TRAVELLING

Trip Details Information regarding your trip will be forwarded to you around ten weeks before departure. These will include departure from school, the ferry time, the eta in rsort, the hotel room list and the breakfast voucher. Confirmed details will be sent two weeks prior to departure and do not usually change from the previously supplied provisional details by very much, if at all. Supplying the hotel room list to you allows you to allocate students to rooms prior to arrival and we usually see groups slotting into their hotel rooms in about 15 minutes.

Your Coach We use either 49 or 51 seat coaches in the main and 70 seat double deck vehicles. All our coaches are fitted with lap seat belts, but it is the responsibility of the group organisers to ensure that they are used. It is a legal requirement that they be used by all passengers. Video – DVD Most of the coaches we use have now been upgraded to DVD players, but there are some still with VHS video players. We will try to confirm what will be on your coach at the same time as supplying final details, but there are occasions when operational considerations mean that we have to make last minute changes. If this is the case, we will inform you as soon as possible. Please bring along a selection of entertainment that will suit your group. However, on a shared coach, we will insist that nothing above a PG certificate film is shown.

Sharing a Coach When your group does not entirely fill a coach, we may fill empty seats with another group, or with seasonal employees travelling out to resort. We usually prioritise the group with the largest numbers, and ask them to give us their preference for blocks of seats. We will slot anybody else in around those seats.

On-board toilet The use of the toilet is sometimes a contentious issue. It is provided as an emergency solution, and is intended for liquids only. However, the novelty factor sometimes ensures that it is full before it gets to Dover, which obviates the benefit. There are limited places where it can legally be emptied, and it also takes time to empty, wash out, and recharge with the chemical disinfectant. We now ask the group organiser to take the key and issue it to the students as s/he sees fit, and we find that this solution works well, and minimises the misuse.

Drivers Drivers hours are strictly regulated, and checked by tachograph, so they are under a fair amount of pressure to get the trip finished. Driving a coach is a highly responsible job, and going through the night is a difficult task, however well prepared the drivers are. We do try to help them along as much as possible, and we ask our group organisers to do the same, by being on time for all the restarts throughout the journey, and by keeping the students under good control whilst the coach is moving. Ensuring the students wear their seat belt is a good way of ensuring they are sat in their seat. If there is room, we may retain the twin seats immediately behind the drivers for one of them to sleep on when they are not driving, and we would ask for your cooperation in this matter.

Outbound Breakfast Outbound Breakfast The breakfast stop (inclusive in the cost of your holiday) is timed to be at around 08.30 on the Sunday morning. It is a continental breakfast, and ensures that the students have a hot drink at an important time of the day, and a small but worthwhile meal. We stop at a particular motorway service station which is pre-booked to expect a coach party. The group does need to think about either a few euros to buy a snack lunch and a drink, or taking a packed lunch with them.

Arrival in Resort We time the journey to have the coach arrive in resort in the mid to late afternoon. There is little point in arriving earlier, since there is not much to do and you usually cannot check into the hotel before this time. However, hotel check-in is well organised, and quick, there is then access to the shower, and a change of clothes. We would also expect to complete equipment hire on the arrival afternoon, and be ready to start bright and early on the Monday morning.

The Return Journey We depart resort on your specified evening, after a full day skiing, a shower and change of clothes, and a full meal. Departure is usually around 18.00, and the coach will travel directly to Calais, making only comfort and driver changeover stops on the way.

The Ferry - Return The return ferry is timed for around 07.00 the following morning. There is a breakfast supplied on board with vouchers issued on boarding, and this is a hot meal, with a hot drink. The group will arrive into Dover at around 08.00, and then depart straight away for the school premises.

Arrival Day

Arrival Day This is definitely the most difficult day of the week, for all members of the group. Everybody is tired after a long journey, suitcases are heavy, there is a lot to remember, and new surroundings to get to grips with. If the group organiser thinks the group is up to it, we can organise an “Orientation tour” of the resort and the town, and this forms part of our “Risk Assessment”. However, although preferable, it is not vital it happens on the first evening, and it can equally happen on the Monday. Please ask if you would like us to organise this.

Hotel Room List We will supply you with a hotel room list well in advance of departure, and you will be able to slot your group into the rooms that have been allocated to you. You will previously have had a chance to query this, and resolve anything that is not clear, or which does not seem to work. Getting the group into the hotel rooms should be the work of around 15 minutes, and most of this time will be taken up with actually getting the luggage off the coach and into the correct place. All hotel rooms that we use have en-suite facilities, and rooms are rarely for more than four.

Fire Alarm Drill We contract our hotels to provide a fire alarm drill on the group’s arrival, or shortly after, and if requested. Please speak to your representative if you would like this to be carried out.

Ski Pass Photos At the time of writing, a ski pass photo is still required in Bardonecchia, but not in any of our other resorts. Please have this available for all members of the group on arrival, and hand them to your representative. We would appreciate being given only one photo per person, and no duplicates.

Equipment Issue There is usually time to ensure that everyone is fitted out with hired equipment on the arrival night. It does help if a pair of socks is easily available in hand luggage, but this is not essential. Some larger groups may have some members still to be fitted out on the Monday morning, and there is lots of time to do this before lessons. We go to great lengths to ensure that boots fit properly, and are comfortable, but sometimes it is difficult to get it right on the first attempt. We will change boots as often as necessary to achieve a comfortable fit, and we would appreciate your help in ensuring that students don’t spend the whole week in uncomfortable boots, because they are afraid of complaining.

Organising Lesson Groups Experience tells us that the most effective and quickest way of organising groups is to leave the instructors to get on with it. On the first morning, we normally split the groups into three – total beginners, one weekers, and those who have skied more than this. Then we leave the instructors to get on with their job. Average group sizes are ten, although these can vary from eight through to twelve to accommodate different ability levels. For a group of forty students, we would supply four instructors.

By the end of the first day, the groups will be functioning just fine. There may need to be some minor adjustment on the morning of the second day, to compensate for the very fast or slow learners, or the very nervous, and the instructors will be alive to the need to move skiers up or down according to the rate at which they learn, and this – if necessary, although it would be unusual – throughout the whole of the week.

The quality of the Italian ski instruction is something that is favourably commented on by nearly all of our group organisers, especially if they have never experienced it before. The instructors are calm, patient and good-humoured, and there is a lot of laughter during the lessons. They also understand the safety implications of school groups, and we have very clear understandings about where the lessons start, where they finish, and at what time.

Progress from the start to the end of the week is usually dramatic, and gratifying for all parties – instructors, accompanying teachers and especially the students.

There are some considerations to bear in mind, and which, for the sake of clarity and transparency we explain here.

COACH TRAVEL
When we offer coach travel,we offer a seat on the coach per person booked to travel with your group. We retain the option to use the other seats to sell to other customers, to transport temporary staff to and from resort, and if there is a spare pair of seats at the front of the coach, for the drivers to rest on whilst they are not driving.

Retaining a coach for sole use by small groups can be done, by agreement. Otherwise, we will endeavour not to use the coach for people outside of your group if your group reaches 40 paying passengers, plus whatever number of free staff.

Please note that when we offer spouse and family discounts for group organisers, then the detail of these offers is on the understanding that the group is travelling by coach. There are still family benefits for group organisers booking flight and train departures, but these will be made on a case by case basis.

TRAIN DEPARTURES
Travelling across Europe by high speed train, through the Channel Tunnel, is a new option that we are the only schools ski tour operator to offer – to our knowledge. The advantages are legion – frequently as fast as a plane, certainly faster than a coach and with fewer options for travel disruption than either of the two other options. The route is to travel from London to Lille Europe, and then direct from Lille Europe to any of Chambery, Grenoble, Lyon or Modane. We travel via Lille because changing trains involves only a change of platform. Travelling via Paris involves changing stations, from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon. Crossing Paris by metro with 40 school students and heavy luggage would seem undesirable, to say the least. The one advantage of the Paris route is that you can access trains that will take you direct to Italy from there, and if you are staying in Bardonecchia, Sauze d’Oulx or Claviere, it does make life easy at that end of the trip.

The final leg of the journey is by coach direct to / from your hotel at the start / end of your week abroad.

FLIGHTS
Still the travel option of choice of some groups, there are varied and numerous routes available for you to take. We have access to charter and scheduled flights, and our ATOL licence allows us to book these on your behalf. We are equally happy for you to book your own “no-frills” flights to suit your purposes, and we will quote you a discount when we have agreed exactly what we are committing to supplying.

PLEASE READ
Please note that we are extremely flexible on name changes and number variations whilst you organise your group, but there is only so much we can do. Travelling by coach gives you the greatest flexibility – train travel is slightly less friendly to changes and flights can be very difficult to change at the last moment. Some airlines will charge 100% cancellation fees, certainly after payment of balances (and by implication, furnishing the airline with names of travellers). Mistakes in name spellings can also be heavily penalised by airlines, and we are obliged to pass these penalties on to you.

If you are in any doubt, please ask us to clarify details. For full booking conditions please refer to the "Small Print" - "Booking Conditions" page of our website, where these can be clearly defined.