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Hey everyone! I'm planning a trip to Ireland in October, and it looks like EuropeASAP.com will have the best deal. Does anyone know anything about them? I can't find anything on the BBB, or Epinions, or any other site to confirm they're legit.

Thanks!!

never heard of them, but you can check out clarkhoward.com. He has an 800 number for people to call his team of consumer advocates to check on companies.

Well, I think any good travel agent will tell you........

Book your international vacations with a good travel agent!

I've personally never heard of EuropeASAP.com.

Don't know why folks are so gung ho about trusting their all important vacations to an unknown to them company. And if something goes wrong, will they be there to help you out? Who knows? Will they still be in business by the time your vacation arrives? Who knows? Do they REALLY have the best rates? Who knows?

Here's a good read:

True Case: Only the name has been changed.

No different than most of the rest of us, Bubba wanted a fantastic vacation at a fantastic price. It was for he and his wife. Bubba is pretty web savvy, and he had spent hours searching for the vacation he wanted.

Already quite intrigued, Bubba was even more excited to learn that the resort offered various packages that included several add-on items with the purchase of a 7-night stay. So now he was more than convinced-- This was the vacation he had been looking for!

So an agent went to work and built the entire trip: Airfare, rental car, the room, and all the add-ons. When all was said and done, Bubba was presented with an incredibly low total price.

Low as it was, however, Bubba was convinced that he could do better. So he went back out to the web in search of lower airfare. And indeed he found it-- $20 per seat lower than what the agent had found for him. So he booked it.

Problems:

On the way there...
Bubba's flight arrived at the airport very late at night
The resort is one and one-half hours from the airport
By the time he landed, the car rental company was closed for the night

On the way home...
His flight left very early in the morning
Due to the distance from the airport, he had to leave the resort at 3:00 am
The car rental company was not open yet
Physical Results:

Bubba had to spend the first night near the airport
Bubba had to spend the last night near the airport
Bubba had to rent his car from a more expensive company
Bubba's 7-night stay at the resort was now a 5-night stay
Because his stay was now 5 nights, it no longer qualified for the add-ons
Monetary Results:

Bubba saved $40 on the airfare by booking it himself
Bubba spent an additional $140 on:
The two nights near the airport
The rental car
The package add-ons
Net Result:

Bubba's vacation was $100 more than it would have been if he had just booked the package that the agent had built
Do you see what happened? Agents know what it takes to get from Point A to Point B. As a result, they know how to fit it all together and make it work!



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Case #2: You're not covered!

Suppose you go online and book everything yourself-- the airfare, the rental car, the resort, etc. Fantastic. It's all paid for, and you're ready to go. Then your travel documents arrive, and you discover that you had typed in the wrong flight dates. Let's face it-- we're all human, and things like this can happen, and have happened. Well guess what? You just bought a vacation that you can't take. Either that or you'll have to pay some pretty hefty fees to get the flights changed.

If your travel agent were to make the same mistake, then his or her Errors and Omissions Insurance would cover any change fees. The net effect to you is Zero. It's all taken care of.



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Case #3: You're on your own!

Let's return to the above example, but this time we'll assume that everything is in sync-- all the dates are correct, all the times are correct, and your itinerary is perfect.

What would you do if the hotel has lost your reservation? What would you do if the car rental agency has run out of cars? Specifically, who are you going to call? Who's going to help you? The hotel? The car rental company? They don't care. You're just one person. Losing you as a guest or a customer is no big deal. Basically, you're on your own. About all you can do is hit the streets and hope that something comes up...

If you had booked through a travel agent, on the other hand, then all you have to do is make one simple phone call. And everything will be taken care of. Will the hotel assist your agent? Will the car rental company assist your agent? Of course they will, because now they're dealing with someone who has the potential to send either hundreds of guests, or no guests at all. From a purely business perspective, a travel agency can send thousands of dollars (or even tens of thousands of dollars), or no dollars at all...

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Case #5: You don't need the additional stress!

If you have an agent that you trust, then you don't need to spend what little free time you have, scouring the web, trying to piece everything together-- flights, cars, rooms, etc. In addition, your agent might be working with transfer and car rental companies that you simply don't have access to, and in many cases, even hotels and airlines that you don't have access to.

So you've got your flights, you've got your rental car, and you've got your room. Now what about tours? Diving? Snorkeling? Deep sea fishing? Remote islands? Ruins? Do you know who to contact? Your travel agent probably does. Oh, you might be able to arrange a few of these things on a tour operator's web site, and end up in a group that gets herded around like a bunch of cattle, on their schedule, but is this what you really want? Only your travel agent has the resources necessary to build a tour that is customized to your specific wants, needs and desires...

All I can say is check them out throughly!

Good luck!

If you don't know anything about the company, why would you give them your credit card and all your personal information?!? For all you know it's a scam to get your credit card and possibly to clean out your home while your gone. I remember a couple of years ago reading about scam where a "telemarketer" would call and sell a vacation package to a wealthy families. While the families were gone their homes were cleaned out and their credit cards were maxed out.

I checked out their website and while they are located in California they don't list their California Travel Seller number on their website which is required by law if they sell travel in or to anyone in California. This makes me very leery of them. Also the San Francisco BBB doesn't have anything good or bad on them. There's another red flag.

The previous post makes some great points about the dangers of doing it yourself. It also leaves out that many agencies work through consortiums that get better deals because of their buying power. I know that when I went to New Zealand a few years ago my agent was able to get a great deal on the airfare because her agency sold so much Air New Zealand that the airline gave them about 25% off the published airfare.

And lastly, having a travel agent can be really handy if you are traveling internationally because you may or may not be aware of the current document regulations. Do you need a passport? Does it have to have 3 months or 6 months validity left on it from the date of departure? Do you need a visa? Do you need to dress a particular way? For example, traveling to Morroco if you appear to be a hippy you will be denied entry into the country. Do you need to have cash to pay the departure tax when leaving the country? If so, how much and what currency does it have to be in?

Most websites don't take care of these sorts of details very effectively which is why I always use a travel professional for my international trips.

The Lost Manatee wrote:If you don't know anything about the company, why would you give them your credit card and all your personal information?!? For all you know it's a scam to get your credit card and possibly to clean out your home while your gone.

Exactly why I was asking (and I work for a company that helps people with service companies- I spend more time on the various BBB websites than I would like- if they had a record, I would've found it)!

I did end up just going through Expedia for the flight and car rental, since all of the tours I found were entirely too restrictive and scheduled. We're pretty much just wandering around the country- we will have been apart for 8 months by the time the trip rolls around, so we're going to have fun (hopefully- or we'll totally not have fun) being together no matter what.

Its really all up to you. I've tried various routes.

The first time I went to Australia, my dad booked my ticket through Expedia. They "forgot" to account for time changes between Australia and New Zealand causing me to miss my flight out of NZ. I had to fly stand-by all the way back.

The second time, I went to a travel agent who said they specialized in Australia. Her quote was over $1000 more than the airline's webpage. Plus, she wasn't that pleased with me since I was going for a month, but didn't require all the "extras" that she probably gets the most incentives from.

The third time I just booked it myself. Booked the airfare on Qantas, hotels/tours/cars on their respective websites.

My only advice is to know what you are getting into before you go.

Hi

I just googled EuropeASAP and came across this discussion and thought I would add my comments.

Myself and my husband recently used Europeasap to take a trip to London and Paris with fantastic results. We got a great price, non-stops flights with Air France, quality hotels and also were able to pay a small extra supplement to take the eurostar train between the 2 cities instead of a flight!!

I would definitely use them again, everything went very smoothly and they were able to answer any questions promptly! Plus London and Paris are 2 of the most amazing Cities in the world, cannot wait to go back!!!!!!

sanfranpm wrote:Hi

I just googled EuropeASAP and came across this discussion and thought I would add my comments.

Myself and my husband recently used Europeasap to take a trip to London and Paris with fantastic results. We got a great price, non-stops flights with Air France, quality hotels and also were able to pay a small extra supplement to take the eurostar train between the 2 cities instead of a flight!!

I would definitely use them again, everything went very smoothly and they were able to answer any questions promptly! Plus London and Paris are 2 of the most amazing Cities in the world, cannot wait to go back!!!!!!

So you took the time to sign up for the boards here to drag up a 5-year-old thread?

Perhaps SanFranPM works for Europeasap and is trying to drum up more business. It does seem odd after 5 years (have I been on this board that long?!? )