Dan B.
3/5
TL;DR: TripToGo was able to put together an affordable and memorable trip to Peru for us, but there were quite a few things that could be improved like the itinerary, scheduling, and communication. Condor Travel, the local agency, was excellent at navigating those shortfalls to provide an excellent experience.
We have never used a travel agency before, and had never traveled with a group before. Ultimately, this trip seemed too good to be true (I couldn't get it to work mathematically with hotel, adventure, flight, and food costs), but it happened and it was (mostly) an amazing experience. I'll start from the beginning: We booked the trip in October because it was a REALLY good deal. After booking, I tried to contact TripToGo multiple times via phone, email, and chat through their website, with no response. We purchased travel insurance because we were afraid the trip would not happen. We finally received communication from them 3 days before the trip was set to depart. Luckily, we had no pressing concerns.
When we arrived in Peru, we were told that two groups were combined into one, making the tour group 40 people. We thought that would be fine, but it put a strain on restaurants, hotels, and the tour guides to manage the itinerary, causing longer waits and delays in the itinerary. Also, when we received our itinerary the first day, it was considerably different from the TTG itinerary we were sent previously. ALL meals were included, but that was not noted in the original itinerary (we broke off a couple of meals that we planned because we thought we had to). On most nights, we had maybe 4 hours of sleep, due to transportation. For example, on the second day, we had to wake up at 1:30am to catch a bus at 2am, to sit at the airport for 2 hours to get a plane to Cusco at 5:30am. I understand that in order to have a full day, the flight needed to leave early, but that was not in the original plan. At two hotels, we barely stayed 8 hours because of early morning transportation. Peru is tough to get around, but I would have stayed an additional day to compensate for short sleeps and long voyages.
There were a couple of really cool places, but they were also high-pressure tourist-trap-like places. I did not like my wife being followed around in one store where we all were required to stop after a demonstration of wool dying. Tourism is so important, but we did not purchase anything from that shop.
On the last day, we were told multiple times by the local agency that the bus would leave at 4:30am to take people to the airport. Then, out of the blue, TTG jumps in and says that it's actually 3:30am (all of this happening just a few hours before departure), to everyone's surprise including the local travel guide. Many people in the group did not take that ride because that was not what we were told. We ended up leaving at the original 4:30am and had no issues at the airport.
This trip was STRENUOUS. About half of the group could not make the last day of adventure (Rainbow Mountain) because of exhaustion and lack of sleep. This was not advertised anywhere, and would be wise to include, especially for those who may have a concern.
Finally, some people in the group were so entitled. They complained about little things; they complained about having so much food; they complained about transportation; they complained about the itinerary. I know that TTG cannot control people's behavior, but it was tough to spend time with some people. We were in a new country on a different continent! It was amazing, and we didn't feel the need to bring up every little thing. Condor Travel did so well at mitigating and managing people on the tour while navigating miscommunication from TTG. I would tour with Germán again anytime.
I would like to give TripToGo another chance, but I would need a much clearer itinerary, amenities, and communication. If you book with TripToGo, see if you can find out the local tour company and look into them. Like I said, Condor was so great for us.
