2023 Tour differences

Tammy,
I’m glad you asked this question because I noticed the Scandinavia tour which I just completed, dropped the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo. The tour will leave Æro Island Denmark and then drive along the Swedish coast and spend one night in Varberg a charming seaside town. A welcome change as I wrote in my tour evaluation that the overnight ferry was so boring, let me swim to Oslo! Just get us there somehow. Please!
And RS dropped it! Yay!

If there are changes to the Best of Turkey itinerary, I couldn't find them. And the prices appear the same... not surprising given the fluctuation of the Turkish lira.

Best of Istanbul looks the same to me, though the starting price has gone up by $200. I see now that the Best of Turkey starting price went up by $200 as well. So I saved $400 by going on both tours this year, which pays for my deposit for next year!! 😁😁

Thanks for asking. I hadn't thought of checking that, but will as I do my 2023 planning. I hope others do, too and report back. The price changes (at a glance) seem to be in line given how much more hotels alone cost these days.

Noticed prices have gone up. Figured Rick upped everything as so many are repeat customers and get those discounts and he has to recoup that somehow. It won’t stop us from continuing to take the tours though.

I assume that price increases would be due to many factors - not the least of which is fuel being substantially more expensive and certain tour itineraries have significant time on the bus (some have 8 hours in one day). Cost of supplies are up globally, so food and hotels on the tours will be pricier. I doubt very much that it is recoup money due to alum discounts. $200-$400 increases seem conservative given rising costs everywhere for virtually everything.

I doubt very much that it is recoup money due to alum discounts.

I totally agree. I doubt that RS would offer the alum discounts unless they were easily absorbed in the budget - without trying to charge other, non-returning, customers for them to recoup the cost. Those discount are a part of doing business, retaining and encouraging return customers. The economy (worldwide) is the main culprit and when I was looking at the price differences they seemed a bit below the general inflation rate so I would suspect that RS was being as generous as possible while still retaining a reasonable profit on the tours.

I was also curious about the change in the GAS tour. We will be doing it this year, and wondering why Rick is dropping Trier. I wonder if it has something to do with an airport not being conveniently close. I don't know - just a guess.

When I saw the Berlin, Prague, Vienna tour didn’t have a single supplement, I knew that was wrong. I waited a day, still no single sup. So I thought ‘gift with purchase”. Not; wishful thinking. By the end of the day single sup was on the website. I got an email saying we need to charge your CC for the difference. I knew that was coming. Oh well, better than sharing a room.

I just noticed that change from Trier to Cologne today, I took the tour in 2019 and was looking up the activity level and I noticed the change! I wonder if people complained that Trier may be too small a town and with not enough major sites? I actually enjoyed Trier's small town feel and the stay at the senior apartment complex was great.