Exoticca Tours Travel Review

9 responses

1. Don F

   September 13, 2022

   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 vulgar 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 hell 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!

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2. Jae Bang

   September 6, 2022

   Hi, I booked my trip to Portugal with Exoticca about a month ago. At time of booking, I was so happy that I found this trip package, but now I’m beginning to wonder if this company is legit. They are changing my flight arrangements and demanding extra fee and for remaining balance to be paid immediately without any confirmation that my flight from JFK will be direct flight (which they promised, but now demanding extra $340) I’m trying to talk to someone, but reaching the customer service on call is impossible. Can you tell my how they booked your flight. When did you get flight information?? Is it safe to trust them?

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3. Jill Flores

   September 1, 2022

   I have had a terrible experience with Exoticca and would never use them.

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4. Dana Ballantyne

   August 28, 2022

   I was thinking about the same trip. We’re the hotels OK, and was the Galapagos portion enough time to see at least some of the sites.

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5. Devin

   July 8, 2022

   What were the 3 optional Exoticca excursions you did? I can’t find any details about them on this webpage. And also the personal day trip. We are doing a similar trip in September and are trying to determine if any of the optional Exoticca excursions are worth it. Were they in general?

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6. Collette Macon

   May 31, 2022

   I’m not one to tell anybody how to spend their money but I would advise you not to spend any with Exoticca. The extra C is not for comfort, consideration or care.

   When we first engaged with them in July of 2021 we were assured that we’d be able to secure whatever flights we wanted from our various locations. We were a group of six girls that wanted to avoid an extra flight if possible to fly to South Africa. M1 told us that we’d have all the options in the world for us and was very reassuring as we lay down 60% of our total fee for our tour to be taken in May of 2022.

   As late as January 2022 another employee M2 assured me “you cannot choose airline, you however can make a request to fly on a specific airline and the dedicated team can check if the request can be accommodated.” “Yes, it would be possible to book a return flight to a different destination (additional charges may apply) We would need to have the confirmed new location 60 days prior to departure.” And “No direct flights expected on your booking. As mentioned on your trip summary page 7 it is expected no more than 2 stopovers.” NONE of that was true.

   It was now March 2022 and time to make full payment and we discover flights have already been booked without consultation. We again asked if we’re going to be able to make changes. Crickets no one replied, numerous emails went unanswered we were stuck with the flights assigned. All flights originated in Atlanta so that required me buying an extra flight. As a result I took 3 planes traveling over 33 hours to get to South Africa with five stops. The last flight was with random air carrier called Asky that made two stops before we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa at 1:30AM in the morning. (Our Exoticca airport pickup was also a no show. We were at least reimbursed for our cabs to hotel.)

   The flights home were even worse, it took over 38 hours to get back to my home in Florida. There was a random stop in Dublin, Ireland for refueling and change of crew that left out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. No new passengers got on the flight in Ireland, still not sure why we needed to change flight crew. We should have gained time coming home this detour was absurd.

   Talking to other Exoticca customers whilst on the trip we learned we were not alone, they shared similar stories and travel challenges in their dealings with them too. I do not recommend you use Exoticca you can get the same on the ground experience we did by booking it on your own or at least looking at other companies with similar products. GOOGLE those companies too, wish we’d done the same with Exoticca.

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   1. Kim Orlando

      June 3, 2022

      It’s so disappointing to hear that Exoticca did not deliver for you. I really enjoyed my trip and my flights were fine. The whole reason I booked a tour is so that I would not have to make all of the arrangements. Good info for me as a new tour leader (Bhutan in October) – transparency and clear communication is key. Oh and own it when you make a mistake.

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   2. Jae Bang

      September 6, 2022

      Hi, I’m having similar experience with my flight arrangement. At the time of booking, and happily paying 60% deposit, they promised me that my flight will be direct flight with Delta from JFK to Lisbon. Now about a month later, they emailed me some confusing flight options to choose from which required me to spend the entire day hopping planes all over Europe which I refuse to do. They are asking extra $340 to make my flight direct, but now I’m beginning to think that they won’t even deliver that promise with me paying that extra cost because they’re saying they can’t promise it will secure that flight. Now I’m digging through all these reviews, and wonder if I should let go my 60% deposit and save other 40% and extra $340. What do you think?……. I told them what they are doing is total “bait and switch” tactic but they are saying they’ll keep my 60% deposit if I cancel booking.

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7. Danika Hyssong

   May 26, 2022

   They are fine if you don’t have any problems. The 2nd leg of my return flight (booked thru Exoticca) was cancelled and their response to my request for assistance was “it’s not our responsibility.” The flight was booked on Royal Jordanian but American was the airline for the 2nd leg. American says talk to Royal Jordanian, Royal Jordanian says contract your travel agent and Exoticca refuses to help at all.

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