Step-on Service

Group Departure Times

Tours can be run anytime you like, day or night.

Group Departure Location

We can operate step-on and motorcoach tours from anywhere you like, including from your hotel, school, business, meeting and even for your airport layover. We highly recommend beginning and ending your tour from the same location. If a tour ends at a different place from where it began, the cost of taxi fare for the guide’s return will be added to your final invoice. Taxi fare is estimated using the following calculator: Taxi Fare Finder.

Geography

Our LA guides are experts on the Los Angeles area only, including but not limited to downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Monica, Venice, Westwood, Miracle Mile/Museum Square, Silverlake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, East Los Angeles, and Koreatown. We are not experts on areas outside of the Los Angeles metro area.

Length of Tour

Step-on and motorcoach tours can vary greatly in length depending on what you want to see. We highly suggest a minimum of 2 hours for any tour. An easy way to calculate the amount of time you might need for a tour is to figure 1 hour per neighborhood included in your itinerary. For example, if your tour includes Hollywood and Beverly Hills only then the tour will be approximately 2 hours. For a whole city tour, the minimum amount of time should be approximately 5 hours.

How We Determine Cost

• Base Cost – Step-on tours are based on a 5-hour minimum with a $350 base cost. Our base cost includes both tour planning and the cost of guide service.
• Additional Time – Each hour over 5 hours is billed at $50/hour. If guides are required to travel a distance greater than 30 minutes to begin or end your tour there is an additional fee of $25/hour to cover the guide’s travel time and fuel cost.
• Taxi Return – If your tour begins and ends from different points and you are not able to return our guide(s) to the start point, then the cost of taxi return is added to the final cost. This cost is variable depending on the distance between end and start point. We use Fare Finder to estimate this cost.
• Parking – Parking fees that our guides might incur are added to your final cost.
• Gratuity – Gratuities are non-compulsory and are not included in our rates. Please let us know if you would like to add your guide’s gratuity to the final cost or if your group members will be providing a gratuity at time of service.
• Charter Coach – We can provide charter coach service for your tour in various sizes including 9-seat Sprinters, 30-seat minibusses, and 48 and 56-seat motor coaches. Service cost is also based on a 5-hour minimum and include the cost of coach, driver, local taxes and fuel surcharges. The driver’s gratuity is non-compulsory and is not included in our rates. Please let us know if you would like us to add your driver’s gratuity to the final cost or if your group members will be providing a gratuity at time of service. Some coaches include luxurious leather seating, restrooms, wheelchair lifts, and optional galley space. Please call us to inquire about current rates.

Student Group Policy

Red Line Tours is a member of the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA). We offer 2 hours of free step-on service to any SYTA member who has purchased any one of our walking tours including Hollywood Behind-the-Scenes and has 30 or more paid group members. If your student group has booked Hollywood Behind-the-Scenes but has less then 30 paid group members we are happy to provide our 2-hour step-on service at a reduced cost of $150. Contact us for more information on what we can do for your student or youth group.

Where to Begin?

Begin by contacting us to tell us about your group and describe your group’s requirements. We prefer that your initial contact is in writing so that we know we have everything we need including:

1. Your group’s name. (If you are a tour operator we would like the name of your business and the group’s name as a reference)
2. The total estimated number of persons in your group
3. Name of the legal entity responsible for your group if different from above (to enter into our Service Agreement with you)
4. The date and time requested for service
5. The name, phone and email address of the person responsible for organizing your group
6. Any special needs we may need to know such as a wheelchair, or vision/hearing impaired group member

Once we have this information we will provide you with a net rate which will be discounted from our retail rate and will email you our standard Service Agreement to review and return to us with signature. If you chose to move forward with service we will set up your account with our Receivables department and will require the following information:

1. Name of the legal entity responsible for the group if different from above
2. Name of the person assigned to your account if different from above
3. Address, phone and email for accounting purposes

Once we have the above information we will generate an invoice to match the Service Agreement we have issued you previously.

Group Payment Policy

Payment for your group can be made by company check or credit card. We prefer a company check. Red Line Tours accepts most major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. Payment in full is required prior to service for all groups unless an agreement is made in writing.