We organized a non-school-sponsored trip with a group of students and parents through Passports more than one year ago. It was made very clear to the company at the time that a later-afternoon departure time would be necessary, as school is in session for a full day before our April vacation.
The district has a policy which forbids teacher absences on the day before school vacations. Passports was informed of this policy.
After a year to prepare, Passports presented us with our flight information for this trip to Europe: a 1:00 PM departure from an upstate New York city, routed through Atlanta! It is evident that someone is profiting from such unusual flight arrangements. Despite our protests, Passport states that it cannot change the flight times. Our trip has not even begun and I am already very suspicious of travel with such an inflexible and duplicitous company!
The teachers who are accompanying students on this trip will not be paid for the Friday before break. They also face disciplinary consequences for violating school policy on absences before a vacation. It is very disappointing to see Passports' website declaration that "teachers travel free" when, in fact, the teachers in our group will be paying dearly in both real financial terms and in professional reputation. We have exchanged many phone calls with representatives at every level of the company, only to be told that the flight cannot be changed and that "no time was guaranteed."
In addition, student participants were charged an additional $225.00 per person for "fuel and currency" as a surcharge. The stated price was not, in fact, the price. Passports changed the terms of our agreement once it was too late for students to pull out without forfeiting the money they had already paid. Cancellation at this point would mean the loss of all monies paid for the trip. It is very clear that Passports is not forward-thinking (the euro's rise has been predicted for years now) and does not care about repeat business.
Lesson learned: Passports hides behind the fine print in its contract, engages in deceptive practices, and fails to live up to its agreements. I will never be using Passports again.
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