School and university transfers from Whitstable, planned around term dates

What school transfers from Whitstable include

The service is a car and a licensed driver booked for a set journey at a fixed fare: CT5 to school, college or university, school to an airport, or an airport back to Whitstable. It is not an escort or chaperone service. The driver's job is the journey, from the pickup address in the booking to the drop-off address in the booking.

Every driver holds a current private hire driver's licence issued by a local authority, which requires an enhanced DBS check, and every car is a council-licensed private hire vehicle with hire and reward insurance.

Term dates, and who sets them

Kent County Council sets the term dates for its community and voluntary controlled schools. For foundation and voluntary aided schools, academies and free schools, the dates are set by each school's governing body, so check the calendar of the school itself; two children in the same house can easily break up on different days.

Book as soon as the dates are confirmed. A booking cancelled more than 24 hours before the pickup costs nothing, so there is little risk in booking early and adjusting if a school moves an exeat weekend or a training day.

Pupils flying on their own

Airlines set their own rules for young people travelling without an adult, and they differ. British Airways, for example, does not carry children under 14 on their own; 14 and 15-year-olds may fly alone, but a parent or guardian must book by phone or in person and provide a signed consent form. Check your airline's rules before booking the car, because they decide what happens inside the airport.

On the road, the arrangement is simple: the driver collects from the address in the booking at the agreed time and drives to the terminal you have named. For a flight home, the driver waits in the arrivals hall with a name board, so put the pupil's own name on the booking.

End of term: collection from the airport

When a pupil flies home to Whitstable for the holidays, book with the flight number. The flight is tracked from departure and the collection follows the real landing time, so a late plane does not leave anyone stranded, and a delay outside your control costs nothing extra.

Free waiting runs for 45 minutes after an international flight lands and 30 after a domestic one. That is usually enough for passport control and the baggage hall; remind the pupil to switch their phone on as soon as the plane is on the ground.

University moves and long-distance term runs

Start-of-term journeys to university are long-distance runs as much as anything, often with a duvet, a desk lamp and a year's clothes. An estate takes up to four passengers with three or four large cases, and the MPV takes six passengers with four or more large cases, which leaves space for a parent to come along and help carry boxes up the stairs.

Put any extra stop in the booking, such as collecting a friend in Seasalter or Chestfield on the way. An unbooked stop can be added to the fare, while a planned one is priced in from the start.

What parents tell us when booking a school transfer

Bookings can be made online, by phone on 01843 247247, on WhatsApp or by email, and paid online by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna or Revolut, so a parent working away can arrange and pay for the journey from wherever they are. These are the details to have ready:

• The pupil's or student's full name, as it should appear on the name board
• Their mobile number, and a parent's number as well
• Pickup and drop-off addresses with postcodes, including the school's or the hall of residence's
• Flight numbers and terminals for any airport leg
• Number of cases, plus instruments, sports kit or boxes
• A child seat, with the child's age, for younger passengers

Fares for term-time journeys

The fare is fixed for the car, however many pupils share it, and it does not rise for early starts, weekend returns or bank holidays. It changes only if the journey does: waiting beyond the free time, stops added on the way, a big change of route, or car parking fees and tolls where they apply.

For the end of term, it often makes sense to book the outward and return journeys together, each with its own date, time and flight details, so nothing is left to the last week.

Exchange trips work the same way. If a visiting pupil is flying in to stay with a family in Whitstable, book the airport collection in the visitor's name with the host family's address as the drop-off, and give the host's mobile number as the second contact.