Good Reasons to Travel

TravelWorks.co.uk » Why TravelWorks? » Good Reasons

...because we are there for you!

Wondering whether you should travel with TravelWorks or on your own? Weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and you might find some pretty good reasons to become a TravelWorker!

Advantages

1. No journey into the unknown – more safety
   Before you depart, you will already know where you will be staying for the first few nights. With the exception of the programmes in Australia and New Zealand, you will already have detailed information on your work or project placement before you depart. In almost all programmes, when you arrive in your host country you will be picked up from the airport / railway station and taken to your host family or accommodation. In short – we offer safety.
   
   
2. Even if you travel alone, you won’t remain alone
   For programmes in which several TravelWorkers are participating at the same time, you will receive a traveller’s list several weeks before departure. This way, you can contact and get to know your fellow travellers before departure.
   
   
3. We will help if you have difficulties abroad
   Things always seem to happen when you least expect them to - from a lost passport or illness to problems with traders, authorities, and employers. In such situations, you need a reliable contact person who knows how to handle problems in the cultural region where you are located. Together with our local partners, we will provide you with the support you need in such situations, as quickly as we can.
   
   Two examples from past years:
   
   Karina R. from Rödermark was admitted to a remote hospital in Guatemala. The illness was hard to diagnose and Karina was unconscious. Her parents couldn’t speak Spanish and needed help. A Spanish-speaking TravelWorks employee rang the hospital, found out the initial facts and informed the parents, advising them on the best course of action. An employee from our partner organisation visited Karina in hospital and helped to organise the insurance for her return flight to Germany with her parents, who had travelled to Guatemala.
   
   Together with two friends, Kathrin H. from Bad Waldsee bought a car in Australia. When the car turned out to have problems and required repair, the car dealer refused to bear the costs, to the sum of several thousand dollars, even though this should have been covered under the warranty. Since she had to pay the repair costs, Kathrin had no more money to pay in advance for an urgent visit to the doctor. A money transfer from her parents would have taken too long. TravelWorks provided the money within a few hours via the local partner organisation, so that Kathrin could go to the doctor. Our partners also helped the girls in negotiating with the car dealer, who bought the car back at a good price, replacing most of the repair costs.
   
   
4. We support and inform you during crises which may affect your trip
   Volcano eruptions, Bali bombings, or SARS – if the region in which you are travelling is affected by a crisis, we quickly send you important information about the situation, to help you stay safe. Our partner organisations let us know when crises occur, we immediately look into the information they send us, and then quickly forward the necessary details to you. We advise travellers on location on what they should do and inform them of re-booking possibilities. We answer general and individual questions by e-mail or telephone.
   
   
5. We are bound by higher programme quality standards
   TravelWorks is a member of the worldwide quality standards groups, WYSETC (World Youth Student & Educational Travel Confederation) and WYSE Work Abroad. The goal of these organisations is to provide quality, responsible international work programmes and stays abroad for young people, in order to strengthen cultural and economic ties among these countries. Organisation members are bound by numerous quality-standard criteria.
   
   
6. We help you to save time and worry
   By organising many formalities, enquiries, negotiations, information, documents, and money transfers for you, we save you time and help you avoid the nerve-racking aspects of travel-planning during your adventure.
   
   Just consider what it would cost you in terms of time and nerves if you had to put together a trip similar to our Latin America programmes. You would have to, among other things:
   
   
   • Find a volunteer project which requires help and is trustworthy – most projects do not have a website (our partners on location choose the projects carefully, meaning that we can offer you around 20 facilities for selection).
   • Find a recognised language school which has qualified personnel and also offers language courses at different skill levels.
   • Make an appointment and hope that this is kept once you arrive (we make it possible for you to begin the programme almost every Monday in the year and organise your airport pick-up).
   • Look for accommodation – do you know in which part of Quito it is advisable to live? (We place you with host families, regularly inspected by our language schools, in safe residential areas).
   • Calculate exchange rates and carry out money transfers abroad.
   • Carry out research and communication mainly in Spanish.
   
   Once you’ve arrived abroad, the story continues:
   If you have to apply for a visa for Australia, New Zealand, or Ghana, or extend a passport in Guatemala or Peru, we will help you. An employer in Australia refuses to pay wages – our partner on location acts on your behalf. You want to buy a car in New Zealand, but you don’t know what you have to observe in this particular country – our partner informs you. You have to apply for a tax number in Australia – our partner gives you all the necessary forms and helps you to fill them in.
   
   
7. Recognised partner organisations; carefully-selected projects and host families
   You won't stay just anywhere when you travel abroad with us. Host families and aid projects are carefully selected by our partners. And should something not work out, the partner organisation reacts immediately to organise a new placement if you report problems.
   
   
8. Your journey is subject to German law
   As organisers we are required, under German law, to cover your damage costs. So, you will not have to apply for damages in Ecuador, for example.
   
   
9. Family and friends have a fixed contact address for you in foreign countries
   Your grandparents want to send you a package for Christmas, your mother wants to send you the vaccination passport you forgot, and your friend has burned an Easter CD for you. You can have all these treasures sent to you, even if you are abroad on your grand tour of Australia or Central America, have no fixed residence and therefore no postal address.
   
   
10. You are not subject to travel price alterations due to exchange rate fluctuations
    We fix our travel prices once a year. This means that any exchange rate fluctuations do not concern you; but we, as organisers, bear them instead.

Disadvantages

It is true that travelling with TravelWorks may cost more than travelling alone.

But why is does it cost more?
Because we, for example:

• Employ 20 experienced TravelWorks employees who have a lot of world-travel experience, are good at foreign languages, and can look after you in the best possible manner.
• Maintain a website which is as informative and inviting as possible – the one you’re looking at right now!
• Run an office with computers, telephones, etc., on the outskirts of Münster in Germany.
• Inform our customers locally through info days and trade fair presentations - even those customers living farther away from us.
• Buy from our partners in less-developed countries at fair prices.
• Give apprentices the opportunity to gather career experience in the field of tourism here in our Münster office, for which they receive payment.
• Have to pay value-added tax (VAT).