Overwhelmed!

mkay · Veteran Member

Overwhelmed!

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

You will usually start seeing "deals" at the end of the year or after the first of the year. Be patient.

No need to be overwhelmed. Basically you need:

Airfare
Car Rental
Lodgings

If you have a trusted travel agent it would not be a bad thing to see what they have available. You must determine what you want them to do. Do you just want airfare or a fly/drive/voucher package? Many times they will push the packages because they make more commission on them. I would be careful with vouchers in June because they are not as widely accepted as good old cash. I have also noticed that people tend to have more problems with car rentals when going through a third party. Many times it is better just to book directly with the car company of your choice.

Other things you can do:

Monitor airline websites daily
Sign up for newsletters from your airline of choice
Check on car rental rates
Do a search for "ireland travel packages"

That way if you decide to go with a travel agent you can do a cost comparison to see if they are saving you money or not. You will be prepared.

As for only having a week and flying in and out of Dublin, you just need to plan carefully. You already know you can't see everything. If you want to see Dublin you will need at least one full day to hit the hot spots. If Dublin is not a "must see" then you will have more time for the SW. That's up to you.

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

Fly drive without vouchers would be a good option, Vouchers are not universally accepted and will cost you more than just paying at the accommodation.

A trusted travel agent will not be as good as a stranger who actually knows something about Ireland. I am sure Michel has seen more disasters than myself reading through forums of travel agent arrangements.

Get a Map Michelin 712 and pin it to a wall. Remember that your average MPH will be no more than 40 apart from the Motorway sections. This means do not plan too much.

10 days would be my minimum suggestion drawing a line between Dublin and Galway to concentrate on the line below the M6 (2 1/2 hours Galway to Dublin Airport on this new road) Start with your 1st day in Dublin you do not want to hit the ground running with Jet lag.

Your interests and perceived must see's will also be key factors for consideration.

Michele Erdvig · Host

There are a group of specialist travel agents certified and trained by Tourism Ireland who are Shamrock Club members. They should have at least a basic knowledge of Ireland. Ask them if they have actually been to Ireland and how many times.

I'm at 50 and counting! But I'm not a travel agent - only a trip planner.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

Thanks so much, Michele, for your suggestions. I have been doing some of them. I've also started contacting different B & B's found in your book for rates and availability. Glad to know about the rental car because I thought it might be better to do that through an agent. You and your book have been so helpful! I will pray for more patience! Ha! Thanks again! I'm sure I will have more questions for you later. biggrin

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

Happy to help. Perhaps making a file with all your info in it will help. Then you will have sheets for each different thing and can make easy comparisons.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

The file is a great idea. I have notes written on everything. Ha!

In looking for acommodations in your book, I found The Shores Country House B & B located in Castlegregory. We were planning to stay there a couple of nights, but then I saw the cottage they have for self catering. A weeks stay there is very reasonable, but I was wondering if that location would be a good base for touring Counties Kerry and Clare--Kenmare, Cliffs of Moher, ROK, Dingle are a must. Would also like to do Connemara, and Mizen Head.

I would like to do a one night castle stay at Kilronan in Roscommon on our way back to Dublin. Do you think that would be do-able or is there another great castle closer?

Thanks Michele!

Monty · Senior Member

Given the choice in that area, I would stay in Dingle and visit Castlegregory as a day trip. So many pubs, music, and things to see in Dingle, that you could certainly stay there for two nights or longer. The Shores is a wonderful facility, but not as much to do around there.

Dingle has many places to stay, and Emlagh Lodge is extremely nice, right on the water, and reasonable. I've stayed there several times and can recommend it highly.

You can't go wrong with Dingle in my opinion if you like the music scene. If staying in a central location for touring is extremely high on your list, however, you might consider Killarney as that does fit that description. I'm not overly fond of the city, but the areas around it are amazing. You can easilly do a day trip to Dingle or Kenmare from there. The Cliffs would be a bit far, but could be done. ROK is easilly done from there.

Monty

-- Edited by Monty on Tuesday 1st of November 2011 12:33:42 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

I agree with Monty that Emlagh Lodge is a very nice B&B. They also have a self-catering house for rent. The only problem I see with staying on the Dingle Peninsula for a week is that it takes time to drive back and forth. Castlegregory is not as far out on the peninsula as is Dingle town itself. However the location of The Shore's self-catering cottage is very rural. I thought it was charming though and it has views of the ocean and beach.

I have stayed in Kenmare many times self-catering and think it makes a great base for the SW. It is easy to see Counties Cork and Kerry as well as the various peninsulas. Go to my self-catering page for more. I have not self-catered in Killarney but it is a good base too. I would not do Connemara or Cliffs of Moher from Dingle or Kenmare. It is too far for day tripping.

Have you decided how much time you will have in Ireland yet? That will determine what else you can fit in.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

Thanks again for your input. I think I would love the ocean and beach views, but might get bored if too rural. I will keep looking. I know I still have plenty of time.

I got excited today when I checked airfare. I found flights from Nashville to Shannon in May for around $700 vs. $1200 that it's been being. Shannon would be much easier to get in and out of and less driving time for us. Do you think it will get cheaper or think I should go ahead and book it???

I hope I'm not bombarding you with too many questions. I do appreciated it.

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

That seems like a good airfare to me. Almost half price. Shannon is my preferred airport.

Keep looking at Kenmare for self-catering. Doire Farm Cottages gives 10% discount to my readers. Plus they are excellent cottages.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

Michelle, or others

Have you ever booked airfare through CheapOair?

mkay · Veteran Member

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I will definitely take a look at Emlagh Lodge.

Zstep · Veteran Member

When I went last Summer, I found the best tool to find airfares was via TripAdvisor. Mind you, I didn't book through them or anything but it gave me a good idea of what was out there and since I was checking daily, it was a quick easy way to see if new deals had come in.

Couple things I noticed:

*Fly in and/or out on Tuesday, Wednesdays and sometimes Thursday. Cheapest tickets. TripAdvisor has a useful tool which gives you best price options by date.

*Buy your tickets on those same days too, fewer people book on those days apparently so airlines adjust prices accordingly. I found this very odd but confirmed the differences (since I obsessively checked fares every day for about 3 months!)

*I don't particularly trust the aggregator sites too much so I always buy direct from the airline. Most times its the same cost or less than the aggregator (not always mind you) so its at least worth a look.

*Consider other nearby airports to depart from. You mentioned Nashville, how far is it to Atlanta? Atlanta might be much cheaper than Nashville so it might be worth the extra few hours drive and even a hotel overnight stay when you get back. We live in Austin and flew out of Houston and saved $800 in airfare for the 4 of us by doing this.

*When to buy airfare is a tricky subject. If you don't like uncertainty, set a price number and when you see that price, grab it. We ended up buying about 2 months in advance and it worked for us ( I bought at almost the lowest cost time as it turned out) but I believe the airlines have reduced capacity since then so prices have gone up... anyway, its tricky like I said. I suspect tourism is going to contnue to suffer next year so who knows what airfares will be like.

Just my 2 cents...

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

Susan just found an airfare to Ireland for around $500 on Kayak. Check on it.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

Well, I did go ahead book through Orbitz. I felt like it was a good rate just wasn't sure about that site. I checked Kayak too and it was about the same. Thanks for telling me though.

mkay · Veteran Member

Well, I am beginning to feel not so overwhelmed. LOL. Our airfare is booked to Shannon and Michele is working on our itinerary. Yeah!!!
I do have a silly question about car rentals though. I have been reading all the warnings on car rental companies. I know I must be missing something, but what is the deal about declining CDW insurance. The prices I checked with and without was only about $50 difference. Wouldn't it be easier to keep the insurance and not have the expensive credit card hold or charge?? Please explain.

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

Besides CDW you will need Super CDW in order not to have a high deductible. That can run anywhere from 10 - 20 euro per day. Many times it does not cover things like glass, mirrors, tires, lost keys, wrong fuel, etc. Once you start adding everything up it can double the car quote. Depends on the company and extras.

Michele

mkay · Veteran Member

Thanks Michele. That helps. I have been checking Dan Dooley and getting quotes daily like you recommended. Since we don't have the World MC, would it be feasible to take the CDW with Dooley ($51) and then buy the Excess insurance through insurance4carhire.com? It is $86 vs. $184 w/Dooley. Would they still put a Hold on our CC?

Michele Erdvig · Host

mkay,

Yes, there would be a "hold" on your credit card for the amount of the deductible. Currently insurance4carhire is only insuring EU countries. But wait a bit. They are changing insurance companies and expect to cover other countries soon.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

mkay: I'm glad you are going to be able to fly into shannon. Counties Clare and Kerry are beautiful and either one would be good for a week's stay! smile You mentioned you might get bored if its too rural...I think you mean the location of your accommodation? In that case, I recommend you stay in either Dingle, Killarney, or Galway.

Galway is too big for me, but we loved staying in Clifden in County Galway, just the right size for us. Dingle is a great "base" as well. We chose to stay in Kenmare as we love little villages...but we did notice that Killarney seemed like a more convenient base for exploring the Ring of Kerry because it's closer to Killarney national park, Muckross house, etc. But Kenmare is scenic and cute. WE enjoyed it except for the bad weather in September.

You will have a great trip! Don't stress about things you will "miss". On our first trip I lamented endlessly that I couldn't fit the Rock of Cashel into my itinerary. We had to skip it. then I saw it recently on my second trip to Ireland...for me, it was ok but NOT my favorite experience after all! So it was totally ok to skip it on the first trip.

Enjoy and relax! wink