Need advice please! Book it all myself or use travel agent

Hi,

I need some advice please as am confused.

I am visiting Delhi, Varanasi, Rajasthan and Ranthambore, a total of 20 days. I have been quoted GBP 2500.00 per person excluding all flights but including 2 train journeys and hotels and all sightseeing and transportation. It seems a lot to me or am I being unreasonable?

Do you think if the book the whole trip myself, it would be cheaper?

Does using travel agents in the UK mean a big mark up?

I have always booked holidays myself through the internet but decided to go through a travel agent this time.

Any thoughts would be very useful.

Thanks

Need advice please! Book it all myself or use travel agent

Your trip will be more comfortable and convenience full if you will use the travel agent, as your are quotation your trip price is high so I would like to suggest to you that you can breakdown your price by this way and I hope it will be cheaper for you.

You have to book your international flight by your own and use the India based travel agent for trip services with in India for Delhi airport – all trip – back to Delhi airport and mention to agent that we are budget traveler, I am sure you will get very cheaper price, approximate 2500 for both (except UK- Delhi- UK flight) and notice that India based travel agencies is very cheaper compare then UK based travel agencies, I hope it will be help full, more questions awaited …………..have a nice trip to incredible India!!

Need advice please! Book it all myself or use travel agent

I don%26#39;t know what kind of Hotels they are using, hence, Can%26#39;t comment on prices.

But yes getting it organised through an Indian Travel Agency will be cheaper and doing it yourself will be still cheaper.

If you have always been doing it yourself why do you want to involve a travel agent now?If you have the time doing it yourself will be a lot cheaper and moreover it will prepare you for the trip as you read up.

I have recently been looking at the golden triangle tour. The UK travel agents are double the price. You are better off contacting an Indian Travel Agent based in Delhi if you do not have time to organise this tour yourself. Also it is a peice of mind that one agent will ensure all sectors of the tour are organised.

The two travel agents i have found to be very response and competitive in their price ranges are:

Vardhman Vacations - Contact Rajiv

or

Caper Travel - Contact Shiv

Both have been highly recommended by previous trip advisor members.

Hi

To answer your the question about mark ups first. Yes - prices in Europe are considerably higher than when dealing with an Indian agent/tour operator.

Like you, I generally book hotels etc. myself, but that%26#39;s when it%26#39;s 3 or 4 hotels on a trip. If you are there for 20 nights with 5, 6 or more hotels, you%26#39;ll have the hassle of arranging payment to each place, phoning in case of delays etc etc - plus the agents generally get you good rates in India.

The price depends on what you are doing, how you travel, and where you are staying. But unless you are going all out luxury, your trip sounds expensive. How much too expensive is hard to say (price and level of accomodations vary wildly in India, especially in Rajasthan/Golden Triangle).

We paid half that a few months ago for 21 nights of roughly the same thing, heritage hotels/havelis mostly, all with great TA reviews, and in the well above average range, but no luxury hotels and no Ranthambore. There is a tripreport of mine here on TA, check it out.

And maybe post what exact hotels etc are included in your quote...I%26#39;m sure the local experts will be able to help you better then.

Have fun planning.

Hunbille

This topic has been discussed about 7-8 times on this forum in different ways.

The last time this was asked, I wrote a long answer, so I am blindly copy-pasting it, without edits (so forgive me if some of it isn%26#39;t exactly the answer to your question). The factors to consider while deciding whether to book on your own, or use an agent are:

1. Itinerary and planning time

If you are doing just 2-3 cities, and are willing to read up a lot of information on the internet, then you can plan your own trip. On this site, for example, there are many useful posts about the Golden Triangle, starting from the price of entrance tickets, to the best time to visit monuments, to how to avoid scams, hotel recommendations etc - but it is disorganised information and requires searching and reading a lot of past posts to get information. If you are short of time, and do not do your research, you will end up with some problems - I can%26#39;t tell you how many people end up in Agra on a Friday, or miss out on interesting festivals, or can%26#39;t find the right train tickets, or don%26#39;t plan for the weather. For example, in May, it is burning hot summer; and it would be very sensible to invest in a hotel with a pool, never mind the premium in cost. It is off-season anyway and you should get lower prices.

2. Hotels

Whether you self-book or go through an agent depends on the type of budget you have for hotels - If you are travelling budget or lower mid-range, you should book your own hotels. If you are travelling upper mid-range or luxury, agents can offer better prices than internet rates at many hotels and the savings can be worthwhile, given the kind of prices today in India. Especially for May travel, it is the lean seasons and some agents will definitely have good prices on offer.

The hotel budget also influences your transport prices. While the smaller hotels will offer lower prices for airport transfers and in-city use, the bigger hotels have luxury cars with English speaking drivers in uniforms etc and will charge higher prices for cars.

One of the frustrations of dealing with smaller hotels in India is that many don%26#39;t have online reservation, and are lousy with email responses.

3. Mode of Transport

Delhi-Agra can be done by train if you have no desire to stop at Mathura (which is enroute). Mathura is a major pilgrimage centre with its bathing ghats and over a 1000 temples (if you wish you could go to Varanasi but cannot, then Mathura is a good substitute; it is the birthplace of the Hindu God Krishna, and an ancient traditional religious centre). Also it is not over-run by tourists and retains its character.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mathura

Jaipur-Agra can be done by train if you don%26#39;t want to stop at Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary or Fatehpur Sikri. In May, Bharatpur doesn%26#39;t make as much sense, since the migratory birds that make it so wonderful Oct-Mar are gone. There are still, however, a wide range of interesting local bird species that are there all-year round. Fatehpur Sikri is an interesting %26#39;ghost city%26#39; that was abandoned, it is well-preserved and retains its character even now. Whether you go to FS or not depends on if you have had enough of Mughal forts by the time you finish Delhi and Agra.

I did the Golden Triangle in 5 days in July and found it very convenient by car. I don%26#39;t like the timings of the early morning train to Agra, it means waking up at 5 am or earlier, I am a worrywart about getting to the station on time; and in any case I have many early mornings on a daily basis, so I would really like a more relaxed holiday. Plus I really am a sucker for flexibility. If you are travelling with children or older people, I would highly recommend you abandon the train altogether.

Cars are charged ';garage to garage';, so if you take a car from, say Agra to Jaipur, it has to return empty to Agra. You will be charged for it. So it actually makes sense to take a car for the triangle; returning it to Delhi. Saves you the bother of booking vehicles in each city and is cost-effective.

-------------End copy paste! --------

Also, here are links to two past posts, each with multiple views and points. Please read them and then maybe you can ask more specific questions:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g297631-i5501-k219…

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g304551-i3482-k296…

- Deepa

Thank you all for all your advice. Really helpful and givem me some things to think about.

If youre visiting Rajasthan, get quotes from Jaipur based agents using the Rajasthan Associarion of Tour Operators website - www.ratorajathan.org

Hi

A while back I did a 6 week journey covering Chennia, Kolkatta (Calcutta), Patna, Varanassi, Agra, and Delhi by train. It was all planned from the comfort of my home, with no agents, and without making any advance bookings/payments.

I worked out all the train times and fares, sourced out a variety of hotels for each destination along with the cost of visiting certain locations/attractions such as the Taj Mahal. I checked for different festivals such as the Sonapur Mela, and what places to avoid due to mass gathering especially for Hindu pilgrimages.

Needless to say, I had a fantastic time travelling the rails and meeting people. I was able to save money by tavel on night trains to avoid extra hotel bills.

If I remember, the total cost came to about R16,000/- or roughly £230. Alot less than your quoted price.

You can view my diary at:-

http://www.travels2india.co.uk/

and if you want more info on how I did it then please do PM me.

Regards

Paul

Happy Children%26#39;s Home - Helper