Group Travel - Best Extras from Trip Leader?

[Ren127]

Most group trips you get a group T-Shirt- maybe if it's an expensive trip an embroidered shirt, but what are some other things that the trip leader has given you or done on the trip to make it extra special?

Before the trip?
During the trip?
After the trip?

Thanks!

 

[wildbill9]

I am more pleased with what they do. Problems? They fix. Needs? They address. But mostly how they take care of us underwater. Find cool stuff. Hand hold newbies or nervous divers. Help with diving and air consumption and buoyancy. YMMV Bill

 

[kelemvor]

I guess I'm spoiled, but having gone on a few scubaboard trips lead by @cardzard and @ROXANNE there's a long list.

• Arranging a good price and making everything run smoothly (fixing problems etc). If the dm's a jerk or something's wrong with the boat or someone hates their instabuddy then they will probably not have a good trip.

• Arrange a group party, and encourage socializing everyone / discouraging cliques. It's the difference between traveling together or just diving with a boatload of instabuddies.

• Of course not every trip leader can do it because they don't get huge prizes donated like these folks do, but lots of prizes. The last trip I went on, a 12 year old girl won a week long trip to the Caymans. There were so many prizes that people almost got tired of receiving them.. well.. almost (okay, not really). Seriously though, reach out to a dive shop or manufacturer to sponsor the trip and see where you get. I've got a sneaky suspicion that scubaboard or the organizers directly fund some of the prizes just to make sure everyone gets something.

• They collect photos from everyone on the trip (voluntarily of course) and contribute their own photos of everyone in the group. Then put together a nice slideshow and/or video for everyone that attended.
• Trip t-shirts.
  
• Make sure your trip doesn't have any surprise costs. Is there an airport transfer fee or a required cab ride from the airport to the resort? Do boats expect some kind of tipping as customary? Is booze not included in your "all inclusive" package? Is there a marine park fee that has to be paid separately? I'm not suggesting you pay for these things up front but make sure you let everyone know up front exactly what to expect the whole time. This one's a biggie for me.

I could probably double the list, but I'm sure others will chime in.

My understanding is that most group trips have a free "slot" for every so many divers.. I've heard 7-10 depending on who has been talking. I've no personal experience here, so maybe the multitude of people who have told me this were all lying... If you're organizing a trip, treat the slot or slots as "pay" and pony up something. It's not hard for divers to arrange their own dive trips these days with the internet and all, give them a reason or two to enjoy diving with you instead of arranging the trip on their own. Then the next time you setup a trip you'll have someone like me telling everyone who will listen how awesome your trips are.

 

[Doc]

You did ask specifically about trinkets, aka premium items, or as my wife calls it, CPC (cheap plastic crap)....

Everybody gets a glass lensed magnifier.

If we have a resort based shore dive, everybody gets a laminated dive site map.

Both of these are on 550 cord braided (survival) lanyards and everybody gets a carabiner, ties it all together and suitable for banging of tanks, etc.

Since other posters have diverged somewhat, if the articipants are "local", do a pre trip gathering to soothe nerves, do a post party gathering and slide show.

 

[Dan]

The best thing I would do as the trip leader is to spread the free of charge (FOC) to everyone, including myself. Money talks. That's the best trip discount for everyone would get in a group trip. I dont mind paying for the trip as much as everyone else. I just enjoy going with my dive buddies to the place that I like to go at the time that fits to my schedule.

If I can get 1 FOC for 5 full-paying divers, then all 6 of us would get 1/6 discount of the cost / diver. That means for $3000 / diver trip cost, everyone would get $500 off and pays $2500 for that trip.

 

[outofofficebrb]

The best thing I would do as the trip leader is to spread the free of charge (FOC) to everyone, including myself. Money talks. That's the best trip discount for everyone would get in a group trip. I dont mind paying for the trip as much as everyone else. I just enjoy going with my dive buddies to the place that I like to go at the time that fits to my schedule.

If I can get 1 FOC for 5 full-paying divers, then all 6 of us would get 1/6 discount of the cost / diver. That means for $3000 / diver trip cost, everyone would get $500 off and pays $2500 for that trip.

I love this idea but am trying to look at it from a dive shop’s POV. They probably use the FOC spots to “make” money on the trip and also use it on their trip leader. That is what makes it worthwhile to organize in addition to the camaraderie they get with/ among their customers.

 

[Dan]

I love this idea but am trying to look at it from a dive shop’s POV. They probably use the FOC spots to “make” money on the trip and also use it on their trip leader. That is what makes it worthwhile to organize in addition to the camaraderie they get with/ among their customers.

Have you been to Ring of Fire (Maumere, Alor, Banda, Ambon)? If not, I got a deal for you.

 

[BDSC]

The best thing I would do as the trip leader is to spread the free of charge (FOC) to everyone, including myself. Money talks. That's the best trip discount for everyone would get in a group trip. I dont mind paying for the trip as much as everyone else. I just enjoy going with my dive buddies to the place that I like to go at the time that fits to my schedule.

If I can get 1 FOC for 5 full-paying divers, then all 6 of us would get 1/6 discount of the cost / diver. That means for $3000 / diver trip cost, everyone would get $500 off and pays $2500 for that trip.

For those that have seen my posts or been on any trip I have initiated, I do exactly what Dan_T does. Our group takes any group discount, commissions, and free spots and discounts everyone's price. Here's how that will typically work and I will give you exact numbers in case anyone was wondering.

I booked the entire Belize Aggressor IV at DEMA in November of 2015. The regular price for a week is $2995 but Aggressor was giving a $400 discount per person so we start with a price of $2595 per person. $2595 x 18 people (the other 2 spots are free) = 46,710 less 4,671 (10% commission) give you 42,039. Now divide that by 20 people and you get a final cost of $2101.95 per person. I charged everyone $2100 because they will give me free nitrox.

So as you can see, instead of paying the retail price of $2995, we are all going for $2100 so a discount of $895 per person. To me that's significant. My Solomons trip for next year on the Bilikiki is discounted over $1200 each. So I don't do pre-trip parties or give out gifts or whatever because I feel folks would rather have the money in their own pockets. I also call myself the trip initiator and not leader. Most folks in our group are seasoned travelers and don't need for me to lead them in anything. I just arrange it all.

What started out as a small group of 6 on my very first trip has grown beyond anything I would have ever imagined.

 

[Hoag]

The best thing I would do as the trip leader is to spread the free of charge (FOC) to everyone, including myself. Money talks. That's the best trip discount for everyone would get in a group trip. I dont mind paying for the trip as much as everyone else. I just enjoy going with my dive buddies to the place that I like to go at the time that fits to my schedule.

If I can get 1 FOC for 5 full-paying divers, then all 6 of us would get 1/6 discount of the cost / diver. That means for $3000 / diver trip cost, everyone would get $500 off and pays $2500 for that trip.

I look at the trip leader's "FOC berth" as giving me a "belly button to push". They may get their berth free of charge, but if something goes wrong, then they are the dive shop's rep on site. They are the belly button that I push. If they are getting a free berth, then as far as I am concerned, they are on the clock (within reason of course). This is often how the LDS's rep gets reimbursed.

I do not begrudge them getting a free berth, nor do I expect that someone who is working on the trip to do so for free. Depending on the people involved, being a trip leader came be a royal PITA and if they get a break on the cost (or free berth), then good for them. In many cases they work very hard behind the scenes to make sure that it appears effortless to the group.

 

[BDSC]

Most group trips you get a group T-Shirt- maybe if it's an expensive trip an embroidered shirt, but what are some other things that the trip leader has given you or done on the trip to make it extra special?

Before the trip?
During the trip?
After the trip?

Thanks!

Let me go back and answer your actual question.

When I was doing shop trips the two shops I went with always had a pre-trip get together at the shop with refreshment to go over any final details, what to expect, and it gave us a chance to meet the others going we did not know. I always enjoyed doing this and thought it was a good way to start the trip off on a high note.

Can't say that I ever expected that much from a trip leader during the trip. Typically you are on a liveaboard or at a resort and they have their own rules, guidelines, schedules, etc and I never experienced any real situations that would require a trip leader to step in.

After the trip we typically all got together about a month after the trip, usually at a persons house, and shared photos or videos and maybe even talked about where to go next.