Ireland: End of July, Early August: Traveling with senior and 17 year old

newlass · Member

Ireland: End of July, Early August: Traveling with senior and 17 year old

Michele Erdvig · Host

Newlass,

Welcome to my forum. Glad you figured out how to post! wink

Use your Canadian passports. If you were spending over 6 months in Ireland then your Irish passports would be handy.

There are many ways to save money in Ireland. Go to my Money page and Tips & Tricks page. Also Discounts. The Hot Offers section of this forum has many discounts listed too. My readers get discounts at many different accommodations.

I don't stay at hostels myself. Some are good while others are awful. But do a check on prices for both hostels and B&Bs. Some B&B prices are not much different from hostels and include breakfast. At some hostels breakfast is "buy it and cook it yourself" or continental. If it is a difference of 10 euro per person I would go for the B&B. If you can spend 2 or 3 nights at the same place you should expect to get a discount.

In Donegal I would recommend Donegal Castle & Glenveagh Castle for your niece. Your mother might be interested in the Donegal Ancestry Center.

For a temperature chart of Irish weather: http://www.irelandyes.com/weather.html Hope for sunshine but bring an umbrella!

Michele

newlass · Member

Thank you Michele,
I really appreciate all of your thoughts and expertise. What do you think the best place to arrive into Ireland is... that would be cheaper. Do you think Dublin would be the best place to start and finish?
I have just ordered your book so I look forward to checking out more of your suggestions.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Newlass,

Do some checking on flights to see what sort of fares come up. They will be different every day so check frequently. The majority of flights now go to Dublin. But some prefer an "open jaw" plan where they fly into Dublin and out of Shannon (or vice versa). Look into both plans to see what the various prices are.

Michele

stewh · Guru

Newlass,
From what part of Canada will you be flying? Our choices here are fairly limited. I have always flown from Toronto on Air Transat. They offer numerous flights to Dublin but fly into and out of Shannon only once a week - Monday evening from Toronto, Tuesday midday from Shannon. Because we tend to spend most of our time in the West we much prefer to use Shannon; it is also much more easily navigated. I believe Air Canada still offers some seasonal Irish service (Transat service is also seasonal). I have just booked flights to Shannon for September and noticed that the Transat flights are quite busy with many seats already sold. They do offer the 'open jaws' flights that Michele pointed out. Have a great trip!!

Stewart

-- Edited by stewh on Tuesday 18th of January 2011 09:22:56 AM

Date: 12:33 PM, 01/18/11

Thanks Stewart and Michele,
I will definatly look into that. I am from Alberta so I will most likely be flying out of Calgary or Edmonton.
As for the flight, I kind of have a wierd situation. I will be flying to Ireland but returning from Nice. After my niece and I go visit Ireland we are heading to Spain for the World Youth Day conference in Madrid, Spain. Then after our little group will head to France.

If you have any ideas in regards to flying to Ireland but returning out of another country I would really be grateful.
I was also thinking of posslibe return flight from Ireland but take the Ferry over to France and then the train down to Spain, do all my things there then return back to Ireland for my return flight.
Basically I am trying to find the cheapest route.

If you have any thoughts... ashamed

Newlass

Green Dragon · Guru

Check into Errigal Hostel. It's in Gweedore, Donegal - I've not been there myself, but have become an online friend with Karl, the owner. He does the most amazing photography I've seen - all of his native county. It looks like an amazing place. Someone who loves his home that much surely must take care of his guests as well :P

Michele Erdvig · Host

Newlass,

It sounds very complicated. You might want to get some advice from an expert travel agent too.

Michele

newlass · Member

I agree... it is complicated. I will go and see if there is anyone that will be able to help me.
Thanks for the tip on the Hostel in Donegal.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Newlass,

I don't know if this will be of help, but check out these travel agents who are Shamrock Club members: http://www.shamrockclub.net/searchstate.php?state=AB

They will have completed a course by Tourism Ireland. If they can't help they may be able to put you in touch with someone that can.

Michele

susan · Senior Member

"If you have any ideas in regards to flying to Ireland but returning out of another country I would really be grateful."

We are doing that this September.We are flying into Dublin (flying Continental) spending a week visiting family in Leitrim - then Dublin to Rome (flying ryan air ) spending a week in Rome - then Rome to Newark (flying Continental).

Continentals web site lets you book multi-city destinations.Ryan Air is a inexpensive European airline.

Check out Kayak.com for other airline options.

Susan

stewh · Guru

If you use Ryanair be sure you know what you are getting. Charges for baggage annd almost everything else (possibly a 1 Euro toilet fee coming!!) can change an apparent bargain into a rip-off.

Michele is right; you need to consult a travel agent about your somewhat complicated itinerary.

susan · Senior Member

Our Irish friends use ryanair all the time,we know all about the extra fees.They are the Spirit airline of Europe.

Susan

stewh · Guru

susan wrote:

Our Irish friends use ryanair all the time,we know all about the extra fees.They are the Spirit airline of Europe.

Susan

I have used Ryanair myself, Susan. My comments were addressed more to newlass.

Stewart

susan · Senior Member

Its all good Stewh-the more information the better !

Andi · Senior Member

In your case, this seems not to apply, but I'll add it anyway. If you are using separate airlines for legs of a trip, you need to know that your luggage must be collected after each leg and rechecked on the next airline. If you are booked through to your final destination, the airline will do this for you. There are some destinations for which you need to collect your luggage after each leg when changing or transiting through another country, even if all on the same trip booked by 1 airline.

Since your legs are all separated by days of stay, this doesn't apply, as you've outlined in. It sounds complicated enough that you need to check these kinds of details with someone experienced.

There can often be surprises, but if prepared to go with the flow, you'll be fine!

newlass · Member

Thanks everyone. Its great to know that everyones experiences will benifit others. If you have any other ideas or gems (like places you think are absolutly fantasitic) don't hesitate.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

In 2007, we flew into Edinburgh (from Orlando) and returned to Orlando from Dublin, on Delta.

In '08 we flew into Amsterdam, bought a (relatively) cheap Aer Lingus flight into Cork and then returned via Dublin -- again, on Delta (using FF miles for all but the AMS-ORK flight).

This past July, we flew Aer Lingus from Orland to Cardiff (with a stop-over/plane change in Dublin). We took the Swansea to Cork Ferry (overnight) and then flew back to Orlando from Shannon (via JFK) on an Aer Lingus / Jet Blue Partnership flight.

Multi-City flights ARE not only POSSIBLE, but they are quite common. SOME times they cost no more than a standard Round-Trip flight.

But ....

Sometimes, they can be MUCH more costly -- It all depends upon the Route combination and the time of year ...

Bob