make our jobs a lot easier! So, why can’t we do it?

The truth is, school trips require the coordination of many different vendors. These include hotels, motor coach companies, night time security providers, restaurants, and entertainment vendors.

Each of these vendors has an availability and price schedule that changes based on the time of year.

Ultimately, we do not want to mislead great teachers like yourself into thinking that the trip you have been dreaming about costs much more or much less than you are expecting. We also don’t want to say that certain vendors are available when they are not.

In short, we want to be as fair to you as possible.

To get a price for a school trip, you need to contact us and request a free customized proposal.

 

Expected   Wait   Time   to   Receive   a   Customized   Proposal

Unfortunately, the process to create a customized proposal is not instantaneous.

After discussing your travel ideas, we design a customized itinerary that aligns with your curriculum and preferences. Then, we contact each vendor to ensure availability and negotiate prices.  Once the itinerary, pricing, and availability is coordinated we will send your proposal to you.

You can expect to receive your customized proposal within 7 business days.

The more details that you can provide for us in advance, the more accurate your proposal will be.

So, what are these details?

 

“Must  –  Haves”   for   a   Customized   Proposal

  • Your Destination Choice: Narrow your options down to 1 or 2 cities.
  • Your School Address or Departure Point: This is necessary to receive accurate quotes from motor coach companies.
  • Number of Travelers: Provide an approximate number of students and total travelers. This will influence number of motor coaches used, hotel rates, and restaurant pricing. Keep in mind that our group travel packages begin at 20 travelers.
  • Dates of Travel: The more specific you can be with your dates, the more accurate of a proposal you will receive. If you cannot provide exact dates,  provide a choice of weeks of the year. If you cannot provide weeks of the year, provide the month you will travel. At minimum, we need your travel month to provide approximate pricing.
  • Days/Nights of Travel: We need to know how many days and how many nights you would like included in your school trip. This assists in itinerary planning.

 

“Nice   to   Haves”   for   a   Customized   Proposal

  • Sites of Interest: What do you want to do and see while visiting your destination? What are your priorities? The more information that you can provide, the more aligned your proposal will be to your preferences.
  • Meals: Which meals would you like included in the package price?
  • Hotel Occupancy: How many people would you like to stay per room at the hotel? Most teachers choose quad occupancy, with four students staying in each room.
  • Complimentary Packages: Do you want a certain number of complimentary packages built-in to the pricing? Many teachers opt for a 1:10 complimentary package ratio.
  • Night Security: Would you like night time security for your students? A uniformed security guard will monitor the hotel hallways so that you can get a full night’s sleep knowing your students are safe.
  • Tour Leader: Would you like a tour leader on each motor coach?
  • Vendor Requests: Do you have a preference for a motor coach company, hotel, or tour leader?

 

What   You   Receive   with   a   Customized   Proposal

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. For example, someone staying in a room by themselves will have to pay a single occupancy supplement if group pricing is based on quad occupancy.

 

What?!   That’s   Not   What   I   Wanted

We want to emphasize that a customized proposal is a starting point. Changes can always be made to any of the trip components, including the itinerary, vendors, and dates. If there is something you do not like or would like to add, let us know!

Ready to plan your school trip? Click the button below to get started!

Request More Information

 

One Comment

  • […] 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 […]