Tour adverts, a whinge (1 Viewer)

[Andy Adcock]

I've been looking at various trips, no idea what I want do or indeed, if, I want to do anything. Anyway, looking at this trip today and thought, 'hmm, that's a decent price' until I realised that only eight days of the advertised ten, are birding days. How are they allowed to advertise like this because to me, days one and ten, are not part of the trip, there's no birding being done, you're not technically, even in their care?

Day 1 Arrive in a large, generic City, go to bed,

Day 9 A half day, board aircraft home

Day 10 Arrive home

To be clear, this is not aimed specifically at any company, the link is just to illustrate my point because they all seem to do it

It's obviously not blatantly dishonest but possibly an example of what is termed 'sharp' practice?

Peru - 'Surf & Turf'

During this exciting 10-day birding tour we’ll make a thorough, ‘endemic-strewn’ exploration of Peru’s western Andean slopes and Hum...

www.naturetrek.co.uk

Despite my moan, this looks a very good trip with some great birds. I might crack the spine of my 'Valqui' to see what could be done around Lima, independently to bolster the trip as it seems a long way to go from Europe for what is really, only seven and a half days birding.

 

[temmie]

They advertize 10 days incl. flights and flight time.
They also advertize a price excl. flights.

It seems fairly transpararent, to me.

With regards to the Tour:
I wouldn't consider this an itinerary I would do or recommend: the whole trip is in a dry, arid, and rather bird-poor areas compared to other parts of Peru (all is relative ofcourse, there are plenty of birds (in numbers) in the Santa Eulalia valley compared to the fields around my home).

In 8 days I have covered the Santa Eulalia valley (one day), Junin (1 day), Bosque Unchog + Paty trail (2 days), a travel day and the Pariahuanca road resulting in 230 species. Realistically, a tour at a slightly slower pace would skip that Pariahuanca day and drive up Santa Eulalia with an extra day, resulting in an 8 day tour on the ground (with around 220 species when I did this). It's ofcourse not only the number of species, but also the quality (Junin, Unchog are pretty epic in that regard).

I feel you're missing out on at least one E-Andean site that could be included (either Unchog or Satipo, but for sure lake Junin isn't out of reach within this itinerary), but ofcourse, you'll have some coastal birding (which I would change if possible for a day out at sea in a boat).

It's a very sensible tour for 10 days witha slower pace, not too much complexity and few risks in terms of logistics, so this is not to critique Naturetrek or their tour design / pace, but while 10 days is just a bit on the short side to comfortably include more sites to offer a more comprehensive C-Peru experience, even within the limited time it feels a bit underloaded. I would rather prefer, when already at the top of the Santa Eulalia valley, to include birding further up the road rather than a site close to Lima that can be more easily included in any other Tour that starts / ends in Lima.

 

[Mysticete]

I've been looking at various trips, no idea what I want do or indeed, if, I want to do anything. Anyway, looking at this trip today and thought, 'hmm, that's a decent price' until I realised that only eight days of the advertised ten, are birding days. How are they allowed to advertise like this because to me, days one and ten, are not part of the trip, there's no birding being done, you're not technically, even in their care?

Day 1 Arrive in a large, generic City, go to bed,

Day 9 A half day, board aircraft home

Day 10 Arrive home

To be clear, this is not aimed specifically at any company, the link is just to illustrate my point because they all seem to do it

It's obviously not blatantly dishonest but possibly an example of what is termed 'sharp' practice?

Peru - 'Surf & Turf'

During this exciting 10-day birding tour we’ll make a thorough, ‘endemic-strewn’ exploration of Peru’s western Andean slopes and Hum...

www.naturetrek.co.uk

Despite my moan, this looks a very good trip with some great birds. I might crack the spine of my 'Valqui' to see what could be done around Lima, independently to bolster the trip as it seems a long way to go from Europe for what is really, only seven and a half days birding.

I feel including Day 1 is reasonable: If I am booking a tour I consider lodgings when I arrive kind of useful.

I would agree that the inclusion of Day 10 is weird though...Itineraries should probably end with drop off to the airport. Then again most tours I have seen don't incorporate flights into into the cost/plans.

IF we are going to share our own bugaboos, the thing that annoys me most when you read itineraries and info for tours and you see a lower price than other companies, but then realizing it is low because they intentionally didn't include flight cost for flights BETWEEN trip locations during the tour itself. Like...its not like I can skip out on a short flight between sites in the middle of a tour. So just bundle that cost in.

 

[Mono]

I once saw a tour that departed from Ushuaia. The first 3 days were, arrive in Buenos Aries, explore BA, travel to Ushuaia.

 

[kb57]

If you take out the £1000.00 return flight costs then that's £361.88 / day for 8 days guided birding including accommodation and meals. I guess you could get a local company to organise something significantly cheaper. Diademed sandpiper-plover though...
What is perhaps more strange is the 'direct BA flights to Lima' claim. I checked the BA site to see if they were also skimming £££ from the airfare (they're not, impossible to get BA flights for <£1k return on or near those dates). BA's website states however that they are no direct flights for that route, with options given either via Madrid and their sister airline Iberia, or via Miami with American.

 

[Andy Adcock]

They advertize 10 days incl. flights and flight time.
They also advertize a price excl. flights.

It seems fairly transpararent, to me.

With regards to the Tour:
I wouldn't consider this an itinerary I would do or recommend: the whole trip is in a dry, arid, and rather bird-poor areas compared to other parts of Peru (all is relative ofcourse, there are plenty of birds (in numbers) in the Santa Eulalia valley compared to the fields around my home).

I never said it's not 'transparent' but neither is a ten day birdwatching trip and where does it mention that duration includes transit, I can't see that? It states that flights are included but that's in reference to the cost.

 

[Andy Adcock]

With regards to the Tour:
I wouldn't consider this an itinerary I would do or recommend: the whole trip is in a dry, arid, and rather bird-poor areas compared to other parts of Peru (all is relative ofcourse, there are plenty of birds (in numbers) in the Santa Eulalia valley compared to the fields around my home).

It's a very sensible tour for 10 days witha slower pace, not too much complexity and few risks in terms of logistics, so this is not to critique Naturetrek or their tour design / pace, but while 10 days is just a bit on the short side to comfortably include more sites to offer a more comprehensive C-Peru experience, even within the limited time it feels a bit underloaded. I would rather prefer, when already at the top of the Santa Eulalia valley, to include birding further up the road rather than a site close to Lima that can be more easily included in any other Tour that starts / ends in Lima.

My impression too was that this is quite a leisurely trip and I consider that too much time is given over to birds which have a very large range instead of chasing the range restricted stuff.

 

[WACCOE]

I was booked for that tour a few years ago was cancelled due to Covid,and as I work a set shift pattern with 18 days break not been able to re-book it.

 

[Owene]

It’s probably different if you’re not working but to me knowing the dates the trip is inevitably going to cover is the primary deciding factor for booking. I have tons of places I want to go and 13 weeks a year they have to happen in. The number of trips I’ve rejected because I simply can’t do the Wednesday but can do the Thursday is huge

Just today I booked a 2025 tour despite originally not wanting to do anything until 2026 because the 2025 dates worked and 2026 didn’t. I think we all understand the concept of travel days

 

[iraqbabbler]

Day 1 Arrive in a large, generic City, go to bed,

Consider yourself lucky it didn't say "Day 1: Read about it on the internet and make booking arrangements".

I totally agree that it's misleading advertising.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Consider yourself lucky it didn't say "Day 1: Read about it on the internet and make booking arrangements".

I totally agree that it's misleading advertising.

I Knew it was free advertising so guessed they wouldn't mind too much

 

[JWN Andrewes]

I once saw a tour that departed from Ushuaia. The first 3 days were, arrive in Buenos Aries, explore BA, travel to Ushuaia.

To be fair a day round Costenera Sur is well worth it, and I guess It's included as a quick and relatively easy way to bolster the trip list, which for people visiting who don't get the chance to visit an area multiple times might be quite attractive.

 

[Andy Adcock]

A very strange thing occurred.

I think someone from Naturetrek took umbrage at my post and unsubscribed me from their news letter!

 

[kb57]

A very strange thing occurred.

I think someone from Naturetrek took umbrage at my post and unsubscribed me from their news letter!

That's somewhat petty on their behalf, it was a reasonable question to ask, and you were clearly potentially interested in a Naturetrek tour.

I'd still like to know about these direct BA flights from London to Lima, which they're still advertising on their website!

 

[iraqbabbler]

I think someone from Naturetrek took umbrage at my post and unsubscribed me from their news letter!

If that's really what's happened, they're on my boycott list.

 

[Andy Adcock]

If that's really what's happened, they're on my boycott list.

It's true.

Naturetrek - master​

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[Allen]

If that's really what's happened, they're on my boycott list.

Bit of an over reaction!

 

[Allen]

this looks a very good trip with some great birds.

I did this trip a couple of years back and thoroughly enjoyed it. A nice mix of Andean and coastal species and enjoyed great views of Diademed Sandpiper-plover.

 

[Mysticete]

It's true.

Naturetrek - master​

We have removed your email address from our list. We're sorry to see you go. Was this a mistake? Did you forward one of our emails to a friend, and they clicked the unsubscribe link not realizing they were in fact unsubscribing you from this list? If this was a mistake, you can re-subscribe at: Subscribe For questions or comments, please contact us at: [email protected]​

I am skeptical they intentionally did this. It would be rather odd for nature Trek to be that bothered by your post, and choose to respond that way rather than reply in here directly.

 

[vergan]

I am skeptical they intentionally did this. It would be rather odd for nature Trek to be that bothered by your post, and choose to respond that way rather than reply in here directly.

How do you think it has happened then?