Visa update - The South African Consulate advises that appointment slots for Visa Applications in December are now full in Auckland and Wellington – inferring that there is no scope for any travel in December or early January unless you currently hold a South Africa Visa.
A tip for our Client Companies using our Serko Online self-booking tool. When booking Air New Zealand domestic flights where connections might form a usual part of the routing e.g. Dunedin to Auckland or Christchurch to Kerikeri and you can’t see a flight that your experience tells you usually operates, then please unclick ‘Display Logical Flights’ under the Air Selection tab. This switches off Air NZ’s ‘married segment’ algorithm which offers specific connections and endeavouring to force a sale of their emptiest flights similar to what it does on its own website.
If you need clarification on this please contact your usual Client Relationship Manager.
Travel insurance - Remember to take your travel insurance out when you make you initial purchase. Very shockingly to us, some travellers ignore our invitation to take out comprehensive travel insurance when you first make your booking, but do so just prior to departure. The Mt Agung Volcano problem in Bali has been a hard lesson for many travellers (no BWT clients fortunately). If you’ve purchased your travel package but not your insurance then you lose your money if flights are cancelled or conversely if you have to stay in Bali for an extended period. Similarly if you purchase after the Volcano starts erupting you’re not covered for the cancellation/change component of the policy. Please also check your credit card insurance policy; these are often free for a reason and fall very short on usefulness when you need them.
Student Group Travel - If you’re children’s school is planning international group travel for sports, cultural or academic tours in 2018/19 we’d appreciate having the opportunity to quote on these. We’ve been arranging school group travel for 25 years and understand this business extremely well. We’re also happy to bring schools and parents up to date with current Duty of Care requirements for touring student groups. Contact Kirstin or Grant for help.
The New Year Sales will kick off – well, naturally in the New Year and these usually offer a range of excellent savings to a wide variety of destinations. At BWT we have every airline and airfare available here irrespective of who is advertising it. Let our team know if you are looking for a particular destination and we can usually give you some slight advance notice or at least pencil seats. For Hawaii Economy Class in 2018 we’ve heard it might be worth waiting until February 18 to buy your tickets!
Christmas and New Year Holiday Hours:
Our office will be open as usual, aside from the New Zealand statutory holidays.
On the business days from Thu 21st December we operate reduced hours 0900-1700hrs. Normal business hours resume Monday 15th January 2018. Our Emergency Travel Service is available after hours and the number is noted on our main switchboard line or your BWT itinerary. Our Team observes ‘Resort Wear January’ so please join in if visiting us!