With our new brochure coming out this month, there is sure to be some tours that will peak your interest – so we’ve put together some ways to save you time and make you feel more relaxed about booking and travelling on your journey. We’re also introducing an early bird offer, if you pay in full well before departure, so look out for that in your brochure!
Things to Think About Before You Call the Office to Book
Step 1 – Have a look at the pricing provided and save yourself some time by deciding if you would like single supplement (a room for yourself, usually with an extra fee advertised in the brochure)? Or are you willing to share in a twin room with another passenger of the same gender and pay the twin price only? If you are sharing with another friend or relative, your options are a double or twin room (separate beds).
Step 2 – The next question to ask yourself is, will you take the travellers refund guarantee (see the brochure itinerary to see if it applies to your tour and read the terms and conditions)? Or would you like to take out travel insurance? If you choose neither, you can sign a waiver to say that you’re comfortable travelling without these options – it’s completely up to you.
Step 3 – Will you be flying with the group or making your own own arrangements separately? Making your own arrangements could include staying a pre or post night to the tour and flying on another day. This is what we call a variation and please let the office know as soon as you can to have this all arranged with us and save some time – if this is something you’d like to consider. Please keep in mind that these arrangements will be an additional cost to the tour itself.
Step 4 – Where would you like to be picked up from and returned to? We now provide a service called ‘Home Pickup’ which means that if you live in a certain zone surrounding our pickup points, you can receive a home pickup and set down by a taxi at your address; to start and end your tour from home. If you live outside this zone, you will have to pay an additional fee, depending on the distance. Or alternatively you can meet our coach at one of our designated pickup points, however you’ll have to make arrangements for your car while you’re away or have a friend drop you off and pick you up from here. If you would like to be picked up at one address and return to another, we will also need to organise this for you.
Now it’s Time to Book!
Step 5 – After you’ve told us the arrangements above, it’s also best to tell us your medical related dietary (not preferences), mobility or flight requirements. The sooner you do this, the more likely we can accommodate these changes for you and make your holiday more comfortable. Please also let us know if you require ground floor accommodation. We can’t always guarantee this, but we can request it. Due to health and safety reasons regarding our crew, they also cannot help you on or off the coach, carry your luggage or move your wheelchair through the airport during the tour. If you have a wheelchair with you regularly as well, you will need a carer to travel with you to assist during the journey and you will need to be able to get on and off the coach yourself.
Step 6 – Don’t forget to apply your Loyalty Points! You currently receive $1 for every $50 you spend with us. You can ask us how many you have to use at any time – however we can’t apply loyalty points after you’ve made full payment on your booking. You can also begin to use them the day after you return from a tour or day trip and they expire 12 months from this date. Please note this only applies if you have your own profile with us and aren’t booked under a friend or relative.
Step 7 – Fill out the Booking Form in Your Brochure or Request One. Yes, you do need to fill these in, even if you’re a regular passenger, as circumstances can change between tours. We need this form filled out for every holiday tour you do with us. If you’re booking multiple holidays at once, save time by filling out one booking form, but if you book them separately or are travelling with different people – you’ll need to fill in a new one each time. In regards to flights, we need to know your full name as per your identification, or passport if travelling internationally. We also need your passport details and in some cases, licence details for security, depending on where you’re travelling. Don’t forget to again put your medical dietary requirements and everything else that we need to know on this form as well. Don’t forget any flight loyalty/membership numbers: we can’t add these once we’ve booked and paid for the flight. Make sure you also add your emergency contacts and if you’re travelling as a couple – sorry but you can’t choose each other! Make sure you send this back to your nearest office as soon as you can.
Step 8 – After we’ve talked through your travel arrangements, read the information below about what to expect from your catering and seat selection requests on flights. Generally speaking, our company mainly prefers to travel with Qantas and Virgin across Australia, unless the flights don’t align with the tour. Qantas and Virgin mainly cater to vegetarians, gluten free and dairy free passengers only. Unfortunately preferences will not be catered for and meals are only available on lengthy flights. In regards to seating, if you are travelling with the group you can request a type of seating, however we can’t guarantee this due to the set area of seats we are allocated on the plane. With separate flights to the group, seating allocation is a case by case basis and usually involves an additional cost; but we’re happy to at least request this for you.
Travelling to Lord Howe or Norfolk Island
Step 9: Arrange your ID for Norfolk or Lord Howe Island. Please note both locations are treated as domestic tours. However, flights to Norfolk Island leave from international airports and flights to Lord Howe Island leave from domestic airports. Confusing, right? At the time of publication of this article, since both of these locations are viewed as domestic, you don’t require a passport. You only need to provide to the office a copy of a valid form of photo ID and take this with you on tour. For all other international tours, save time by checking that your passport expires a minimum of six months after your return date.
Step 10 – The Most Important One – Sit back, relax and enjoy travelling with us, we can’t wait to hear from you to book your next Cross Country Tour or All Australian Journey. If you have any more questions go to the frequently asked questions section of our website here or contact the office. Both Sandgate (QLD) and Thornton (NSW) offices have the same booking systems and can answer any requests you may have about our upcoming tours.
Please note: the specials, offers, terms and conditions are also subject to change at any time after this article is published – so please call us to ask if these offers are still available.
Stay tuned for the March Edition coming soon and it’s all about Easter!