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Does anyone have or know of someone who has an NETC travel voucher they would be willing to sell for a discounted price? It must be valid for use during the summer of 2011.
/blockquote>
I just posted this to the Teachers.Net Field Trips mailring
and hope for your input, too. I hope you will post your
responses and discussiion here or on the Field Trips
mailring. (The advantage of mailring posts is that they are
now archived. Chatboard posts eventually disappear into
cyberspace.)
I'm...See More/blockquote>
I just posted this to the Teachers.Net Field Trips mailring
and hope for your input, too. I hope you will post your
responses and discussiion here or on the Field Trips
mailring. (The advantage of mailring posts is that they are
now archived. Chatboard posts eventually disappear into
cyberspace.)
I'm no longer teaching, but I recall some wonderful field
trips with my students.
I'm ready to talk about topics related to field trips - are you?
I taught kindergarten for about 20 years. Pretty much every
year we went to an apple orchard and a pumpkin patch in the
Fall. Once our entire K-3 school went to the circus in our
state's Civic Center! THAT was exciting and challenging to
pull off - a whole school of rural kids (and teachers) in
the city. We had teachers using knotted ropes (having the
kids hold onto rope ) to keep the kids from straying while
walking through the city from the bus to the civic center.
What are your notable experiences with field trips? At some
point I hope we can collaborate on a collection of field
trip planning and execution (and follow-up) tips to share
with new teachers so they can learn from veterans who have
learned - sometimes the hard way - how best to prepare for
and carry out a safe, enjoyable and productive field trip
experience.
Let's start sharing!
Kathleen
by Françoise Boden
Apr 16, 2008
/blockquote>
During our Easter break I took 22 students to London, Paris
and Normandie with Prometour. The trip was fantastic! The
kids really enjoyed themselves. Yes, there was a lot of
walking, but it's a student tour. Everyone knew ahead of
time that on student tours you walk. They got a break when
we went to Normandie...See More/blockquote>
During our Easter break I took 22 students to London, Paris
and Normandie with Prometour. The trip was fantastic! The
kids really enjoyed themselves. Yes, there was a lot of
walking, but it's a student tour. Everyone knew ahead of
time that on student tours you walk. They got a break when
we went to Normandie and had a bus, of course. So they liked
that, too. The hotel was not too cool in London (Royal
National Hotel), but in Paris we stayed first in the
Concorde Lafayette Hotel (go look it up, you'll love it,
right on Line 1 at Porte Maillot,), then in Normandie in an
Ibis which was just fine, and then in Paris at the Adagio
City Tour Eiffel just 10 min. walk from the Eiffel Tower.
Very nice also. The food choices were quality food choices;
we had 3 choices of menu every night. Our farewell dinner
was at Altitude 95 at the Eiffel Tower with a night view of
Paris! Talk about fun! We also had a marvelous birthday
celebration for one of the students who turned 18 on Easter
day, and the restaurant went all out to make it a memorable
surprise with tiered cake, music and everything. In London,
we went and saw The Lion King as an extra cost. Well worth
it! We had great mezzanine seats for $60 each. The tour
guides were excellent and knowledgeable. There was not one
glitch in our tour. I have used one company before (i can't
remember their name) and EF twice. Never again! But I will
be using Prometour again without thinking twice about it. I
am going again in June 2009, to Québec this time.
/blockquote>
I am 55 years old and used to be a teacher before I took a
French degree and decided to become a tour guide,
director, manager whatever. I sympathise with all of you
out there who are having difficulties with your choice of
company for European trips. Basically you get what you
pay for. You might be offe...See More/blockquote>
I am 55 years old and used to be a teacher before I took a
French degree and decided to become a tour guide,
director, manager whatever. I sympathise with all of you
out there who are having difficulties with your choice of
company for European trips. Basically you get what you
pay for. You might be offered incentives e.g. free trips,
akin to airmiles if you book with certain companies.
Explorica is basically the same as EF because someone took
EF's ideas and set up their own company. EF and Explorica
are companies who provide basic trips with hotels which
are situated some way out of the centre of European
capitals. Their hotels and meals are 1 or 2 star. Many of
the companies pay their tour guides a basic wage which
equates to about USD 80 a day and the tour directors (call
them whatever you will) rely on their tips to make a
decent daily wage. Although you might give your tour
guide excellent ratings the companies will not give them a
bonus to supplement their wages if you write in your
reports that you will not be using them again.
Some companies tell their guides to take you to
restaurants, photographers or companies
where they will make extra money to supplement their
incomes. Papa Gio has worked this out and I would follow
his advice if I were you. I now work for a company which
I am not going to name but is mentioned on this site where
you are guaranteed a 3 or 4 star hotel with a decent
breakfast and a decent dinner. I have had the most
wonderful time over the past few weeks as a tour
director. It is hard work but for me the reactions of
your students from the US and Canada have made it
worthwhile.
by Francoise Boden
Apr 19, 2008
/blockquote>
I am reading what everyone is saying about airline
surcharges,and I used to be in that business. I am a French
teacher now.
1. The student companies do not purchase the airline tickets
until they have received the final balance for your trip,
typically 90 days before departure. Although the airlines
have b...See More/blockquote>
I am reading what everyone is saying about airline
surcharges,and I used to be in that business. I am a French
teacher now.
1. The student companies do not purchase the airline tickets
until they have received the final balance for your trip,
typically 90 days before departure. Although the airlines
have blocked the seat for them and have required a deposit
for each seat, the airline cannot and will not guarantee the
final ticket price until the ticket is actually purchased. A
ticket to France from SFO could be a certain price 6 months
ago, but because of fluctuating gas prices could be higher
or lower at the time of purchase. The smart travel company
should predict that and charge more than what the actual
price at the time of your quote (when you sign on). That way
they are covering any loss or any last minute surcharge. A
company that charges you just one month before is
irresponsible because by now they have received all your
money and should have bought the tickets as soon as you paid
the final balance.
2. Each airline surcharge is different. I was shopping for
myself for this summer to go to France from SFO and the
different amount of surcharges from airline to airline was
incredible. The least expensive airline is Air Canada: the
base ticket was $1,068, and by the time taxes and fees were
added the ticket was $1,131. United Airlines was one of the
most expensive: the base ticket was $1,000 (so at first it
looks like a good deal), but at the end the ticket price was
$1,478!!! American Airlines was from $1,200 base to $1,700
final price!!! Air France was from $1,200 base to $1,500 final.
In conclusion, when booking with a company, ask specific
questions about which airline they will use and check the
airline site for the surcharges. If the company tells you we
don't know who we are going to use, that is not true! They
have contracts with specific airlines and know exactly who
they will use, especially huge established companies like
EF. Also, their membership fee is a joke like EF, and
others. It means nothing and just adds to their profit.
Challenge it and they will back down and offer it as a
discount, or tell them to put it towards the so-called
surcharge.
/blockquote>
I have organized trips to Costa Rica for my 8th grade class
for the past three years. For two years I worked directly
with a Costa Rican tour company, but opted to use Explorica
on year three, hoping that it would save me some time and
stress on the planning front. Though the kids had an
incredible time, I wa...See More/blockquote>
I have organized trips to Costa Rica for my 8th grade class
for the past three years. For two years I worked directly
with a Costa Rican tour company, but opted to use Explorica
on year three, hoping that it would save me some time and
stress on the planning front. Though the kids had an
incredible time, I was less than impressed (and at times
very disappointed) with the accommodations provided by
Explorica, and by the lack of experience demonstrated by
our tour guide.
For this coming year, I am planning another 8th grade trip,
but to Mexico rather than Costa Rica. I have been
investigating both NETC and ACIS, but am still torn between
the two. ACIS seems to be much more expensive than NETC,
but I have heard nothing but good things about the company.
Is the difference in price (about $400 or possibly $500 per
student!) worth it?
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