Frequently Asked Questions

What ways do I have of keeping up-to-date on tours offered by American Tours?

• Occasionally check our website at www.goamericantours.com.  If we are offering a tour, it is on our website.
• Sign up to receive our E-Newsletter by email.  The sign-up location for our E-Newsletter can be found at the bottom of our Home Page on our website.  Those who sign up for our E-Newsletter get information much quicker regarding new tours and any special offers we might be running on a particular tour.
• Sign up to receive our Travel Brochure by mail.  The sign-up location for our mailed Travel Brochure can be found at the bottom of our Home Page on our website.  Our Travel Brochure is mailed out 3-4 times per year to those addresses on our Mailing List.

How do I get additional information regarding any of the tours offered by American Tours such as “pricing, inclusions, and/or itinerary”?

• The quickest way is to visit our website at www.goamericantours.com.  Scroll down the page and click on the picture of the tour you are interest in learning more about.  A screen will open up on that specific tour with three buttons at the bottom.  Two of those buttons are important to this question.
• PRINTABLE ITINERARY … Gives a brief description of what will be happening each day of the tour.
• PRINTABLE REGISTRATION FORM … Gives pricing as well as what all the pricing includes.
• If you do not have access to the internet or to a printer, another way to get additional information on any of our tours is to simply call our office.  We will gladly mail you any information you request.

How do I sign-up for a tour I am interested in joining?

• The quickest way to sign up for a tour is through our website at www.goamericantours.com.  Scroll down the page and click on the picture of the tour you are interest in learning more about.  A screen will open up on that specific tour with three buttons at the bottom.  Click on the ONLINE REGISTRATION BUTTON and select the options you wish to book and answer the questions you see on your screen.  We are glad to assist over the phone to help walk you through this process if needed.  Signing up online and completing the process officially gets you registered for a tour.  You will receive confirmation by email once the sign-up process is complete.
• The next most efficient way is to print off a PRINTABLE REGISTRATION FORM off of our website.  Fill it out and mail it in with the correct deposit and /or full payment.
• If you do not have access to the internet or to a printer, another way to sign up for one of our tours is to simply call our office.  We will gladly mail you the needed “sign-up” form and itinerary associated with the tour you wish to join.   However, please note you are not officially signed up until your sign-up form is received.

What does the pricing include with American Tours?

• Tours Pricing Includes:  All tours include lodging and overnight accommodations with 3 Star or better hotels and/or resorts. Admissions and sightseeing costs are featured in the itinerary. All taxes and gratuities are included with an exception on gratuities for your American Tours “Tour Guide & Tour Driver”.
• Gratuities For Group Activities, Meals, & Luggage Handlers:  Please be aware that gratuity is included in ALL GROUP ACTIVITEIS, for BAGGAGE HANDLERS, as well as ALL GROUP MEALS which are included as part of the Tour Package.  However, you are free to provide additional gratuity if you feel the situation warrants such generosity.
• Gratuities For Tour Guide & Tour Driver:  In regards to your Tour Guide and Tour Driver, gratuity has not been included.  How much you tip is purely a personal matter. If you feel your Tour Guide and/or Tour Driver have done an excellent job, then tipping up to the equivalent of $3-$5 each day per Tour Guide and per Tour Driver is recommended.  Quite often, a passenger on the tour will pass two separate envelopes around the bus on the last day of the tour and present them to the Tour Guide and Tour Driver at the last stop prior to arriving home.

What are some of the TERMS, POLICIES, & PROCEDURES I should be aware of as a potential traveler with American Tours?

• American Tours Trip Registration Policy:  To be considers as “REGISTERED” for a particular tour, a passenger must of either signed up through our website or by mailing in a Sign-Up Form along with payment.  If a passenger has signed up through our website, they will have received an email confirmation acknowledging their recent registration.  To keep cost down, if a passenger has signed up through the mail, American Tours will NOT send statements or reminders for final payments nor confirmation of your registration.  However, we will be more than happy to give oral confirmation concerning any mailed in registration. Deposits along with your registration form are due as soon as you know you want to go.  We are unable to list anyone as confirmed for a trip without a deposit. The sooner you register, the sooner you will know a trip is going to make.
• Forms of payment:  On our website, we do accept all major credit cards (Master Card, Visa, American Express, and Discover) as well as payments by check.  Credit Card Fees do apply (2.9% for Visa, MC, & Discover and 3.9% for AMEX) and are added to all charged amounts.  If signing up through the mail and paying via check, please make all checks payable to American Tours.
• Late Registration / Space On Tours:  We do accept last minute registrations provided space is available. Do not hesitate to inquire about a trip, even though final payment deadlines might have passed.
• Final Payment Dates:  Your travel documents will be sent approximately three weeks prior to departure.  Documents include tour itinerary, departure and arrival information, hotel information, clothing suggestions, luggage tags, plus any helpful hints.
• American Tours Travel Documents:  Approximately three weeks prior to a trip’s departure date, American Tours will mail tour passengers an updated itinerary, lodging facilities, and travel hints. Included with this package will be a map, showing how to get to American Tours along with information on a few hotels that are in our area in case you have the need to lodge the night before or at the conclusion of a tour.
• Tours Cancelled By American Tours:  American Tours reserves the right to cancel any tour due to lack of participation. Should a trip lack necessary response, we will notify those registered at least seven days prior to departure. If a particular tour is canceled by American Tours, all of your payments on the canceled trip will be fully refunded at time of cancelation including any purchased Trip Cancelation Insurance associated with your canceled tour.
• Single, Double, Triple, & Quad Accommodations:  Please understand that a “single” reservation means single accommodations at the hotels, and does not guarantee a double seat on the motor-coach.  Be advised that “triple” accommodations at the hotels will be two beds only.  American Tours cannot make any guarantee of a rollaway bed nor recliner being available.  However, if a rollaway bed or recliner is desired, please make those request as well as the request for an ADA ROOM at time of sign-up.
• Changes In Accommodations:  After initial sign-up, if the need arises for any change in hotel room occupancy (even if at the last moment or while on the tour), we must out of necessity charge you the supplement or pro rata thereof since the hotels make no allowances.
• Required Identification:  On any tour leaving the United States, it is the responsibility of each passenger to have in his/her possession the required documentation. American Tours does recommend travelers acquire a Passport. Regulations regarding border crossings and identification are changing and confusing, but a Passport is always valid identification. We do not recommend any other document or any other form of identification. Additionally, for airlines, cruise ships, and Amtrak, it is necessary to reserve every ticket with each passenger’s exact legal name (no nicknames). On all flights, even domestic, every passenger must show a government issued Photo ID with spelling exactly as it is on the ticket. American Tours is not responsible and unable to delay a tour if any passenger is denied border crossing or boarding onto a cruise ship, airplane, or train.
• Child Policies:  American Tours specializes in “Senior Adult Motor-Coach Travel”. We will not refuse transportation on tours to children who have proper supervision. However, because of the market we are attempting to reach, we strongly suggest that children under the age of 18 be taken only on “One Day” Tours or on “Grandparents / Grandchildren Tours”. The information provided in the trip description on each individual tour will indicate if the above descriptions apply to the individual tour in question. When taking children out of the country, it is very important that you have documents, especially a Birth Certificate. If traveling with a grandchild, you need notarized parental permission slips (from both parents) as well as permission to make medical decisions.
• Motor-Coach Road Rules:  Because we operate tours for groups of people, we must be concerned with the happiness of many people. In our efforts to be fair minded to everyone, we have standard policies by which all passenger must comply.
• For the first day of the tour, seats are assigned on a “First Come / First Serve” basis.  You are seating from front to back based on the order you signed up.  However, we will make every effort to keep friends/family together even if you did not sign up together.  We will rotate seats on the bus each day.  This rotation will be dependent upon the length of the tour.  Unfortunately, if you are impacted by “motion sickness”, you will still be seated in accordance with the order in which you signed up.  We will have Dramamine available on each tour.
• There is no smoking onboard our tour bus.
• All passengers must be capable of basic self-care and routine hygienic maintenance. Widely accepted standards of the day suggest that you should bathe daily.
• All passengers must be responsible for their own mobility. All tours require average physical activity. You should be in good health, able to climb stairs and walk reasonable distances, possibly over uneven grounds.
• Due to limited storage space, Motorized Scooters and Wheelchairs are not permitted on any tour. If needed, Foldup Walkers are permitted, but if you need assistance, you must bring that assistance with you on the tour.
• Smoking / Liquor: Smoking, e-cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages are not permitted on the motor-coach.  Frequent rest/meal stops (about every two and a half hours) are made throughout each day to afford individual smoking opportunities if needed.
• Baggage Disclaimer:  Although every effort is made to have your luggage handled carefully, American Tours offers no guarantee, assumes no responsibility for, and cannot accept any claims for loss or damage to luggage and or personal possessions. Whether this is due to theft, wear and tear, accident or other causes, by our agents or our employees, American Tours will not be held liable.
• Responsibility:  American Tours reserves the right to change or cancel tour itineraries, and any tour components or services, whenever American Tours (in its sole discretion) deems such changes to be necessary. All air fares, cruise fares, and rates for other transportation and tour services are based on fares in effect at the time of printing and are subject to carrier tariff changes, and supplier surcharges.

What is the CANCELATION POLICY on “Motor-coach Tours” offered by American Tours?

• Travel Insurance:  American Tours STRONGLY RECOMMENDS the purchase of Travel Insurance. You may purchase Travel Insurance through another agency or purchase the Travel Insurance offered by American Tours.
• Cancelation Insurance offered by American Tours:  Cancelation Insurance offered by American Tours provides peace of mind. We make it easy for you to book now and know you are covered – just in case. Despite your best laid plans, life sometimes gets in the way. Trips (planned and paid weeks or even months in advance) are sometimes impacted by unforeseen and sometimes unavoidable obstacles such as illnesses, vehicle accidents, injuries, family situations … the list is endless.  With our “Cancelation Insurance” in place, all that is needed is a phone call or email to our office prior to the day of your tour’s departure making us aware of your need to cancel. THAT IS IT!! No paperwork. No doctor’s note. No police report. No explanation. All that is required is a simple phone call or email. You are then able to give your full attention to whatever set of circumstances caused the cancelation. At the conclusion of the tour, a full refund check is mailed to your home address.  For “CANCELATION INSURANCE” to be in place, it must be purchased at time of sign up.  “CANCELATION INSURANCE” covers you if you have the need to cancel between the FINAL PAYMENT DUE DATE and the DEPARTURE DATE of the trip.  These dates are different for each respective tour but can be found on each tours SIGN-UP SHEET.
• Customer cancels PRIOR to “Final Payment Due Date”:  In this case, the purchase of Cancelation Insurance does not come into the equation.  The same policy will apply in this case whether the customer has our Cancelation Insurance or not.  The customer gets a FULL REFUND of all funds paid (including any funds paid for Cancelation Insurance).
• Customer cancels AFTER the “Final Payment Due Date”:  In this case, the purchase of Cancelation Insurance IS IMPORTANT in this equation.  On the date of the FINAL PAYMENT DUE DATE of the tour in question, the funds of the signed-up passenger are COMMITTED to the tour.  If the passenger HAS PURCHASED our Cancelation Insurance, no matter the reason for the cancelation, a REFUND CHECK will be mailed out at the conclusion of the tour minus the cost of the purchased cancelation insurance.  If the passenger HAS NOT PURCHASED our Cancelation Insurance, no matter the reason for the cancelation, there is NO REFUND of any funds paid.

What is the CANCELATION POLICY on “Fly & Ride Tours” offered by American Tours?

American Tours plans all of our FLY & RIDE TOURS through Premier World Discovery (PWD). PWD will offer their’ own TRAVEL PROTECTION and American Tours STRONGLY RECOMMENDS the purchase of such Travel Protection. At time of registration for a FLY & DRIVE Tour, the customer will be provided TRAVEL PROTECTION insurance information by PWD and given the opportunity to accept or decline such coverage. By registering for a FLY & DRIVE TOUR, the customer acknowledges that American Tours holds no liability or responsibility for any loss or expense incurred by the customer in connection with such tour.

AMERICAN TOURS RESPONSIBILITY:

American Tours (Tyler, Texas) acts solely as your agent arranging for transportation, lodging, and sightseeing activities, and will not be liable for any delayed departures or arrivals or for any damages, losses or injuries to person or property.  Full payment by the tour member constitutes the tour member’s acceptance of these terms and conditions.  No liability is assumed in connection with any transportation, restaurants, or lodging used for the duration of these tours.  Although every effort is made to handle your luggage carefully, American Tours is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged articles, including luggage or personal property.  We reserve the right to cancel any tour prior to departure, and in such case, American Tours total obligation will be only to refund all payments made towards said tour.  American Tours will not be liable for matters beyond our control including but not limited to traffic congestion, airline delays, airline cancelations, weather conditions, Government shutdowns or acts of God.  American Tours reserves the right to refuse service to any person.