The Travel Agent challenge
Getting started
Although none of us can go on holiday at the moment, we can still plan trips (which is still exciting in itself)! You might have helped plan a holiday before - and if so, you’ve got a headstart on this task - but if not, here’s a little competition to get you thinking.
The context
You’re a well established travel agent who is known for planning fun but affordable holidays. A family gives you the task of planning their trip to New York City, but you’re competing with other travel agents to get the cheapest price, whilst still meeting all the criteria they have provided.
The criteria
Use the exchange rate of 1.26 USD to 1 GBP for the whole of the task.
- The family consists of 2 adults, a 10 year old daughter and a 15 year old son.
- They live near London, so would like to fly from an airport close to home.
- You’ll have to find the best prices for flights to and from New York, and they would like to leave on 22 April, and return on 29 April 2021 - ideally they’d like direct flights!
- They’ll need a taxi to get from the airport to their hotel (and then back again at the end of their holiday)
- They’ll use the metro for the rest of their trip. A 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard each might be useful!
- They want their hotel to be within a half an hour walk of Times Square, and they’d also like you to organise tickets to a Broadway show (hint - these prices can vary hugely).
- They want to go to the top deck of the Empire State Building and hire bikes for a day in Central Park.
- They’d also like to go on a day trip to Niagara Falls at some point during their holiday.
- They would like to take the equivalent of £500 in dollars for cash for spending, so make sure you include this in the final price.
The result
Keep a list of how much everything is costing throughout and which website/company it is from, and then calculate your final price for all 4 people in GBP. Send the final version of your list and total cost to pre16provision@york.ac.uk, and the student with the lowest price that meets all of the criteria will win a voucher for an outlet of your choice!
We cannot wait to see what exciting holidays you come up with - may the best hypothetical travel agent win!
Deadline for submissions: Friday 17th July