How much does a trip to Paris cost?

[melodymedley]

^@sis chefron: Glad to know your plans are coming true!

I think kaya naman ng handcarry lang. Catch is the liquids/gels rule. Andami kong kikay stuff na lalampas sa allowable sa handcarry. hehe. If you mean budget airlines flying intra-Europe like Ryanair and Easyjet, these airlines are very strict in implementing the one bag per passenger rule. And the bag should really comply with the dimensions allowed.

[chefron]

as of the moment, air asia is the way BUT if bigger airlines magsale, definitely sa mas  malake na kame.
plan ko kase carry on luggage tas isang xl na longchamp bag waaaaah kaiyak naman, dibale sana may magdala ng malakeng bag sa mga kasama ko hahaha

[mama squeak!]

Most premium airlines offer promo fares during low season i.e. winter season. You can expect low fares from late September to February except during the Christmas/New Year holidays. Kung makahabol ka pa KLM is offering USD970 all-in fares during their 60th anniversary sale. Check their website na lang for the details.

[gorgeousmama]

sana matuloy kami this year, sa isang relative kami mg stay, she offered it coz she has a

humungous house,,, i just pray matuloy,,,,

[tiff_xi]

^sis, if you backread on this thread and the Euro threads 1 and 2 you'll see that most of the GTs did their trips DIY style. Some did a combination tour package and DIY naman. Just backread and post your questions again.

 

Hi mama squeak! thanks for the reply I have been backreading and even sa ibang forums. medyo confused ako kasi recently we tried canvassing for travel agencies sa makati. we went to 4 agencies. yung unang 2 agencies, gave us quotations for tickets and budget accommodations in paris and rome. pero yung last 2 agencies (isa dun is Pan Pacific), didnt even give us a quote. Problem kasi they only want to accept clients who will avail of guided tour packages.

Eh my hubby and I dont want guided tours. 2 lang kami and we're used to DIY trips.

Eto planned itenerary namin (3 weeks)
Apr 28 - Manila to Paris flight
April 29 - Arrival in Paris
May 5 - Leave Paris to ??
May 5 - May 12 - ??  <still deciding on cities/countries to visit within this week>
May 13 - Arrival in Rome
May 18 - Manila to Rome

We're planning to book the flights Manila-Paris and Rome-Paris. Para sure na babalik kami, di ba? And book narin hotels during our whole stay in Paris and in Rome. Para hindi na mahirapan and I know required yun sa visa application. Once we decide on the other countries/cities to visit, book rin kami ng hotels sa agency. Since sa Paris kami pinaka-matagal, sa French embassy kami apply ng visa.

The 2nd agency we visited also showed us some available "cheap" tours na hours lang yung length. Ex: Night tour in Paris riding a coach, River Tour, etc. Tipong $30-50 per person per tour lang. Ayaw kasi namin ng planned yung whole trip and sunod lang kami ng sunod sa guide We dont need it and hindi kami masyado enjoy, parang hindi sulit for us.

So bakit ganun yung 2 last agencies we visited? Yung Pan Pacific straight forward talaga, they said they don't service clients unless guided tours (yung tipong galing nasa brochure nila ng trafalgar, etc)
Tinatakot pa kami sobra nung 3rd agency na less than 20% chance daw na ma-approve visa namin pag hindi kami sumama sa guided tour! Esp. since wala kaming sponsor or existing visas sa ibang bansa. (puro asian countries palang na-visit namin)

Eh ang mahal pa naman nung mga tours na yun, mga around $300 a day per person!

Medyo na-deflate kami after the last 2 agencies that we decided to go home for the day


Any advise mga sis?

[mama squeak!]

^Hi tiff_xi, don't be discouraged! Of course travel agencies will try to convince you to get their all-in packaged tours because that is how they make money. Gone are the days where only travel agencies have easy access to cheap airfares and hotels. With the internet everything is accessible to the ordinary madlang tao! 

It's just a matter of patience and careful planning. Having said that you only have 4 months to do all your planning so better get a start at it!

1.) Airfare

Do you already have an airline in mind? As of the moment, KLM has the cheapest fare for open jaw routings. Though their schedule is not that good to maximise your time since you'll be arriving Paris around 10PM. You'll end up staying for the night in a CDG hotel unless you want to brave the RER and metro at night. It takes 45 minutes from CDG to central Paris via RER B.

2.) Accommodation in Paris

Since you'll be staying for at least a week suggest to rent an apartment as it will come out cheaper. Check airbnb.com. I've tried their service and happy kami with the apartment we rented. Your email communication with the landlord can serve as your hotel booking certificate that you can show the embassy during your visa application.

With a week in Paris, you don't have to get a tour. DIY all the way! If you backread I gave some tips on the passes (musuems/transportation) you can get to maximise your Euros. Plus a good map will definitely come in handy.

3.) Other cities/countries to visit

You can either stay in France and visit some of the cities/towns near Paris or fly to Italy and visit some of the cities there. It would really depend on your and your hubby's preference and interests.

4.) Visa application

As long as you have the complete requirements and the means (moolah) to pay for your expenses, no need to worry being denied a visa. Don't believe what these travel agencies are telling you. Syempre they have to convince you somehow to take their all-in package tours. Once again, that is how they earn a living.

Lastly, go double time in your research and planning since you only have a few months left to decide and finalise your trip. Now if for one reason or another you feel na bitin your planning, don't be afraid to postpone your trip. Europe can be affordable only if you can get good deals. And how do you achieve that? Lots of patience and careful planning!

 

[lavieenrose]

^^What exactly is your question? Why did you go to travel agencies if you are planning to do DIY trips anyway?

I did the same trip (MNL-Paris, Rome-MNL) about six months ago, the visa is via the French embassy also. I reckon that as long as you have complete documents, hotel bookings covering your entire trip-- there won't be problems.

Good luck & happy travels

[tiff_xi]

^^
i inquired in travel agencies because we dont have to book the ticket before applying for the visa. they can just provide some quotes on the rates and some sort of reservation vouchers for us and if na-deny kami, no money will be wasted on airline tickets. same with hotel reservations.

i was just surprised na there are agencies na puro guided tours lang talaga yung inooffer nila, ganun pala, i was surprised.
so people only go to travel agencies for guided tours?

would you recommend buying the tickets nalang on our own? i thought it might be easier if we were assisted by a travel agency (tickets and hotel reservation)

( sorry, first time to travel outside Asia; friends (and forums) recommended travel agency assistance  )

[melodymedley]

^^tiff_xi: If you have experience booking your own accommodations via websites then it would be easier. When I applied, I was only charged a minimal booking fee (2-3 euros max). In some accommodations I chose, I risked in paying the whole thing (kasi wala na akong mahanap na back-up) or 10% downpayment. May reservation voucher na yun. Iba iba lang cancellation policy nila. Pero if you would feel better with a travel agent and you have a budget for one, edi go!

Agree with mama squeak, don't believe what those agents tell you. Alam ko may mga "independent" travel agents naman - yung sila mismo yung mga nag-bu-book ng trips for you. Dunno about their rates pero nag-inquire ako during my inital planning stages.

Re the plane reservation, baka dito makakatulong yung travel agent. Visa requires a plane reservation (not payment). In another forum, I read that you can go directly to the airline to book the plane tix para di na dadaan sa travel agent. Didn't explore that option because I opted to book and pay (with risk) my plane tix.

[mama squeak!]

^^you don't need a travel agent to make airline reservations. You can do that yourself. Get in touch directly with the airline of your choice and do the booking then request for a booking certificate or itinerary. You don't have to buy the tickets yet. The airline will just give a deadline for the purchase of the ticket. They will understand if you tell them that you need the flight itinerary for your visa application.

As for hotel reservations in France the smaller hotels i.e. 1-3 stars charge a non-refundable booking fee. The bigger hotel chains don't. So either book with the latter or take your chances with the former, a more expensive option in case you cancel. Or go with my suggestion re apartment.

So far my research on Italian hotels/b&bs wala pa akong na-encounter na booking fees unlike in France. Pwede mo print out the booking confirmation and present that at the embassy.

Now, if you don't want the hassle or stress of arranging your trip then your only option is to get a travel agency's service. Easier but more expensive.

[tiff_xi]

thanks mamasqueak and melodymedley!

mas nalinawan ako, naguluhan lang talaga ako dun sa 2 lang travel agencies. the way they worded it, parang hindi kami papasa kung hindi talaga guided tours.

pwde pala parang "reservation" lang muna directly sa airline  can i contact them via email or phone? or should i look for representatives that they have locally? we're looking at Qatar and Etihad, mura sila eh

i will look into DIY booking, since i have experience naman in those during my asia travels.
kakatakot lang talaga yung visa 

[mama squeak!]

^Better call their reservations hotline. Here are their contact details:

http://www.qatarairways.com/ph/en/contact-us.page

http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/Etihad/ph/en/aboutetihad/OurOffices/Pages/Offices.aspx

Happy planning!   

[swit_squiggle]

one of my dream destination..sa future sana matuloy 

[suze]

Wow lucky you!
I'd love to spent some time in Europe too and to visit all those beautiful ancient cities that I've only seen on TV so far 
My finacé and I would like to visit London, Paris and Rome!

[foxymom]

@tiff_xi, we are doing the exact same thing right now we are on our last leg already.

Got a mnl-paris, rome-mnl ticket from klm since they are the only one who offers a full refund (less $50 processing fee) in case of visa denial. we are frequent travellers and have had our US visas since we were kids, more than 25yrs na, but i still got worried we might ne denied. smooth naman [textspeak!] french embassy interview as long as all your docs are complete and have previous travel experience.

We stayed 1 week in paris, celebrated new year there (bitin pa din), then 3 days venice, and 3 days rome. I love paris the most, while my husband loves venice. Ayaw namin ng rome if not for the vatican museum i wouldnt have gone here (still in rome). Rome is dirty, and so many people! Feeling ko nasa divi ako. Im so worried I'll be robbed, mugged etc. our hotel is near via del corso, which is the main shopping district, but still the bus and metro is crazy scary. The cab drivers are rude as well. The only thing nice is that there are a lot of pinoys here, so pwede ka mag tanong lagi.

[swiTsuplada]

Paris 2013... Eto na ang goal ko now since makakamura ka naman pala basta alam mo saan saan kukuha ng cheap deals. Thanks to forum like GT-- dami kong natututunan!

[foxymom]

^hahaha yes! thanks to GT and mamasqueak! we are back now and miss paris already hopefully we will celebrate new year 2012 in london but i'm still convincing hubby to swing by paris even for a few days. i still need to see the domain of marie antoinette since i was too tired to walk all the way there when we went to versailles. too late when we found out we could rent golf carts :s

paris is awesome and reachable if you plan carefully

[m_lim]

girls, nahihilo ako saan area ba sa Paris ang malapit sa pasyalan?

nagccheck ako sa Agoda pero ang daming areas! saan area nga ba maganda?

http://www.agoda.com/pages/agoda/default/DestinationSearchResult.aspx

possible ba ang 5thou pesos/night na decent and clean hotel sa paris?

[mama squeak!]

^ I think I posted this earlier. Anyway, there are 20 arrondissements (districts) in Paris. The major tourist sights are concentrated on the inner districts 1-8. So if you have limited time in Paris and want to be within walking distance of the major sights, stay within the inner districts.

Here's an image of central Paris. If you notice the districts starts from the river Seine and spreading outwards. The inner districts are the ones along the river:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_arr_jms-num.gif

Now, how to tell the location of your hotel? Check the postal/zip code. The last two numbers will tell you what district they are located. For example: 75001 where 750 means central Paris while 01 means the hotel is in the 1ere arrondissement or district 1. And so on and so forth.

Php5000 or EUR72 (on today's ROE) can get you a 1 or 2 star hotel in the inner district (pero pahirapan pa maghanap). If you are used to mid-range hotels in the US, a 3 star hotel is what you're looking for. But of course it will cost you. Yes, Paris hotels are generally clean.

If I were you and you will be staying for more than 3 nights, rent an apartment. Depending on when you plan to be in Paris, you can rent an apartment at the inner district for EUR70-80/night. Don't expect these prices for hotels in the inner district.

[chianti]

Sis m_lim, just to add, you might want to check out eurocheapo.com. They have tons of budget hotels there complete with reviews from both the editors and guests themselves. I have personally used this site for our travels to Europe before. And for the price we paid, I was quite satisfied with the hotels we chose in terms of location, cleanliness, etc.