Frequently Asked Questions: Below are a few of the many questions we are asked on a regular basis. If you have a question that is not addressed below please feel free to contact Family Adventure Tours at 760-937-4994, ask for Frank Smith Q. How much does a typical FATCO Tour cost? A. It depends on the FATCO Tour you choose and the level of service you select while on your tour. The Guide Service Fee is a flat rate, per vehicle fee of $150.00 per vehicle/per day, you can split that up among the passengers in your vehicle any way you wish. Our competitors charge a set amount for the driver and additional amounts for each passenger riding in the vehicle, at FATCO we believe this is to confusing and expensive, we decided to charge a flat rate per vehicle to help keep the cost of your tour as reasonable as possible. If you choose a Guided Service Only Tour you are responsible for the cost of your food, fuel and lodging while on the trip. This also helps keep the cost of your tour low. FATCO wants you to become lifelong customers; we pride ourselves in providing the highest quality product at a reasonable price. Please call around and ask what other tour companies charge for their services, we believe you will be impressed with our product and the price point. You ll be hard pressed to find a tour company that does overnight tours, most other companies only offer 2 and 4 hour tours. Typically a night in one of the hotels FATCO utilizes averages $100-$150 per night. These rooms can be occupied by more than one person so you can choose to split the cost anyway you wish, however if your tour includes an overnight stay at the Bar 10 Ranch the cost is $127.00 per person/per night, plus tax and applicable fees. This includes breakfast and dinner and is worth every penny! If you choose a fully Outfitted and Guided Tour the cost is much higher because the level of support while on the trail is very labor intensive. Chase vehicles and additional employees are needed to carry all of the supplies, prepare the meals and set up camps (if you choose a tour with camping instead of hotel accommodations). The cost of a fully outfitted and guided tour could be as high as $750.00 per vehicle/per day. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but these tours are all inclusive, with the exception of a rental vehicle if needed.
Q. I want to take a FATCO Tour but I don t have a vehicle, do you provide rentals? A. FATCO contracts with Southern Utah Adventure Center located in Hurricane Utah. They rent all types of off-road vehicles and range in price from $320.00-$450.00 per day for UTVs. Their customer service and equipment is the best FATCO has been able to locate. FATCO customers can make the rental arrangements or we can do it for you, however the customer MUST pick up and sign for their rental vehicle in person, provide a credit card as a deposit for any damage that may occur to the rental while on the trip and sign a waiver and release of liability for their rental vehicle. FATCO will assist you with picking up your rental vehicle from Southern Utah Adventure Center the morning your trip begins. If your selected tour takes place in area other than southern Utah we will assist you in finding a reliable rental vehicle. If your tour begins in Mesquite NV, Southern Utah Adventure Center will deliver your car for a fee. Q. How does the accommodation and reservations system work? Who pays for the rooms and when? A. FATCO reserves a block of rooms for our tour guests in advance, usually months in advance. The rooms are reserved under Family Adventure Tours or FATCO and we usually get a group discount for our customers, depending on the time of year. After you sing up and pay for your tour FATCO will send each tour participant a detailed itinerary for their chosen tour. This itinerary will have a To Do List with the list of our host hotels. Each client is then responsible to call the hotel and claim a room from the block FATCO has reserved. Q. How does the food and fuel cost work? Who pays for the meals and fuel while on the tour? A. FATCO provides lunch on the trail each day. Unless your on a fully supported tour breakfast and dinner meals are the responsibility of each person attending the tour. FATCO clients eat in restaurants each morning and evening, usually right at our host hotels or close by. Each client pays for their meals themselves, unless you have booked a fully outfitted and guided tour, in that event FATCO pays for the fuel and meals. FATCO customers are responsible for their own fuel costs while on the tours, unless you need fuel while on the trail. If you require some fuel from one of the chase vehicles you will need to replace the fuel before we head out the next morning. The Bar 10 Ranch sells gasoline, 91 octane at a considerably higher cost then a standard gas station. Expect to pay double the city pump price at the Bar 10 Ranch for fuel.
Q. What do I need to bring with me on a FATCO Tour? A. Besides you personal clothing, toiletries and specific repair items and tools for your vehicle, here is a list of the top 10 things you should have with you on any FATCO Tour: 1. A spare tire. 2. The ability to plug or patch a flat tire and air it back up. 3. A spare CVT drive belt and the tools needed to remove the old belt and replace it with a new belt. 4. Your cellular telephone and charger. (Or a satellite phone if you have one lying around). 5. An adequate First Aid Kit. 6. Food and water in the event you have to sleep under the stars while waiting for the extraction vehicle. 7. Toilet paper or moist handy wipes. 8. A radio for communication with the guide and group. (FATCO uses Rugged Radios and their pre-programmed frequencies for our communications. Rugged Radios are available on their web site or FATCO can sell you one prior to the trip. They are under $100.00.) 9. Warm clothes and/or rain gear. 10. Something to start a fire with. FATCO highly recommends bringing some extra oil and coolant for your vehicle as well. Q. Are we required to wear helmets while on a FATCO Tour? A. FATCO does not require helmets for persons over 17 years of age, however we believe you should always wear at least some type of head protection while on our tours. Nevada law states that helmets are required for all occupants while operating on any county, city or state maintained roadway. Utah law states that anyone under the age of 18 must wear a DOT approved helmet while driving or riding in an OHV. Arizona law states that anyone under the age of 18 wear a DOT approved helmet while driving or riding in an OHV. FAT CO requires all drivers and passengers under the age of 18 to wear a helmet while on our tours; it s just a good idea. Q. What if I break down on the trail during the tour? A. Believe it or not, someone always has some type of incident that requires a trail side repair! It s just a fact of life while on the trail. FATCO guides are experienced in repairing a variety of on the trail mechanical problems. Minor problems are usually repaired quickly and efficiently by you and/or our guides. However, in the event that your vehicle is rendered inoperable or unfixable while on the trail FATCO can arrange with a variety of companies to extract you and your vehicle, additionally we can have Southern Utah Adventure Center respond to our location with a rental unit and extract your broken vehicle. The cost of this can be rather high and varies depending on how far we are from the nearest major roadway when the breakage occurs. FATCO operates under the principle that we stay together as a group whenever possible. If we must separate to accommodate a stranded or broken vehicle, a guide usually accompanies each split in the group. Please make sure your vehicle is in tip-top operating condition prior to taking your tour. All routine service and maintenance should be completed prior to you scheduled departure date. Your tires and CVT belts should be in good to excellent condition prior to departure. On the first morning of your tour FATCO will inspect your vehicle. If it s deemed Non Trail Worthy you will not be able to participate in the tour until it is repaired or you obtain a rental vehicle.
Q. What if someone gets hurt or sick on our tour? A. FATCO guides carry an extensive first-aid kit and all have basic first-aid and CPR training. In the event that someone is injured or becomes ill while participating in a FATCO Tour your guide will assess the degree of the injury or illness, make an informed decision and recommend to the customer or the customer s family or friends a course of action. Minor injuries and illnesses are usually treated on the trail. Minor to Moderate Injuries and illnesses will be assessed and the FATCO Guide will decide if additional medical aid is required. The guide will take the appropriate action to evacuate the injured or sick customer. Moderate to Severe/Life Threatening illness or injuries will be extracted by county search and rescue, mobile ambulance or Life Flight helicopter service. FATCO highly encourages every participant of their tours to purchase additional accident/trip insurance from a source they trust. Additionally, FATCO recommends that all of its customers purchase a SPOT Personal Satellite Beacon with Evacuation Insurance. The cost of a basic SPOT Tracker is approximately $150.00 and the service plan with Evacuation Insurance is approximately $160.00 per year. All FATCO Guides have SPOT Trackers in their guide vehicles and can summon Search and Rescue or Helicopter assistance from anywhere, and at any time on our tours, however the insurance coverage for extraction is reserved for the owner of the SPOT Tracker, therefore if you don t want a $50,000 helicopter ride to the nearest hospital it is suggested that you purchase your own accident insurance or a SPOT Tracker unit with the Extraction Insurance. Q. Do I have to sign a Waiver or Release of Liability? A. Yes. Family Adventure Tours requires that all tour participants, drivers and passengers, sign a Waiver/Release of Liability prior to leaving on the first morning of their tour. IT IS MANDATORY!
Q. What if I have to cancel my tour reservation? A. 45 day notice is required to cancel a tour with FATCO if you want a full refund. The cancelation must be made in writing, by e-mail or other written correspondence. If you have to cancel your reservation, and you make proper notice in writing to Family Adventure Tours 45 days prior to the departure date of your tour, your money will be refunded to you (minus a 25% service fee to cover PayPal and FATCO fees.) If you must cancel your tour after the 45 Day Notification Requirement expires, 50% of your fee will be forfeited. In the event that you must cancel your tour within three days of your scheduled departure date, 100% of your fee will be surrendered. 45+ day s notification- Full Refund minus 25% 45- day s notification- 50% Refund 3 days or less notification-0 Refund *Important note, if you choose a tour that includes an overnight stay at the Bar 10 Ranch they require that you make the reservation personally over the telephone and pay in advance. They have a NO REFUND POLICY at the ranch so if you cancel your tour with Family Adventure Tours you will most likely lose the entire fee you paid to the Bar 10 Ranch. This is their policy and Family Adventure Tours has no control over it. The reason for this is simple, the Bar Ten Ranch is 90 miles from the nearest paved road, it is solar and battery powered and has no internet or phone service. They staff the ranch based off of reservations that have been made. Their supply of food is based off of reservations that have been made. Because of the ranches remote location the management simply cannot afford to provide refunds for their services. All other hotels FATCO utilizes have reasonable refund policies when sufficient notice is given. Q. What happens if the weather changes and the routes become impassable? A. FATCO s guides know several different routes from one location to the next and will make every possible attempt to get you and your group to the days intended destinations; however the country we travel through is famous for torrential rainfall and flash flooding during certain times of the year. The monsoon season in the desert southwest can be especially hazardous and can make off-road travel nearly impossible, the red clay of northern Arizona and southern Utah is some of the stickiest and slippery stuff you will ever encounter. Although every effort will be made to begin and end your tour on its scheduled dates, FATCO realizes that this is sometimes dangerous and impossible. A customer whose tour must to be called-off due to flooding and weather changes will receive two options: Option 1: A rerouted travel plan that may not be a scenic or exciting as your originally planned route. Option 2: A rescheduled tour at a later date.
Q. What if my vehicle doesn t have enough fuel range and I run out of gas while on a FAT CO Tour? A. FATCO has made every effort to ensure that our destinations are within the range of the average UTV, motorcycle and Jeep; however we realize that some vehicles get better fuel mileage than others. All FATCO Tours include a Lead Guide Vehicle and a Chase Vehicle. Usually both vehicles carry additional fuel containers in the event someone runs out before they reach their day s destination. FATCO highly discourages its customers from carrying fuel in containers not designed for rugged off-road travel, it s simply not safe. If you have approved offroad fuel cells similar to RotopaX Gas Tanks then you are welcome to bring them along. RotopaX Fuel Packs have several innovative mounting solutions and have proven to be tough and safe on the trail. FAT CO uses these fuel containers exclusively because they are safe and reliable. They can be purchased at www.justgastanks.com. Q. Is a Support Vehicle available on FATCO tours? A. Yes, FATCO has a Support Vehicle and Trailer that can be secured for our clients. The cost of the Support Vehicle (SV) is $350.00 per day and includes a FATCO driver. The cost of our SV can be split up any way the group decides but our clients usually just divide the $350.00 per day evenly throughout the group. Typically the cost of the SV on a group tour is under $100.00 per vehicle. Below is an example of a typical fee for the SV and the breakdown of the cost. Support Vehicle cost for 3 days on the trail- $1050.00 Number of cars on the tour- 15 Cost per car for all three days of the SV- $70.00