Exoticca Reviews
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13 day trip Argentina and Brazil
We (and our 6 traveling companions) had many issues on our Argentina /Brazil vacation in January with Exotica. The group called the What's App number which was for immediate issues in the country as well as the main Exotica phone line. Our group called 7 times during the trip with problems with no response at all. We filed a complaint when we arrived back home and no one ever responded to that either.
On our trip back we did not use the last leg of our travel from New York back to Cleveland. We contacted American Airlines and they said we could use this on another trip. We went to use this credit for a fall vacation and was told there was a $50 pp fee to rebook the trip but if we called our travel company and they rebook it for us - there would be no cost. We called Exotica on 6/28/23 to see if they could assist us and were told they won't rebook a flight. Again, no problem, we will pay the fee. We called to use the credit to find out Exotica called on 6/29/23 ( the very next day) and requested and received a refund from our credit we were using. We paid extra on top of the trip fee to fly from Cleveland to New York and then back to Cleveland. This was our credit we arranged with the airlines and Exotica knew nothing about it till we asked for their help. This is just wrong on so many levels! We have been trying since then to get resolution with no luck. It is not the money but the principle... we feel like they stole our money/credit. Not a way to do business.
We travel world wide and have always had wonderful experiences with travel companies. Exotica was the exception. We will never book with Exotica again!
That being said, the sites were amazing!Peru Tour
I booked a tour for Peru for January 2023. Two days before departure they cancelled my tour two days prior to the trip. Didn't even refund my money. Their Website says they have some plan called "Premium Care" included in all trip. My confirmed reservation showed "Premium Care" included. According to Premium Care they say if they cancel tour they will refund in full if they cancel tour. In my case that's what exactly happened and they didn't refund my money but just offered me partial exoticca account credit towards future tour with them. Liars..
DO NOT BOOK WITH EXOTICCA
DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY! Look at the real reviews on Better Business Bureau, trust pilot, yelp etc. Unscrupulous business practices. Ignores Level 4 "do not travel" alerts issued by the US government due to bombings, terrorism, kidnapping etc. Ineffective customer service that lies and will not help. THEY JUST WANT TO STEAL YOUR MONEY. Out $7000 and Exoticca refused a refund. Save yourself a headache and book with a different company.
Tour of Mexico
We booked a tour of Central Mexico ... What we were promised was a small group ( 12 to 15 ) in a small bur /van. what we got was a large group ( 30 people ) in a large coach with windows partially obscured which made sightseeing difficult. Also we had English and Spanish speakers which made the commentary long winded and confusing. Worse still was the lack of concern and communication over our issue of their deceptive behaviour
28 day trip throughout South America
My wife and I booked a month long trip with Exoticca during November 2022. Counties included Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru. Organized travels were very nice and hotels advertised were good as well. Realties not advertised include that all these countries are quite dangerous so guides are needed and travel should be restricted to day light hours with guides. Politics are also problematic as frequent strikes, demonstrations complicate travel, itineraries, etc. Travellers to these countries should also know the English is rarely spoken, even in international airports so disruptions like the aforementioned become very problematic. Travellers should also be aware that Exoticca promises 24/7 support but this is NOT true. We had situations that required Exoticca support several times but they were not available to help. "talk" is usually a chat of just texts even when the Agent is available which can take hours i.e. when guides do not meet you at airports as promised. Exoticca also left me with the impression that all of our travel would be with a group but this was not true.
Greece
Stay clear of this company. They lure you into when you book of one set of hotels which are good hotels and then at the last minute switch 100% of them to entirely different hotels which are terrible. No amenities, cold breakfasts if you ever reach the breakfast buffet, long lines (30 or 40 people ahead of you in line and by the time you get there food is gone), prostitutes on the street corners at the Evita Asty in Athens. Use a USA based tour company where you have recourse if something goes wrong and not one that has zero customer service and located in Spain. You basically are ....
Greece 109
I will never use this company again
1) Was told tours were 25 people. There were 40-50 people on each bus
2) Poor communication: at only one hotel did the concierge have any idea when and where we were to be picked up
3) First hotel, Evita Asti, was in a terrible part of Athens. Unsafe to walk around.
4) Boat tour cancelled due to weather. Learned this from bus driver. No substitute excursion was offered.
5) Terrible flight itinerary home. 1.5 hours in Newark to go through customs and immigration. I repeatedly tried to tell customer service that it was too short but was informed that "computer models say it's plenty of time". The computer hasn't been to EWR...I have. We were seated in the very back of the plane and the only chance we could make the connection was to move up. No seats available so had to upgrade to Business Class for $450. STILL barely made the flight as the doors were closing. Our luggage didn't make it.
6) I cleaned my house while waiting for a representative on the phone. Hold music extremely annoyingtour
Do not book a trip with this company. My friend and I booked a guided tour to Turkey. During one of our domestic flights that they got for us, our driver was not at the airport. We waited for an hour before calling. They then sent a driver to pick us up and take to our hotel. When calling to complain, they first tried to lie and say that our driver was waiting for us the entire time. Then they said, that they sent a driver as soon as we called and why did we wait so long to call. They never apologized or offered an explanation as to why our driver wasn't there at the airport. We asked to reschedule our hot air balloon experience to the following day since we only had 2 hours before they were to pick us up and we were sleep deprived. They refused to accommodate our request. On the way home, they booked a connecting flight too close together and we missed our flight through no fault of ours. They refused to reimburse us for our night at the hotel and the airline ticket for the next day.
Exoticca Travel to Ireland
I have been an avid traveler for a number of years, using multiple touring companies and I must say, this was the poorest planned trip by a touring company, I have ever been on. From the moment I paid the initial deposit, right until the end, I should have taken my money back and ran. Trying to get in touch with anyone was nearly impossible, with telephone waits being up to an hour and a half at times, just to be told I would have to call back at another time because the person I needed to talk to was not in. My multiple emails (with my booking #), and all went unanswered, despite review responses saying, "someone was trying to get in touch with me, " or " they could not locate my booking number." Our trip to Ireland consisted of unprofessional, hungover tour guides, one leaving us stranded after tour was complete. They double brokerage most services, leaving no one to take accountability for poorly planned activities, or added costs associated with portions of our travel (ie. taxi costs to get to meeting spots). This was one trip I was thankful to be over.
9 day Tour of Switzerland
NEVER will use this company again. Extremely difficult and unresponsive customer service. They split up our party of travelers on different flights even though we had to travel 2 hours to get to departure airport causing 10 hour difference in arrival and spoiled 1st day. Refused to change it. Itinerary touted 9 days & 8 nights. Kept getting changed and downsized - especially on front and back ends to accommodate their non-changeable flight purchases. Pick up at airport wasn't there as promised. Extremely poor info on what to do / where to go on day one. Handoff to local travel guides very poor. Local guides may or may not be good - ours was just OK. Refused to refund one of our travelers who got covid at the last minute and sacrificed to protect others (be sure to get a lab test. Home tests not accepted!). This is a travel consolidator - not a company that will help you in any way.
Peru 8 days
Overall, prior to the trip there is no customer service, and once you actually reach the "service" department on the phone after hours on hold, the rep can't actually make a decision or connect you to someone who can.
The flight scheduling is the worst I have experienced. The 8 day trip turned into a 6 day trip because of the flights. I receive my flight information roughly 10 weeks before departure and immediately contacted Exoticca every week for 8 weeks before someone would attempt to correct the flights. It was impossible to change because now it was only 2 weeks before departure, and I would have been charged an additional $700 for more reasonable flights, and a full loss if I cancelled the trip.
Specifically I was scheduled :
Day 1: Arrival at 1am...realistically arriving at the hotel at 3am. City tour at 9am (Per the itinerary published I should have arrived the day before
9/25: Advertised as "depart for your international flight" and 9/26 Arrive back in US
Scheduled : 9/25 flight departure at 1am, leaving hotel at 10PM 9/24 with Arrival in US on 9/25. This eliminated an entire day and also I would have paid for a hotel room that I couldn't use.
I wound up booking my own flights, at my own expense. Exoticca basically did not make any offer to compensate me for this LARGE inconvenience. When I could actually talk to a person in "customer service" i was treated poorly and then to be asked to pay more money for less time was mind blowing.
During the tour, the communication was confusing, and I was never provided an itinerary with pick up times from the hotel. Some of the people on the tour were provided itineraries with not times. Our last Tour in Cusco was changed from 2pm to noon, and the only communication was a piece of paper taped to a window by the breakfast area.
Additionally the last hotel, Irrizarri in Cusco was below standard, I was given a room next to the kitchen which was so noisy you couldn't sleep, and also had no cell phone service...not internet, but service. The following day, there was no water in the hotel at all.
Overall, the tour wasn't all that bad, but customer service and the flight departments need to be totally retrained or overhauled. The worst experience I have ever had.Exoticca Greece
Four of us booked this trip to Greece and this company is just awful. We have encountered so many issues. The changed airports after we already purchased connections and reserved hotels. They do not answer the phone. Today we got an e mail with all our hotels changed- downgraded and some in shady areas with terrible reviews. They gave us no reason the hotels were changed so I will go ahead and contact the hotels to see why and if there was even a reservation. We are leaving in 5 days. I’m mortified that we chose this company. Please don’t book with them.
Trip to Morocco
I am speaking from my personal experience, so if you find what I am writing here offensive in any way, my apologies to you in advance. Nevertheless, I must be honest with you, and I do this only after having shown forth a LOT of patience with this company, which has been given more than adequate time to respond to us and make things right. But our patience has grown thin. This should not, needless to say, come as a surprise to them when they read this.
My wife and I trusted Exoticca with our time, money, and high hopes for a trip to Morocco in late May 2022. The gentleman who booked this trip for us was friendly and a delight to work with; we have no qualms with him. However, when we received the airline reservations approximately two months in advance of the trip, they booked us on Air Canada for what was apparently the least expensive ticketing. We were to depart from Las Vegas and travel through Montreal and Lisbon en route to Casablanca.
I let Exoticca know immediately that the layover in Lisbon was very short, in fact, too short to make the connecting flight to Casablanca. After a very, very long hold time, and having to endure the repetitively annoying music in the meantime while waiting for a representative, I emphasized my concern that we would not be able to make the connecting flight if the flight from Montreal was even a little late. The rep tried to assure me that there would be no problems. I was, of course, skeptical of his “reassurance,” having heard such things before. But he told me that they would get it changed and email me with the new itinerary. When the email came without either an itinerary change or an explanation, I called again and waited on another long hold, only to explain my concern once more to another rep, who tried to assure me that we’d be OK in making the connection in Lisbon. I couldn’t help but get the distinct feeling as she spoke that I was getting an earful of hot air and fluff, despite sounding sincere and genuine. She likewise told me that we would hear back very shortly with an adjusted itinerary, but the email once again came back unchanged, just as if my concern had been completely disregarded and my time wasted.
I attempted other calls to Exoticca, but each time the hold time seemed to get longer and longer. I gave up trying to contact them and just went with the itinerary they had provided. We left Las Vegas on time and waited for eight hours at the airport in Montreal. The flight from Montreal was delayed, causing us to run like crazy to the departure gate for Casablanca, only to be firmly told that the gate had closed and we would not be permitted to board. Our greatest fear was realized. Fortunately, for the most part, the airline agents in Lisbon tried to be helpful. Nevertheless, we were then redirected from counter to counter to counter by airline and airport reps, who weren’t able to do much for us. But after several hours, we finally managed to book a flight on a different airline.
As expected, our bags were not present upon our arrival in Casablanca. The lady at the desk that handled such situations had apparently become tired of dealing with angry Western visitors and would not let us make a claim. In desperation, we went to the Swissport office, where the gentleman tried his best to assist us. But we were not able to file an official claim. Our tour guide patiently waited for us and tried to assist us the best he could, but we left the airport without our luggage and didn’t have it the entire 11 days of the trip, forcing us to wash clothes every night. Repeated efforts to get our bags resulted in continual disappointment. To make matters worse, we learned from fellow trip members that we could have been booked directly from Montreal to Casablanca without that unnecessary and unfortunate layover in Lisbon. We were the only trip members to have to change flights there. Imagine that!
Despite this major setback, we did our best to enjoy our time in the country. We had a great tour group and guide, and were able to see many fun and interesting sites. So, why am I writing all this if we managed to have a decent time? Well, it certainly is not to thank Exoticca, who contracted with a decent in-country travel group. Days after our return, we were contacted by the Exoticca Customer Car Team. I responded to their email by stating that I was displeased with some aspects of the trip and asked to be contacted by the team. “Julie” replied that they were “so sorry to hear that some aspects of this tour did not meet” our expectations. After a couple of failed attempts to reach me while I was at work, I told her by email that I’d make myself available at a certain time that would be convenient for both of us. She apparently ignored my emails and attempted to call again two weeks later, again thanking me for my initial review and noting that she was still not able to reach me successfully. She even asked me to let her know if I’d like for her to contact me either by phone or email, as she said she’d be very grateful for further feedback, which, as she stated, would be “a very useful tool to assist in improving our service and products in the future.”
I never heard from her again. Another rep, “Ivan,” called me a month later and informed me that Julie had been taken off my case “for personal reasons,” which I now believe was BS – the case was simply passed on to him because Exoticca didn’t know how to (or simply didn’t want to) deal with my issue. I was never mean, threatening, or ... in any of my interactions, either by phone or email. “Ivan” and I seemed to have a helpful conversation, wherein I was able to explain my situation. We agreed that he would call me back one week later at a designated time and that he would be able to make things right. Well over a month later, that call still has not come.
It's apparent to me that Exoticca, while providing a great menu of very desirable-looking tours, is horribly unresponsive and not really interested in assisting travelers if there’s an issue of any kind. Be forewarned… and a word to the wise: They book the trip and hope like ... the contracted company in country does its job, because they certainly aren’t doing theirs, and they’re not going to help you if things go south! They don’t want to hear any complaints about their service (or lack thereof)… nothing negative. They will simply stop communicating with you if that’s the case. I gave them opportunity after opportunity to redeem themselves.
I wanted so much to disregard all the negative reviews I had read online before I signed up for this trip. Nevertheless, I made the fateful decision to disregard those reviews and give Exoticca a chance to prove those reviews were simply untrue and biased. At this point, I can no longer do that and feel that I must make my feelings very clear. The sad part in all of this is that I had wanted so badly to give them another chance and take advantage of other seemingly fun deals, but heaven help us if something were to go wrong… they wouldn’t be there to care in the least. Trying to contact them by phone has also been a nightmare, with very long wait times and reps that will tell you what you want to hear, but will not follow through with what they promise. I have always been better off booking with reputable companies like Gate 1 Travel, where I’ve never gotten any of this. The various tours Exoticca offers are quite tempting, and they’ll likely be good once you’re in country; however, just pray nothing goes wrong!Ancient Ruins amp Cyclades Island Hopping
I booked a land only trip to Athens & Cyclades Island Hopping on April 4, 2022, and was very pleased with the assistance I received from the sales department about the cost of the trip and the payment schedule. On April 20 I requested that a pre-night hotel stay be added to the trip and was told "done"; that I would receive an email with the additional cost. I called back on April 30 because I hadn't received a written confirmation and was told only the sales department was working and that I'd have to speak to customer service on a weekday. I've made inquiries using Exoticca's contact form (which they advise you do) and have not once received a response. On subsequent phone calls I've been told "don't worry", booking department will eventually confirm by email. I am travelling with 2 other couples and they are experiencing the same frustration and apprehension as myself. It is now 6 weeks before our scheduled departure and today I was told by a customer service representative that my request is still being worked on and it's not that easy to adjust a trip, if it was, I would have received confirmation already! To date Exoticca has demonstrated that it is a sales only business. They lack both communication skills and much needed customer service. Exoticca is very quick to take your money & then they vanish. After doing a deeper internet search, I'm becoming very apprehensive about a trip I was very excited about. I'll let you know...
Elaine, Please let us know how your trip went. I have almost the same problem as you have with Exoticca, and agree with you, they are ALL SALES - NOT A TRAVEL AGENCY.
Booking a trip safari
After 2 weeks of trying to get information from Exoticca, I'm done. I sent some questions thru their website and have heard NOTHING. I've called (too many times) and NOTHING. There are too many other travel agencies. DON'T waste your time... DON'T USE EXOTICCA!
exottica trip to istanbul Athens and Crete
Bottom line.....unreliable, almost impossible to reach, subcontract to local companies but do not give them any information on who is coming. We were basically on our own. Read the itinerary very carefully. You will see excessive free time, in foreign countries where english may or may not be spoken.
They were supposed to arrange rapid antigen tests for us.... nope. We had to figure that out on our own too. Their answer when I complained.... oh, well, you have to ask us. REALLY?
Read all reviews carefully, spend a bit more money, and use a well known, reliable and accessible company for travel. Do NOT use this oneTravel tour to Peru
Do not use Excoticca
They were horrbile. If we had not had a Spanish speaking person in our group we would have been ....
Horrible planning, horrible communication, horrible customer service.
We would have been better off planning the trip and booking a company in the country.Wonders of the Hashemite Kingdom - Jordan
DO NOT BOOK WITH EXOTICCA. I booked the Jordan Wonders of the Hashemite Kingdom trip (traveled May 14-22, 2022). Jordan was pretty good. Our guide, Adnan, was wonderful. The hotels were OK. Great staff but our group was spread over 4 hotels (not close to each other) in each location. Also, people weren’t on the same schedule so we had people rotating in and out of the tour. The real problem came on the return flight. Our flights were booked by Exoticca. We arrived at JFK only to discover that our flight from JFK to DCA was cancelled due to weather and this means the airline has no responsibility for assisting us beyond booking a new flight (in this case the next day from a different airport). I tried calling Exotticca (at 8pm on a Sunday) using the number at the bottom of their emails that clearly stated “Sat. and Sun.: 3:00 a.m. - Midnight (EST)” but received an automated message that they were open Mon-Fri during business hours. After several more attempts to get better flights from the airline, we gave up rented a car and drove home. The next day I tried calling Exottica to request a refund for my flight/expenses. Since I couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone Monday morning I used their contact form and received this response:
“Sorry to hear you had issues with flight cancellations at the end of your trip.
We inform you that you must take up this issue with the airline as it is their responsibility to provide a new flight for you in this instance.
Communicate with them and send them your receipts as they must respond for these extra costs incurred that would have been avoided by providing a new flight, which is what should have happened.
Alternatively you could take this up with your travel insurance company.
Hope this is helpful and good luck with the process.”
Anyone that has booked airfare thru an agent knows that the airlines will direct you back to the agent (and they did). I was able to get Exoticca on the phone on Tuesday to explain this and ask why their phone line wasn’t open per the times in the email. They responded with “it’s not our responsibility” and “you should have used the emergency number listed on page 17 of the trip summary.” So now I’m stuck trying to get the airline to deal with me even though I didn’t book the ticket and Exoticca is refusing to provide any assistance. So I want everyone to know if you have any problems on an Exoticca trip ITS NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY!trip
Save yourself a lot of grief.Do not travel with Exoticca.They are at best a bait and switch company,but closer to a ponzi scheme.And if you need customer service forget it.Their page may say open 24hrs,but it is not true.Your calls will go unanswered,and it wills take many days,or even weeks to receive any answer to emails.I traveled twice with them.Once to Portugal,which was substandard at best.And the second time to Mexico.Which was so bad we changed our tickets and left back home...yes they are THAT bad
I had questions pre-trip and I sent an email with my concerns, and got a reply. I found them very responsive. Shrug.
PERU EXCURSION
I was forced to cancel my Peru trip (Booking No. S-EX2021054343) because of an injury (6 broken ribs) 13 days prior to departure. Exoticca did not offer me a future trip or partial refund. They kept $2,019 though my medical team sent a letter to Exoticca confirming the necessity to cancel my trip.
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