We just sent my MIL on a tour with Tauck and I never advised her on tipping. Does she tip the tour guide? if so, how much and when? Does she tip a busdriver? if so, after each ride or at the end? and then how much? She's on a limited income and we paid for the trip and her spending money, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks

Check your Tauk paperwork, or look on their website. If the tips are not included in the tour price, the company will suggest the proper amount to tip both the tour guide and the driver at the end of the tour.

Generally it's around $3-4 USD per day for driver and $4-6 USD per day for the tour guide. I would suggest putting the money in separate envelopes and giving them to the driver and guide on the last night of the tour.

This is what the Tauck Web site says about tipping:

>>Are gratuities included?<<
&gt;&gt;The customary gratuity to the Tauck Director and Driver is not included on most Tauck World Discovery tours. Such gratuities should be extended on a voluntary, individual basis and not done as a group. As an exception, there are some Tauck journeys in which the Tauck Director gratuity is included and/or a Driver gratuity will not be applicable. <b>Information about Tauck Director and Driver gratuities specific to a destination is included within final tour documentation sent after a reservation has been paid in full.</b>&lt;&lt;

&gt;&gt;All appropriate gratuities for luggage handling, bellman, doorman, dining room servers, housekeepers, local city guides, ship and train crew are included in the price of a Tauck journey.&lt;&lt;

Since Tauck is pretty high-end, I imagine their &quot;tipping guidelines&quot; are pretty high-end as well...

I can't speak about Tauk but I do know paperworl for a Trafalgar tour indicates the &quot;suggested&quot; gratuity to the TD is $4/day and the coach driver $2.50/day (US currency).

Interestingly enough, the Trafalgar Tours forums have had some heated debates with many from Australia claiming it is a cultural thing and that they don't, as a rule, tip unless the TD or coach driver delivers exceptional service...others have come back (mostly those from North America and Great Britain) that tipping is an integral part of the TD's income and that unless substandard service is delivered, the guidelines should be followed.

It has become so heated that on that forum, discussion of tipping immediately leads to the thread being closed (so much for democracy and free speech but then again you see that here too).....

The suggested amount to tip will also be determined by the destination. You would tip a guide more in Alaska than you would in China, for example. That is why the tipping guideline provided by the tour companies is so helpful

Hi em,

From reading discussions about tipping by people who go on tours, I have concluded that the suggested gratuity is about 50% higher than locals would pay.

My favorite is from a tour group in Turkey that suggested a $20 pp/day tip in a country where the average daily wage is under $40.

Ira I do not think the daily average wage has much to do with how much people are expected to tip!

Really? I would think that might serve as a sort of guide. It does seem odd to tip someone for a few hour tour more than they would make in a week at their regular occupation.

But tipping is difficult. It's one of the hardest parts of travel - along with (for me) sorting out what if any to give to the beggars. (I worked it out that I only give to the beggars who are making - or attempting to make music. Right or wrong, I can live with that.)

What do you mean &quot;their regular occupation?&quot; I thought we were talking about guides here...

I'll give you an example....in the USA in many upscale restaurants, waiters and bar tenders are paid very little with the expectation that the high rollers frequenting these places will tip and tip very well indeed; in that way the tips they receive are an integral (as a matter of fact the most lucrative) part of their incomes; of course it also helps that unless tips are left on credit cards, there is no record for the IRS of just how much is being tipped as opposed to wages.

That's simply the way it is in the USA; from my reading, it is completely different in Australia which is what leads to this misunderstanding so to speak of just what a tip is and what a tip is for.

Of course, it is not my business what a tour director makes in salary but from reading many of the forums, it is probably more along the lines of what is done in the USA then what is done in Australia.

If only tour companies would include those tips in their prices! I absolutely hate the tipping thing unless it's distinctly for someone who did an outstanding, above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty job.

Ira, you are not now and never will be a &quot;local&quot; so what does that have to do with anything?

In terms of how much to tip...you'll never miss it and they'll never forget it.

In the tour brochures I've glanced at, the amount of tip expected was stated in their information provided.

Ira that is amazing. What a nerve they have.
Also once many years ago, in Egypt the tour organizer ,a dishonest guy, told us that he was going to provide to everybody free rides in some horse driven carriages ,he only asked us to tip one dollar por person, being four per carriage that was I found out later the full fee for riding the carriages....

If you don't want to tip (and I would certainly prefer not to have to deal with it), there are some tours where tips aren't expected. Rick Steves says explicitly that his drivers and guides are paid proper salaries and no tips are expected. I've been on several Intrepid (an OZ company) tours too, and no-one tipped the leader - a fun gift maybe, but no tips.

When I did a Trafalgar Tour of Italy I can't begin to tell you how shocked I was when advised by our Tour Director that a tip was expected and furthermore, told how much the tip should be.

I felt I had paid very good money for the tour and shouldn't have had to pay any more. If memory serves me correctly the Tour Director was asking for 20 Euro per day and the bus driver was after about 10 euro per day. This was a 13 day tour with about 40 people on the bus.

The Tour Director had been robbed on the tour just prior to ours and she apparently, was responsible for the loss, so maybe she was trying to play catch up.

Needless to say we didn't tip her anywhere near what she was asking for.

As an Australian I find this business of tipping just so embarassing. When we did a Context Rome tour the guide was obviously hankering for a tip but gee we'd paid 60 euro each for the tour and thought that that was more than enough and so didn't tip him.

It's a tricky issue for us because tipping is just so alien to us. That's not to say that I don't ever tip but the service has to be exceptional. And I guess here people are so happy to get a tip because it isn't expected and therefore they seem extremely appreciative of the gesture - not something that is expected regardless of what sort of service has been provided.

stormbird...

You do point out the crux of the arguments that occur on the TrafalgarTour bulletin board which the management there basically does not allow namely the cultural divide between Australian, Kiwis on one hand, North Americans and Brits on the other regardng tipping...it is a difficult thing and I suppose the guiding principle should be when in Rome etc.

However, I would like to make one correction...the information from Trafalgar in the tour documents is very very clear if you read it namely the &quot;suggested&quot; gratuity is $4 US per day to the TD and $2.50US per day to the coach driver...

I have heard of TD's sometimes telling clients this info is dated due to the tanking of US currency and suggesting the tipping rate should be 4 euro/day for the TD and 2.50euro for the coach driver (that would be most offensive to me indeed when the info clearly lists the &quot;suggested&quot; tipping rate as noted above).

Now obviously, I can't tell you wnat's right and what's wrong nor do I intend to.....however the only thing I might disagree with you is the gratuity suggestions are most assuredly in the final documentation you receive before the tour....what the basic argument on that bulletin board has been about is why isn't this information in the brochure or why don't the local (Australian) travel agents who book these tours make it clear.

And really, if you don't think you should tip, then don't do so and don't get so upset...there are certainly cultural differences on things such as this and it's not worth ruining your holiday. The day after the tour ends, it is very probable you and the TD will not cross paths again so why worry about it...personally while in the USA tips of 15% are exected say at restaurants (except of course fast food outlets) I just go with the flow; even though sometimes tbe management adds the gratuity to the bill automatically...and when in Europe, if I am told service is included, I won't tip even though some of my German friends tell me that's wrong...a small tip is still expected but again service compris means no tip (at least to me).....

Thanks for those comments xyz. I will try to check out my documents tomorrow and see what is in the fine print.

I don't know if upset is quite the right word but it was just the shock at the end of the trip to come up with so much extra cash.

I must confess to not reading the fine print so maybe only have myself to blame.

Anyway, it's not to take away from the tour which I have to say suited us very well at the time and we were happy with what we saw.

stormbird - based on xyz's info it looks like you should report that Tour Director to Trafalgar. That &quot;request&quot; (demand) looks like daylight robbery to me! If you multiply out that was 800 euro a day in tips! If that was really the rate think I should apply for a job with Trafalgar.

&gt;I do not think the daily average wage has much to do with how much people are expected to tip! &lt;

I emphatically do.

&gt;you are not now and never will be a &quot;local&quot; so what does that have to do with anything?

We are talking, here, about a gratuity. I should think it appropriate to know what the local custom is.

&gt;In terms of how much to tip...you'll never miss it and they'll never forget it.&lt;

Was watching &quot;Summertime&quot; a little while ago. Hepburn spent the first 1/2 hr or so grossly overtipping. Everyone was pleased to take her money, with a great big grin.

One could also say, &quot;you'll never see them again, so why tip at all?&quot;.

Hi G,

&gt;...free rides in some horse driven carriages ,he only asked us to tip one dollar por person, being four per carriage that was I found out later the full fee for riding the carriages....

Oh, that is a sweet scam. You pay full price, he gets a little extra tip for being so helpful.

Hi X,
&gt;..I won't tip even though some of my German friends tell me that's wrong...

After discussions with various folks in different countries, I found that Germans and Austrians tip about about 5-10% in addition to the SC; French and Italians round up.