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Hey I just joined this chatboard during winter break! I had great luck last year traveling with a company called LEAD USA. They were responsive and honest and what I like most was that they customized the trip just for me! The website is leaddiscoveryusa.com
*Many student travel companies offer essentially the same product--ACIS, EF, Explorica, NETC, Passports use the same hotels, same vendors.
*be careful of how a company may spin this in discussing their edge over another---sometimes, when it comes to price, it comes down to how well, the company was able to negotiate a contract.
*...See More*Many student travel companies offer essentially the same product--ACIS, EF, Explorica, NETC, Passports use the same hotels, same vendors.
*be careful of how a company may spin this in discussing their edge over another---sometimes, when it comes to price, it comes down to how well, the company was able to negotiate a contract.
*be nice to your point of contact at the company, and/or to the person who is helping you plan your tour--if you are a jerk to the person helping you--they are less likely to go the extra mile to fulfill you specific requests (doesn't this go for most things in life?).
*on that note, it is important to remember that the educational travel employee/the program specialist/ tour consultant is a human being and common courtesy is appreciated. When I worked at XYZ company, teachers, for no apparent reason, would yell at me, send emails in capital letters, and sometimes were very condescending.
*more often than not, teachers submit their information to the company because they are interested in traveling. I would receive a web form and when I would try to reach out to the teacher who gave me their cell phone number--I would get yelled at, hung up on, and told to stop calling. IF you don't want to be called, DON'T GIVE OUT YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION.
**If you are interested in student travel, because you as a teacher receive points, money, and a free trip--then chances, this is not a good thing for you to be doing---shouldn't you be doing this for the students?
**I think it's wrong when a teacher enrolls three students on the tour, and then cancels because he or she was not able to recruit enough students to get their free place. This is wrong because when you cancel a tour last minutes,students and family members lose money---how selfish can you be? (this leads me back the previous bullet point, when you are planning this tour, you should take into account the STUDENTS, and not yourself).
**anyways, these were things I wish I could tell teachers but couldn't.
by sapphireab
Jan 22, 2010
didn capita google wide
by socaliforniamagistra
Feb 25, 2010
As per the poor quality and problems that many seem to be having with international and domestic tour companies.
The reality is this: Because of the economy, there are less travelers and therefore, smaller groups.
Small groups are simply not cost-effective.
The US dollar is doing badly against the Euro and Pound, so the...See MoreAs per the poor quality and problems that many seem to be having with international and domestic tour companies.
The reality is this: Because of the economy, there are less travelers and therefore, smaller groups.
Small groups are simply not cost-effective.
The US dollar is doing badly against the Euro and Pound, so the quality of meals and hotels is not as good as it cold be.
If you use companies where the guides rely on tips and commissions on optional excursions, then the smaller groups will not get the best guides.
It's difficult to travel with a small group because unless you are traveling during a break when there are a lot of groups traveling, you are taking a gamble as to whom you will be combining with. And there have been horrific stories as well as good ones.
I've heard that many companies don't even know if you can combine until a month or so before the trip and as a result many trips have been canceled as a result, or there is a great increase in the cost.
From the discussions I have heard, both in my district and on various chatrooms, it might be better not to take the group meals and have your students budget for their own meals.
Have any of you considered getting in touch with other schools a year in advance or using this forum to find groups to combine with? If you were able to use this chatboard to find groups, you could plan the trip with other teachers, get the 'rules' down, and even have the students develop email relationships before meeting on the trip; a much happier scenario.
The teachers then could decide which company, if any, they want to travel with, rather having the tour company deciding everything. I think shopping around is a good thing and can be used to lower costs and increase value.
Two of my colleagues plan everything with the official travel boards of the country they are traveling to and use a travel agent to make the air, bus, and train arrangements as well as collect all the payments. They contend that they save a few hundred dollars per person doing it this way..
I actually use a professional service to plan my trip (aligned with standards and my teaching plan) and then turn it over to the tour operator.
The tour company I currently use domestically, LEAD USA leaddiscoveryusa.com (although LEAD also conducts international trips) will make all sorts of inquiries to combine groups well ahead of time.
My numbers dropped dramatically this year because of the after-effect of the floods, and they found schools we could combine with so we could have a full bus. They had a lot of small, east coast-bound groups get in touch with them through their website and I then got in touch with those schools to see which were 'good fits'. There were two schools of under fifteen students that were perfect. In fact, these two schools had traveled with another tour company (the same one)last year and their respective trips were canceled.
The best part is that we got a reduction in price since we had a nearly full bus rather than the original 35 we had planned on and I still got my upgraded meals and hotel within walking distance of the Smithsonians and White House.
Why can't you do that with international trips as well?
by Jessica Astor
Mar 1, 2010
I have a wonderful company that is fully insured and low cost for any and all overnight field trips. i took 50 student to Washington, Dc last year and it was perfect. This year I am taking students to Boston and I know I will get the same exp. E-mail me for any info....
by Anonymous
Mar 10, 2010
Hello all,
Thank you all, in advance, for your input on this issue. First, a little background: I work for an Educational Tour company that believes in putting the teachers and students first by developing curriculum based travel opportunities at an affordable price and I was an educator for many years before entering the educational trave...See MoreHello all,
Thank you all, in advance, for your input on this issue. First, a little background: I work for an Educational Tour company that believes in putting the teachers and students first by developing curriculum based travel opportunities at an affordable price and I was an educator for many years before entering the educational travel industry. We believe in "reasonable" reimbursement amounts for a teacher's time in organizing and leading our trips and I'd just like to hear what the opinion of the group is on what would be your definition of "reasonable".
The problem, as we see it, is that this reimbursement practice has been abused within our industry to, in effect, "buy" the business from a teacher and prevent them from entertaining competitive offers. This, of course, inflates the cost of the trip to the families and prevents some students from participating in what could have been an excellent educational opportunity.
Let's use the scenario of a teacher traveling with 60 students to Washington DC. The tour company is paying the cost of travel for the trip organizer and three additional chaperons. This is a non-school sponsored trip and the trip takes place during spring break.
What, as a teacher, would you define as "reasonable" reimbursement per traveling student? Would you disclose this amount to the parents that are paying for the trip? Would it surprise you to learn that some teachers could be earning as much as $12,000 for a trip like this? What are your thoughts on that?
As a promoter of educational travel, a teacher and a parent, I have my opinions but truly value the input of this group. Please take the time to reply with your thoughts.
Thank you, Anonymous
NETC Travel Voucher worth $200, good through 10/15/10. Offering at discount. Save some money.
Jon
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But a couple of points:
Sometimes teachers take it out on the sales reps because of communication received from the other departments in the tour company. Many of these departments are not even in the US. A local rep may work with a teacher and submit requests that are not honored by the vendor department. ...See More