Travel Tips From the Pros

Planning Ahead

It’s always a good idea to plan ahead. To be honest, a little advance planning will greatly improve the quality of your trip. You have already taken the biggest step to a great trip by signing on ATS as your trip provider. Our company employs reliable, knowledgeable tour directors to make certain everything runs smoothly. Now, with a little thought ahead of time, we can work together to insure everyone, yes…. even YOU, the trip sponsor, enjoys the experience.

Here are a few helpful organizing tips from those who “have been there”:

1. Review the itinerary with your group and provide background material you deem important.

2. Meet with your chaperones and explain your “Rules of the Road.” This is the perfect time to discuss appropriate behavior, evening curfews and how to handle difficult situations.

3. Designate a “lead teacher” so the Tour Director can effectively and efficiently interact with a spokesperson for your group.

4. Break your large group into smaller groups by assigning each adult chaperone 10-12 students. This will be very helpful when you must break into smaller groups to tour museums or to eat “on your own.”  It’s also very helpful when accounting for all students. If each adult can account for their 10-12 students, busses can roll on time and the group can stay on schedule. Nothing makes a trip more miserable than trying to figure out which student(s) are missing when you are supposed to have 58 and you only count 53!

5. Let your Tour Director know of any special requirements your group may have such as vegetarian meals for some members or someone using crutches. We can help, but we have to know what you need!

6. If your travel involves the airlines, please keep “seat swapping” to a minimum. The airlines try to keep our groups together in block seating but occasionally that doesn’t happen. Nothing upsets a flight crew more than seat hopping. Please keep that under control.

7. For airline travel it’s also a good idea to tie an identical bright colored piece of yarn or strip of fabric to the handle of every checked bag for your group. ATS will provide you with group luggage tags, but it is also helpful to mark each bag with the yarn or fabric.  That way, when searching for your bags at a busy carousel, your group baggage will be easy to spot. 

8. Appoint one or two adults and five or six students to pull all the baggage for your group from the luggage carousel. This will cut down on congestion and confusion. The bags can be pulled by the small group of students and handed back to the rest of the group. 

A little organization in the beginning will save loads of time and heaps of frustration on your trip!

At the hotel

1. Hotel Check-in/check-out

Hotel check-in is after 4:00pm at most hotels. If your group arrives before 4:00pm all rooms may not be available. The room keys will be given to the tour director or group leader at check-in. Hotel checkout is at 11:00am. If your group checks out of the hotel after 11:00am you may be charged an additional fee.

                2. Room Blocks

Our hotels will do their best to keep your group close together, but because of extenuating circumstances (such as rooms not checking out that are scheduled to or because of the actual configuration of the rooms) that is not always possible. Be flexible and let your ATS Tour Director know of any problems.

                3. Room Inspection

Each chaperone should have a set of rooms for which they are responsible. They should inspect those rooms at check-in as well as check-out for damages. It makes it easy, too, if the same chaperone checks those rooms at curfew and collects the key cards from the rooms at check-out.        

4. Phone Calls and In-room Movies

Our hotels are instructed to turn off the telephones and pay movies in all our rooms. This is done to avoid additional charges at check-out.

                5. Luggage Handling

Most hotels do not provide luggage handling unless it arranged prior to your group’s arrival. However, most downtown hotels require groups to pay for luggage handling, due to labor union contracts, even if you do not use the services. In this situation Academic Travel Services generally includes the cost baggage handling for one (1) bag per person.

6. Quite Time

Most hotels will institute a “no noise” time. That time is usually 10:00 pm. However, if the noise is excessive before that hour the managers may well insist your group go to their rooms and stay there for the rest of the evening.

.               7. Hotels with pools

If you are staying at a hotel with a pool, please remind students of proper behavior and have an adequate number of adults in the pool area. **Special Note:  Towels can become a precious commodity at a busy hotel. Most supply “Pool Towel” at the pool. If you are planning to use the pool please inform your tour direct so that they can make sure the hotel provides adequate towels at poolside.

                8. Other helpful information

Keep your room doors at the hotel closed and locked, even when inside. Remind students that hotels are public places and that they should never wander around alone. Proper dress should be considered at all times.  We should never see PJ-clad students in elevators or in the lobby. Shoes should be worn at all times, especially in the lobby areas. Always have an adult on the floor when students are in their rooms to help with problems, answer questions and to keep order.

Gratuities:

1. Motorcoach Drivers:

If Academic Travel Services made the arrangements for your group’s motorcoach transportations, then we have included a gratuity for the driver. However, if you made your own arrangements then you will be responsible for the driver’s gratuity. If you are satisfied with the driver’s service it is customary to provide them a gratuity. We suggest $1.00 per person per day.

2. Restaurants:

All taxes and gratuities for restaurants that are scheduled by ATS are included in your trip.

                3. Tour Director:

Because we are not on site during your group’s tour we can not evaluate the performance of the group’s tour guide. Therefore, gratuity for your group’s tour director IS NOT included. However, it is customary and appreciated to tip your group’s tour director. An amount of $1 to $2 per day, per trip participant is customary and consistent with recommendations of most tour operators. Of course you should be guided by your own particular situation and judgment.

On the Motorcoach:

1. A lesson in Physics:

According to Sir Isaac Newton, “Bodies in motion stay in motion until met with an equal or greater force”. For the safety of all on board students should stay in their sets while the motorcoach is moving.

2. Restrooms:

On long trips restrooms are provide on the motorcoach. But keep in mind that there are holding tanks on the motorcoach to hold the sewage until it can be removed properly. Therefore, it is suggested that the restroom on the motorcoach should be used sparingly. Also, not all restrooms have sinks for hand washing. It is suggested that you have a bottle of hand sanitizer available for your group.

                3. Trash:

Appoint a “Clean Sweep Crew” for each coach to insure it is left tidy and that all personal belongings are claimed. The members of the "crew" can be alternated so that each person will have a chance to contribute.

4. Driver’s Hours and rest

There are Federal Government rules that determine just how much a bus driver can drive your group each day and it’s not safe nor wise nor legal to exceed the US DOT rules. Academic Travel and the coach company have taken the US DOT rules of operation into account when your trip was designed and priced and we ask you to do the same while your trip is in progress. Sometimes when clients ask to change their trip “mid-stream”, we can’t say “Yes!” even though we REALLY want to because of the US DOT rules. It is a major violation if your driver is caught by the US DOT and he is in violation of the rules.

The following components apply to all commercial drivers after they have accumulated at least eight consecutive hours off duty

15-Hour Rule

A driver may not remain on duty for more than 15 hours. That period includes both “on-duty driving” and “on-duty, non-driving” time. Following those 15 hours, a driver must be “off duty” (with no responsibilities to the company or the group) for at least eight consecutive hours prior to returning to duty.

10-Hour Rule

A driver cannot drive for more than 10 hours (cumulative total) during any duty shift following eight consecutive hours off duty. However, adverse conditions and acknowledged emergency situations may offer exceptions.

70-Hour Rule

On-duty time cannot exceed 70 hours for any period of eight consecutive days. Remember that the driver is on duty when he/she prepares the vehicle for departure, conducts mandated pre- and post-trip mechanical inspections of the vehicle or experiences delays in traffic or while waiting for travel groups to board the vehicle.

During the Trip:

                1. When visiting Attractions:

Lines are a reality for many sites. Teens do not like waiting in line! Explaining this in advance may help eliminate, or at least keep to a minimum, the complaining!

Remember that many of the public places you'll visit may be closed from time to time because of security or a private function. Should this happen during your trip; your ATS tour director will assist you in rescheduling.

Proper behavior in public places should be stressed. Running, roughhousing, and loud voices will be met with stern looks and even removal from some public places.

iPods/MP3 Players, CD players, earphones, etc. should not be taken into museums or other public sites. They are fine on the bus as long as a city tour is not being conducted, but they have no place in museums and public places.

                2. General guidelines while traveling:

Many public places do not allow food, drink or chewing gum. Preparing students ahead of time will save them from being asked to throw away a just opened drink. Bottled water is generally allowed.

Keep all belongings close to them at all times. The camera they left on the museum cafeteria table will most likely be gone forever.

Don’t “flash your cash” (or jewelry) in view of others.

Shoplifting:

Theme parks, stores, and attractions utilize surveillance cameras and undercover security to catch shoplifters. Shoplifting is a very serious crime and theses businesses will prosecute anyone caught shoplifting, including students under the age of 18 years old.

Medical Release Forms:

It is suggested that you have a completed Medical Release Form for each student traveling with your group in case of emergency treatment is needed. If you school does not already have a Medical Release Form, Academic Travel Services can provide a sample.

Tour Escort & Bus Driver Gratuities

Almost all of the trips that Academic Travel designs and sells are designed with all taxes and tips included. However, there is one gratuity that has not been included and that is the gratuity to your tour director. Because ATS pays him/her directly, he/she is not included in this gratuity package. It is both customary and appreciated for a group to give a gratuity to the tour director in much the same way as it is to give a gratuity to a waiter or waitress in a restaurant. Our tour escorts work very hard for your group to ensure that your trip operates smoothly. The size of the gratuity is up to you but we suggest about $1 to $2 per person per day and if you can’t afford this much then give what you can. As a general rule, if ATS has contracted for your motorcoach, bus driver gratuities are included in our package price; additional gratuities are at your discretion if you feel that he/she has done an outstanding job. If ATS has not contracted for your motorcoach, a gratuity of $30 to $40 per day is customary