FranceApril 10, 2015 | 4 min read
Hidden school trip costs can make a seemingly affordable proposal much more expensive once families begin paying. Teachers should compare what each price includes, what remains optional, and which charges may appear later. The educational travel industry has a long history of advertising low starting prices that climb substantially once insurance, meals, supplements.
Membership fees are added. Here is what to look for and what to ask before you commit to a company or an itinerary. The hidden costs of educational travel are the most common reason a school trip turns out to be more expensive than the advertised price.
Travel insurance is not optional for a student group travelling internationally. It covers medical emergencies, medical evacuation, trip cancellation, lost baggage. A range of other situations that arise on school trips with more regularity than most teachers expect. Some tour companies list their starting price without insurance included.
Means the number you see on the website is not the number your students will pay. Ask explicitly: is travel insurance included in the quoted price. If so, what does it cover? A policy that covers medical emergency and repatriation but not trip cancellation is meaningfully different from a comprehensive policy.
Request the summary of coverage in writing before signing anything. Prométour includes comprehensive group travel insurance in all pricing and provides a written coverage summary to teachers on request.
Some student travel companies charge a membership fee per traveller, described variously as a registration fee. An enrolment fee, or a programme fee. This fee applies to every student on the tour and adds directly to the per-person cost without adding anything to the itinerary.
If a company’s pricing documentation includes any line item that applies per traveller and is not a direct cost of accommodation. Transport, or activity, ask what it covers. If the answer is administrative or organisational overhead, it is a fee you should compare against companies that absorb those costs into their margin. Prométour charges no membership fees of any kind.
Some educational travel companies price their tours on the assumption that travel and transfers occur on weekdays. If your itinerary includes weekend travel. Most school trips inevitably do, a weekend supplement may be added to the quoted price. This charge is not always disclosed prominently in the initial pricing.
Ask specifically: are there any supplements that apply based on the day of the week we travel or the weekend dates included in the itinerary? If yes, request the full supplemented price for your specific dates before comparing it against other companies’ quotes.
Some companies impose fees on students who pay after a specified deadline. Sometimes framed as an early payment discount rather than a late fee. The practical effect is the same: students who pay after the deadline pay more than the advertised price. Ask what the payment schedule looks like, whether there are penalties for late payment.
Whether the advertised price assumes payment by a specific date. Prométour charges no late payment fees. The only additional charge we impose beyond the quoted price is a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee for returned payments.
Some itineraries that describe themselves as all-inclusive include meals but not beverages or desserts at those meals. Over a ten-day trip with three meals daily, the accumulated cost of student-paid drinks adds up to a meaningful figure. Ask specifically: when the itinerary says a meal appears, does that include beverages and dessert, or only the food itself? If the answer is food only, add approximately five to ten dollars per student per meal day to the real cost of the tour.
Itineraries described as full or comprehensive sometimes include blocks of “free time” that are. In practice, gaps where students will spend money on activities the tour company did not include in the price. These optional excursions are sometimes offered through the tour company at an additional per-student cost.
Sometimes students are simply left to find their own way. Ask for a full day-by-day itinerary before committing to a price. Identify any gaps that would require additional student spending. A well-constructed all-inclusive tour has no gaps. Every day is accounted for, and students know in advance what they will pay.
Some companies quote prices based on their lowest-tier accommodation and charge additional fees for standard or higher-quality hotels. The baseline accommodation in these cases may be three-star hotels at best. The upgrade path can be expensive. Ask what hotel category appears in the quoted price and.
If possible, the name of the specific hotel or hotels that would be used for your dates. A named hotel can be researched; a hotel category cannot.
A transparent educational tour price includes airfare, all accommodation at the hotels named in the itinerary. All meals as described, all activities and entrance fees on the itinerary. A qualified bilingual tour director for the full duration of the trip, comprehensive travel insurance. All ground transportation.
The only variable costs should be personal spending money and any optional activities students choose to do on free afternoons. If a quote includes all of those elements and nothing has been identified as a separate line item. The price you are looking at is the price your students will pay. Prométour’s pricing works exactly this way: one number, nothing hidden, no surprises.
If you would like to compare a Prométour quote against what you have been offered elsewhere. Reach out and we will provide a fully detailed, transparent itinerary and price for any destination we serve. Browse trips to France, Spain, Québec, or Costa Rica to see what a fully inclusive itinerary looks like. The curriculum connections and logistical support available make this one of the most rewarding programmes to build.
