FAQs

We're sure you'll have some questions about booking a group tour - if you can't find the answer you're looking for, feel free to call our groups department on 01564 797 021.

YOUR BOOKING

Q.   What information do you need from me?

A.   We will need the dates you would like to travel, destination if you have selected one, number of passengers and budget. However, we will guide you through the information required on the telephone or by email.

Q.   Can you suggest new locations and itineraries?

A.   Yes indeed, we can suggest some great new locations for a tour. We would also be pleased to advise of hotels used before which we can highly recommend together with itineraries from other group organisers that you can adapt to your own requirements

Q.   How long can you hold accommodation for me?

A.   We can usually hold accommodation provisionally for 2 weeks, but this can be extended for you upon discussion with the hotel.

Q.   What information do you need from my members?

A.   For all our holidays we need their full names please. (forename and surname)

Q.    What if some of my members have special requirements?

A.    In order to ensure your total enjoyment of your holiday, we will be pleased to advise and assist with any special requests, however large or small. Our reservation system is designed to ensure that all such requests are forwarded to our hotels and that they are met, wherever possible and practical. If in doubt please don't hesitate to ask - we'll do our utmost to help!

Q.    What if one of our members has a disability?

A.    Don't worry. All we ask is that you let us know as much information as possible about their disability at the time of booking and we can make the necessary arrangements with the hotel.

Q.    If a member of my party cancels, will they lose their money?

A. We will agree cancelation terms with you in advance. If you need to cancel a booking for any reason, please notify us straight away and we will do our best to help through discussions with the hotel concerned. For further details, please see our Trading Charter.

Q.    What if a member of my group drops out but I have someone to take their place?

A.    Providing you have someone to take their place immediately, no cancellation charges will be made. We will also waive our normal administration charge for groups that make changes up to 6 weeks before the departure date. Please see our Trading Charter for cancellation charges.

Q.    What if one of my members cancels and this leaves someone in a twin/double room on their own? Will they have to pay any extra?

A.    The remaining passenger will have sole occupancy of the twin/double room, or we will move them to a single room if available. The hotel may request a supplement for this however we will negotiate the best terms possible with the hotel.

Q.    Do we need to take out insurance?

A. If your tour is to an overseas destination, then for your own peace of mind we do ask that all passengers take out travel insurance. For UK holidays the choice is yours however we always recommend that passengers have travel insurance cover. We have a policy and we can offer premiums too.

Q.    What if our group or some of our members already have their own insurance cover?

A.    All we ask is that you ensure that they have adequate insurance cover in place.

PAYING FOR YOUR HOLIDAY

Q.    I've never booked with you before - are you financially secure?

A.    Yes 100% secure. When you book a holiday with us, you and your group members have complete financial security. All our coach holidays are protected by our long established BCH bond (no. 1183) and our air holidays are protected by our ATOL license (no 6390) which is a licence issued by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Q.     When do I need to send deposits in?

A.    Upon confirmation of booking we ask for a £50.00 deposit per person. Depending upon the date of the tour, we agree with you a deposit payment date of 3 months from the date of booking. This is to enable you to collect the deposits from your group members. At the same time as paying your deposit, we ask for the insurance premium. Once again, we are happy to discuss these details as part of our 'tailor made' arrangements for your tour.

Q.    When do I have to send in the final payment?

A. The exact date is printed on the confirmation invoices, which is normally 6 weeks prior to departure and again the date would be agreed with you.

Q.    How many free places do we get for our group?

A. The number of free places available depends upon the number of passengers travelling in your group and the number that you want! Conventionally we offer one free place for every twenty full fare paying passengers and 2 free places once 40 passengers have booked.

Q.    Do you want individual bookings and payments from each person, or just one from me to cover all my group?

A.    We can do whatever is easier for you? We can easily process individual bookings and payments or you can collect it all and make one payment for the entire group - the choice is yours. We also accept credit and debit cards for those that wish to pay by this method.

Q. Will we have to pay any extra taxes or local charges whilst on holiday?

A.    No - all local and hotel taxes are included on your invoice so there are no 'hidden costs'. This applies to every holiday we offer.

PASSPORT AND VISA'S

Q.    Do I need a passport?

A.    If the Holiday involves travel outside of the UK and you are a British citizen then you do need your passport. If you are not a British citizen you should check whether you require a visa. For holiday outside the UK you should also obtain a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This will ensure that you can obtain medical treatment if you become ill while on holiday. You can obtain an EHIC from the Department of Health on-line or by telephone.

THE COACH AND DRIVER

Q.    Can we choose the size of our coach?

A.    Generally we offer a 49 seater executive coach on all group tours. If your numbers are above this, we can also provide a 53 seater executive coach subject to availability at the time of making a booking. All our executive coaches are air conditioned and fitted with seat belts, toilet/WC, hot/ cold drinks facilities, DVD and reclining seats.

Q.    Can we choose our driver?

A. Yes you certainly can and we will do our utmost to provide that driver of your tour. However, this cannot always be guaranteed due to his/her prior commitments. We will also do our best for you to meet your tour driver before departure so that you can discuss the details of your holiday beforehand.

Q.    Can the coach pick our group up from our village?

A. We generally offer 3 pick-up points of your choice. However, your tour is as mentioned before 'tailor - made' for you, so you can have more if you need them! However please note that this will increase the amount of time that your passengers at the first pick-up will spend on the coach!

Q.    How are coach seats allocated?

A.    You can choose reserved seating for your group or free seating. If you choose reserved seating, we can either allocate your group members their seats on a 'first come first served' basis or we can give you a coach seating plan for you to decide who sits where! The choice is again - yours!

ITINERARY

Q.    Can you help me to plan and organise my itinerary?

A.    Yes of course, this is all part of our service. We would meet with you and discuss your itinerary requirements, make all the bookings, agree all the timings and produce a colour itinerary for you to distribute to your group. But only if you want us to! Wherever possible, we will also offer you a meeting with your driver to go through timings and details to ensure that your group obtains maximum enjoyment from their tour.

ASSISTANCE WITH SALES SUPPORT

Q.    I may need help to promote my tour - how can you help me?

A.    We would be delighted to come along to one of your meetings to help present the tour to your members. We can provide a slide show presentation and we can offer a questions and answer session too. We can also advertise your holiday on our website to other group organisers and their members. Please just tell us what support you need.

Q.    What happens if the numbers for my tour are lower than expected?

A.    We can take a number of actions to try to ensure your tour goes ahead. We can offer places on your tour to other groups; we can re-cost your tour if you feel that those already booked would accept an increased holiday cost, or we can look at providing a smaller coach at a lower cost; or we can offer a combination of these.

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