Technical questions

Dude · Guru

Technical questions

yesiree · Guru

Judy,

I think you're going to feel very satisfied after planning all your own details, and hopefully you'll find a bit of freedom going voucherless.

Not sure how many people you are traveling with, but we've often paid cash. We've done it where one person is in charge of collecting the cash for each place we stay. It's worked for us to settle up as a group before bed and then the designated person pays in the morning. Remember that some B&Bs don't accept credit cards.

The credit card thing works too, but then you have to talk about money after the trip when you'd rather be looking at photos from the trip. However, on one trip a friend of mine volunteered to put all accommodations on his card (he gets points/cashback on his Capital One card...no International Service Charge either), then he documented the expenses and the breakout for how much we owed after the trip. It worked out well doing it that way. When it comes to meals, I prefer having everyone pay for their share...I avoid dividing the check with someone who gets starters and several pints compared to my sandwich and water.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dude,

Congrats on taking the "do it yourself" plunge. Really putting the pieces of the trip together is not that difficult especially nowadays with online booking, etc.

I like Corey's advice about one person collecting the cash before going to bed and paying for everyone in the morning. It would certainly make checking out much easier and quicker. I do suggest you have a little notebook and write down the date, name of the B&B and each person's contribution so there are no questions. If they are due change you can make note of it and settle it the next morning. If everyone initials their entry there will be no bickering. It would probably make sense if the same person does that for each stay.

As for seating on Aer Lingus, I suggest calling their reservations office and asking your questions. Perhaps they can point you to the section of their website where that can be done. Or maybe you have to call to accomplish the seat selections. Their toll-free number is on my Transport page.

Michele

Dude · Guru

Thanks, Corey, you pretty much suggested what I was thinking in the back of my mind, but wondered if anyone else had any other ideas. I do get a cashback dividend on my MasterCard, so maybe I will be "generous" and put as much as possible of everyone's expense on the card. Hmmm...wonder what kind of deposit I'll have to get to make sure my sisters all pay up at the end of the trip?

I'll have to poll the other three travelers and see how much they want to use cash and how much they will rely on their credit cards. I expect that we will only reserve with B&Bs that accept plastic.

Things sure have changed since first trip in '93 when we used travel agent vouchers and took huge amounts of travelers' checks for the other purchases.

And thanks, Michele. I'll see what the others want to do regarding airlines (some may have frequent flier miles or something). It's not like we're leaving tomorrow, although I wish we were.

P. S. In '97 my daughter took a picture of the Autograph Tree copper beech at Coole Park. I just had it blown up to 20x30" and framed for my Ireland-themed bathroom!

-- Edited by Dude at 23:43, 2006-04-25

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dude,

If you will only stay at B&Bs that accept credit cards be sure to verify it in advance when making the reservation. Many will accept a CC for holding the reservation but want cash for payment. Others will accept them for everything.

Currently, they CC system is changing over in Ireland. Small B&Bs that used the manual machines to make an impression of your card are being forced to "upgrade" to the more expensive "swipe" systems at much greater cost. Some are deciding that they cannot absorb the cost and will stop taking CCs entirely. It is a time of flux in the B&B biz with many small places being pushed out of business because of many different factors. When you consider that a B&B may have 3 to 6 rooms and a hotel may have 200 rooms you can see that the small Mom & Pop places can't absorb the big fees and exist. Also the hotels get many tax breaks, government concessions, etc. that B&Bs do not get. As always, it is the case of the "little people" being squeezed. It will be interesting to see how many B&B still exist in the next ten years.

Michele

Dude · Guru

Good advice, Michele. If we get someplace that doesn't accept credit cards any longer, there's always cash. Like the old commercial used to say, "ATM fix everything!" I'll try to verify the situation as we make reservations. Boy, I appreciate the internet and e-mails!

Andi · Senior Member

Summer of '05 I planned a cycling trip in Ireland for 5 friends. I paid all the B&B's on my credit card and kept a notebook so we could split it when the trip was over. I get frequent flyermiles, so that was a benefit to me. A few B&B's wouldn't accept credit card, so I used ATM's to get cash, and paid that as well. Almost everywhere has ATM access, and I'm not bothered about carrying cash, so that worked fine.

For dinners, we always got 1 check in order not to annoy waitpeople. At the end of the meal, I took on the job of dividing it out, so that everyone paid only for what they had. I think I usually put that on my credit card too. It really wasn't that hard. Before leaving the restaurant I collected the money, and there always seemed to be enough change for everyone to get back the right amount.

I never book lodging ahead normally, but with 5 I thought it would be a good idea, because B&B's are often quite small. With 5 single women who preferred to not share beds, I had to look around a bit to find B&B's. We usually had 2 rooms; a double and a triple. We only had to share a double bed a couple times, and we took turns with that. It would have been hard to find those single bed doubles and triples without booking ahead. I mainly used the Town and Country website for getting the B&B's, because most have e-mail and a website now.

Everywhere we chose worked out fine.

Have a great time!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Andi,

Thanks for your good tips. I agree that the logistics of five women traveling together requires reservations. It makes it just a bit more complicated especially if staying at B&Bs. I'm glad to hear how well it worked out for everyone.

Michele