I read through the terms and conditions, but it wasn't clear to me. My mother and I are planning to take the Loire Valley tour in fall 2025. I'm happy to put the deposit as soon as we've finalized our dates, but it's seems too far in advance to pay the balance if something comes up. A lot can happen in 16 months.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2472 posts
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/tour-conditions Deposit due on booking, payment due 60 days prior to start date, bold/underlined below.
Tour payments: To reserve a seat on an RSE tour you must agree to
these Tour Conditions and provide us with a deposit of $400 per
person. We accept MasterCard, Visa, and American Express for all tour
payments. We also accept personal checks, bank drafts, or money orders
in US dollars drawn on a US or Canadian bank. Your final tour payment
is due in our office at least 60 days prior to the start of the tour,
in one payment. Your final payment due date will be listed on your
tour invoice in your tour account. Missing the final payment deadline
may result in your being removed from the tour. If you sign up for a
tour less than 67 days before its departure, the entire tour price
must be paid, and is non-refundable after 7 days.
Posted by
OP
40 posts
Thank you!
Posted by
Southport, NC
346 posts
Once you book a tour, you will receive a tour account. Within that account there are sections for payments, tour documents, dates, etc. As the previous poster indicated, final payment is due 60 days prior. There will also be a deposit refund date given if you need to cancel (which I think is 90 days prior, but I could be wrong. It's no longer showing on my account since I'm past the date.) It may be a good idea to purchase cancellation insurance just in case.
Edit: Another poster just gave information about tour cancellation that is either new or a change back to previous policy (out of COVID). This is the link to the RS information about cancellations.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/tour-conditions