EF Ultimate Break- Deal or dud?

I feel like my bucket list grows longer with each passing day, ranging from Maine to California. I’ve never had much interest in leaving the country but one place that has always been a dream of mine is Ireland.
Anybody I talk to who has been there always raves about how beautiful the country is and so I am green (haha, get it?) with envy for those that have been.

Well this year, I stopped dreaming and made it happen. I’ll be hopping on an overnight flight at the beginning of September to fly across the ocean and land in Dublin.

Traveling to a foreign country by myself is a little intimidating.
Could I do it? Sure
Do I want to? Not particularly

Luckily, a friend of mine introduced me to EF Ultimate Break (“The Best Way to Travel Young“) – a trip service that primarily focuses on folks aged 18-29.

The trip I chose was the “Active Ireland” tour – a twelve day hiking tour that will be doing a circle around the island and hitting major locations such as Dublin, County Kerry, and Belfast.

The cost

I feel like I got a great deal on this trip, but did I really?

The cost of the trip was $3298. Being the #frugaldreamer that I am, I waited for the Black Friday sale and got $400 off.

$3298 – $400 = $2898 total for everything including:
– a flight
– a tour guide
– transportation to each destination
– hotel accommodations for each night I am there
– trip insurance

it is also important to note that this company allows you to pay over time without any interest. I get charged $306 a month until the trip is fully paid for. Pretty sweet option, in my opinion.

The breakdown

If I were to pay for this trip piece meal, what would that look like? I mean, booking my own flights, hotels, and transportation vs just paying for a trip service.

1. Just a quick Google Flights search revealed that a round trip flight from Philadelphia to Dublin ranged anywhere from $530 – $1000, depending on airline and time. For easy numbers, I’ll split the difference and say $750.

2. On average, hotels are around $150 dollars a night. I will be staying for 11 nights so hotel cost would be about $1650.

3. Anybody I’ve talked to from the states that visits Ireland says absolutely do not try to drive in Ireland. Coming from the states, it’s hard to drive on the wrong side of the road to begin with, but I’ve also heard that driving in Ireland is extra hectic. But if you are so brave, a rental car could range anywhere from $500 to $3000 for the week. Let’s split the difference and say $1500 for the week to get something you could be comfortable in. We also need to factor in the cost of gas at almost $7 a gallon there (even with a 10 gallon tank like I had in my Honda CRV – you’re still looking at $70 for around 400 miles). Luckily, the island is only 300 miles long so you’d probably only fill up two or three times.

So what is the final tally?
Flight – $750
Hotels – $1650
Transportation – $1640

Total = $4040

So, deal or dud?

With some time and patience, I could knock around $1k off that total, so I’ll say $3100 for everything. With the discount from the Black Friday sale, this trip cost me just under $3000.

I call myself the #frugaldreamer, not the #cheapdreamer for a reason. I save money in certain places so I can spend it in the areas I want. To me, paying a little bit more for this trip service is worth it because I will have a local guide to show me around, the safety of a group setting, and the chance to meet like-minded individuals from all over the world. Ireland has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember and I am willing to splurge on this trip in order to really enjoy it.

So at the end of September, I get to pick a new dream (2023, I’m comin for ya). Stay tuned for my review of an EF Ultimate Break trip!