Hawaii Vacation Specialist-Chris

HOW DO YOU BOOK TRAVEL FOR A GROUP?

Booking travel for groups can be tricky so it is a good idea to call a travel agent for help.  Here are some tips for booking group travel.  Group travel is a requirement of 10 or more passengers.

• Book ahead of time!  Booking groups should always be booked ahead of time.  Getting a whole lot of plane seats and a bunch of hotel rooms is hard to do at the last minute especially depending on how many travlers there are and how many rooms you need.  The final payment on group travel is usually earlier than travel for smaller bookings.
• Make sure you have the minimum number of passengers for group travel.  For air a group is a minimum of 10 passengers.  If you book your tickets and then drop below 10 passengers, there will be penalties.
• When booking group air fare, all passengers must have the same itinerary.  Meaning you have to leave from the same city and return to the same city on the same dates and times.  If you have 5 coming from one place and another 5 from another we can still do it, just as separate packages and wouldnt be considered "group travel" for group rates.
• When calling for a group booking try to have as accurate a number as possible for your agent.  How many passengers?  How many rooms do you need?  Do you need a shuttle or cars?
• Have an idea of what kind of hotel you would like or discuss with your agent maybe a budget per passenger you would like to stay at so we can better know what hotel we should pick for you.
• Deadlines! Deadlines!  There may be many deadlines on payments for groups.  First off the air will have a deadline on the deposit per person and needs to be met.  The airline is holding the seats once it is requested and penalties will be incurred if the payment deadline is not met which most often agents will release the space as to not be hit with the penalties.  Hotels will often have a one night deposit plus a good will deposit to hold the rooms.  Then after that may have a few more payment deadlines til the rooms are paid in full.
• For the head of the group who is making all the arrangements, have a good connection with the rest of your group (phone tree, email alerts).  Often times the head of the group tries to contact the rest of the members of the group and can’t get a hold of some.  There have been times when it takes them so long to contact the rest of the group to get plans made that the flight no longer has that many seats available or the hotel won’t hold the rooms any longer and space needs to be re-requested.
• Once you have decided on a final number of passengers and make a deposit, know that you cannot change to less people and receive a refund on that deposit.  Group travel has more restrictions than regular travel and they will not refund your deposit if a person drops out after the deposit has been made on the air.  Sometimes also the deposit does not go toward the final payment, but will be refunded to you after your travel is done.
• If you would like some group activites while on your trip let your agent know ahead of time.  You can still plan those after the air/room/transportation is made, but you still want to book your activities such as luaus ahead of time.  Remember if it is a large group, that is a lot of space being requested and they may not have enough room to accomodate everyone if you try to do it at the last minute especially during peak season. 
• Porterage charges.  Hotels charge porterage charges for groups.  Usually it is about $6.00-$7.00 per person.  This is for baggage handling upon arrival and departure.   They need to be prepared for a large group coming in and make sure they have enough staff to help such a large group without neglecting their other guests.
• Before your final payment is due, get your list of passengers and rooming list prepared for your agent to give to the airlines and hotels.  The sooner the better.
• Finally when going to the airport, try to arrive a little earlier than normal as it does take a little time to check in a large group of people.  Advised time is 2 1/2-3 hours ahead of time.  Now with the heightened security I think 3 hours is probably a better way to go. 

Booking groups is not an easy task to do on your own and truth be told sometimes is not all that easy on agents, but following these tips will help it run a lot smoother for both you and your travel agent.  You should use an agent for booking groups as most often, if not always you will get a better deal on your trip and take a lot of worry away from you.