Tipping for Excursions

[K32682]

(Double post) 

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by K32682

[sparks1093]

25 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

And, when it comes to providers of personal services, such as barbers, hair dressers and waiters (which is what we are talking about) it is obvious that individuals who provide sloppy or disinterested service get lower tips — which means that those who work harder do get more pay.

 

I would add that those providing sloppy or disinterested service who get lower tips are probably seeking hourly wage employment elsewhere. Working for tips isn't for everyone.

[lenquixote66]

On 12/17/2019 at 3:36 PM, coevan said:

 

 

Caribbean tour guides make very little, tours and tipping is not just for cruisers. When my son did tours in STT, he was paid $75 a day as a mate and $150 as a Captain. Most of the guys lived on tips. This is not Europe Dorothy. Tipping craze? 

 

As to the OP's question, there is no standard tip, some tip on the total price of the tour. On a $100 tour, I would probably give them at least a $20. Some of these guys work their butts off.

We were on an excursion once.Our tour guide was a US College Professor who worked 6 months in Alaska giving tours.He refused to accept any tips.Very likely he was the minority.

[dadofjessie]

On 12/17/2019 at 3:01 PM, Nevada Jen said:

How much do you generally tip for excursions and how do you tip?  I was thinking $20 a person for a day long excursion.  Is that about right or do I tip based on the price of the excursion?  I am never sure I have it right.

It depends if I think it was REALLY worth it.

[ilikeanswers]

Only tip in countries where tipping is the norm and tip the rate that is appropriate for the country. For some countries tipping is considered a bribe, others see it as threat to their minimum wage and countries like Kenya and Tanzania have complained that Americans being too generous with their tips are making tour guide jobs more attractive than those that require complete education. So you have kids dropping out of school hoping to make it big as a tour guide. 

 

On a personal note I do find it frustrating that when you are in a country where tipping is not the norm yet because you are an English speaker they assume you are American and end up expecting tips just from English speaking tourists. In those cases I do think it is right to refuse to tip. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by ilikeanswers

[14thmed]

59 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Only tip in countries where tipping is the norm and tip the rate that is appropriate for the country. For some countries tipping is considered a bribe, others see it as threat to their minimum wage and countries like Kenya and Tanzania have complained that Americans being too generous with their tips are making tour guide jobs more attractive than those that require complete education. So you have kids dropping out of school hoping to make it big as a tour guide. 

 

On a personal note I do find it frustrating that when you are in a country where tipping is not the norm yet because you are an English speaker they assume you are American and end up expecting tips just from English speaking tourists. In those cases I do think it is right to refuse to tip. 

This!

[ducklite]

On 12/21/2019 at 9:41 PM, lenquixote66 said:

We were on an excursion once.Our tour guide was a US College Professor who worked 6 months in Alaska giving tours.He refused to accept any tips.Very likely he was the minority.

If he worked for a State or Federal National Park/Wildlife Conservation Area/Monument/Battlefield/etc. system as a guide, docent, Ranger, etc., he was not legally allowed to accept tips, although he could tell people that there were a couple of funds for the Park/Wildlife Management systems that gratefully took donations.  I have a friend who is a guide at a National Monument and leads tours, she turns away tips every day.  

[lenquixote66]

38 minutes ago, ducklite said:

If he worked for a State or Federal National Park/Wildlife Conservation Area/Monument/Battlefield/etc. system as a guide, docent, Ranger, etc., he was not legally allowed to accept tips, although he could tell people that there were a couple of funds for the Park/Wildlife Management systems that gratefully took donations.  I have a friend who is a guide at a National Monument and leads tours, she turns away tips every day.  

This was at Danali National Park in Alaska.

[ducklite]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

This was at Danali National Park in Alaska.

Which is exactly why he refused the tip.  It was kind of you to offer.  🙂 

[lenquixote66]

35 minutes ago, ducklite said:

There will never be an end to tipping.  It is far too ingrained into our culture.  Personally I think that there should be a $15 minimum wage, and I will continue to tip on top of that for great service.  If service isn't at least good, I have  a conversation with the manager about it.  I never hold the fault of the kitchen against the server, either.

When I began to work full time the minimum wage was $1 .A short time later I was called into my bosses office and told that I was going to receive a raise to $1.10.I could not wait to tell my friends and family.Things were so different back then.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

When I began to work full time the minimum wage was $1 .A short time later I was called into my bosses office and told that I was going to receive a raise to $1.10.I could not wait to tell my friends and family.Things were so different back then.

 

For me the minimum was $1.25.  And you are absolutely right, things were a lot different.  Not everything was better in the good ol days, but those paychecks sure seemed to go a long way. 

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, ducklite said:

There will never be an end to tipping.  It is far too ingrained into our culture.  

 

Never say never. Europe had an ingrained tipping culture for centuries and now it is virtually non existent. Though I think eliminating sexual harassment in the hospitality industry should be of greater priority than reforming tipping. Being safe in the workplace in my opinion outweighs even being paid. 

 

However I thought the OP's question was referring to tipping outside of USA. To be honest I couldn't find a post that indicated what countries the OP was travelling to. 

[ducklite]

39 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Never say never. Europe had an ingrained tipping culture for centuries and now it is virtually non existent. Though I think eliminating sexual harassment in the hospitality industry should be of greater priority than reforming tipping. Being safe in the workplace in my opinion outweighs even being paid. 

 

However I thought the OP's question was referring to tipping outside of USA. To be honest I couldn't find a post that indicated what countries the OP was travelling to. 

 

Non-existent?  Hardly.  I've been in six European countries (Eastern/Central/Western) in the past year, and we tipped in every one of them after researching the local norms.  While it might not be to the level of what tipping is in the US, it's certainly still alive and well in Europe.

 

You are clouding the waters by introducing sexual harassment, as it's completely unrelated. I worked in service for over 10 years of my life, including five long years in one place with a pig of a manager who liked to send female staff to the walk-in's to fetch something for him so he could remember he needed something else and follow them in.  Gahhhh...  It was revolting, but had nothing to do with how we were tipped.

[ducklite]

53 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

For me the minimum was $1.25.  And you are absolutely right, things were a lot different.  Not everything was better in the good ol days, but those paychecks sure seemed to go a long way. 

I worked in a tipped position.  I earned $1.35 an hour.  My paychecks were under $5 after taxes.  I had to write a check to my employer each month to pay for my health insurance.

[mayleeman]

OP goes places where tipping is customary. He pays the company for his travel or food, but refuses to tip the workers because they are underpaid. By giving money to the company and not to the workers, he envisions a likely effect is for the company to pay the worker more.

 

Let us hope he does not teach Logic, Personal Finance, Economics, or Ethics. 

[ilikeanswers]

26 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

Non-existent?  Hardly.  I've been in six European countries (Eastern/Central/Western) in the past year, and we tipped in every one of them after researching the local norms.  While it might not be to the level of what tipping is in the US, it's certainly still alive and well in Europe.

 

That is interesting. I have been to 17 countries in Europe and the only place I found tipping to be part of the culture was Bratislava Slovakia. I have had a few service charges in Europe but even that was very rare. Which countries did you visit? 

[ilikeanswers]

12 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

OP goes places where tipping is customary. He pays the company for his travel or food, but refuses to tip the workers because they are underpaid. By giving money to the company and not to the workers, he envisions a likely effect is for the company to pay the worker more.

 

Let us hope he does not teach Logic, Personal Finance, Economics, or Ethics. 

 

Actually the OP did state they want to tip. Whether it is customery to the country they are travelling to I don't know since the OP has not stated where they are travelling to. It is another poster that has said they never tip in the USA. 

[ducklite]

34 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

That is interesting. I have been to 17 countries in Europe and the only place I found tipping to be part of the culture was Bratislava Slovakia. I have had a few service charges in Europe but even that was very rare. Which countries did you visit? 

 

In the past year I've been to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland.  In all of those tipping of 5-15% is normal unless there's a service added to the bill.   In Austria they expect you to round up even when service has been added according to our friends who live there.

 

Finland was the only place we visited this year where tipping is not typical unless service is very exceptional or they do something over and above. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by ducklite

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

For me the minimum was $1.25.  And you are absolutely right, things were a lot different.  Not everything was better in the good ol days, but those paychecks sure seemed to go a long way. 

I remember when I was in college having a discussion with another student.He said that his dream was to one day earn $10,000 a year.We laughed because it seemed so impossible.

[mayleeman]

33 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Actually the OP did state they want to tip. Whether it is customery to the country they are travelling to I don't know since the OP has not stated where they are travelling to. It is another poster that has said they never tip in the USA. 

Thx--You are correct. I let the post by the ogre confuse me. I guess "Don't feed the trolls" is virtually true here! 

[ilikeanswers]

43 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

In the past year I've been to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland.  In all of those tipping of 5-15% is normal unless there's a service added to the bill.   In Austria they expect you to round up even when service has been added according to our friends who live there.

 

Finland was the only place we visited this year where tipping is not typical unless service is very exceptional or they do something over and above. 

 

Even more interesting🤗. I have been to Czechia and Poland this year and the locals told us tipping was not normal though in touristy areas they can add service charge though we only found this true in Prague. In saying that we tended to eat where the locals ate so maybe that was why we didn't encounter tipping as much. Though Gdansk we went to a touristy periogana and they didn't take tips. I haven't been to Austria or any of the Irelands but good to know for future travels. 

[ducklite]

2 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Even more interesting🤗. I have been to Czechia and Poland this year and the locals told us tipping was not normal though in touristy areas they can add service charge though we only found this true in Prague. In saying that we tended to eat where the locals ate so maybe that was why we didn't encounter tipping as much. Though Gdansk we went to a touristy periogana and they didn't take tips. I haven't been to Austria or any of the Irelands but good to know for future travels. 

My husband has family in Poland, and yes, tipping is absolutely expected there--whether you are a local or tourist.    

 

In CZ it's expected of everyone, but locals are only expected to tip about 5% while tourists are expected to tip 15%.  

[ilikeanswers]

4 minutes ago, ducklite said:

My husband has family in Poland, and yes, tipping is absolutely expected there--whether you are a local or tourist.    

 

In CZ it's expected of everyone, but locals are only expected to tip about 5% while tourists are expected to tip 15%.  

 

Well I don't know how to explain the discrepancy then. I was thinking maybe for Poland it was because I was Polish but if your husband is Polish and didn't get an exemption I have no idea why we did😂. 

[sparks1093]

We recently dined out at a chain steakhouse and our bill was $94. I left a tip of $25 and we were there for roughly an hour. Presuming our server could handle 5 tables at a time if the other tables left only $10 in tips that would be $60 an hour. I'm not an economics major but how many people would give up $60 in order to earn minimum wage. (And yes, I know that the waitstaff doesn't earn that during the times when they are setting up for the meal or when it's not busy but I'm fairly certain they are making much more than minimum wage at the end of the day.)

[ducklite]

4 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

You've already drawn a correlation between poor service and lower tips. I don't think that tipped employees deserve special treatment at all, they are due what custom dictates. If they do go above and beyond then the customer is free to pro-offer more. Many in this thread have stated that is exactly what they do. So if a tipped employee could earn less by under-performing then it simply stands to reason that they could earn more for over-performing. And don't forget that you have advocated many times for them to be paid a fair wage (or livable wage) and I've demonstrated many times where they are in fact earning much more than what minimum wage requires. Again, they are happy working for tips, the company that employees them is happy with the situation, you are the only one with an issue and as an outsider you have no voice.

 

Again, if you choose not to leave a tip that is entirely your choice but by not leaving one for the reasons that you state you are only hurting the people you say you care so much about. That isn't logical.

 

Not to mention that I would never return to a place where I stiffed the service workers.  They have memories like elephants and talk to each other.  I know this as a former server/bartender/Somm.  We have our ways of getting back at people.  😉