I know this is very close to an impossible question. But --- who has had experience with being on the wait list for a tour? Is there a sense that "on average" one or two people withdraw from most tours? Or are cancellations fairly rare? Trying to figure out how to play it. I think we are second on a wait list for a late Sep/Oct tour. We have thought about booking a wide arrival/departure. A week or so prior and at least a week after the tour's ends. If we make it we are covered and if we don't we would just back fill it with something else. Or, of course, cancel everything and wait till 19 but we have a river cruise under heavy consideration for that time period. Maybe do both. For obvious reasons, the staff does not make any recommendations.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
It's not an impossible question, it's the kind of info every business should track/ know about since it's a recurring "thing" and surely you're not the first to ask. I'd be surprised if the RS data folks don't have stats on this across all tours and specific tours. You'd probably get a more accurate response from them than a few random data points from whoever replies to this. I'd go straight to the RS folks with this question and see what they say. Please share the answer, it'd be interesting to know.
Posted by
3244 posts
I would go with your idea to book flights now, so you can make the tour, and have a great Plan B as "back fill".
Posted by
Houston
3517 posts
On the RS tours I have taken, there have always been last minute changes to the participants. I don't know if they were on a wait list or just saw an opening on the web site listing caused by a last minute cancellation and jumped on it. Of course it will also depend on how many others are waiting in front of you on that list whether you get a spot or not.
I tend to not sign up for a wait listed tour. Mainly because I usually book late and don't have a lot of time to make changes if the tour doesn't open up soon enough to buy plane tickets.
Posted by
Atlanta
2469 posts
I also tend to not sign up for a waitlisted tour. However, the one time I did, I signed up one month before the departure date. My traveling companion was not able to make a commitment until then. We received a phone call from the RS office a week or so after we signed up and were told we were on if we accepted. Of course, we had to pay the total tour price at that time and book our airfare right away. It was the 12 Days in Berlin, Prague & Vienna tour and a fantastic time we had! I don't know if this is a common occurrence or not but this is my experience.
You have a longer time frame given it is a Sept/Oct tour so I think you have a good chance of being able to go. And you are second on the list which gives you pretty good odds that you will go.
Posted by
Milwaukee WI
73 posts
I was on The Best of Istanbul wait list for December 2015. There was one person ahead of me. To my surprise I got a call from the RS to call them immediately; that something had just opened up. This was six days before the tour started. I found out that the person ahead of me had never called back. I had nothing else planned so I jumped at the chance. I "replaced" a couple who had decided not to go at the last minute.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
We might have some stats, but that's still like playing the stock market - past performance is no guarantee of future results. For instance (without checking), we might find that on about 50% of departures, an average of 2 people will cancel during the several months between the day when their deposit becomes nonrefundable and the actual tour departure. Those theoretical two out of 50 reserved travelers would be 4%.
Another benefit of being on the wait list is that the tour department may have another date in reserve that they can open for sale if/when there's enough interest. And then they can alert you. Four months to go before your target travel date is in your favor, but depending on the itinerary you want, there obviously may be more or fewer departures on offer. If there are only a few for sale now and they're all full, then there probably are no "shadow dates" on hold that could be opened later. That depends on the actual route you're considering (and the tour department may already have filled in that piece of the puzzle for you).
Posted by
33 posts
We put ourselves on 4 different waitlists for the Heart of Italy tour, and were pleasantly surprised to get on our first choice within about 3 weeks time. We are still trying to book our airfare, but now we think that the costs won't come down anymore this year. The current price seems to be $1400 from Chicago to Rome in September/returning in October. We are planning time after the tour for further exploration of the Tuscan hill towns.
Posted by
Southeastern USA
996 posts
I did one RS wait list for a tour I wanted during a previous year. They were very kind and emailed me about an alternate date, but that one didn't work for me.
Speaking just for myself, I would book something - anything - for a specific date period if I knew that's when I wanted to travel. I'd pay attention to their cancellation policies. Something else might turn up, right? But I don't want to pay to cancel something. And airline tickets - unless you pay out the nose for fully refundable tickets - pretty much set you start/stop dates.
Most of this depends on your ability to travel for certain dates, and how comfortable you are with having a plan B, plan C if plan A doesn't work out the way you'd hoped.
Whatever happens, I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!
Posted by
6 posts
I recently added my name to two RS Spain tours in October. I called the RS Tour office to find out that I was #6 on one list and #7 on the other. "What are my chances?", I asked. I was told that, historically, 10% of travelers cancel. So I am not holding my breath. But, things happen. So I wait...