Flight considerations
When we are providing you with a quote it may be up to 18 months or more ahead of your anticipated trip dates. At that point, flights may not yet be on sale and as such we are quoting an estimated price. Although we do our best to provide you with what we think is a realistic price for the flight, it is difficult to be 100% accurate and therefore we strongly recommend that you factor in a contingency to deal with any fluctuations.
In the chart below we have set out our recommended contingency for each destination whether you are flying on a scheduled or low-cost airline. Your travel specialist will be able to advise on the appropriate amount based on the time of year you are travelling and the size of your group.
Contingency per person
| Destination | Scheduled airline | Low-cost airline* |
|---|---|---|
| Iceland | £50-100 | £50-150 |
| Italy | £50-150 | £50-150 |
| Azores | £50-100 | N/A |
| Norway | £50-75 | £50-75 |
| Montenegro | £50-150 | £50-150 |
| Costa Rica | £100-300 | N/A |
*Please note, there are certain peak travel dates during school holidays where we would recommend a contingency £100 higher than listed if travelling with a low-cost airline. In general, flight prices will be higher during school holidays, so please do allow for this when thinking about your travel dates and how much contingency you need to add to your advertised trip price. Please do speak to your travel specialist for further insight and advice.
Be ready for release date
To allow us to achieve the best possible flight price for your trip it is important to consider a few factors ahead of time, especially when choosing a low-cost airline.
- Be flexible with your dates and times of travel. We will tell you to our knowledge what the times and dates are likely to be however this could change when the flights are released. Prepare for this by telling the parents and carers of your students that there could be some flexibility of your dates and times of travel.
- Collect copies of your students’ passports. Low-cost airlines often charge to change information on a booking so avoid unnecessary charges by having your students’ names as per their passport at the time of booking.
- Collect large deposits early. Once low-cost airlines release their flights we need to pay the full amount for the tickets. Make sure you have this covered in your deposit plus some contingency to make sure your flights can be secured.
What if the flight price is cheaper than expected?
If you do not need to use your contingency fund you can either put it towards your overseas float or return this to the parents. Remember it can be easier to return money than ask for more in a panic when flights are released.