THE TRAVEL OFFICE

Contact Details at a Glance

 

Open during the school term Monday to Friday from 08h00 to 16h30 

Travel Office tel no:  046 603 2317  

Sure Go Travel tel no in Travel Office:  046 603 2320 or at Sure Go Travel main office:  046 622 2235

Travel Office email:  travel@sacschool.com

Sure Go Travel email: standrews@suregotravel.co.za

In case of travel emergency: Travel Office cell no:  083 275 2218

 

During school holidays, the Travel Office will not be manned every day.  Should you wish to make a flight booking please ring the Sure Go Travel Office in Grahamstown on 046 622 2235 if there is no answer to 046 603 2320.  For other requests please call the Travel Office cellphone on 083 275 2218.

 

THE TRAVEL OFFICE SET-UP

 

St Andrew’s College runs a Travel Office for all pupils at St Andrew’s College, Prep and DSG.  Anne Harrison is the Travel Co-coordinator and should be the first contact for all travel information (including appropriate flight times) beyond the actual booking and payment for flights.  Her direct line number is 046 603 2317 and her email address is travel@sacschool.com.  Her most important function is to ensure all children needing flights at beginning and end of term have their air tickets and necessary ID documents and are on a road transfer bus/taxi list to and from Port Elizabeth Airport in line with their flight bookings.  She books all taxis and coaches for this travel as required. 

 

Sure Go Travel, the local Grahamstown travel agency, has a staff member based in the Travel Office.  This is Natasja Eksteen and she will book your children’s flights if you wish.  Natasja also makes most of the staff’s official airline bookings and is available to do your own bookings for holidays and business travel as well.  She may be contacted in the Travel Office on Mondays to Fridays between 08h00 and 13h00 and, in addition, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 14h00 and 16h00.  Her direct line number is 046 603 2320 and her email address is standrews@suregotravel.co.za. 

 

FLIGHT RESERVATIONS

 

Sure Go Travel, Grahamstown Bookings

 

To book via Sure Go Travel please complete the Credit Card Authorisation Form which will be faxed or emailed to you on request.  No air tickets may be put on school account. Should you not wish to use a credit card for payment a cash deposit may be made to Sure Go’s Bank Account and the deposit slip faxed through – Natasja will provide details to those who wish to use this method of payment.  Please note however that if you pay by cash deposit this must be made and confirmation faxed through quickly as the airfare may rise if confirmation of payment is not received by the time stated.  If the price of the ticket goes up you may need to make a second deposit.

 

Parents’ Bookings

 

If you book your child(ren)’s reservations on-line or through your own preferred travel agent, please forward a copy of the airline booking to the Travel Office, either by fax to 046 603 2375 or, preferably, by email to travel@sacschool.com.  All flight details should include the Booking Reference Number as supplied by the Airline concerned.  Every child, before departure, is given a travel wallet containing their ticket, preferably return tickets.  Also in the travel wallet is their relevant ID document (see below).  Once the travel wallet has been prepared the child is automatically included in the list for road transfer to Port Elizabeth and back.

 

Booking References and ID Documents

 

To board an airplane these days all travelers must, along with their airline booking reference number, provide a suitable identity document.  An ID book is perfect, but should your child not have one yet we would like them to use a passport if they have one.  Alternatively we need their birth certificate.  These documents will travel with the children on all their journeys and should be returned in their travel wallet to the Travel Office for safe-keeping at the start of term or after half-term.

 

Notice Board Information for Pupils

 

All flight information is recorded on schedules for the about 450 travelling pupils.  All bookings made, either by you or Sure Go Travel, is posted on the Travel Office notice board about 3 weeks before the end of term.  Boys and girls should check to see their flights have been booked for the next break.  They are encouraged to remind you to make their bookings if nothing is there.  There is an entry in the relevant School Term Calendar 3 weeks before the end of term indicating that flight bookings are due.  Please try and have the information in by this date for the end of term and the start of the following term.

 

For those whose bookings are done by Sure Go Travel, please contact Natasja as early as possible - she does not however make a booking without checking with you first that you are happy with the chosen flights and costs. 

 

About a week before departure, road transfer lists to PE Airport are put up on the Travel Office notice board and copied to Housemasters/Matrons and Housemistresses.  The boys and girls get very anxious when their names do not appear on these lists.  Please help us to help your children.  Please encourage your children to come into the Travel Office first before phoning home in a panic if they cannot find their travel arrangements on the list.  At the same time, because we have to book coaches etc in advance we need timeous notice of travel arrangements to make the best use of the transport available.  .

 

Extra Curricula/Sporting Activities

 

We realise it is sometimes difficult to arrange travel as children may be involved in extra curricula or sporting activities that overlap holidays and every change in booking involves an extra charge.  Please encourage your children to tell you as soon as possible what may affect their end of term travel bookings.  The Travel Office often does not hear about these activities as soon as they would like. 

Flight Information and Timing Returns

 

Final Assembly is compulsory at the ends of term, so please consult Anne or Natasja for the earliest flight departure time that may be booked out of PE on last day of term.  Natasja is happy to help even if she is not making the booking.  Also, we ask that you do not leave your children’s return to school to late afternoon as, unless they are travelling from outside the country, they are due back at the schools by 18h00.  It takes 2-3 hours to get back to Grahamstown from arrival time at PE Airport.  It is also not ideal to be transporting children after dark – the single journey is roughly 140 kilometers and it is preferable to avoid driving this in the dark.  For those coming from outside South Africa, it is often impossible for them to arrive until later in the day and their transfer is organised to fit with their landing time at PE.

 

Half-Term Travel

 

As a concession because half-term is short, children travelling outside South Africa may leave on the morning half-term starts in order to get home that day.  Should, however, your child have a sporting or other commitment that requires their presence that morning, they will only be able to depart once this commitment has been fulfilled.  The Swimming Galas happen on the day half-term begins in February and, similarly, Sports Day (Athletics) happens in October.  This concession does not apply to those spending half-term in South Africa.  They may only leave on a flight out of Port Elizabeth after 15h00, ie after the Gala or Sports Day has finished.

 

Transfer Costs between Grahamstown and PE Airport

 

The normal fare for a road transfer to and from PE Airport at the ends and starts of term is R170.00.  However if a child arrives outside the main arrival times, then a JC shuttle taxi is booked and depending on the number of passengers in the car the fares are currently as follows:

 

R450.00  single fare for one person

R225.00  single fare each for 2 people

R170.00 single fare each for 3 people or more

 

Please note that the above fares are subject to change.

Airport Supervision

 

Anne spends the day(s) when pupils are travelling at the airport to ensure smooth departure and arrival, including checking in all Unaccompanied Minors and collecting them on arrival back.  For the very busy departure and arrival times, another member of staff is also at PE Airport.  Staff at St Andrew’s College and DSG check pupils on to the transport from Grahamstown to the airport.

Luggage

 

Please supply your child(ren) with luggage suitable to airline travel so that they can take full advantage of their baggage allowance, normally 20kgs checked in baggage and one piece of hand luggage, weighing no more than 8kgs.  The airlines (particularly SAA) are very strict.  Baggage should also be packed neatly, not least because space is limited on the coach/taxi transfers.  Should bags be overweight Anne pays the penalty to the airline and this will be put on your school account.  The overweight charge is currently R30.00 per kilo.

 

OTHER TRAVEL

 

JC shuttle is the Grahamstown-based taxi company that we use for transfers to and from the airport in PE at any time which you request – either to meet you there or for other flights your children may be making home during term.  We will not book a taxi unless it is to connect with a flight and we know you have received permission for your child to be absent from school.  All JC shuttle bookings, during term time, must be done through the Travel Office.  The charge for the taxi is put on your child’s school account. 

 

STUDY PERMITS, PASSPORTS AND SOUTH AFRICAN IDs

 

Pupils at St Andrew’s College/Prep and DSG, who are not South African citizens or Permanent Residents, must obtain a study permit from the South African Embassy/High Commission in their country of residence before starting at school here.  Renewals should, preferably, be done at home or we will give you the details of a Migration Broker in Cape Town who will do the renewal on your behalf for a fee.  Please check the study permit renewal date regularly.  We will endeavour to notify you if we notice that a Study Permit or Passport is due to expire but responsibility lies with the parents.  To get a study permit valid for 3 years, the passport must be valid beyond the 3 years by at least one extra month.  Parents should contact their local SA High Commission or Embassy well in advance to see if they will be able to get the renewal completed locally.  If it is not possible to do the renewal locally, the Migration Broker also needs notice in advance, though the actual renewal process may only be able to start about 60 days before expiry of the current study permit.  The child must be in South Africa if the renewal is to be done in SA or at home if the renewal is to be done there. 

 

Home Affairs are continually changing the renewal procedures.  The Schools are unable to help with study permit renewals.

 

We are however happy to help pupils fill in South African passport application forms and applications for a first ID book and we take them to the local Home Affairs office in Grahamstown where these documents may be obtained.

 

Kind regards

 

Anne Harrison

Travel Coordinator

29 July 2010