Alpengirl Teen Summer Adventure Camps for Girls

Montana Horse Camp Adventure Travel Information

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FLIGHT ARRIVAL TO CAMP
Book flights to arrive at the Bozeman, Montana Airport between 10 am - 2 pm on the first day of camp, aiming for a time closest to 1 pm to reduce waiting time in the airport. You are welcome to arrange a flight outside of this if our staff is available to accommodate your itinerary; however, a $50 fee will be charged for the special arrangement arrival service. You MUST call Alpengirl before booking your flight if you'd like to request special travel arrangements.

Baggage Fees: Parents, please attempt to pay for the airline baggage fees round-trip in advance and ask for a receipt of your payment and add it to camper Ziploc #1 for Alpenguides to collect from camper upon arrival. If no receipt is provided, add a parent note to camper Ziploc #1 indicating that baggage fees were paid in full round-trip. This will reduce the possibility of being charged again upon return flight. If you are unable to pay round-trip for baggage fees in advance, add a parent note to camper Ziploc #1 indicating this and supply cash for these fees for your campers return flight home.

Unaccompanied Minor Ticket Fees: Parents, if you choose to -or- if your airline requires you to purchase an unaccompanied minor ticket for your camper, please attempt to pay for the fees round-trip in advance and ask for a receipt of your payment and add it to camper Ziploc #1 for Alpenguides to collect from camper upon arrival. If no receipt is provided, add a parent note to camper Ziploc #1 indicating that unaccompanied minor fees were paid in full round-trip. This will reduce the possibility of being charged again upon return flight. If you are unable to pay round-trip for unaccompanied minor fees in advance, add a parent note to camper Ziploc #1 indicating this and supply cash for these fees for your campers return flight home.

Campers, if you are flying without airline assistance, once your flight has landed, go directly to your baggage claim and stay there until an Alpenguide is there to greet you and introduce you to the rest of your group. Most of the time an Alpenguide (wearing Alpengirl t-shirt) is there to greet you as you arrive at your baggage claim at the time listed your Travel Form (provide Alpengirl with updated travel information in advance of your camp arrival date). If you don't see an Alpenguide right away at your baggage claim, don't panic, don't wander, we know that you are waiting for us and we are on our way to get you asap, you are our first priority. Our delays in getting to you may be caused by having multiple campers to pick-up at the same time at different baggage claim carousels in the airport, last minute baggage claim carousel changes, or other unforeseen circumstances. But, rest assured, we are on our way, and most of the time, we are able to greet you as you arrive at your baggage claim.

Campers, if you are flying with airline assistance on an "Unaccompanied Minor Ticket", the airline will be supervising you until the Alpengirl staff arrives to greet you and introduce you to the rest of your group. So, once your flight has landed, airline personnel will take care of you, you don't need to make any decisions or find anything in the airport. Most of the time the designated Alpenguide (wearing Alpengirl t-shirt) is there to greet you at your arrival gate as you walk off the plane at the time listed your Travel Form (provide Alpengirl with updated travel information in advance of your camp arrival date). If we are not at your arrival gate when you walk off the plane, the airline personnel will either continue to wait with you at your arrival gate until the designated Alpenguide is there to greet you, or they may walk with you to your baggage claim or to the airline check-in counter area to meet us. In some cases, you'll need to wait in the airline supervised "waiting room" for unaccompanied minors until the designated Alpenguide arrives to sign away for you. Again, most of the time we are able to greet you right away, but, if Alpenguides have many campers to pick-up at the same time in different locations at the airport, they may be delayed in getting to you. There is no need to worry, you are being supervised by airline personnel and don't need to do anything except wait and tolerate the kiddie TV in the "waiting room" if necessary. We know that you are waiting for us and we are on our way to get you asap. Our delays in getting to you may be caused by last minute gate changes, unexpected high-volume security lines, other campers with unexpected flight schedule changes, or other more urgent needs that staff must attend to first, such as gathering campers without unaccompanied minor tickets waiting alone at baggage claim. There are a variety of unforeseen circumstances that may prevent us from greeting you as you walk off the plane, but, rest assured, you'll always be attended to on an unaccompanied minor ticket, that is what you are paying for, and most of the time, we are able to greet you as you walk off the plane.

Once with the Alpenguides, campers will call home to let their parents know they are with us. Campers are officially "checked-in" to camp while we wait in the airport. Check-in includes: making sure essential gear is packed, conducting health screening, and collecting medications, activity waivers, food, magazines, cell phones and personal music players. Once the entire group has arrived, we'll talk about van rules and basic camp rules, and drive to our first campsite for dinner and to set up tents and sleep.

Parents, please try not to worry too much if you don't immediately receive a call from your camper upon flight arrival. We typically call you shortly after greeting your camper, however, this call may be delayed up to 2-hours if Alpengirl has many campers to pick-up at the same time in many different locations at the airport. Our staff's first priority is collecting all campers and gathering them in one place so that we can provide direct Alpengirl supervision in the airport. Calling parents is a very close second priority.

FLIGHT DEPARTURE FROM CAMP
Book flight departures leaving from the Bozeman, Montana Airport before 1 pm on the last day of camp, aiming for a time closest to 11 am. You are welcome to arrange a flight outside of this if our staff is available to accommodate your itinerary; however, a $50 fee will be charged for the special arrangement departure service. You MUST call Alpengirl before booking your flight if you'd like to request special travel arrangements.

Campers, if you are flying home without airline assistance, Alpenguides will assist you with flight check-in 1-2 hours in advance of your departure time and will accompany you to the security checkpoint where we say our good-byes. Beyond the checkpoint is a secured area that is restricted to non-ticketed persons such as Alpenguides. Once through the security checkpoint, you are on your own and unsupervised, and you should go directly to your departure gate and make contact with airline personnel to make sure that you are at the correct location. You should call home once you are at your correct departure gate and stay at your departure gate until you board the plane.

Campers, if you are flying home with airline assistance on an "Unaccompanied Minor Ticket", our designated Alpenguide will check you in for your flight 1-2 hours in advance of your departure time and will wait with you until airline personnel have completed their paperwork and have assumed your supervision from Alpengirl. With an unaccompanied minor ticket, you won't need to make any decisions or find anything in the airport, you'll be constantly supervised until you are greeted by your parents as you walk off the plane back home.

In the extremely rare case of an unforeseen delay that would cause a camper to miss her scheduled flight back home due to a late check-in by our camp staff, our staff will be making new reservations for her to be on the next possible flight and calling to advise you of her new flight itinerary.

UNACCOMPANIED MINOR TICKETS
Many airlines require that you have a special "Unaccompanied Minor" ticket for minors traveling alone. Even if this special ticket is not required by your airline of choice, you may elect to purchase an unaccompanied minor ticket. Alpengirl suggests that you consider purchasing an unaccompanied minor ticket if your camper has little experience in air travel and you are worried about her making flight connections alone or dealing with flight delay or cancellations without Alpengirl or airline assistance. Parents should also consider airport size and whether or not campers have a direct flight or connecting flights. Parents, we strongly suggest that you ask your airline specific questions about their latest policies regarding kids traveling alone upon making your flight reservation when making this decision.

Parents, if you have purchased an unaccompanied minor ticket for your camper, the airline will supervise and assist her throughout her travel itinerary delays, re-routing, cancellations, gate connections, etc. Airline personnel or Alpengirl staff will be supervising her at all times with this ticket. Alpengirl staff names for unaccompanied minor tickets will be provided to you in our Alpengirl "Pre-Camp Letter" mailed to you with camp t-shirt and waivers in May. If you are making your flight reservation before May and are asked for the staff names, use Alpengirl contact information and the Camp Directors name, Alissa Farley. IMPORTANT: you MUST change the name to the correct staff names before your daughter's flight. If you don't change the name, it will be a big problem as Alissa Farley is not guaranteed to be at the airport and the airline will refuse to release the camper to anyone else. Parents, it is your responsibility to provide the correct names to your airline, so, please double check at airport check-in to see that the correct names are listed before allowing your camper to fly. Additionally, upon check-in, please attempt to pay for your round-trip unaccompanied minor tickets. If your airline does not allow pre-payment for the return flight, you MUST supply cash to your camper for her return flight. So, remember the motto "Double Check at Check-In", check for roundtrip ticket payment & check for correct staff names.

Parents, if you elect not to purchase an unaccompanied minor ticket for your camper,she will be unsupervised and responsible for negotiating the airport and any flight changes, delays, cancellations on her own with parent assistance via camper cell phone or calling card. Specifically, on arrival, your daughter will need to find her way from her arrival gate to her baggage claim where Alpengirl staff will greet her (note: she may be waiting alone for a short time at baggage claim until Alpengirl staff arrives). On departure, Alpengirl staff will assist your daughter in checking-in for her flight and she will proceed through the security checkpoint alone (un-ticketed Alpenguides are not allowed past security the checkpoint). From the security checkpoint forward, Alpengirl is not responsible for your daughter; therefore, she should travel with a charged cell phone and back-up calling card to call you for your assistance if needed during travel.

DRIVING
The airport is the designated meeting location for campers arriving and departing by car. Often times, requests for a different departure time and location by car can be accommodated. Exact times and locations will be determined as we receive camper flight itineraries and will be confirmed with parents just before camp starts. Alpenguides are authorized to release campers only to parent(s)/guardian(s) or other person(s) that are listed on your campers Travel Form. These persons should be prepared to present ID for camper release. Changes to the Alpengirl Travel Form must be made in writing and approved by the Alpengirl camp director prior to the day of camper departure; making last minute changes will be difficult to approve.

Upon arrival by car, parent(s)/guardian(s) must stay with their camper until the Alpengirl staff is there to greet them. Alpengirl will wait up to 1 hour for campers arriving by car. We make every attempt possible to contact parents/campers before departing without a camper.

Upon departure by car, if parent(s)/guardian(s) or other persons listed on a campers Travel Form are not there to pick up their camper within 1 hour of the scheduled departure time, Alpengirl staff will not leave the camper; they'll plan a different pick-up arrangement depending on what the situation demands.

If camper arrival or departure delays cause a disruption to the scheduled camp and/or Alpenguide itinerary, Alpengirl may charge fees to cover extra costs associated with the extended delay. This fee could cover additional transportation costs (car rental/fuel), food, hotel, and additional employee wage payment if an overnight is warranted.

CALLING ALPENGIRL
Campers should play it safe on travel days by having a cell phone (with wall charger) and a back-up calling card that they know how to use. Call Alpengirl voice mail at 1-406-284-4110 if there are delays or changes in your travel schedule and parents should call at anytime for any reason during camp. Our camp staff will be checking the Alpengirl voice mail regularly during camp. Personal staff cell phone numbers are not provided to parents or campers. You may call the Camp Director, Alissa Farley, on her cell phone (1-406-570-6312) at anytime, but, be aware, cell phone's are not always reliable, so, if a message is urgent, always leave a message on the office voice mail as well as on Alissa's cell phone.