I'm ready to make my travel plans, has anyone used Pat at lovecostarica.com?

He's not a typical travel agent, he uses the listed prices on the internet, but he puts the whole package together; transfers, hotel reservations, excursions, etc.

I tried my local travel agent who I typically use and she was almost $1000 more than what I figured, comparing apples to apples.

Any info would be great!

Thanks All!

Pat is a great guy and for those of us on AOL he has been a guru for Costa Rica Travel. I have personally recommended him to several people who had great success with him. He is honest and will give you a complete list of what each dime is for. He also owns a home in Monteverde. He was based out of New Orleans but now spends more time actually in Costa Rica. Tell him Suzie said hi.

Glad you asked. I used Pat (based on post rec's). I've never used an agent before but he seemed like a nice guy (prob. is) but... we have an emergency here at home and I have been trying allllll day to reach him to no avail. I have sent e-mails and have called his 2 phone numbers beginning at 7:30 a.m. (it's now 6:15 p.m.) and nothing. His phone numbers are not even allowing messages at this point (don't know why). Suzie - got any idea of his number in Monteverde? Maybe he's there and can't be reached. We're supposed to leave tomorrow morning at 6:50 a.m. and are unable and stand to lose a lot of money without his assistance.
Obviously I'm frustrated at this moment. I'll let you know if Pat comes through.
Leslee

Hi Leslee,
I just got back from Argentina and had a personal email from him. I sent him a reply to tell him you are trying to get ahold of him. If I hear anything I will let you know. If he is in CR at the moment it could be that the phone lines are not working right or he is not receiving his email.
Sorry to hear about your emergency. Hope Pat can come through for you.

Hi Suzie
Sorry Luv2travel2... I'm jumping on your post. It's 2:20 a.m. and no word. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like: my e-mail is [email protected]. Welcome home from Argentina and thanks for the response! You're always so helpful.
Leslee

Hi Luv2travel2,
This is Leslee again and I wanted to give you an update. It's 3:00 Wednesday and I have yet to reach, or hear from, Pat. I've made calls to our hotels directly and they have said he's a great guy and very responsible, so they don't know what might have happened. The owner of Florblanca said it's possible he's in Costa Rica and the phones are down. This could be what has happened; however, it still leaves us with some big problems and possibly some big costs for "no shows".
General concensus seems to be that Pat is very honest and helpful. I had most of our trip planned but needed some help with the details (drive times, flight schedules within CR...) so Pat took over our itinerary for us and up until now all has gone well. My concern is this... if he's a one-man show and/or if he's in Costa Rica where he's unreachable for days at a time ... where does that leave the client who needs to speak with him immediately???
I'm now having to make all our arrangements / changes through direct phone calls to Costa Rica (not cheap)and e-mails.
The good news is that we are planning to leave tomorrow morning. I got so much wonderful advice from this website and I hope to return the favor when we get back.
Good luck,
Leslee

Okay, I promise, this is my last reply. I'm beginning to sound like a freak here... Pat just called. He was out of town for a day plus. He's apologized at length and thinks we can get this all worked out, so that's good news. Hope you have a great trip.
Leslee

Glad it worked out. Have a good trip.