One of the biggest barriers to arranging school trips at the moment is cost. So, making savings where you can really helps families to afford these important educational opportunities for their children.
Here are our top tips on getting the best flight prices.
Travel during term time
We’re hearing from more and more Group Leaders that they’re being asked to arrange school trips (at least, partly) over weekends and holidays. Obviously, this does save money on cover required, but in many ways it’s a false economy.
Travelling during holidays, or even over the weekends, means you’ll be competing with other tourists for seats on the plane. And this pushes prices up.
If you can travel during term time, there’ll be fewer tourists trying to get the same flight as you, so prices should be cheaper.
Travel midweek
This ties in with our first point really, but flight prices are generally higher on weekends, Fridays and Mondays. Again, the reason for this is that more tourists are able to travel over weekends and so there’s more competition for seats on those flights.
Midweek flights are typically much cheaper so, if you can, we recommend you go for them.
Be flexible
Easy for us to say, right? But, basically, the more flexibility you can give us in terms of when you travel, the more likely it is that we’ll be able to get you cheaper flights.
As well as travel dates and times, this could also mean flexibility on airline and even airport.
Of course, we know that’s not always possible or within your power but if it is, you could save students quite a bit on their overall trip cost.
Book carry-on luggage only
This really goes without saying but if you can get away with just booking carry-on luggage, that’ll save you bags of money.
That’s because the budget airlines all charge quite a bit for hold luggage and often you don’t really need that much for just a couple of days away.
Also, only taking carry-on luggage is going to save you loads of time at the airport. You’ll be able to head straight to security and you’ll fly through passport control and straight on to your transfer the other side. And you won’t have to endure the epic struggle that is baggage reclaim with a group of teenagers. Win.
Book as early as possible
Our final tip is also our number one tip for school trips. Book early.
We know we go on about it but, genuinely, it’s the best way to make sure all elements of your trip are as cheap as possible. That’s because it’ll give you the most flexibility to choose the best options for your group.
It also means your students’ families will have longer to pay for or save up for the trip. This makes it much more manageable for them and should mean more students can join you.
So, shall we start planning your next trip?
Get in touch today for your no-obligation quote.