Tour Director Tipping
We are on the Jewel of the Nile tour in Egypt. This is our first Tauck tour. I’m a little surprised in receiving our welcome letter at the hotel that the recommended tip for the tour director is $12/day per person, which works out to $240 for the two of us for this trip. Since Tauck’s founder promoted paying one price up front for all expenses, why not add the $240 to the price of the trip and maintain the Tauck all inclusive construct? We are having a great time and looking forward to this trip and have no doubt the tour director will earn our $240, but would prefer to pay it as part of the “all inclusive” up front price.
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Many people agree with you. Speak to Tauck, every call may help. Others think TD’s will not work as hard if they know their tips are guaranteed. Mostly, people don’t want to carry huge amounts of cash around. I’m not someone willing to use things like Venmo to TD’s
Tauck is not as all-inclusive as it used to be. There are certainly expenses on tour, such as non-i9ncluded meals, free time activities, and of course shopping.
I prefer the current system as discretionary tips are an incentive for better performance, for most people. And I, for one, have no problems carrying cash. Nowadays, a few hundred bucks is "small change."
...and ATMs are usually available. I usually tip the driver in local currency and the TD in US dollars, because you never know in advance where the TD lives. However, on my recent trip, although I had brought USD to tip the TD, I learned that he lives in Canada, so I got Canadian dollars from an ATM and now can happily spend my US money at home. By the way, I heard on this past trip that Canada requires Tauck to use Canadian TDs on their Canadian tours.
Many of the Tauck tours we go on are not near ATM’s.
GPfromTX, I'm a bit confuse that you were surprised about the tip recommendations. The tour documents Tauck should have emailed to you at least a month before the tour whould have included this information. It arrives in an email with the subject line IMPORTANT: Your Tauck Personal Travel Documents with a link to a pdf file to read, save and/or print out. If you booked thru a travel agent they should have given you this information.
While there are some variations, in general only Tauck river cruises and small ship cruises include all tips in the tour price. On land tours the TD and the coach driver for the tour are typically tipped.
My guess is that the Tour Directors prefer to receive the tips in cash from the guests. I can see some reasons for that:
So Tauck may wish to include the tips in the up-front payment but the TDs resist making that change.
I think it should stay as is, it gives us the opportunity to on occasion give the TD more if it's deserved which I have done a few times.
As I've said in other similar posts- the topic of tips is the proverbial "dead horse." It has been beaten to death many, many times on the forum!
It is what it is.
Beaten to death indeed. The base salary for a tour director is not high, so the tips are important. Many of the TDs do not live in the U.S., so the tax status of cash tips is a question. I do know that the recommended tip amout was stuck at ten dollars for about a decade, and only recently was raised to twelve. They work very hard for those bucks. I don’t remember ever tipping only the recommended amount.
Tauck Tour Directors deserve every penny and a lot more most of the time.
Good for you SeaLord because many people do not tip at all!
Has anyone ever given a check to the TD instead of money. That could be a solution to carrying lots of US$ or having to scrounge for an ATM in the last stop?
Just wondering
It’s extremely difficult to cash a check from another country and can cost you about $30 to do it. Even more if it is not in the same currency as the country you have to cash it in. Believe me, I know.
On Regent, all tips are included but we always give a bit extra to the Cabin Attendents and the Butler (if we have a butler). So there's an opportunity for the TD to get extra if they would take the tip payment from Tauck.
Check? What is a check? Does anyone use those anymore?
I did not know that British. I was assuming that most people gave the TD the tip in a private way at a private moment as we do in order for them not having to carry around a few thousand dollars at the farewell dinner. I would expect if the voluntary tip system was not working they would change it as many of the cruise lines have done. It never occured to me that Tauck clientele would ‘stiff’ the TD. On the other hand, our favorite couple from Malibu probably did.
I was thinking the same, but suprised to see the post a guy with a flip phone
Flip phone? Naw, the only "portable" phone I have must be used w/in 15 feet of the base unit.
Just a note. Tauck promotes its tours as "inclusive" not "all inclusive." This can lead to confusion for those who don't read all the details. I really think they ought to stop using that word.
you get 'what you paid for'! If u do not like your TD's efforts then do not TIP!
I would never not tip at all. If I was really disappointed I might reduce the tip. But the TD did the job, and spent the time. That should be worth something.
Having worked in the service industry all during college and into my summer months as a young teacher, I would never stiff anyone. I would, however, let corporate know my concerns about a poor quality TD.
British, you have been on many more Tauck trips that I have (or will ever do), however, in our small group tours I have never seen someone not give the TD their gratuity (generally the last day or at the farewell dinner).
Several times, I’ve had people ask me when to give the tip….after we have already seen the TD for the last time, so they don’t necessarily mean not to give anything. Other times, like many people, they think the tip is included. Even seasoned Tauck travelers, if they have only been on river cruises, they think the tip is included. Some still think the recommended tip is $10 a day when it has been $12 for years. People do not read their documents as proved by so many questions asked on the forum.
Here’s another question about tipping and I’ve heard various interpretations from many Tauck travelers. What is the right thing to do and why? Do you tip or are you supposed to tip on the arrival day when it just the welcome dinner that you meet the tour director and do you tip on the departure day when you may not even see the tour director? In other words, is the tip supposed to be included for those days? I would really like to know. We also think about how much the tour director has assisted us for anything special and giving the TD a little extra.
Some people would say what you describe as penny pinching. The Tour directors do an unbelievable amount of things behind the scenes. As soon as someone starts moaning about their room allocation, gets sick or leaves something behind, that all becomes an additional behind the scenes burden.
The culture of tipping in the US is so alien to other cultures. I think we should all be paying the same amount for the tour, but it differs according to how much you give for a tip. To think that you will only get good service if you tip, that’s just so awfully to think about.
Once you have been on your first Tauck tour, you realize that the Farewell dinner is when most people give their tip along with their returned review form.
As far as not seeing the TD on the last day. The other company we now travel with, the TD even gets up in the middle of the night to ensure every person gets their transport to the airport. On some Tauck tours, our TD has already left the area by then.
We usually tip for the entire amount of days and give at the farewell dinner. Our last tour ended in Milan. Six of us had early flights resulting in a pick up time of 4:40 a.m. One of our tour directors was in the lobby to see us off.
OurTravels 34 - Your question is valid in my opinion and, as such, I certainly would not characterize it as "penny pinching."
I agree with AZCreeker insofar as the number of days for calculating the tip. I calculate the amount before leaving home and ensure it covers the first and last days. Why? Because I believe the suggested amount does not cover the incredible amount of work the tour director does, either behind the scenes or while on tour. During the tour I then typically add—never remove—to the allotted amount if the director has gone above and beyond. This is what I do not what I think other people should do. I hope it helps answer your question. I look forward to reading your critique of your trip to Africa.
Regarding the number of tour days to tip on: Tauck gives you a suggested tip per day. They also tell you how many days the tour is. To me, they are implicitly basing the suggested tip amount on the number of days quoted in the tour description. So, tip for every day of the tour.
I've had some VERY early departures from Tauck tours. The TD may not be there, but someone meets us in the lobby and takes us to the airport, sees that we get our boarding passes and takes us up to security (they can't go past security). The TD has arranged for that person to meet us.