Taking a group of other people’s children abroad is obviously a huge responsibility. Choosing the right travel partner can really lighten your load and make the whole experience a pleasure.
But with several specialist tour operators all offering similar things, how do you choose the best one for your group?
Start by asking four key questions:
- What are their accreditations and do they offer financial stability?
- Do they specialise in school trips?
- What experience do they have?
- Will they offer me the highest level of customer service?
What are their accreditations and do they offer financial stability?
You’re in a bit of a weird position when organising a school trip.
You’re responsible for choosing the trip and everything that goes with that, but it’s not actually you that pays for it. In many ways, that actually puts more pressure on you to make sure that you’re making a good choice in terms of value for money and that the money parents will pay for the trip is properly protected.
The best way to do that is to check the company you’re planning to book with has all the appropriate accreditations.
ABTA, ATOL, ABTOT and Package Travel Regulations Explained
The first thing you’ll want to look for is whether they’re a member of ABTA – the Association of British Travel Agents (in case you’re wondering, we are).
Why is this important?
ABTA is the UK’s leading association of travel agents and aims to promote high standards within the travel industry. It does this by requiring members to follow a strict code of conduct.
This governs how members manage changes to bookings and how they respond to customer complaints. It also has strict rules on the accuracy of its advertising and the fairness of its trading terms.
So, if you book with an ABTA member, you know you’ll be treated fairly.
On top of this, ABTA provides protection for consumers who book with their members. If a member tour operator goes bust, for example, ABTA will make sure you receive a full refund if you haven’t travelled. And if it happens while you’re away, they’ll make sure you’re able to continue as planned.
If you’re planning on flying, you’ll also need to check that your flights are ATOL-protected (yep, you guessed it, all ours are).
ATOL is short for Air Travel Organiser’s Licence. It provides similar financial protection to an ABTA bond but is specifically for air tours. So, if your tour operator goes bust and they held an ATOL, you’ll get a refund if you’ve not travelled yet or (if you’re already abroad) you’ll be able to continue your trip with minimal disruption.
So, you can see why these two accreditations are so important. We’re also members of ABTOT.
And just a side note here if you’re thinking about DIYing your trip.
If you arrange your trip without the help of a school tour operator, you won’t benefit from the protection that accreditations like these will give you.
And if you arrange several elements of the tour yourself and ‘sell’ it to the parents as package, then your employer will be bound by the Package Travel Regulations.
Basically, this means the school would need to provide financial protection for passengers on the trip (and this could be very costly for the school if anything goes wrong).
Booking with a fully-accredited school tour operator would pass this responsibility on to them.
Do they specialise in school trips?
Some ‘mainstream’ travel companies will arrange a school trip for you (the logistical side, at least). But to get the most educational value from your trip, you’re best booking with a specialist tour operator.
That’s because they should be able to help you craft an itinerary that brings your curriculum to life. And they’ll understand that school groups have very specific requirements that other groups just don’t.
There are quite a few companies now claiming to be experts in school trips. Luckily, there are a couple of key markers that can confirm whether they really are.
Firstly, check whether they’re a member of the School Travel Forum (STF). This non-profit organisation requires members to:
- Understand and facilitate the needs of educational travel
- Manage safety effectively (check out our Safety Management System for more information on this)
- Offer fair terms and conditions, as well as the best financial security
- Be fully inspected every year by independent experts
You also need to look out for the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge. Holding this national accreditation means the tour operator:
- Offers ‘what it says on the tin’
- Takes account of the needs of users
- Has an emphasis on ‘learning and skills outcomes’
- Ensures the quality of the learning process
- Operates in a healthy and safe environment (with effective risk management)
Guess what? We’re a member of the School Travel Forum and hold the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge. Find out more about our accreditations.
What experience does the company have?
We’ve been arranging school trips for nearly 40 years (we started in 1986) and there’s very little that surprises us now. And that’s a good thing, because it means we have procedures in place to help us quickly find solutions to pretty much anything that crops up.
So, you don’t have to go with us (obviously). But we would strongly encourage you to choose an experienced company.
Some tour operators talk about their ‘collective’ experience – be very wary of this.
You could have a company that’s been operating for one year, with 80 staff all newly recruited when the business started. ‘Collectively’, they can say they have 80 years of experience…but common sense tells us they actually have just one.
Companies with decades of experience (which is really what you’re looking for) will be straight up and tell you how long the company has been arranging trips.
Will they offer me the highest level of customer service?
So, you’ve now confirmed you’re only dealing with well-established, experienced and fully-accredited school trip companies.
The final thing to think about is just as important – are they actually going to provide you with the support you need throughout your trip-planning journey.
Questions to ask include:
- Are they able to provide you with expert advice to help you get the most out of your tour?
- Will you be able to contact them in an emergency (at any time of day or night)?
- Do they have multilingual staff who can liaise with suppliers on your behalf so things don’t get lost in translation?
- How have they dealt with unexpected situations in the past?
- Can they provide any learning support to boost the educational value of your trip (e.g. expert guides, town trails, workbooks or lessons at a specialist language school)?
If you’re arranging a music tour, you’ll want to know that your tour operator can be able to advise you on the best destinations and venues for your ensemble, repertoire and tour objectives. And you’ll want to know that they’ll promote your concert in-resort, so that you actually have an audience to perform to.
Likewise, if you’re arranging a sports tour, you’ll want to know your school trip company is helping you to create the best possible tour for your team, whether that’s arranging friendly fixtures with appropriate local opposition, entering your team into suitable but challenging tournaments or arranging professional coaching with your favourite clubs.
And for ski trips, you’ll want to know that you’re getting the best resort, accommodation and instruction for your skiers.
You’ll get all this and more with Halsbury.
We exist to make it easier for you to provide these unforgettable experiences for your students. And we’ve been doing it for the best part of four decades, so we know what works.
We’ll work closely with you throughout the process and when you’re on your trip we’ll be just a phone call away (24 hours a day).
Many of us are linguists, so we can speak directly to suppliers to make sure everything runs smoothly for you.
And all of us are school travel experts. So, just let us know what your learning objectives and requirements are and we’ll make sure your trip achieves everything you hoped for. We’ll be able to advise you on which activities and visits will bring your curriculum to life and we’ll let you know about any additional learning support available.
So, shall we get started on your next adventure?
Get in touch today for more information or to request a quote.