Is Airfare Included?

I don't understand your question, but if what you are asking is about Rick Steves tours on the Rick Steves' Europe website, NO - if you buy a Rick Steves tour, NO the airfare is NOT included.

How could it, by the way? Would the person from Hawaii pay the same as the person from New Jersey?

Price + airfare usually means that the airfare is a separate cost. The only time I've seen airfare included is for tours that are starting at specific place in the US. For example, it's tour for University of Chicago alums and the tour starts in Chicago so would include airfare from Chicago to somewhere else such as London. But tour companies don't do this for the reason's cited by Nigel.

Pam

For proof (!), here's a link to the home page of the Best of Europe in 21 Days.

Airfare not included ("$xxxx + Air"). But...lots of other things are...

My experience with all tours, cruises, etc., that price plus airfare means that it is the price and airfare is addition (plus) to the price. When airfare is included it will say, Airfare included.

As everyone has said, Rick Steves tours never include airfare in the posted price. He says he does this for two reasons. One, as mentioned above, is that everyone is coming from different places. The second is that many people add pre- or post-tour travel, so they may not want to fly into and out of the tour's start or end cities.

Other tour companies often advertise the price as including airfare, but be careful. It will say "from $2999 including airfare." The key word is "from"; that fare is almost always only from New York City, and can include flights with connections and/or inconvenient times. If you are leaving from another city, or want nonstop flights, the price is higher. You have to price it yourself to see if buying the tour as "land only" and then buying your own airfare separately is a better deal, vs. buying air through the tour company.

If you have other questions about Rick Steves tours, here's his FAQ: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-help/tours-faq

And by the way, you have stumbled upon the Rick Steves travel forum. We're a loose confederation of people obsessed with travel in Europe, but we're not official representatives of Rick, or experts on his tours. There are a few of his employees that post here, but for more precise answers on the tours, you should contact them directly.

This forum is a great source of info. Start by reading back in the General Europe section, and any other one that strikes you. You'll often find answers to questions, great ideas, etc. If you have another question, ask and you shall be answered.

Tour department staff should also see your posts if you put them on the forum page that's specific for RS Tours: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours.