Best Of

I just returned from the Magic of Morocco tour. The tour was not my favorite Tauck tour; however, it was made much more enjoyable by the TD and the fellow travelers. I tipped more than the Tauck "$15 recommended" as the TD (Chris Morrison) provided excellent service.

I also tipped the bus driver; although it was not required (I asked the TD and he indicated it was not required but to feel free to provide the gratuity). The bus driver's son accompanied us on the tour. He was learning as he wanted to do the same job as his father. He was a very helpful and attentive young fella.

I understand both sides - everyone must do what is comfortable and practical for their personal situation at the time. It is not my normal practice to tip the bus driver; however, for some reason I was inclined to do so this tour. Strangely, I purchased more stuff on this tour from the UNESCO sites- rugs, tangine's, jewelry, herbs, potions, etc....perhaps in hindsight, I did enjoy this tour more than I realized. Until the next tour...Inshallah.

As the brother of a retired airline captain I agree with the comments of Sealord and Mike. Not to diminish the workload, skill and importance of a tour bus driver, but to compare the two professions in this thread is not only not the point of the topic but would require a more thorough understanding and discussion of the entire scope that each profession entails.

Choc, I like your suggestion of a preloaded card although that might be dependent on the region of the tour as to its usefulness to the TD.

What I don't get is why it is not expected to tip a cruise TD but it is expected to tip a land TD? Perhaps there are payroll or other tax implications for Tauck in one type of tour and not the other? Just speculating. I agree with the concept mentioned above that just charge me more on the land tours and forget tipping altogether. One less thing to think about.

All this is ridiculous, just put the prices up and truly make it all inclusive as advertised.
Remember the discussions from people here who have only taken river cruises and are surprised about tipping on land tours. I’ve said it a millions times, not everyone tips. Let’s make it fair and everyone pay the same price upfront. And don’t tell me tour directors will not give their best knowing they won’t be getting tips. What is this world coming to that we have to reward certain jobs with tips in this country. Pay the people a decent wage.

Tauck no longer pays their TD’s extra for leading small groups, so the senior directors don’t like to lead them, plus of course, it might be inflation, but a 20% rise.

I heard that also. It's much more attractive for a TD to take a Classic size group than a small group. Tauck announced the really small group on some tours, and I wonder how they're going to handle that.

For the TD, tips are a big part of their compensation. (I still wouldn't want that job )

In the meantime the cost of the tours gets higher and higher, so with the tours being so expensive why doesn't Tauck pay TD a better wage and we can tip according to the service we receive. It's getting a bit ridiculous and I don't care how many hidden pockets you have I do not like carrying large amounts of cash.

Yes, the coach driver work is more than an airline pilot's. In addition to dealing with the luggage (which gets harder when people bring extra), they also have to clean the coach, make sure it has fuel, dump the holding tank, etc. But I do believe Tauck could pay them a base amount for all that and those who need extra attention could then tip accordingly.

Upping the tip amount is going to result in more complaints and calls for just including it all up front like the river cruises do.

Assuming the TD does not have a merchant account to directly accept a credit card payment, any cc payment would then have to be processed through Tauck and then forwarded to the TD. Some of the issues: Who takes the hit on the transaction fee (Tauck or the TD); Who takes the hit on any currency conversion fee, if there is one; Does the TD have concerns if Tauck knows how much they are getting in tips from some guests; Does a guest care if Tauck knows how much they are tipping? I'm sure there are other potential issues. I understand the concern with carrying around that much cash for a few weeks, but you can always go to a local ATM in the last days and withdraw the cash for the tips in the local currency.

Funny story about a tip we gave a British based TD on the Scandinavia tour. We tipped him in US$ as I'm sure most everyone else on the tour did. The day after the tour ended he went back home and the Brexit vote happened. Those US$ were now worth about 30% more to him.

We are recent converts to Tauck after many Rick Steves tours. We greatly appreciate the upgraded accommodations, the generally good food, the included transfers, luggage handling. But, what we strongly dislike is the tipping policy. On RS tours no tipping is permitted. I’ve seen folks try to tip when the guide has gone above and beyond and they are told the company does not permit it. The guides and drivers are well paid and many of these excellent people have been with RS for a very long time. Now, with a much more upscale tour company, we get to carry a boatload of cash which is never safe (clothes with hidden zippers to carry $1000? Please!) ATM’s are an option for emergent cash needs but since credit cards are so widely accepted, that almost never occurs. Using an ATM abroad has always been a bit anxiety provoking as my wife keeps watch for muggers and I hope the machine does not eat my card. And how many withdrawals over how many days would suffice for these amounts? Tauck makes a point of telling you that these tips are a major part of the employees compensation. This is plain wrong. Tauck: pay these people better, include tips, raise your prices accordingly. And be done with this. If folks want to tip for services above and beyond, so be it.

The required amount of cash is getting pretty high, especially for a couple. As the crooks of the world start to realize that tour travelers may be carrying large mounts of cash just so they can tip, it seems like they may become more attractive targets for those said crooks.

An aside, I understand tipping for the TD because they oftentimes have to do special/different things for various people on the tour on an individual/couple basis, but the bus driver, I don’t get that. Isn’t it their job to drive the bus safely for the entire tour. It’s not like they are making special runs on the bus for various people. It’s exactly the same for the entire group. For the case of the driver, because of the nature of the job it doesn’t seem appropriate to tip.

Next up, will we see airline pilots standing by the exit door with their hat out expecting a tip as we deplane. I don’t see how the bus driver is any different than an airline pilot. There is no special/individual/unique service provided by a bus driver to different members of the tour. The exact service they provide is simply doing their job for the entire tour.

I don’t think tipping bus drivers makes sense.

The paradigm of moving more and more things to where a tip is expected or at least requested seems wrong to me.