Alps Tours by Moto-Charlie

THE REAL COST

This section shows what the estimated cost of a trip should be on one of my tours. Obviously, if you like to have a $90 bottle of wine with every dinner, expensive spa treatments at the end of the riding day, and be in constant telephone communication with the home office, then you should adjust these numbers upwards accordingly.

Just a few quick comments before we get to the costs below. When we are in the Alps we pay for our travel in Euros and Swiss Francs. The exchange rate to the U.S. dollar fluctuates constantly. The effect of these changes can increase, or decrease, the total trip cost sometimes by as much as 5% calculated from one week to the next. The value of the dollar has declined significantly since last year causing the cost of a European travel to increase by approx. 10%.

Every major tour company has a cost adjustment provision in their terms section that allows them to adjust the cost of the tour if the exchange rates change significantly (by more than 5 - 10%).

I work extra hard to offset the exchange rate impact by constantly finding great alpine style hotels that offer superior value for the money. I mix and match a selection of high quality hotels on a rotating basis, depending on the route, to try and keep the cost down and relatively even from tour to tour.

I am constantly reviewing the costs I post to this website. If they change significantly I'll update the website. Otherwise please figure that the actual cost of the trip as outlined below may vary by plus or minus $200 depending on the tour route and exchange rates in effect at the time of the tour.

HOW MUCH WILL THE TOUR COST?

The amounts below should cover the entire direct tour cost. That means the daily cost of the:

Motorcycle
Hotel
Breakfast and dinner while at the hotel
Lunch and snacks during the day
Gas
Fee paid to me as Moto-Charlie

I show what the COST IS PER DAY. I then take the cost per day and multiply it times the number of tour days. My tours are either 10 days,11 or 14 days. It's also possible to do a shortened 7 day version of the Swiss tour.

The estimate below assumes a rented motorcycle similar to a BMW R1200R or a Honda CBF 1000, both great alpine bikes and both available with hard luggage.

SINGLE RIDER IN A SINGLE ROOM - PER DAY $370

Motorcycle - $120
Hotels (Includes Dinner and Breakfast) - $110
Incidentals (Lunch and Gas at $45 per day) - $55
Moto-Charlie Fee - $85

SINGLE RIDER SHARING A DOUBLE ROOM - PER DAY $362

Total Hotel portion of the cost is approx. $8 per day less than for a single room - everything else would be the same as for a single rider above
Motorcycle - $120
Hotels (Includes Dinner and Breakfast) - $102
Incidentals (Lunch and Gas at $45 per day) - $55
Moto-Charlie Fee - $85

PASSENGER SHARING A DOUBLE ROOM - PER DAY $197

Motorcycle - $0
Hotels (Includes Dinner and Breakfast) - $102
Incidentals (Lunch - No Gas) - $30
Moto-Charlie Fee - $65

COUPLE RIDING TOGETHER SHARING A DOUBLE ROOM - PER DAY $559

Single rider sharing a double room - $362
Passenger sharing a double room - $197

TOUR COST - 10 Days - Swiss Tour

Single rider in a single room - $3,700
Single rider sharing a double room - $3,620
Passenger sharing a double room - $1,970
Couple riding together sharing a double room - $5,590

TOUR COST - 14 Days - TOP 10+ Tour

Single rider in a single room - $5.180
Single rider sharing a double room - $5,068
Passenger sharing a double room - $2,758
Couple riding together sharing a double room - $7,826

THE TOUR COST DETAILS

Costing out a trip is pretty simple. There are four components:

(1) AIRFARE - NOT COVERED IN MY TOUR COST - No major tour company includes airfare. There are just too many alternatives via frequent flyer miles, charter fares, discount broker agents, etc.
(2) MOTORCYCLE RENTAL - The motorcycle rental cost is determined by you, based on which model you choose and how long you keep it (see the discussion about "Motorcycles" in the "Touring Info." section or click here for the specific models and rates).

I have used a BMW R1200R, at $120 per day, in my cost examples above. A BMW F650 GS would cost $75 per day or a Honda ST1300 would be $138 per day. The total tour cost would change accordingly. It's your choice.

Many rental companies charge less per day the longer you keep the motorcycle, especially for rentals 14 days or more. That might be something to consider if you want to come earlier or stay longer. Our 10-day rentals include a multi-day discount.
(3) THE DAILY COST OF TRAVEL - The daily cost of travel is comprised of hotel, meal, gas, and incidental costs. The daily cost for either the Swiss flavored or Italian flavored trip should average from $130 for a passenger to a little less than $165 dollars per day for a single rider. That is based on costing out specific hotels (with breakfast and dinner) at current exchange rates and adding $55 per day for lunch, gas, and snacks.
(4) THE MOTO-CHARLIE FEE - This fee is clearly stated so you know how much I am making as part of your overall trip cost. My goal is to keep your cost down while providing a high quality experience for those things that count, namely new motorcycles, great hotels, and unbeatable roads.

As you can see from the section below on "How To Compare Prices" the total tour cost with some other companies can be up to $2,000 per tour more than my cost after including my fee. In the case of the "single rider" comparison below that means their fee is as much as $2,800 or more for 10 days, given that the big tour groups usually get volume discounts on the room and motorcycles.

Some of that additional money goes to pay for the luggage van and driver but the rest is profit similar to my $850 single and $650 passenger fee, just much more. They have more employees, spend a lot more for advertising and marketing, and are profit oriented. I don't have that extra overhead and my profit requirements are minimal.

For additional information about my fee please click here.

HOW TO COMPARE PRICES

It can be difficult to compare tour costs from company to company. The number of days is usually different, the motorcycles can be different, there are single room supplements, low season pricing, etc.

One way to help you understand the cost difference is to figure the cost per day.

Take my single rider cost above where you have a single room to yourself. The motorcycle is available to you for the entire 10 days. The $3,700 covers all expenses for the motorcycle, hotels, meals, gas and my fee. The cost to tour per day is $370.

There are several big tour companies that offer the R1200R for a 12-day tour (days 1 and 12 at each end are for air travel) and 10 days of touring. The average price for these tours is approx. $4,600 (some companies charge more, some less) for a single rider willing to share a room. There are usually three to four days when the cost of dinner is not included. Incidental costs are also not included.

So, to get a complete tour cost you start with the basic tour price of ($4,600) then add:

the cost to have a single room to yourself ($450)
the 4 dinners that you pay for at ($160)
the incidental cost of gas and lunch for 10 days ($550)

That comes out to a total 10 day single rider cost from a big tour company of $5,760 or a cost to tour per day is $576.

Now you have some basis for comparison. The difference in cost per day is $206 or 56% more with some of the other companies. That means that on a 10-day tour like mine it would cost over $2,000 more to go with a big tour company. The total cost can be up to $3,500 more expensive when you travel as a couple.

The key points to remember when comparing prices are:

Be sure to pinpoint how many riding days there are. Some major tours advertise 12 or 14 day vacations but the days at each end really include air travel time.
My cost comparison above assumes a single traveler. Most tour groups charge a single room add-on of $300-$450 over the cost of sharing a room with another tour participant.
Most tours have free days where you are in the same town for more than one night. Frequently dinner is not included in the tour price for those nights in case you want to eat somewhere different than the prior night. I use an average of $40 per dinner (it costs a little more in Switzerland and a bit less in Austria, France and Italy).
Remember to add $50-$55 per day to the tour price from other tour companies for incidental expenses to cover lunch, gas, etc. (the $55/day is included in my cost numbers above)
Some tours provide a 650cc or similar displacement motorcycle as standard and they charge extra for larger displacement bikes.

Obviously you should not pick a tour company based on price alone. Key factors to consider include the reputation and experience of the tour operator, the quality and attractiveness of the hotels you stay at and the variety and reliability of the motorcycles available to you. On a Moto-Charlie tour you get more than 20 years of personalized Alpine experience, clean, friendly Alpine style hotels in great locations, and a wide choice of brand new reliable motorcycles all intended to give you the most bang for your dollar, or Euro, or Swiss Franc.

If you think that your trip will be longer, or shorter, than my tour schedule or if you have some significant cost issue that is not part of the regular tour activity and you would like some assistance in calculating your cost, please let me know.

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