On the Road

If you have access to phone or internet, please contact our office. Call or email hello@bookirishtours.com and advise us of approximately when you will be arriving. We will alert our personnel in Ireland or Britain to ensure they are aware.

If you are scheduled to take our group transfer and you miss it, we recommend that you take a cab from the airport to the first hotel where you will meet the tour.

If you are delayed longer than a day, you should make your way to the relevant hotel on the tour. A cab or public transport may be most suitable method of getting to the next hotel which may be a distance from your arrival airport.

Any additional expenses for transportation or accommodation to catch up with the tour will be at your own expense. We regret that we cannot issue any refunds or credits for any missed portions of the tour. Therefore, we recommend that you purchase our Travel Protection Plan.

If you become ill on tour or have an emergency situation at home, advise your tour director immediately. In the case of illness, have the front desk call a doctor or direct you to a medical facility. If you need to fly home immediately, our personnel in Ireland or Britain will assist you in making the best possible arrangements.

Free WI-FI aboard coaches enables you to keep in contact, browse and share your travels with friends and family back home. Most hotels will offer internet services, some in guest rooms and some in lobby only. As some hotels charge for WI-FI, you should check rates with the front desk in your hotel.

If you carry a cell phone, check usage rates with your provider before departing and remember to switch off roaming. In Ireland and Britain, pre-paid calling cards offer excellent rates and are on sale in many stores. You can also buy a simple cell phone with pre-paid minutes. In some parts of Ireland and Britain you may experience poor cell phone signals.

International call prefixes when you call the US and Canada from Ireland or Britain:

USA: 001Canada: 001

VAT (Value Added Tax) is included in the selling price of all goods in Ireland and Britain. As a non-European Union resident purchasing goods to take home with you, you may claim a VAT refund for goods of a certain value once the relevant forms have been completed at time of purchase. This can save you up to 20%, depending on products purchased. There are a number of different VAT refund companies for Ireland and Britain. For Ireland, we recommend using the Horizon card, which we have included with your documents. Click here for information on how to claim tax refunds with the Horizon card.

US Immigration & Customs Pre-Clearance at Dublin and Shannon Airports

Passengers traveling to the US from Dublin or Shannon can now avoid long lines by clearing both passport control and customs & excise in Ireland prior to boarding their flight to the US. Currently Ireland is the only country outside the North America Region to offer such a service. The border pre-clearance facilities are operated and staffed by US Customs and Border and complete the same procedures as you would in the US. Pre-clearing US Immigration and Customs means arriving earlier at Dublin or Shannon airports for check-in so that all customs and immigration details can be completed in a timely fashion.

This will mean that upon arriving in the US, passengers flying from Ireland will be treated similarly to domestic passengers. On exiting the plane and collecting your baggage you can walk straight out speeding up the process considerably. The first queue you hit will probably be for the cab outside the terminal.