What to Look for in a Group Travel Company (And What to Avoid)

Start with the question that ends most sales calls: 'Are flights included?' Most group travel companies sell land-only packages, a hotel and a wristband, and leave 80 people to book airfare individually, on different airlines, at different prices, landing at different times. If the answer involves the phrase 'we can recommend,' you've learned what you needed to know.

Second question: 'Who exactly will I be talking to in February?' If the answer is a support queue, an app, or 'one of our team,' expect to feel that in February. The companies worth hiring give you one named person with a phone number, and that person is the same one who built your proposal.

Third: 'Is this a package or is it built for us?' Packages are how companies scale, and they're fine, if your group happens to be the group the package was designed for. The tell is whether they ask real questions about your chapter before quoting, or just send a PDF with this year's dates on last year's trip.

Then check the boring things, because the boring things are where trips die: written cancellation terms before any deposit, individual payment collection so no student fronts money, and a Seller of Travel registration you can verify. A company that's vague on any of those is asking you to absorb risk that's supposed to be their job. We built OTC to be the company that passes this checklist. But honestly, whoever you book with, make them pass it.