Can participants make payments?
Yes, most do as a matter of fact. No interest is ever charged for any spring break or summer break payment plan. Students can spread their entire trip over a monthly payment plan. The earlier the reservation is booked the more time you have to pay. BE CAREFUL - late payment penalties will apply on a per person basis.  

Will someone meet or greet our group at the airport?
Yes, our trips are fully staffed at each destination. Your group will be supplied with bright bag tags from our companies. Our staff, at the airports, are watching for your group to come through customs with those bag tags. You are watching for our special signs, badges or shirts. After contact, we escort you to the hotel transfers, answer your questions and brief you on any other orientations process, parties or meetings that you should attend. Our staff also has 24 hr local emergency numbers, hospitality desks, and will be present at many of the breaks functions. We will also see you off on departure day.

Does my group want an all inclusive or these party paks I keep hearing about?
All Inclusives- Breakfast, lunch and dinner at your hotel. House / domestic drinks free 10:00 am to 10:00 pm, adds approximately $300 to $400 to your package per person. All Inclusive is somewhat restrictive in the fact that most students (with clubs open until 4 am) will not make it to breakfast or even lunch. Plus the fact with 225 restaurants in Cancun, most students want to explore and party for dinner at places like Senior Frogs, Carlos N Charlies, Rain Forest Café, Hard Rock Café, etc. Approximately 25% of the students buy all-inclusives.
Food programs- Ranging from $59 to $89 these provide 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners. Pricing affects the number of restaurants and times available. Great for the students that think they may run out of money part way through their trip. It’s nice to know you can afford to eat! Approximately 60% of the students buy these.
VIP wristbands- Probably the one thing everybody agrees on. These wristbands guarantee your entry into the hottest clubs. Depending on the resort, these wristbands are a must if you plan to go out at night to party and dance. Ranging from $139 to $229, they provide the “Spring Break Essentials” packaged for the resort you choose. Approximately 96% of the students buy these.

What is included in our packages?
Our Mexico resorts plus Jamaica and Bahamas resorts all include the following: Round trip US air from your selected departure or co-departure city, (a co-departure city would be New York City featuring JFK, LaGuardia and Newark), (BWI, Regan National and Dulles) or (O’Hare and Midway) and identifiable company bag tags, greeting service, airport to hotel and hotel to airport shuttle service, lodging costs including maid/linen fees and local hotel taxes. In most destinations we also are proud to include our wristband/mega free stuff party program. Each year this program grows and has many freebies, covers, early entries, express entries, food and beverage discounts and two for ones. This program is now entering it's 23rd year and continues to be a leader in the young adult industry. Don't be fooled by some of the competitions party packs. If you have a question about inclusions please call one of our courteous and informative travel counselors.

What's NOT included?
What's not included can even be more important than what's included. First of all we say about 4 things aren't included. They are:
1. Personal expenses.
2. $15 per person registration/document fee. 
3. $50 to $100 per person refundable damage deposit payable and refundable directly at your hotel.
4. $105 per person US/Mexico or Jamaica/Bahamas departure tax and passenger facility fees.

Are there late fees?

* Late charges of $25 per person are automatically charged at 7 days overdue on payment dates. Avoid penalties by submitting payments by your due dates. * Rates in brochure increase $30 on December 15, 2007 and an additional late booking (after February 5, 2008) fee of $30 per person charge automatically added to all published prices. Late payments of more than 10 days overdue are subject to $25 fee mentioned above and may be subject to space available status. Due to the tremendous amount of bookings, credit cards may take a longer time to process than other businesses. Make sure your credit card charge(s) will be accepted at time of processing. Declined credit cards are subject to late fees.

Do I need a passport?
Yes, this is the first year that simply a photo driver’s license and a notarized copy of your birth certificate will NOT work. Everyone on any air or sea package will be required to have a current and valid passport. As of December 31, 2006 and beyond, The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires that all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda have passports. Start now on this simple but time consuming process. Following is a helpful link operated by our government  http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_832.html 

I am under 18 and going on Spring Break - are there additional forms I need to fill out?
If you under 18 years of age and are traveling with us during spring break, you need to make sure you complete the following steps:
1. A parent/legal guardian is required to read, sign and date the Tour Participant Agreement (TPA) for you - TPA must be returned with your first deposit.
2. Have your parents fill out the Parental Permission Slip form and return with your first deposit. You may obtain this form off our website at the bottom menu of the main page at www.hotspringbreaks.com
3. Required documents need at time of travel are the following:
A. Passport     B. Permission to Travel form (may be obtained off our website’s main page - this form must be certified and must be signed by both parents/legal guardians). 

What if I am a college graduate - can I still go on one of your spring break packages?

Yes! Any traveling passengers over college age can go on any of our spring break programs. Since these are charter flights, you need to be flexible to depart anytime Friday, Saturday, or Sunday of your departure weekend. Please remember that these are spring break packages and the majority of the traveling passengers are of college age. 

I have a group of students that wish to stay within the United States.

Each year we organize the travel for thousands of students within the continental US. These are mostly groups of high school students for 3 to 5 night motor coach trips based on minimums of 40 total passengers. Call 800-328-7513 for your custom bid.

What are the cancellation policies? 

60 or more days prior to departure - $100 per person charge for international destinations and U.S. air inclusive packages - $50 per person charge for land only packages; 59-45 days - 50% of total trip cost charge will be charged; 44 days or less - 100% of total trip cost will be charged. Substitutions up to 44 days prior to departure on air inclusive packages and up to 15 days prior on land only packages - $50 per person change fee on all reservations changed after September 15th, 2007. Reservations with name changes within 44 days are only allowed if the air carrier permits and are subject to $75 per person additional name change fee. Total of $125 per change. This includes all changes such as: name changes, unit changes, property changes, etc. This rate can be higher if the air carrier imposes a cost greater than the above mentioned rates.     

How much money should I take?
You know your spending habits better than anyone, so it's hard to determine how much money you will need. Some of your students do fine on $300 while others need $600. Prices for food, beverage, etc. are similar to those of US, but will change with the exchange rate. There are ATM’s at various locations in all destinations. MC, Visa, AMEX, and Discover are widely accepted.

Do participants pick their own roommates?
Yes, most students sign up in groups of four. Four students fill up a room and give the lowest per person price to the group. However we have a few hotels that will allow a fifth person on a roll away and all hotels will allow two or three people to stay in a room, but the cost is more on a per person basis. You may also sign up for a four person room if you only have three people and put the fourth person down as a TBA (to be announced) and you have up until September 15, 2007 to let that person sign up and catch up on payments or you must revert back to a three person room with the appropriate triple rate.

What is the drinking age in Mexico, Jamaica and Bahamas?
The legal age is 18, but is rarely enforced. Student Adventure Travel does not promote, endorse, sponsor, advocate or recommend the use of alcohol on any of our tours. Suppliers and other entities at the resorts may sponsor events where alcohol is involved.

When will I get my tickets?                          How are my trip costs broken down?
How do I get my exact itinerary?                  When is my final payment?
Read your confirmation. Read your confirmation. Read your confirmation. And finally read your confirmation. Your confirmation reiterates all the information that has been given to you on our fliers, brochures, magazine ads, web catalogs as well as the lead person in your room has went over this with a travel counselor on the phone during the reservation process.

When will my flights be?  
Again, read your confirmation! Read your confirmation! Flights for Spring Break can be anytime around the clock. Departures are generally Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Returns may at times go into Monday, depending on a host of details such as airport gate times, immigration personnel, customs personnel, charter schedules, etc. Flight times are not guaranteed and may effect actual length of time at vacation destination on travel days. Charter flights typically save a customer between $180 to $240 per person. However, you may have a late flight to your destination and an early return back to your departure city. If a few hours makes a difference to you, request the higher cost of a scheduled seat from your reservation specialist. Flights for Summer Break and Grad Trips are assigned by our Invasion program coordinator. Read your registration application for details or call customer service.  

Are there insurance programs for our trip?
Yes! Optional Travel Protection for Cancellation, Health, Accident, and Baggage is strongly recommended. Travel protection will automatically be added to all trip invoices. A copy of the relevant travel protection policy is available from STS upon written request to SAT. You may decline the policy by indicating or circling the "no" on your signed registration form during initial reservation. A circled "yes" or absence of a response will automatically include this insurance. Insurance is $49 per person and is non-refundable after initial trip deposit is posted in our offices. This $49 cost can be a very, very good investment.

What if I need medical attention?
Professional medical services are available at every trip destination. Our staff and the front desk staff of your hotel are very familiar with all the local hospitals, medical clinics and on-call doctors. Most clinics will take Master Card, Visa and American Express, some will even accept Blue Cross, Cigna and others. The best and most dependable option is to buy trip insurance.

Are these beach resorts safe?
Yes, there are thousands of other US students during each week of spring break. Most of these resorts are very Americanized with McDonalds, Dominos, etc. These resorts depend on tourist income and the business people, police, civic officials and residents all realize the tourist dollar is very important; in other words tourist are protected from most minor conflicts that could be going on in any area. Two things always to remember, travel in groups and do not over indulge in alcoholic beverages if you choose to drink.

Do I want to book with a travel agent, wholesaler, or tour operator?
Travel agents are local and most do not have personnel resources in any of the international destinations, however, if a travel agent picks a reputable Spring Break wholesaler this solves this concern, plus most are working on corporate accounts and do not want to spend the time with four students on spring break. Tour operators charter jets and put together total mega deals and most students have found that their individual reservation departments lack personal attention, courtesy and devotion. Wholesalers devote their total year-round operations to specific markets. Student Adventure Travel basically sells 2 time frames of trips annually. We focus year round on those two strictly: college spring break & summer break/grad trips. 

 
Is that the final price?
Make sure that you have looked at all aspects of pricing on our brochures. Reconfirm all information with our reservation specialist during your telephone booking process. Remember to figure in peak week fees, departure city fares, departure taxes and fees, travel insurance, registration fees, change fees, and any other options that apply to your group.

Are there any ways to save money?

1. Book early - prices increase $30 automatically on December 15, 2007 and again February 5, 2008. 2. Become a student rep. 3. Decide on your accommodations or categories - it may be $150 cheaper to stay off beach. The hotel may be just as nice and maybe only one block from the beach. 4. Choose your spring break travel company well. Don’t base your choice on the fact that one company is $20 cheaper than another. - that $20 isn’t going to mean much when you are stuck in an airport on a 28 hour flight delay. One company may offer free meals and drinks, but you have to go eat before 7:00am for breakfast or between 4:00 and 4:30pm for dinner. Drinks may be a 6oz. cup in a 45 minute line marked “Free Drinks,” Don’t be fooled by gimmicks. 

Additional questions?
Do not hesitate to call us with any additional questions you and your roommates need answered. Our friendly staff is here to go over any details that concern you.  

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