Student Petty Cash

Many student trips are purposely set up as all-inclusive so that students really don’t need to bring any cash. That being said, the first thing to figure out is how much money is needed for things not included in the trip price. The most common non-inclusion is meals, such as lunch. Generally, students are asked to bring $6-$10 for a lunch depending on where you intend to stop and what city you are in (international trips tend to cost more than domestic destinations). If you are going on an international trip, it is a good idea to have some extra money in small bills/coins in the foreign currency so that expenditures don’t draw attention. Exchanging funds is often done in country since the exchange rates are usually better at the destination.

As for souvenirs, while teachers can recommend a particular budget; the people who really determine how much a student brings along are the parents. My rule of thumb for parents is to let kids bring the amount of money they are willing to allow their student to lose in the first day…believe me it happens. Some groups suggest that students not bring any money. Others recommend an amount set purposely low (like $10 per day) as a not-to- exceed amount. Obviously, costs of souvenirs will vary from destination to destination and from group to group.

Many trips include competitions or events that the group will be attending. Those events may have special memorabilia that kids may want. It is smart for someone to call/check out online to find what souvenir costs are ahead of time and then let students know how much to bring if they want to purchase those items.

The bottom line when it comes to money is that trip rules often leave the responsibility of holding onto money with students, not the chaperones. I think this is a good idea as a way to teach responsibility to even as young as 10-year-olds.

One last tip about money: If you want students to bring money for meals on the way home and you want chaperones to hold the money, I have seen groups collect monies in sealed envelopes and hand those envelopes back just before they are needed. This is one way to make sure kids don’t end up on the last part of the trip having already spent their “lunch money.”

About the Author

Mike Palmer is one of the leading experts on student and youth travel in North American and around the world. He built one of the largest student travel companies in the US and helped create the Student & Youth Travel Association of North America, serving as their Executive Director for over 10 years. More recently he directed the global World Youth and Student Travel Conference; created three national nonprofit organizations to conduct research in student travel and served on the UN World Tourism Organization’s panel of global travel experts. He has often been quoted on radio, TV and in news articles on student travel and has testified before the US congress. Oh, by the way, he is the father of 6 and was a PTO officer, a band parent and a trip chaperone.