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Mystery shopper: Gloucester, a countryside break in Ireland

Location: Gloucester
Wanted: A couple want to see the countryside in Ireland but don’t know where’s best. What does the agent recommend?
Budget: £3,000 but would rather spend less

Miles Morgan Travel
4 St Michael’s Building, Eastgate Street
87%
This shop was bright, clean and welcoming and brochures were well displayed. I was acknowledged straight away by an enthusiastic agent. She was knowledgeable, but also asked a colleague to check she hadn’t missed anything. I was given three quotes. Leger’s Grand Tour of Ireland with Aer Lingus flights from Birmingham on May 10, for £2,098. Titan’s eight-day Best of Ireland trip, flying BA from Heathrow on May 7, for £3,098 and Great Rail’s 10-day Enchanting Emerald Isle, departing May 7, for £3,070, but didn’t include flights so would be over budget. The service was great, but they didn’t try to close the sale.

Tui
34 Eastgate Street
79%
I got a good first impression and one of the friendly agents offered two quotes. One was to Northern Ireland with Newmarket Holidays, including five nights in Letterkenny and seven in Belfast, flying from Birmingham on June 2, for £3,044. The second was a self-drive trip with car hire, 14 nights at Treacys Oakwood Hotel and flights from Birmingham to Shannon on June 6, for £2,004. The agent asked the basics, but didn’t elaborate.

Thomas Cook
24 Eastgate Street
75%
This shop was a little grubby outside and dull inside, but neat and organised. The agent stopped what they were doing to help me, and quickly gave two quotes. One was Cosmos’ eight-night Irish Discovery Tour with Aer Lingus flights from Birmingham on June 9, for £2,655. Titan’s seven-night Best of Ireland with BA flights from Heathrow was £3,098. The agent’s knowledge wasn’t great and I had to push for a second quote.


Winning agent

Rachel Jones, travel specialist

“We sell a lot of escorted tours, in fact, we have just won the Atas award for Best High Street Agency nationally. I felt this was the right type of holiday for the customer with this enquiry.”


Verdict

All three agencies each gave good quotes. Miles Morgan Travel’s agent stood out for her customer service, knowledge and diligence and offered a third quote.


Elite resorts caribbean

Top-scoring agent each month will win use of a car for 10 days.

The winning agent must be at least 25, for insurance reasons. Winners under 25 will win a week’s all-inclusive holiday at an Elite Islands Resorts property. The prize is non-transferable and the car must be driven only by the winning agent. The winner must not have any serious driving convictions. Elite Island Resorts will endeavour to supply the car to the agency but reserves the right to request the winning agent to collect and return the car from Essex or a central location

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