How to Choose a Tour Operator

Before looking at any company, write down four things: your region and approximate dates, the maximum number of days you can be away, your rig type and length, and your total budget including fuel and meals. A tour that does not fit those four is the wrong tour, however good the company.

1. How long the operator has run this tour. A company that has been running the same route for years has solved the problems you will meet. Ask how many times they have run your specific itinerary.
2. The people leading it. Who will your tour leader and tail gunner be? How many tours have they led, and have they driven this route before?
3. Group size. Ask the maximum and minimum rigs. A tour with too few rigs may be cancelled; too many can make parking and campground check-in slow.
4. What is included, in writing. Campsites, ferry fares, admissions, group meals, guides, and park fees should each be listed. See tour costs and inclusions.
5. Rig requirements. Length limits, age limits and any requirement for a particular type. Ask what happens if your RV is too long for a campground or a ferry category.
6. Cancellation and refund terms. Both ways: what happens if you cancel, and what happens if they do. See the cancellation guide.
7. Currency and pricing basis. Is the price in CAD or USD? Per RV, per person or per couple? Does it change with the exchange rate?
8. Breakdown and emergency policy. What does the tail gunner do? What if you need days of repairs? Does the group wait or move on?

• You are asked to pay in full immediately with no written terms.
• The price is "all included" but nobody will list what that means.
• The itinerary names places but not nights: you cannot tell how many nights you will actually spend in each.
• The website shows old dates or old pandemic-era wording. One operator’s hosted page we reviewed still showed 2021 dates. That tells you to call before relying on any price you see.
• Pressure tactics, such as "only two spots left" with no way to check.
• The operator will not provide references.

Ask for the names and phone numbers of two or three people who took the same tour recently. Ask them about the leaders, what they would change, and whether anything in the contract surprised them. Check independent RV forums and review sites for mentions of the operator, and check whether complaints were answered.

Use the comparison worksheet to put two operators in one table. It covers price basis, nights per region, ferry handling and cancellation terms, so you are comparing like with like.