HOLLYWOOD, CALIF – May 28, 2015—Starline Tours, the oldest and largest tour operator in Los Angeles and the local operator of the CitySightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off tour, has increased bus service this summer to handle increasing demand from U.S. and International visitors to Los Angeles, while adding handy technology to determine the exact arrival time of buses at stops.

Until mid-October, the downtown Los Angeles route (the Purple route) increases frequency to run every hour, and service on most routes is also extended one additional hour. This allows visitors to stay in iconic neighborhoods while days are longer during summer, and the new Purple Route schedule shortens the waiting time for buses in the downtown area.  

Last year Starline introduced the direct Hop-On Hop-Off LAX Hotel-Hollywood Shuttle which allowed passengers staying in LAX hotels and visitors with late departing flights to spend more time on the Hop-on Hop-off in the LA/Hollywood area, and then take a direct bus back from Hollywood nightly at 7:00 p.m.  The new Express Shuttle service is proving so popular that Starline has added a direct morning bus service, departing LAX hotels at 8:30 a.m.  The Express Bus service is included in the 24, 48 or 72-hour tickets priced from $44 adult, $25 youth 3-11 purchased directly from the driver, or in advance online for a savings, $39 adult, $22 youth at www.citysightseeingla.com.

In addition to more frequency on routes, Starline has solved the age-old traveler question, “Where's the bus?”  Now passengers may access bus-tracking from their mobile device at http://StarlineGPS.com, choose their route and their bus stop, and be given the precise time of the next bus arrival.  Color coded routes and a full “live” map showing the location of the buses on the routes assist international visitors. Or, passengers may text “Starline” (space) “stop number” to 41411, and the bus arrival time will be provided via text.  The tracking technology maximizes time spent in museums, attractions, shopping and sightseeing.  “Think of all the waiting time visitors spend when exploring a big city like Los Angeles,” said Philip Ferentinos, Director of Starline Tours. “Our bus-tracking technology is like giving back some of their precious vacation time because ten minutes here and there adds up.”

The tracking system also gives Starline CitySightseeing Guest Service personnel the ability to provide up-to-the minute bus information when visitors call toll free, 1-855-452-4676 or direct, 1-323-580-6155.  Starline Tours is the first tour company in North America to offer this tracking technology to its customers.

Another first offered by Starline's CitySightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off tour are recommendations on how to use the transportation/tour based on travel interests, with themed itineraries available on www.citysightseeingla.com/itineraries.  Culinary Celebrity Sightseeing, Family Travel, Movies and TV locations, LGBT, Vintage Shopping and Designer Shopping itineraries help visitors know where to hop-off to experience parts of LA which piques their interest.

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Starline Hop-On Hop-Off Summer 2015

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The narrated commentary on the Hop-On Hop-Off service has been updated for Summer 2015, making the 100-mile route of the CitySightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off tour the most up-to-date tour in Los Angeles.  It is available in English and eight other languages; Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, German, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Italian.  Individual headsets are provided to all passengers for them to use and keep.  The Grand Tour of Los Angeles, an escorted 5 ½ tour is also offered in nine languages, making this tour an entertaining and informative choice for first time visitors.

Many television and movie celebrities, musicians and celebrity athletes turn to the signature red double decker Hop-On Hop-Off bus for their Hollywood event.  Taylor Swift launched her album “Red” atop the bus, CNN's Heroes program gave the rescued Chilean miners a ride, syndicated radio and television personality Howard Stern with America's Got Talent used the bus to find his star on Hollywood Boulevard while Talent co-host Heidi Klum enjoyed the narrated tour in German, the Oprah Winfrey Network tapped the tour for a new reality television show airing this summer, the television program Lakers on Location provided a Laker-uniformed team member as tour guide for an afternoon, and recently Arnold Schwarzenegger, in full Terminator costume and makeup, gave passengers a thrill by narrating a portion of the Red Route tour.

Starline continues to offer visitors savings on admission to the top museums, attractions and locations with the CitySightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off “Show & $ave” program.  Simply present a valid Hop-On Hop-Off ticket to participating locations, noted on the brochure or online, for immediate discounts and offers.

About Starline Tours

Hollywood's number one celebrity tour company, Starline Tours, is the oldest and largest tour company in Los Angeles, having pioneered the famous Movie Stars' Homes Tour in 1935, making this year its 80th anniversary.  A full range of sightseeing tours of Los Angeles and Southern California is available. Starline Tours has been featured on Ellen, American Idol, the Muppet Movies, Iron Man 3, NBC's Today Show, as well as newspapers and travel magazines from around the world. 

Starline Tours operates the Grand Tour of Los Angeles in nine languages, and the world's largest Hop-On, Hop-Off tour with Starline's CitySightseeing Double-Decker buses offering comprehensive tour narration in nine languages via personal headsets.  The CitySightseeing buses are the only Hop-On Hop-Off buses in North America equipped with gps tracking for “next bus at this stop” information via mobile devices.  The open-top Movie Stars' Homes Tour and TMZ Hollywood Tour, recommended by travel agents worldwide, are visitor favorites and operate daily.   The Movie Locations Tour in partnership with TCM (Turner Classic Movies) operates daily in custom-built surround-window stadium seating buses.

Tours to theme parks, movie studios, San Diego and Tijuana are available, with pick up from more than 250 hotels in the Los Angeles.  With locations throughout Hollywood, a new Visitor Welcome Center at Hollywood & Highland and a ticket office at (Grauman's) TCL Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, the company also has a sales office on Santa

Monica Pier, starting point for the Malibu Movie Stars' Homes Tour, a Santa Monica

Terminal at 1434 Second Street in downtown Santa Monica, and an Anaheim Terminal at 2333 South Harbor Boulevard for transportation to Los Angeles, Santa  Monica, Hollywood and Beverly Hills for touring, shopping, dining and celebrity-watching.  The company is privately owned and is operated in conjunction with TourCoach – the company's Bus Charter division. For reservations, visit www.starlinetours.com or call toll free 1-800-959-3131 or direct at 1-323-463-3333. 

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Media Contacts:

Susan Wilson, Publicist, Starline Tours, (480) 824-3015, susanwilson129@gmail.com

Philip Ferentinos, Director, Starline Tours, (323) 785-6707 or (323) 864 8339 Philip@starlinetours.com