Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I hire someone to make travel plans for me?
Maybe you don’t have time to plan your own European vacation. Perhaps you’ve never been to Europe and aren’t sure where to start. People hire professionals for tasks like lawn care, home renovation, interior decorating, house cleaning, tax preparation, dog walking, and many other jobs they don’t have the time, interest, or expertise to do themselves. It can be the same for making travel plans.
Euro Travel Coach saves you time, so you can have an incredible European vacation without the stress of handling the (sometimes overwhelming) details that will make your trip go smoothly. We take care of the many hours of research it requires to create an amazing trip for you and your travel companions. We know Europe. We listen to you and make recommendations based on our years of experience that we think you will enjoy most. We handle the planning and you get to make all the fun decisions!
If I choose to pay $350 or $400 per trip day, what is my return on investment?
You’ll save time during the planning process.
To organize a trip to Europe–with the level of organization and detail provided by Euro Travel Coach–you can plan on spending about 8 hours per travel day doing online and guidebook research, making phone calls, sending emails, booking tours, and then double- and triple-checking your itinerary. That means a 10-day trip would take about 80 hours for the average person to plan. Compare that to spending a total of 2-3 hours on the phone, and simply sharing emails with the Euro Travel Coach team. For a 10-day trip, that’s about 77 hours of time saved. How much is your time worth per hour?
You’ll use your time more efficiently during the trip.
When a trip is well-organized, you won’t waste time getting lost, showing up at the train station and realizing that the train doesn’t run on Sundays, fixing errors due to the language barriers during the booking process, waiting in line for 2 hours for a museum that could have been pre-booked….the list goes on. We estimate that travelers with well-organized and pre-booked itineraries can accomplish 20% more every day. And when Euro Travel Coach is taking care of all of the details for you, you’re able to accomplish more every day with lower stress levels, which means more enjoyment!
Why should I go on a small group tour with euro travel coach?
The Euro Travel Coach team has over 25 years of experience leading trips abroad, and we share a love for outstanding hospitality. Euro Travel Coach truly wants to take care of you, and we will carefully plan every element of your trip to Europe. If you’re passionate about food, wine, culture, beautiful landscapes, historical architecture, and everything that makes European travel exciting, then we’ll have a blast traveling together!
Do you book airfare?
We don't book your airfare for you, but will gladly provide guidance to ensure that you find routes that work for you, at good value.
How far in advance do I need to contact euro travel coach to make arrangements?
This depends a lot on what time of year you want to travel, and how long you plan to be in Europe. For example, if you want to travel to Europe in the summertime (tourist season), or to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day (a popular trip), contacting us 6-12 months ahead of time will give you the best chance to reserve your first choice of hotels, restaurants, and activities. If you don't have that much lead time, contact us and we’ll do our best to book a great trip for you, or help you with your plans. You just need to know that some of your favorite spots might already be booked. If you want to travel during a slower season, 3-4 months ahead of time may be enough. Fees may increase if services are needed 4 months or less prior to travel.
Another factor to consider is our capacity here at Euro Travel Coach. We are a small team and our business is very high touch. We limit the number of trips we accept so that we can be sure to deliver great quality throughout the entire trip planning process. The earlier you can get on our calendar, the better, so that we can really focus on your trip and plan a great custom itinerary just for you and your travel companions.
How many travelers are included in your fees?
This depends on which service we’re providing.
For a Sapphire Custom Itinerary, we make arrangements for up to four people. If you have a larger group, you will want our Diamond Custom Itinerary. Please contact us if you have questions or would like us to prepare a proposal for you for groups over 6 people. Please refer to our Diamond and Sapphire custom itinerary plans on our Services and Fees Overview Chart for more details.
For custom group tours, the typical group size is 8-12 guests. If you have a group of less than eight or more than twelve people, please contact us to discuss your vision for the trip. Refer to the Services and Fees Overview Chart for more details.
Why should I use your services?
We’ll work hard – so you won’t have to – and will make sure you have the trip of your dreams. We’ll save you time and stress, and will find those special places and experiences that can really make your time in Europe special. We’ll also provide advice gathered over years of traveling and living in Europe.
Why should I spend more on something I’m already spending money on?
Taking a vacation can be expensive! But a vacation is an investment in memories. Travel changes your perspective, alters your worldview, and influences your perception of the future. It’s also a lot of fun! Like any other investment, you want to spend your money wisely, and it’s a good idea to hire someone who can make sure you do just that.
If you’re not experienced in making travel plans, you may not know where to look for the best information. Maybe you're not sure of the passport and visa requirements in different countries, or how long you can legally stay there (free lesson: with a US passport, you can stay for up to 90 days in most European countries, so you’ll be fine if you're planning to be there for just a few weeks). You want to hire a team who has been where you’re going. You want a team who’s interested in doing the research, and who’s willing to take all your preferences, budget, ideas, and dreams, and make them a reality. If Euro Travel Coach can help you spend your travel funds wisely, our services are indeed a good investment.
Do you offer travel insurance?
Travel is an investment, so we recommend to all our clients that they purchase insurance for their trips. It can be a lot of work to find a policy that is right for you, so we’ve partnered with Squaremouth to ensure that our clients can get a quote quickly and easily, and purchase great coverage for a reasonable price. If you would like to discuss travel insurance further, just contact us, and we’ll be glad to talk about your options.
CAN YOU BOOK OUR HOTEL FOR US?
In a word, yes!
Euro Travel Coach provides hotel booking services with Diamond and Sapphire custom itineraries, and we make arrangements for accommodations when you join a group tour.
We also book your accommodations for you with our Ruby Custom Itinerary. When you use our travel coaching services, we are happy to provide tips and recommendations based on your price point and hotel requirements. It’s then up to you to make the final hotel booking. We’ve partnered with Booking.com to make the booking process easy for you, and to provide as much information as possible for your accommodations.
What if I have questions that haven’t been answered here?
If you have a question that hasn’t been answered here, please feel free to contact us by email! One of the Euro Travel Coach team members will happily answer any questions you might have about our services, our small group trips, or about how Euro Travel Coach can help you with your European travel plans.