We’re dedicated to providing all of the information you need to give you peace of mind and help you plan before departing on your trip. If you don’t see the answer to your question here, please contact us and we will be sure to answer your questions promptly.
You may register as many family members as the school allows to travel with the group.
Each trip we plan is provided with Post Departure Travel Insurance. Please contact us to learn more about how it helps protect you once your trip has departed.
Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) Travel insurance is not mandatory but is highly recommended whenever:
– You want to ensure against travel risks not covered by your family’s medical plan or homeowners insurance.
– You want to supplement the coverage provided by existing insurance policies.
– You want to cover the cost of high deductibles on your personal insurance policies.
– There is a risk that you might have to cancel your trip, before departure or en route, thus forfeiting a large sum of money.
– You are traveling internationally.
Please contact us to learn more about how you can protect your investment with CFAR insurance.
Personal Information must be submitted to Southwestern Travel Group, including the name on photo I.D., full legal name, date of birth and gender. If traveling internationally, a valid passport is required. Most group air tickets require a non-refundable deposit. Tickets, once issued, are non-refundable. Baggage fees apply to all bags on most flights within the USA. Internationally, usually no more than one bag is free, if that. Security checks are performed before passengers are cleared for boarding, both in the USA and internationally. The Travel Itinerary Packet you received after registration contains specific information on baggage sizes and fees, and about what you may carry on board the aircraft.
Take with you a written prescription from your USA physician for each medication. Keep prescriptions separate from the medications themselves. If lost, a foreign pharmacy can replace them after a short verification phone call to your doctor. (This works in the USA, too!)
Most cellular service providers offer international plans. Please check with your cellular service provider to confirm that your phone will work at your destination and to learn what usage costs will be.
Airline baggage fees have made taking large instruments cost-prohibitive. Smaller instrument fees are affordable, and small pieces may be carried onto the aircraft free, as personal items. Within the USA and internationally, instrument rental costs are usually less than or equal to airline fees, depending on the number of rental days needed.
Most hotels have in-house security personnel on duty. Private security officers may be hired exclusively for the group for an additional charge (starting rate is $30 per guard per hour, with a six-hour minimum). Guards are instructed to maintain a safe environment on student floors. They have no responsibility to monitor or correct student behavior.
Southwestern Travel Group asks hotels to remove access to “pay-for” movies and games, room service and outside phone service. Occasionally, some “pay-for” services cannot be disabled. In those cases, students and adults must pay the hotel for all charges they make.
Southwestern Travel Group always requests that boys and girls rooms be on separate floors. However, the fulfillment of this request is subject to hotel room type availability. Chaperone rooms are assigned to each floor housing students.
Standard maximum occupancy in U.S. hotels is four persons to a room, but some hotels accommodate up to six. Southwestern Travel Group’s standard practice is to place four students per room, unless the director/group leader indicates otherwise. Adults should make their rooming request directly to the director/group leader.
Yes, Southwestern Travel Group assists in setting up and promoting concerts. Keep in mind there is a fee to arrange and promote most concerts, and performance venues often charge rent.
You can sign up by visiting SouthwesternTravel.comand click TRIP LOGIN under the Student Group Travel header.
Official trip chaperones are chosen by the director/group leader. If unsure, please register as an adult and express your interest in serving as a chaperone to your director/group leader. She or he may change your classification once final selections have been made.
A chaperone is an “always-on-duty” parent or staff member who is assigned to monitor and mentor students during a trip. Duties include being in charge of specific students, taking attendance at meeting places or on the motor coach and administering (in some cases) medications, plus other responsibilities as directed by the director/group leader. Please see our Student Group Travel Checklist for a list of helpful chaperone tips.
For all-inclusive trips, the only extra money needed is for souvenirs, snacks or other personal items. If your trip is not all-inclusive, you will be told (and your tour itinerary will state) those meals or tickets, etc., for which the traveler must pay on-site.
Many motor coaches now have monitors and a DVD player, but they don’t supply movies. Contact your director/teacher for approved movies to bring.
Food and drinks are allowed on board. All drinks should be in plastic screw-top bottles. The coach must be kept clean. Please check your area and take all trash with you when you disembark.
To provide professional tour management for your group’s trip from beginning to end, which insures that you get what you paid for and frees group leaders to concentrate on educational objectives and to enjoy the travel experience.
Call the dedicated Trip Tour Director’s Cell Phone listed on the first page of the Trip Itinerary OR our main office at 800-222-4441, Option 1 and then Option 9.
Currently, only a few motor coaches offer these features, so they are not guaranteed. As demand for these services increases, more coach companies will add them.