Paul Mooney

My wife and I are going to Ireland at the end of Oct. We have been working with a travel agent in the states and we just received pricing for the following: <BR>1 Week Car Rental Group 2 car type <BR>1 night Deluxe stay, Shelbourne in Dublin <BR>1 night stay, Blue Haven Inn, Kinsale. <BR>Here is my question; We are being charged $1700. American dollars which sounds very high based on quotes I got off of Dan Dooley's web page as well as the Shelbourne. Does anyone have any experience with this that can tell me if these prices are high as I suspect?

just

Paul, why specifically do you need feedback from a travel agent? Why don't you visit the car rental and hotel web sites and find out for yourself? If the businesses don't have web sites they will certainly have a fax or phone. Contact them yourself and find out what the rates are. It's the best way to find out if you're getting a bargain or being fleeced, and for $1,700, it's certainly worth a fax or two to know for sure.

somethingis

And more interestingly, why come to Fodor's to look for a travel agent? Why not just pick out some travel agent web sites, e-mail the agents and ask them? <BR> <BR>This sounds like a big ole set up for some advertising. <BR> <BR>

Paige

Is that the price per person or total? What part of the U.S. are you flying from? I suggest going to Travelocity or some other sight and check on the airfare and contact a few car rental agencies to see what they offer. I haven't been to Ireland so I can't really comment on the prices.

AC

Hi Paul: <BR>$1700 for two people does not seem unreasonable to me. $850 per person airfare, car and deluxe Hotel? Not bad. However if you are concerned I gree with others who tell you to check the websites and compare. Have a good trip!

bo_jack

This is just an observation on the difficulty of communicating clearly in a format such as this. The first two respondents understood the heading to mean: "Paul need feedbacks from a travel agent on pricing that Paul has received." On the other hand, when I read it, I understood it to mean: "Paul needs feedback from anybody on pricing that Paul has received from a travel agent." Somewhat different understandings of one set of words -- the first implying "trust of travel agent authority" -- the second implying "mistrust of travel agent motive." In either case, I do not have any information for Paul, but it does seem like information that he should have no difficulty in obtaining. However, more parameters are needed -- when is the trip? Is this for car rental and 2 nights only -- nothing more? If so, then I can guess without any research that it is a rip-off unless these are really upscale hotels.

Paige

I assumed the price included airfare so if it doesn't, that's way too much for any place in Europe.

elaine

Paul <BR>I can't help you at all with Ireland, but in general, to get the best help you can here, let people know what you are trying to accomplish (one week traveling from where to where, and the sort of accommodations you had in mind) and <BR>I'm sure you can get some good suggestions <BR>In general, travel agents can't do the amount of research that you can do yourself, and it sounds as if this might be a "package" of some kind. Get the information yourself (here or elsewhere) and then you can have the agent book it for you if you wish, or book it yourself.

love2trvl

Gee Paul: <BR>Is that a short vacation to Ireland or what??? Two nights....I hope that is a typo and you meant a week in one of those two towns....$1700 for a two night vacation is quite steep. Who are you getting the car rental from? What airline are you flying? If you think it is too high, forget the travel agent and do it yourself. Expedia,Travelocity or even American Express Travel should be able to do better than that. I believe that Aer Lingus is running some kind of a two for one promotion through AMEX. Check it out. Good Luck!

AC

Boy, <BR>I've got to put my reading glasses on before I post any more answers~~I was sure that I read that it was a weeks stay in Dublin DUH!! Two nights=$1700 <BR> <BR>WAY OVER PRICED...Paul follow everyones lead here and do it over the web. Have fun!

Virginia Mooney

A few points of clarification. All the information presented in the e-mail was what we have already been charged by a travel agent. The price does not include airfare. We are going to Ireland for 7 days. The travel agent made the arrangements for two accomodations and a 6 six car rental. The rest I did myself. THe same question, have we been fleeced.

Brandon

YES!!!

Paige

$1700 for 2 nights accommodations and 1 week car rental is extremely expensive! Even if your car was $100 per day (which is very unlikely), you're paying $700 for 2 nights which can't possibly be worth it unless you're wealthy and staying someplace phenomenal. To me, it sounds like you were fleeced in a BIG way. Can you get out of it and book it yourself? People on this forum can help if you have questions.

paige

Really, I passed 1st grade math! $700 for a car and $1000 for 2 nights accommodations. YIKES!! <BR>Are you accustomed to paying $500 or more for a night in a hotel? If you're really rich and the hotels are palaces and the car is top of the line, maybe you could actually spend $1700 on that.

love2trvl

Virginia: <BR>Clarify this: <BR>Are you getting 2 days or 7 days accommodation for your $1700. Forget about the airfare or the car. How many days are included in this amount? If it is just 2 days, forget this travel agent...let us know so that we can get it straight for you.

Honest Abe

I think you got a fair deal. You have to figure in the agent's commission, foreign exchange rates and the Continental Breakfast at each hotel. By the way, I have a beautiful classic 1971 Ford Maverick that runs like a charm and I'd be happy to sell it to you for only $10,000. Just mail me the money first.

Christy

Paul And Virgina: <BR>Get your money back from this travel agent! $1700 not including airfare or the other 4 nights lodgings is Robbery. <BR>Airfare, 6 nights accomodations in a fairly nice place including breakfast and car rental for two people at the end of October should run pretty close to $1700 for everything! Let us know what you decide to do. Good luck! <BR>

Debbie

<BR>I am going in November for 9 days with my Mother for less than that (total!) <BR> <BR>to give you some pricing guidelines. <BR>Air /2 people incl tax = $700 <BR>Automatic car (Corolla) 8 days, full ins. = $340 - Dan Dooley by the way. <BR>Lodging (4 days hotel / 4 days B&B ) = $580 <BR> <BR>so total for both of us for 9 days / 8 nights = $1620 <BR> <BR>$1700 for what you are getting is completely ridiculous.

Patrick

OK, I'm setting myself up for a big slam here, but I don't get this whole travel agent deal. If you are using a travel agent to plan your trip and do a lot of work for you, why would you expect anything but that the price would be higher than if you do the work yourself. Hopefully you are not using the travel agent to do the planning and leg work for you and then book it all yourself, cutting him out of his commissions. But if you are willing to do the leg work, of course you should be able to do better. We often clearly get better prices at hotels by booking ourselves directly. We've even been told by some of them that they charge more if they need to feed a commission back to a travel agent. How can you expect to get the lowest prices and still have the travel agent earning enough to make a decent living?

Virginia Mooney

Okay guys, final update. Firstly, thanks you for your responses. (I could have done without the sarcasm and the Maverick. That's what happens when you put yourself out there I guess.) Anyway, we were more looking for confirmation that the price was steep. We did not want to confront him, he was referred by a friend, until we knew for absolute certain the price was extreme. The reason why I became so knowledgeable about this stuff was from spending most nights on the web. This website has been a wonderful resource for other sites. I did not have this guy do the leg work and then go in the back door to save money. Just the contrary, I found sites where I could have booked, but decided to book two seperate nights through him. I thought this way he could get some commision. I planned on booking the other five nights myself. However, with the pricing I could get and the price he proposed it was over 100% commision for him. Long story short (I Know, too late)we have canceled him and plan on doing it all ourselves. Thanks again, when I return I will come back to the web page and answers questions in honor of all of you who were helpful.