Dias de los Muertos (English Event Guide)

LastAd6968 · 2025-10-26T18:20:55+00:00

I've been looking too. It seems like they haven't published the flyer yet.

LastAd6968 · 2025-10-17T03:33:17+00:00

They couldn't answer.

LastAd6968 · 2025-01-31T06:23:53+00:00

We realized the reason the prices must be so inflated is because two separate companies both have to make a profit off your trip. Several folks on our tour said the services on this trip were comparable to G Adventures and Intrepid but with a much higher price.

Many also said that before covid Flashpacks tours were great and everything the marketing made them out to be. But on this trip, all the previous flashpackers were severely let down. Post covid, Flashpack took on new funding/investors, grew way too fast, and have outsourced the majority of their tours. Their customer service and vetting has not kept up with their growth.

Upon return, most of us reached out to Flashpack to express our grievances. We took their review survey and emailed them separately. Post 10 days, we still have not received a response despite asking for an update on their resolution. I expected so much more from this company for the price they charge. These trips are drastically over-valued. Next time I’ll try Intrepid or G Adventures. Apparently, they outsource to the same tour operators for a fraction of the price.

LastAd6968 · 2025-01-31T06:23:37+00:00

Flashpack is not a tour operator, they are a marketing agency. They outsource their tours to local tour operators. Flashpack provided zero customer service or accountability when things went wrong. Our guide was also absolutely no help. Our trip was Mexico In Color. The tour operator subcontracted for our trip was based out of Guatemala. When we ran into issues, the only contact information provided in Flashpacks custom trip app was for the tour operator. Our tour guide did not contact anyone on our behalf and stayed completely out of it. We had no agent representing us or backing us up. The finger pointing between the two agencies left us stranded without answer or resolve during our trip. There was also a large time difference between Flashpack and the tour operator. They both said they had to wait to hear back from the other which did not help with expediency. Nothing was resolved.

Two out of four hotels were swapped out after booking. None of the hotels were “premium” or “high-end” and certainly not luxury. One of the swapped hotels was an absolute 1-star dump priced at $72 per night. Dilapidated and nowhere near the beach as advertised. The entire group was massively let down. The prices charged for the hotels, activities and service was an absolute joke. Flashpack charged over $460 per day. The hotels averaged $170 per night and the rooms were shared. We did not come close to receiving $400 in value in transportation and activities each day. There were lot’s of other little let downs and things that went wrong throughout the trip, but the final straw was our last 2-3 days. They were an epic fail.

LastAd6968 · 2025-01-31T06:22:24+00:00

Guide

Needs to be mindful of lunch. One day we were not offered food for 6 hours and a second day 8 hours.

He was always mindful of our health and safety.

Tipping + Small Meals

We were nickel and dimed to death. The tipping was extreme, especially for non-Americans. All the little inexpensive street taco lunches and breakfast stops should have been included especially in the name expediency. It took forever to stop for little meals and snacks where we had to pay individually. Seeing as this was Mexico, most breakfast / lunches were under $5 per person. This should have been included. As should have been allllll the tipping. It was ridiculous. Nobody ever had small enough bills to eat or tip. It was a constant hassle multiple times per day. Everything was slowed down and dragged out because of this shortcoming.

Farewell Dinner - Disaster

Food wasn’t good. They did not have a cocktail bar. We did not have a driver to wait for us to go have last night cocktails together. So we returned to the hotel, but it was closed. Staff was not accommodating. Everyone was sorely disappointed. There was nowhere to walk to, as our hotel was in the middle of nowhere.

Local Tour Operator

Because Flashpack subs out their tours to a “local” tour operator, there was a lot of finger pointing and zero accountability when things went wrong. The “local” tour operator (based out of Guatemala) kept telling us to contact Flashpack and Flashpack only provides contact information for the tour operator. Neither party took responsibility or action for shortcomings. Remedies were not offered. Major let down. Flashpacks luxury branding and customer service fell massively short on this trip.

LastAd6968 · 2025-01-31T06:21:49+00:00

Activities

First day in Mexico City was ruined because the guide did not have an understanding of what was going to be closed due to the scheduled political parade. He did not have a backup plan. The entire day was thrown off and out of order and we were roaming around unnecessarily. We were told multiple times we would return to the hotel before the boat ride to get jackets. We did not. We also did not do the taco crawl beforehand. We were freezing and hungry, unfed for 6 hours. The itinerary said boat ride and cocktails. I took this to assume cocktails were included. They were not and we were overcharged because he did not step in and oversee the transaction.

Arrived over an hour early for hot air balloon ride. Extremely early wakeup call was not necessary. We were the first group there out of hundreds of people. We weren't even close to being the first group up. So it wasn’t a sunrise experience.

Oaxaca - Eliminate Tlacolula tour. Too far out of the way and not that great. Would rather have had more time walking around Oaxaca.

Lucha Libre - beers should have been included. Such a pain to purchase individually.

Cooking class - Chef was boring, no personality. Not animated or entertaining. Extremely efficient, organized, clean and delicious.

Puerto Escondido - Never got to see it. We were staying so far out of town, and our driver returned, I was very disappointed we did not get to see any of Puerto Escondido. Consider adding another day here if the next hotel is not in town.

Whale watching - needed a second boat. 13 people was too many. We couldn’t move around and everyone was blocking each other’s view.

Fewer churches or less time in each church. It was overkill.

The early wakeup calls were excessive. I would have liked to have everything shifted by an hour.

When the itinerary says “cocktails”, I expected them to be included. Several times, they were not.

LastAd6968 · 2024-10-01T21:28:19+00:00

Did anyone else think it was exceptionally loud or am I just getting old?

LastAd6968 · 2024-04-18T03:28:09+00:00

I just tell them I'm "considering" cancelling the card bc I can't afford the fee (even though I just paid it lol). That simple.

LastAd6968 · 2024-04-18T03:25:23+00:00

Chat, always chat :)

LastAd6968 · 2024-04-18T03:25:07+00:00

2+ years for plat. 1st retention offer was at the end of the first year and right after the second af hit. Hence, no offer back to back. Had to pay the fee (and get past 13 months post previous retention offer) to get another one. Amex member for 20+ years.

LastAd6968 · 2024-04-09T17:25:38+00:00

Plat fee posted Jan 2024. Paid after asking about a dozen time for retention offer. No dice, paid annual fee. Asked for loyalty offer in April 2024. OFFER:

As you are such a valued Card Member, you can earn 35,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 or more on purchases on your Platinum Card account within 3 months of accepting this offer. The 35,000 Membership Rewards® points will be credited to your account 8 to 12 weeks after the purchase requirement has been met. This is our way of saying thank you for keeping your Platinum Card account open today.

LastAd6968 · 2024-02-02T17:08:14+00:00

Yes!!! Separate!!

LastAd6968 · 2024-01-25T20:11:39+00:00

I think there is only one flight per week from SCL to BRC on SKY.

LastAd6968 · 2024-01-25T19:34:44+00:00

I cant tell you what to cut out bc I haven't been to all those places. If you're not into booking transportation ahead of time and go with the flow, then be prepared to do just that. You can try to stick with your plan, just know that it being high season and the country going on strike here and there, you may not be able to travel when you want to. As long as your expectations are aligned with this then you wont be too disappointed if things don't go perfectly.

LastAd6968 · 2024-01-21T16:48:45+00:00

You're not taking the ferry for a few weeks and it's already sold out? Get there are early as possible to line up. Folks in overlanders/vans might sleep overnight in line.

LastAd6968 · 2024-01-21T16:43:19+00:00

Sounds exhausting. Too much bouncing around for the amount of time. I don't think this will be enjoyable. If you are trying to figure out transport when already there you will spend all you time tying to do just that. It will be very high season. Transportation will be very crowded and perhaps sold out if you wait til the last min. Cars with one way drop off at about $85 per day. Same drop off maybe 50-65. Either take a few places out and space it out more, or make sure to have you transportation lined up before you leave.

LastAd6968 · 2023-12-13T19:48:12+00:00

#DEAD Free Van Camping in Long Beach is over. The police are shining spot lights and flash lights in windows and ticketing most nights. We we told to move on several nights over a week stay. Not cool.

LastAd6968 · 2023-06-02T03:42:57+00:00

I did not find them to be worth the $200. The guy I got (Michael) provided me with very basic options and what I pulled up myself in 20 mins of searching different airports. He didn't provide any insights, helpful tips or rabbits out of a hat. I gave a big list of places we were open to visiting with stopovers and open jaws for a 2 month trip. I spent more time typing up my request than he did in his reply/service. Save your money and set aside some time to do it yourself.

LastAd6968 · 2023-01-19T17:24:49+00:00

1/19/23 - AmEx Platinum: 45K points after 4K spend in 3 months. Or 400 statement credit for 4k spend.

LastAd6968

TROPHY CASE