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Casterbridge Provides the Best Flights for Student Groups
The planning and service from the Casterbridge flights department is simply unequaled in the educational travel market.
We always provide scheduled flights for groups on guaranteed dates and will inform you of your carrier and flight schedule when you confirm your booking with us (or at 11 months before time of travel). At all times, we strive to provide the best possible routing and flight schedule for our groups that availability will permit, and endeavor to secure non-stop flights whenever possible.
Simply put, in the course of 30 years of operations, we have established uniquely close partnerships with all the major carriers and, because of the volume of business placed on an annual basis, are considered a Tier One Account by British Airways, Air France, American, Delta, Continental, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Northwest, United, US Airways, Aer Lingus, Olympic Airlines, and Alitalia.
These relationships allow Casterbridge to afford the highest levels of service and offer the most attractive group rates to our clients.
The Right To Know Your Flight Details
The flight component plays a critical role in the success of any travel experience. So often, though, the specific details of your flight dates, routing, and airline remain a veiled and understated tour element.
Final details of flights for groups who travel with other companies may only be revealed at a late stage, when your travel is imminent and you are no longer able to express either your preference or your dissatisfaction with the circuitous routings and date changes.
Shouldn’t You Know What You Are Purchasing?
Are you being booked onto a charter flight? Does one leg send you in the opposite direction to your final destination? Do you have two transfers, plus a really long layover?
These are standard questions you would ask if you were buying a ticket just for yourself, and are more relevant when selecting flights for a group for which you have significant responsibility.
Sadly, many educational tour operators reserve the right to change your tour dates as late as two days before you travel and, worse than that, will only give you your definitive tour dates around three weeks prior to departure. This is because they are trying to schedule your flight with other groups and bunch you all together, in order to cut costs.
It is not difficult to imagine how disconcerting this can be for tour participants, group leaders, and institutions alike.
Advance Notice and Certainty on Your Dates and Carrier
At Casterbridge, we are proud of the flights we provide for our groups and that all information is made available to you at the earliest possible juncture, which is usually at the time of booking.
With Casterbridge, your dates are unequivocally guaranteed at the time of booking and you will not be subject to the worry or inconvenience of late surprises, inexplicable date changes, or non-airline imposed itinerary adjustments.
Flexibility in the Planning Stages and a Focus on the Best Flights
We put a great emphasis on securing the best routings (non-stop, whenever possible) for our groups. Indeed, if you have a preference for a certain carrier, Casterbridge will always do its utmost to oblige.
We never use charter flights, nor book you on circuitous multi-legged routes. At all costs, we avoid transfers between airports, such as between La Guardia and JFK, or Reagan National and Dulles. This means you will arrive at your destination as fresh as possible and travel at a time convenient for your group and your specific itinerary.
SimpliFLY Your Group Travel Experience
The expertise of our Flight Department can significantly minimize unnecessary travel and make your transfers as efficient as possible, without the unnecessary stress and increased cost of tiring, time-consuming journeys.
Our special relationships with leading airlines means we can offer you the very best routings, including to some of the lesser-known gateway cities, which can significantly reduce your journey time when you arrive.
Timely Arrivals
When traveling to Italy, imagine flying directly into Venice rather than enduring a lengthy transfer from Milan or Rome. Consider the advantage of a flight directly into Naples so your Classical Italy tour can begin that first day in Pompeii, rather than in the arrivals lounge of Rome airport.
A timely early morning arrival in Rome may allow your Casterbridge tour guide to lead you on an excursion to Ostia Antica or the Catacombs along the Via Appia Antica. Upon arriving in Venice or Florence on a direct flight, he or she could take your group on a vaporetto ride under the Rialto Bridge or introduce you to the artists painting scenes of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo – all on that first day.
Frequent Flyer Miles
You can even use your frequent flyer miles to purchase flights that coincide with your group’s planned schedule with Casterbridge. Because we make your flight details available to you so early in the process, this is relatively easy to do and can normally be readily accommodated.
With our emphasis on the best routings, advance information, and a guarantee that your tour dates and flight details will be confirmed at the time of booking, our flights service is unequaled in the educational and cultural group travel industry.
Register to plan a Casterbridge educational tour, either online or by calling 1-800-522-2398. Start planning your educational travel program today!
