Price Wars: Make Sure you Shop Around

Antigua is probably one of the touristiest places in all of Central America and as a result is chockfull of tourist agencies offering an every kind of possible service.  However, do not assume that two places right next to one another will be offering those services at the same prices.

There were two things that I needed to arrange upon my arrival in Antigua.  The first was a private shuttle service for my sister from the airport in Guatemala City to Antigua (since there is no public transportation at 9:30pm) and a tour to Volcano Pacaya.  The hostel I was staying in had a sign up that they offered private shuttles to Guatemala City for 200 quetzals ($25).  Since they didn’t speak much English I figured I would walk around a bit and see if I could make these arrangements with someone who would be sure to understand me.

I poked my head into an agency half a block down and was advised that such a service would cost me $37.  A number of agencies later, I had received several quotes of $40, some at $35 and one at $30.  I began to wonder if maybe the sign in my hostel was inaccurate or invalid given the large discrepancy in pricing.  However, I eventually stumbled across another agency offering the shuttle for $25 and the gentlemen not only seemed to understand me better, but immediately confirmed the exact time of arrival of my sister’s flight online.  So although I did not find a cheaper price than the first quote I saw, it was definitely worth to shop around.

A second example of price discrepancies was the tour to Volcano Pacay.  This tour generally leaves at 6am, takes 1.5 hours to get to the volcano, then a further 1.5 hours to get to its top.  Overall, the whole trip takes approximately 6 hours and usually includes transport, guide and escort with entrance being an additional 50 quetzals. Well, the agency with my shuttle offered this tour for 80 quetzals ($10) and our hostel offered it for 60 quetzals.  We did inquire at one places which quoted us $50US (400 quetzals) for it.  I inquired whether they meant $15, but no, they said “five zero”.  Upon us asking why such a huge price difference, they assured us that they were a well established agency with a long history, that they offered their own vehicle that would not be picking anyone up, that the guide would be English-speaking, and that both the entrance and lunch were included. 

We ended up having a group of 6 people with a Spanish-speaking guide (with a personal translator on our tour) and admission for a total of 110 quetzals.  One girl in our group had managed to arrange this whole tour for 90 quetzals.  I truly can’t imagine lunch and a private vehicle justifying the additional $38US especially since we had the same views and experiences as anyone on this “exclusive” option.

So remember to shop around and haggle, even when you are not buying any souvenirs.