BOE 10/9 Trip Cancelled

are you saying that you have been cancelled, or that you worry what might happen?

I was wondering the same thing, Nigel. wjprewitt310, why don't you call the Rick Steves tour department in Edmonds and ask that question? They MIGHT be open this morning. I am sure they will give you all the options available whether it was you or the company who cancelled the tour.

Is that 10/9 in European or American dates?

According to this website, there is no October 9 BOE tour. But the October 10 departure (14- day BOE) is on sale for $400 off, so maybe they are having trouble filling it.

If you mean 10 September, that one is open to sign ups but not listed as on sale.

If you are signed up for a tour and got a message that it has been cancelled, you should have options. If these were not explained to you, then call them for clarification.

Do you mean you had to cancel your tour for 10/9? If so, do not expect to get your deposit back. One year I needed to cancel, upon notifying tour office I received a kind email stating I would not get my deposit back. However, my deposit was credited toward my next RS tour.

The Oct 9th tour was cancelled as only 4 people had signed up. We were able to rebook for the Oct 2nd BOE tour. So far I have been able to reschedule my flight, hotel in Haarlem and Vatican tour, plus broading the dogs and vacation days off from work. RS tours gave me the sale discount on the new tour. Now to get my post tour hotel on board.
Thank you Heidi for your help.

Just curious -- did you have to pay penalties to re-book your plane tickets, hotel, Vatican tour, etc? Are these things covered by travel insurance when your tour company cancels a tour and requires you to re-book? Also, how many hours of work were involved with all the changes you had to make?

Interesting!!

We've run into other people on trips that shared experiences of their planned trips (cruises, group tours, etc.) having to be rescheduled because of a tour operator issue (an entire ship was then sold for a corporate tour, or not enough people signed up for a group tour). In each circumstance, those people shared how the tour operator made good on any air fare loses (as well as gave them a great deal on a rebooking).

Interesting you are left to fend for yourself re: costs. Does your trip insurance provide any assistance when a tour just does not make (due to lack of participation). That's something I will definitely check (trip insurance details) for any future group tours, especially w/ Rick Steves. If you have trip insurance, I'd suggest calling the company to see if their concierge department could help you with rebooking. We had a bad experience with a cruise that abruptly ended (bad weather coupled with a cruiseline bankruptcy), and TravelGuard's assistance was incredible. While other passengers faced a 10-hour bus journey to their departing airport and personal expenses for hotels/meals, TravelGuard conferenced me in with the airlines and arranged a trip directly home from the port where we were let out and without airline penalties. So, I've become an even bigger believer in travel insurance, not only for the financial aspects, but also for the wonderful assistance.

Hope all works out well for you.

And, I'm surprised they are dropping the tour, as there are several months yet during which people could still sign up. But, I'm sure they know their enrollment cycles and the likelihood (or not) of people doing that. at this point in time

Looks like Ruth and I were on the same wave length at the same time...........

Margaret, did the OP mention being "left to fend for yourself re: costs"? I think you're assuming too much, unless you've seen an earlier message that I haven't. I know that specifics are considered on a case-by-case basis. This time, there was at least the benefit of a lower sale price available on the new booking.

My tour was canceled once. I choose a new date and sent a receipt for the cost of changing my plane ticket. The costs for switching the plane ticket was covered by Rick Steves' tour office. It was well over $400 to change my flight.

Our planned tour in Africa this summer had to be rescheduled due to lack of participation. The tour company gave us the choice of two alternative dates to travel and gave us a good discount on the tour price for being flexible. They also recently changed our flight arrangements (which they had booked for us) due to the incident at Ataturk International Airport and we are not being charged anything extra for that. A good tour company should make some financial compensation to a customer for changes made to tour dates that the customer was not responsible for. The good will that it engenders and good publicity are worth the investment. Kudos to the tour company that we are using for our upcoming tour. We will travel with them again.

We had signed on to an alumni affiliation trip to China in 2015 that was under-subscribed. We had a very positive experience with a tour operator willing to fulfill the scheduled trip with just the two of us. The tour operator committed to fulfill the trip even if it was just the two of us with the modification that we would not have an experience enhancement professor (and professor's spouse) and only local guides. Given that the tour involved internal China flights and several provinces, the usual practice is to have a national guide/director accompany the group from start to finish. As it turned out another couple joined us and the tour operator fulfilled the tour with just the four of us. We had a minivan, driver and local guide with the four of us the entire time except for the actual flights from Shanghai to Guizhou Province and from Guangxi Province/Guilin back to Shanghai. We were perfectly good with out the national guide and the professor.

Laura or wjprewitt,
So, did the OP get the benefit of the sale price on the new booking PLUS the change fees for her airfare? Or, did she get just the sale price applied to the new tour?

I'm REALLY curious how that all worked out for her, so I will know what to expect should I ever be signed up for an RS Tour and have it canceled.

Seems if she was totally happy with how it all worked out for her, she would not have felt the need to ask if anyone else had a tour cancelled and what happened?

I personally would expect the sale price (for the tour that had been cancelled) to be applied to the new tour (that was substituted for me), plus any out-of-pocket expenses that I would incur due (solely) to the change of tour date. And, of course, there are the non-priced issues of having to make all the changes (which can be a pain and take a long time w/ airlines, especially if one has carefully chosen certain flights/seats, etc.), but things happen.

Laura, is that how it would be handled? Sale price applied, plus any out-of-pocket losses due to airfare changes, etc.?

RS Tours will cover the cost difference for flight changes. Called the airline, got the changes made in less than 15 minutes. There are some stiff penalties for the changes. Emailed hotel in Haarlem and they made my changes no problem. Vatican tour again no problem but an additional $14 dollars due to price increase. Hotel in Paris taking a little longer as I booked through Expedia so the hotel can't make the change but have agreed to it. Spent 40 minutes on the phone with Expedia and there is no manager at the hotel today have to wait until Monday so they will contact me than.
Getting excited again. Everyone has been really helpful with all the changes, my work, boarding my dogs the airline, RS Tours, my friends who I was to meet in Paris and etc. 76 days to go

Good to know. Thanks for the update.

So glad to learn you have almost finalized your changes!! I was interested in learning about your flight changes, whew, glad that worked out. Also, good to know that RS paid the change fees. I, too, have to board our two boys. They are like children, and again thankful your kennel was able to accommodate. Have fun!! We, husband and I, took the BOE 21 days way back in 2006. It was a blast.

Thanks for posting the update. It is good to know you were treated fairly and that you were reimbursed for the additional costs.

Have a wonderful trip!!