An integral part of building the confidence required to entrust the arrangements for your school group’s Ski Trip or Educational Tour, is to meet the people who will actually be making all the arrangements for you. We would welcome the opportunity to visit your school and discuss with you personally the objectives for your proposed tour.
Yes. In accordance with the “Package Travel, Package Tours Regulations, 1992” all passengers booking with Inspired Travel Ltd are fully insured for the initial deposit(s) and subsequently the balance of all monies paid to us, including repatriation arising from cancellation or curtailment due to insolvency. This cover is through IGI, an ABTA approved insurer, reference INTRA-09/10. At the time of confirmation we will send the group leader with an insolvency certificate, as tangible evidence of the cover, to be held on behalf of the group members. The majority of our tours and winter sports holidays are accessible by coach. For air tours, flights are arranged through an IATA agent in order to provide full ATOL protection. The remaining elements of a trip are then covered by the IGI policy.
Yes! Recognising the necessity of ensuring that the highest levels of security and safety are adhered to on all of our trips and tours we have developed a comprehensive generic risk assessment and safety management system thereby ensuring that all of our suppliers adhere to stringent safety guidelines which we demand and which our customers expect.
Yes, we automatically include travel insurance in your tour price unless you advise us you do not require this at the enquiry stage. If you have your own insurance please tell us and we will amend your tour price accordingly. We will then send you an insurance indemnity form to send back to us to officially confirm that alternative insurance cover has been arranged for your group.
We recommend booking as early as possible. As a general guideline our tours generally book between 9 and 18 months in advance. For instance, if you are looking to tour in July, we recommend that you get in contact with us by September the preceding year; in most instances winter sports trips have a longer lead time. This allows us to ensure you get the best available rates and reservations for your hotels, flights and concert venues. However, if you do have to enquire within 9 months of your tour departing, contact one of our representatives as soon as possible and they will do everything they can to ensure your trip success.
At Inspired Travel we try to understand the needs of our Party Leaders and therefore aim to be as flexible as possible. Therefore we work at meeting your requirements rather than the other way round. Through years of experience of working with a large selection of highly recommended independently owned suppliers we are able to offer tailor made tours and day trips at any time of year without it costing you extra.
No. Making a provisional booking only means that we can then advise you of what is available for your chosen dates. Accommodation, coaches, ferry crossings and excursions can be in high demand at certain times of the year, so we strongly advise you to make a provisional booking early on to get the best for your group. We will offer more than one option at the time of quotation and would ask that you inform us of your preference, or not, in the time frame we suggest. We will then give you an option period when you can promote your trip and form your group.
Your deposit is required before we confirm your booking. Hotels provide us with an option date and if we don’t confirm your booking before this date, then it is cancelled. We can provide you with a proforma invoice for your Finance Office if this is required.
a) As standard for all day trips we require a £20 per payer deposit. Deposits will be due as soon as your party has been formed and the final balance will be due 4 weeks before departure.
b) For Tours (i.e., trips which include accommodation) we require only a £40 per paying person as deposit. Deposits will usually be due as soon as your party has been formed. Some accommodation may give an option date for payment of deposits and we will inform you of this as appropriate. Normally, a second deposit of £50 is due 8 weeks after the first, with the final balance due 10 weeks before the date of departure.
c) For winter sports holidays we require an initial deposit of £80 per paying person. Deposits will usually be due as soon as your party has been formed. Some accommodation may give an option date for payment of deposits and we will inform you of this as appropriate. Normally, a second deposit of £120 is due 8 weeks after the first, and a third deposit of £120 due 8 weeks after the second. The final balance due 10 weeks before the date of departure.
The payment structure reflects the cost of the tour or holiday and the deposits to paid on a groups behalf in advance of the final balance.
Inspired Travel is also aware that on occasion these deadlines are not always easily achievable and we endeavour to be as flexible as possible.
We require information about each member of your group (including all responsible accompanying adults) such as their full name, D o B, age at time of travel, gender, medical conditions or medication being taken & any special diets. It will soon be a requirement for us to collect additional information such as passport numbers.
This information must be received by us as soon as you have finalised your group lists, preferably when you send the Final passenger List 13 weeks before departure. The information is used to create the final balance invoice and make the appropriate rooming /meal arrangements on your tour. Once Final Tour Details have been sent to you, any further changes to these lists may incur a £25 administration charge.
This happens on a regular basis and is not a major problem as long as we are informed immediately. Once we have received written confirmation (by fax or e mail) of a change in numbers, our Finance Manager will issue a new invoice with your revised balance. Please bear in mind that a drop in numbers may mean that the tour price moves into the next price band in your quotation and as a result the cost per student may increase. Please refer to our Booking Conditions for further details concerning refunds/cancellation charges. It is therefore advisable to ensure that you request a significant non-returnable deposit from your students when planning your tour.
Contact us as soon as you can, we will always try to accommodate extra people as long as there is room on the coach and in the accommodation.
We discuss with party leaders the requirements for their proposed winter sports trip/study tour, so hopefully we will quote only for what is requested. All elements of the price will be listed and so will the exclusions, for example meals on the journeys and possibly some activities which are payable locally. If there are omissions or inclusions we are happy to forward a revised quotation. We aim to provide inclusive, accurate prices with as few extras as possible.
We will include guides as appropriate for your tour for visits to antiquities, museums etc as itemised on your itinerary. For Winter Sports trips there will be a dedicated representative for each group/combined small group. We are happy to exclude guides from an itinerary at the request of a group leader if, for example, they know the venue/destination well.
We offer one free place in eight on all of our coach tours and one free place in ten on our flight tours. For day tours there is one free place in ten. However, we understand that some LEAs insist on a higher ratio of staff to students and are happy to quote you for the number of free teacher places you require.
Unfortunately no, free places are provided to help ensure the safe supervision of the students.
We are primarily coach specialists as the majority of our itineraries do not require flights. If you do wish to fly to your destination we can make your flight reservation through an IATA agent to ensure you have ATOL protection, supply a coach, accommodation, book venues and arrange the guide(s).
Yes. However, they are not always suited to group travel. Our experience has shown that scheduled airlines offer greater reliability and peace of mind for groups. If you would like us to provide you with a quote based on a low-cost airline we are happy to do so. Please also note that Ryanair do not accept collective passports – they are not recognised by the online booking process.
All passengers with non-UK passports should check with the office from which their passport was issued to check entry and visa regulations for the destination country. It is also important to check that the holder of the passport may travel through all countries en-route. Please remember that non-UK nationals are not permitted to travel on a collective passport.
This is entirely at the discretion of the Party Leader. Some Party Leaders prefer the security of a collective passport while others prefer only to take children with their own passports. The cost is £39.00 and covers up to 50 people (under 18 only). On day trips this cost must be borne by the group; however, on tours (with overnight stays) we deduct this from the total cost of the trip where a collective passport is required.
Please note it is the Party Leaders’ responsibility to apply for the passport and that, from 1st January 2005, any questions on this matter should be raised directly with the Home Office Identity and Passport Service. The only method for making this application is online
Yes.
Inspired Travel is more than happy to assist you in gaining support for your tour. We can help you gauge interest in the tours and proposed destinations through personal meetings and presentations, or host a parents evening to answer any questions parents may have.