One of the main reasons to book with a school tour operator is the support provided if things go wrong. Here's how we deal with the unexpected.
One of the main reasons to book with an experienced, fully-accredited school tour operator like Halsbury Travel is the support offered to you in the unlikely event that something does go wrong.
We can't promise that unforeseen circumstances won't affect your school trip – but we can promise we'll work hard to find a solution for you as quickly as possible.
Here are just a few examples of how we've dealt with the unexpected in the past:
The Royal Grammar School – Sestriere Ski
What?
Unfortunately, the ski group from The Royal Grammar School encountered some serious logistical problems on their school ski trip to Sestriere.
Firstly, on their flight to Italy, their luggage was lost by the airline. Our colleagues at Halsbury Ski managed to secure ski gear for the whole party, so that they didn’t lose a single hour of skiing.
Then, they received the news that British Airways had cancelled their return flights.
Again, our colleagues at Halsbury Ski worked tirelessly to arrange alternative travel and the group did get home safely having enjoyed their trip, despite everything that was thrown at them.
The outcome:
I cannot recommend Halsbury enough. I had chosen them as our travel provider as they had a reputation for going the extra mile to support schools and this seemed prudent given the ever-changing travel regulations due to COVID.
In fact, it was the meltdown at British Airways that impacted our trip of seventy boys, with no luggage arriving with our flight and our two return flights cancelled.
Despite this, every student was able to ski all their allotted hours as Halsbury secured ski gear for the whole party and they worked through the night for our return journey to find effective solutions to get us home.
The in-resort rep was phenomenal, and I had instant mobile access to up to three members of staff who were working on solutions to our logistical problems.
If I had handpicked the people to support us on our trip, they could not have done a better job.
It is a testament to their service that we had a huge number of parents write in to say how impressed with the school and Halsbury they had been and how in awe they were that we had managed to run such a successful trip despite the major logistical issues.
St. Mark’s West Essex Catholic School – Berlin
What?
Like many groups, St. Mark’s West Essex Catholic School were due to travel on P&O, until the ferry operator suspended its services due to making 800 staff redundant.
It wasn’t clear if or when P&O would sail again so, to ensure tours were guaranteed to run without disruption, Halsbury took the decision early in the crisis to rebook groups free of charge with alternative Channel crossing providers. This gave groups peace of mind that their tour would run as scheduled without having to worry if P&O would be operating.
The group from St. Mark’s West Essex Catholic School were rebooked onto the Eurotunnel.
The outcome:
Halsbury were always friendly and always patient. When the P&O issue arose, this was dealt with very quickly and no one seemed to express frustration at my ringing thrice in a day. This was our best ever trip to Berlin (our 12th) and Lynsey was brilliant – she could not have been more helpful and informative.
Coombe Boys' School - Alp 2500
What?
When Storm Dennis hit in February 2020, it coincided with our biggest departure weekend for ski groups and affected many of them, including Coombe Boys' School.
Roads, planes and ferries were all severely disrupted, making the possibility of many school ski trips needing to be cancelled a real possibility.
However, our team worked tirelessly to support our groups and keep them moving. Staff at Halsbury HQ spent the entire weekend answering calls and making the quick decisions needed to ensure that we were able to get groups to where they needed to be.
We even had staff down in Dover to support the delayed coaches.
And our in-resort reps were roped in too, to liaise with local coach companies and accommodation suppliers to ensure that groups were able to reach their destination and get some well-earned rest.
Only one group was unable to travel in the end, but we offered to rearrange their ski trip to Easter at no additional cost to them.
The outcome:
This is exactly why we choose Halsbury Ski. The support we received on that fateful evening will always be appreciated. What other company would have their M.D. on the phone to French gendarmes translating for you if you needed it?!!
Wyke Sixth Form College – Ypres & Waterloo
What?
After a routine inspection of wheels during planned maintenance, an unusual level of wear was detected on Eurotunnel shuttles, leading to a reduction in the number of scheduled departures. It was anticipated that Eurotunnel would run just one service per hour instead of the usual four. To ensure Wyke Sixth Form College's trip wasn't disrupted, we booked them onto a ferry crossing at Halsbury's own expense prior to confirmation as to whether Eurotunnel would refund the unused crossing.
The outcome:
Many thanks for this! I was alarmed when I first saw your email, but once I had found time to read it properly, I massively appreciated what you and Halsbury had done for us! Superb service – many thanks.
Gatehouse School - Pamporovo
What?
As you may remember, the Covid-19 pandemic shut down school trips pretty quickly. And ski trips were the first to be affected. In fact, every single one of our Easter 2020 ski trips had to be cancelled, as borders shut and travel was banned.
Gatehouse School were due to ski in Pamporovo, Bulgaria but, like many, their trip was cancelled.
While the situation was largely out of our control, our team did keep in regular contact with all our groups, including Gatehouse School, to keep them up-to-date on the latest information and to provide refunds and postponements.
The outcome:
We were very happy with how Halsbury Travel dealt with our cancelled school trip. This was a very unpredictable time and the company always kept us in the loop regarding our options and changes. They were very assuring and kept their word regarding everything they said and promised. A great company with experienced people running it! Would certainly advise booking your school trips through them!
Bicester Learning Academy - Strasbourg
What?
The group decided to cancel their trip to Strasbourg after the terrorist attacks in Paris. Halsbury allowed concerned groups to postpone their trips, paying only the fees charged by suppliers (and, where possible, negotiating with partners to keep these to a minimum).
Where groups, such as Bicester Learning Academy, wished to cancel, Halsbury worked hard to cap cancellation costs at 10%. In this particular case, our local partners were unwilling to allow the group to cancel without incurring full cancellation fees, as other groups from the UK had decided to travel with them without changing or cancelling their bookings.
In this case, Halsbury absorbed the additional costs, so that the group were charged cancellation fees of just 10% of the cost of their trip, allowing parents to be refunded the majority of the trip fees.
The outcome:
Thank you so much for sorting this out – this is very generous of Halsbury and is greatly appreciated.
Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School – Valencia
What?
This group were affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines. Their flights were cancelled and it looked like they would be unable to travel. Halsbury worked hard to find alternative flights. As the only suitable flights were to Marseille, Halsbury also provided a coach transfer to get them to their destination.
The outcome:
Just wanted to say that this year's trip was the best yet!
Oasis Academy Silvertown – Cologne
What?
The group put all their passports in a backpack and the bag went missing or perhaps was stolen. However, at the school, there were photocopies of all the missing passports.
The group reported the incident to police, while Halsbury's Managing Director contacted immigration at Calais to explain what had happened. The headteacher at the school was able to scan in all the non-British passport copies and also sent a letter naming all the pupils and staff.
By 18.30 immigration was able to track all the passengers and prepare for their arrival in Calais, allowing them to get through immigration without much delay.
The outcome:
I wanted to say a huge thank you from all of us for everything you did yesterday. We actually got an earlier ferry and immigration were brilliant.
We've even helped groups who didn't originally book with us...
Thanks to our considerable resources and excellent relationships with suppliers, we've even been able to step in and help groups whose ski trips have been cancelled by other providers, to ensure that their students don't miss out.
Halsbury saved the day! When a school ski trip I was running to the USA was cancelled, due to the collapse of another company, Halsbury stepped in and saved the trip. The work that they did to ensure that the transition was smooth was excellent.
They gave us the confidence to run trips again due to the support and organisation of the team. I’m still grateful to this day as what was nearly a disaster turned out to be a great experience for the students. King Henry VIII Comprehensive School
Want to find out more about how we support you every step of the way?
Check out this guide.