Monthly Update - March 2023 - Travel For Teens

Update From TFT Headquarters

Can you sense it? Spring is right around the corner! Although depending on where you live you may not be feeling it just yet. We’re excited to share another big update this month as we continue to prepare for the main event–just three months out from our first departures!!

You can watch our March Monthly Update Video Here.

The goal of our monthly updates is to share key information relevant to the time of the year and a centralized place for general information that will help you and your teen prepare for their program.

Here are the key items for our almost-spring update:

Payment, Paperwork, Insurance, and Flight Deadlines
Voluntary Program Changes
Passport Validity
Excursions are Live!
Getting in Touch with the Office

Upcoming Deadlines

Payment Deadline

Payment in full is due by April 1, 2023. Starting in mid-March, our Finance Team will begin to email out statements so that you know your balance due and prepare to make payment.

You can check your balance at any time by logging in to your MyTFT account and viewing your statement under the payment section. To review payment options, click here.

If the final payment is not received by April 1, the Finance Team will begin to follow up 1:1 in April by email and phone. Failure to make payment in a timely manner after the deadline may result in a $50.00 late fee and the card on file being charged. Please take the time this month to arrange payment in the manner that you want.

Travel Protection Deadline

The deadline to purchase a Travel Protection Plan directly from TFT is up to the date that you are paid in full. Because that deadline is rapidly approaching, we want to remind you that if you have not yet purchased a trip protection plan, now is the time!

As a reminder, Travel For Teens requires all families to purchase a travel protection plan. We offer two comprehensive options: the Travel For Teens Protection Plan and the Travel For Teens Protection Plan with Optional Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR). The TFT Protection Plan allows cancellation and full reimbursement for covered reasons per the plan details, while the optional CFAR benefit allows for cancellation and reimbursement of up to 75% for any non-covered reasons per the plan details.

For policy details and prices, please visit our insurance page. To get a quote and add a plan, email help@travelforteens.com. If have already or would like to purchase an insurance plan independently, please forward the confirmation to help@travelforteens.com.

Flight Deadline

You can book a flight directly with Travel For Teens up to May 1, 2023. After that date, you will need to either book independently or we can direct you to an agent that can assist. We recommend that you do not delay in purchasing your flight as prices will only go up as we approach the summer travel season!

Please keep in mind, if you choose to book your flight through TFT there is a $200 booking fee which allows us to manage the ticket through our agent, but there may be a delay in turnaround time due to the large volume of flight requests. We do not guarantee that this route will yield the most economic flight option. You may be able to book more quickly and lock in a better rate if you book independently. Please refer to the Group Flight Information email which includes the details for your group flight that was sent to you at the time of registration to directly book on your own if you prefer this option.

To book with us: Fill out the Flight Survey to tell us if you need domestic connections and what kind of flight path you would like. Within one business day, a member of our Operations Team will send you a custom quote, itinerary, and a link to pay if you are ready to purchase. We will ticket the flight, send you the e-ticket, and update your teen’s transportation form.

To book on your own: Review the flight arrival and departure times if you are planning to deviate from the flight paths. If you are purchasing a flight that is outside of the group flight path, please call or email your proposed route to us for review. Forward the confirmation to help@travelforteens.com and we will finalize your transportation form.

Paperwork Deadline

TFT paperwork is due on a rolling two-week basis from the date that we processed your registration. We have begun to audit for paperwork by sending reminders for what we have listed as missing. During this month, these will be friendly reminders whether you are past due or about to be due. We do not want to have to add any late fees to an account for missing paperwork, so we ask that you please take the time to review the dashboard in your MyTFT account to see what is missing and submit it. We will always give prior warning before adding late fees. If you have submitted paperwork, please allow 24-48 hours for it to be processed and checked off–it will not automatically be marked as complete upon submission.

Our paperwork reminder emails are automatic from our system. We strive for perfection, but we of course are human. You may receive an alert that a form is missing that you have already communicated to us is coming later. We work hard to not send reminders for these items but from time to time a note can escape us. We ask for your patience as we work towards our common goal: getting all paperwork in to prepare for your teens’ coming adventures!

Finally, we will begin this month to send out confirmations of completed paperwork. This is a new feature in our system that will allow us to mark off accounts as complete paperwork-wise. Even if you have already gotten confirmation by phone or email, we will be sending each and every family this confirmation that will include useful next steps!

A Few More Reminders

Voluntary Trip Switches

This is the last month that you can switch to a different program without any additional cost. After April 1, 2023, there will be a $200.00 Trip Change Fee in the event that your teen wants to participate in a different program from the one that they are currently on. To initiate a trip switch, please email help@travelforteens.com with the trip name and dates that you would like us to switch your teen to. Once the switch has been processed, our Operations Team will send you an email confirmation with the new flight path and any other important details you need to know.

Passport Validity

We may sound like a broken record, but we cannot stress enough the importance of checking your teen’s passport expiration date if they are traveling internationally to ensure that there are at least six months of validity from the return date of the program. For example, if you are going to Costa Rica on June 29th and coming back on July 9th, the passport needs to be valid until January 9th, 2024 to be safe! Your teen could be denied boarding at the departure airport, and it would be completely out of our control. If the passport is expired or set to expire, now is the time to renew.

You can view our Passports, Visas, and Vaccinations page for information on applying for or renewing a passport.

Sign up for an Optional Excursion

We are excited to announce that our optional excursions are live! These activities offer an additional element to a program that not every teen would necessarily want to do, such as SCUBA, high-adrenaline, or just high heights! These activities are not part of the advertised tuition and are of course completely optional. Not every program will have excursions, so if you do not see any on your teen’s trip, don’t worry, it just means that your teen doesn’t have to decide if they want to do anything extra! Please note that because these are activities that not necessarily everyone on the program will want to do, an alternate activity will still happen for the group that does not participate. You can review the itinerary under ‘Important Information’ in your MyTFT account to review what the group not going on the excursion will be doing.

You can find the excursions in your MyTFT account under ‘Optional Excursions’ with the price and a description of what the activity entails. To sign up, simply click ‘Add Excursion’. The Finance Team will add it to your account and send an updated statement for you to make payment in the manner you prefer. If you are not quite sure yet if you want to sign up, that’s ok! Deadlines will not start until early May, so there is plenty of time to consider.

Still Have Questions?

Our phones will be very busy these coming months! Review the options below on the ways to get ahold of us that are most convenient for you!

Schedule a Call

We highly recommend this option, as it allows us to call at a time that is convenient for you! Depending on your question, you can schedule a specific type of call that one of our skilled Operations team members can help you with!

Welcome Call – Recommended for first-time families and alums as well, this allows you to holistically go over the account with us and discuss deadlines, to-dos, and what to expect. Even if you signed up a few months ago, it’s never too late to schedule a welcome call!
Flight Logistics Call – Schedule this call to discuss purchasing a flight with TFT or independently. We can go over connections, independent arrivals or departures, or any other travel-related question you may have
Quick Call – If you have a quick question, this is the one for you! You can even type up what you want to talk about so we can be prepared to answer with exactly what you need

Click this link to schedule any of the above calls. We are here to help!

Call Us

Our Operations Team answers the phone between 7 am and 5 pm EDT. Our phones can get very busy during this time, and if you call, you may reach our voicemail, which we will return within one business day at the latest.

We have a lot of talented teammates answering the phones, however, not every single person that you speak to may be able to answer your specific question, but worry not, they will get you that answer! That may mean setting up a future call. We do this not to inconvenience you, but to ensure that you are getting the answers you need.

We are coming into the busiest time of the year at the TFT Office. Our volume will be heavy but we will get back to each and every one of you. We kindly ask for your patience if someone you speak to does not have an immediate answer. We will get it to you.

To call, dial 888-457-4534, Option 2

Email Us

Any questions can be answered by email as well! We answer all emails within 2 business days unless otherwise noted or we are closed for a holiday. Emails are answered in the order in which they are received, so it is very important to understand that if you reply to your own email in an attempt to point out you haven’t been answered yet, the email becomes recent from that moment and actually moves you out of your place in the queue! We don’t want that!

You can reach us at help@travelforteens.com