Travel agent worth it?
 

Message: I'm going to Peru in Sept. and put together a trip of 2 nights Lima at the Melia, 2 nights Sacred Valley at Sol Y Luna, 1 night Machu Picchu at Pueblo, 3 nights Cusco at Monasterio, 4 nights in the Amazon Basin (2 at Heath River Wildlife Center and 2 at Sandoval Lake Lodge), and another 2 nights in Lima. I told them exactly where we wanted to go and for how long and even told them the hotels we wanted. They came back with a price about $300 per person more than what I can do if I did it myself over the Internet. The only things they include that I would need to add are transfers in Lima, but not on our second stay in Lima, transfers to Sacred Valley from Cusco, train from SV to MP and back to Cusco, and transfers to Amazon, which the lodges will provide anyway. No tours other than the Amazon are included, which would be anyway, but my husband and I are not "tour" people. Likewise, domestic air is not included since I can get it for about $90 less per person through Aero Contiente's web site. My question is this, is it worth spending the extra money to have the agent do everything, and are the transfers expensive if done on my own? I can't believe the transfers would cost $600, although the agent would have us on the Vistadome with a lunch included. The agent is World Class travel. Has anyone used them? I'm quite used to doing everything myself on the Internet but feel a bit guilty since the agent did do some work on this in contacting their agent in Peru. Thoughts, suggestions? Does our itinerary look decent? Thanks.

We are looking at almost the same itinerary. What did you end up doing Laurieco? Or if anyone else can answer that would be great.

Did you end up going with World Class Travel? I am thinking about using them for an upcoming trip and was wondering if you were satisfied with them?

I hope I'm not too late to answer your questions, I did not see them until now. We did end up suing World Class Travel to do the trip. It wasn't that much more expensive and after always planning elaborate trips myself, like three weeks in Laos, Burma and Thailand, I just didn't feel like dealing with the logistical nightmares that always ensue. Also, a big reason I used them was because they were able to get us a fairly good rate at the Monasterio in Cuzco--US$330 per night for a deluxe room with oxygen, including tax, service. this room would normally go for over $400 and I REALLY wanted to stay there. Well worth the money.

Oops, that's USING World Class, NOT suing!! :-)

Ummm....please explain "deluxe room with Oxygen"????? ;)

I've just contacted World Class Travel this weekend about a trip to Machu Picchu, Galapagos and Chile - were you happy with Pueblo at Machu Picchu - thanks

Hi Elizabeth,
A deluxe room is a bit better than the standard rooms. Ours had a balcony, which was very nice. With oxygen is exactly that--oxygen is continuously pumped into the room. This really helps with the altitude. I wasn't sure the oxygen was helping since we had spent three nights at 8000 feet to acclimatize and we were taking diamox. But after spending three nights at the Monasterio we were to fly to Puerto Maldonado but our flight was cancelled due to fog or something and we got stuck a fourth night in Cuzco. We opted to stay at the Novotel, a perfectly lovely hotel, in order to save some money, but when I woke up in the morning, I flet like I had the flu, headache, dizzy and just plain lousy. No oxygen at the Novotel, so I guess the oxygen at the Monasterio really did help. Besides, the Monasterio is a wonderful and beautiful hotel. If you can afford it, go for it. As for the Pueblo, It's probably the best and nicest hotel in Aguas Calientes but at over $200 per night, I hesitate to say it's worth it. For that kind of money, they can at least provide a hair dryer and TV set! It was also rather cold and damp in the room. That said, the hotel itself is very nice but next time, I might just bite the bullet and stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, even with their inflated prices.

At World Class Travel, I dealt with Kay, who is very knowledgable and nice. She worked with me to give me what I wanted and I thought the price was fair. If you have any other questions, let me know. Laurie

In May I'll be going about 50 miles up the Amazon from Iquitos for a project I'm working on. I'll be hiking through the jungle each day. Someone suggested I bring rubber boots for this but I was planning to use more supportive footwear like runners or hiking boots. What was your experience in the jungle in relation to how much moisture your feet were exposed to?

We were in the jungle in September and it was fairly dry. But we were also in a different part of the Amazon Basin. For the first few nights, we were actually in Bolivia, and then we were at Sandoval Lake, both pretty far from Iquitos so the conditions could be very different. I wore sneakers and had no problems but I would check the average rainfall for Iquitos in May and pack according to that. Try this site http://www.uwmc.uwc.edu/geography/10...ta/iquitos.htm

We flew to Puerto Maldonado as the starting place to go upriver to a jungle lodge. The Monasterio was far, far more comfortable even without oxygen. When we were there no oxygen was provided in the rooms and we had the best suite (they upgraded us).
As far as boots for the jungle...we went in the wet season and needed boots above the knee.