Ok, then it’s time to see if we can pay via credit card or maybe that way after we return home. It’s too much cash to carry around. And no, I’m not going ot Venmo. Or wouldn’t it be easier to raise tour prices (again) so TD’s can get better pay.
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.
When I’m on my last day in the middle of an African bush, where do I find an ATM? My Tauck tours are often in remote places. Some places don’t even have an In room safe. I’m not being awkward. On a two week tour, that’s $420 for two of us, plus the other money we need. That’s a lot of cash. Every time you move hotels, you must carry that on your person.
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. Ok, you say, all Tauck guests can afford it, but there are plenty of people out there who save every penny to go on a once in a lifetime tour, and that could push them over the edge.
Just a thought...there are some apparel stores that have a myriad of shirts, pants and jackets with hidden zippers to keep cash and credit cards safe. My husband had such outfits that he wore exclusively for travel. Carrying gratuity funds was never an issue for us.
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.
British
When I’m on my last day in the middle of an African bush, where do I find an ATM?
Third elephant on the left.
Sam - I agree with you about the bus drivers, espeically in the EU where there are regualtions for off-time, pay, etc. The bus drivers don't work for Tauck. They work for the bus companies, where they get paid the same regardless of whom their passengers are.
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.
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.
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.
I have no problem using Venmo or Zelle. It is 100% safer than carrying cash. I am in my 70’s and although daunting, I’ve tried to keep up with technology such as banking online, transferring money, sending cash to another that they receive it in seconds. I worry less that way than trying to worry about about cash stashed someone on my body or hidden away someplace my luggage or hotel room safe. Once it’s lost or stolen - it is gone.
On another note, there are companies that require their TD to be tipped more than 15.00 per person per day.
OurTravels34 - agree! I have had ZERO issues with Zelle & ApplePay for YEARS.
There are lots of issues with Venmo & PayPal lately, but I'd love to tip with Zelle or ApplePay. Much easier than carrying so much cash around for 2 weeks. Many times we do try & find an ATM towards the end of the trip, but often, the smaller towns don't have them easy to find.
It takes a long time and a lot of training to fly one of those large commercial airliners, such as an A-320. A bus driver doesn't need nearly as much training. Because of that, the airline pilot is paid more than a bus driver. In many of the countries we travel to, a bus driver is not a wealthy person and those tips are really appreciated.
I don’t have to worry about carrying extra tipping money this coming year, my only Tauck tour is a small ship one, so tips are included. Maybe when I book a 2026 trip in the next few weeks, I’ll find recommendations of $20 a day pp. Maybe the tip will add up to more than the price of a tour.
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.
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.
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.
There are four or more tour directors on the small ship cruises and more than one on the river boats. To make it fair for all the directors, that’s the simple reason. Can you imagine everyone liking the same director and not tipping the same to each.
While I like the idea of Tauck including all gratuities, I wonder whether the TDs would like it. We often add an extra tip for exceptional service, ship or shore. Many TDs may not like the idea of including the tip on land tours, because I suspect a lot of what they get in tips is under the table! Also not including the tip provides an incentive for the land TDs to be nice, interact with the guests and not just be a monitor.
The suggested amount does not seem excessive, given the cost and quality of the trips. I wonder whether the increase of 25% is to attract better/more TDs?
It is unfair not to increase the compensation for the small(er) group TDs. Instead just increase the base price of the small group trips. I appreciate the opportunity to take a small group tour and would hope that the quality of the TD is the same or better than the bigger groups. There are some lazy or poor TDs out there.
I don't understand the proportionality of the tip for the bus driver to the TDs. 2/3 of suggested amount of TD?
Sealord, I did not in anyway intend to insult airline pilots. Being a retired Naval officer I've known and worked with many aviators, one of our good friends and neighbors is a pilot for United and another is a former Blue Angels CO. I was responding to Smiling Sam's post and just trying to get across the point that Tauck coach drivers do more than just safely drive us around. There is so much behind the scenes work that TDs, CDs, and coach drivers do that most of us don't understand until we've taken multiple tours.
I'm sorry you've gotten mistaken for a bell hop. I guess it's the same as the male pilot at Oceana who thought I must be a nurse because I was a female officer.
Again, I admire the work pilots do and am very thankful when they get us safely to where we're going.
Claudia - I was responding to Smiling Sam's post and just trying to get across the point that Tauck coach drivers do more
than just safely drive us around.
Claudia, the point I was trying to make was that the bus drivers don't do specific, varying tasks for individuals on the tour like the TDs often do. The drivers job, may contain many facets but they all relate to the working of the bus or the tour as a whole. Their tasks don't vary for individuals on the tour. This is why I say, since they don't provide any custom services to each individual, then I believe the tipping paradigm shouldn't apply.
The bus drivers tasks are the same for all people on the tour so why should any of their compensation be driven by an individual tour taker's tipping desire. If they, at times, provided custom services to individuals, like TDs often do, then I'd think differently.
socalduo
If they raise the cost of tours instead of suggesting tips, what happens when they implement "no tax on tips"?
Not sure how this is relevant.
First, I suspect many cash tips are not reported as income.
Second, a good number of TDs aren't American, so their tax laws are different than ours.
Third, the promise of no tax on tips was made by a pathological liar, so it may or may not happen. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
To rephrase, I should have said "if" they implement "no tax on tips". Raising the cost of the tours as an alternate to requesting tips could possibly present a tax issue for those who are American.
Since many of the new journeys are smaller in size I wonder if they are trying to make the tour director " whole" versus leading a larger group. They definitely could add the cost to the journey price, but I've seen a rather significant jump in the 2025 tour price to the 2026 ones specially for the solo traveler fare. Trips are getting pricier but the dollar has been very strong versus local currencies. Given the size of their operation, I wonder if they hedge the cost of the trip in dollars versus the local currency price. oh well, probably a few less journeys in the future.
We have two back-to-back trips next year with Tauck. We are going to Namibia for eleven days and then Elegant Africa for twelve days. We will have $1,150.00 for the tips. I just wish they would add it to the price of the trip to make our lives easier than carrying around a lot of money.
Comments
Ok, then it’s time to see if we can pay via credit card or maybe that way after we return home. It’s too much cash to carry around. And no, I’m not going ot Venmo. Or wouldn’t it be easier to raise tour prices (again) so TD’s can get better pay.
Assuming the TD does not have a merchant account to directly accept a credit card payment, any cc payment would then have to be processed through Tauck and then forwarded to the TD. Some of the issues: Who takes the hit on the transaction fee (Tauck or the TD); Who takes the hit on any currency conversion fee, if there is one; Does the TD have concerns if Tauck knows how much they are getting in tips from some guests; Does a guest care if Tauck knows how much they are tipping? I'm sure there are other potential issues. I understand the concern with carrying around that much cash for a few weeks, but you can always go to a local ATM in the last days and withdraw the cash for the tips in the local currency.
Funny story about a tip we gave a British based TD on the Scandinavia tour. We tipped him in US$ 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.
When I’m on my last day in the middle of an African bush, where do I find an ATM? My Tauck tours are often in remote places. Some places don’t even have an In room safe. I’m not being awkward. On a two week tour, that’s $420 for two of us, plus the other money we need. That’s a lot of cash. Every time you move hotels, you must carry that on your person.
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. Ok, you say, all Tauck guests can afford it, but there are plenty of people out there who save every penny to go on a once in a lifetime tour, and that could push them over the edge.
Just a thought...there are some apparel stores that have a myriad of shirts, pants and jackets with hidden zippers to keep cash and credit cards safe. My husband had such outfits that he wore exclusively for travel. Carrying gratuity funds was never an issue for us.
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.
Third elephant on the left.
Sam - I agree with you about the bus drivers, espeically in the EU where there are regualtions for off-time, pay, etc. The bus drivers don't work for Tauck. They work for the bus companies, where they get paid the same regardless of whom their passengers are.
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.
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.
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.
I have no problem using Venmo or Zelle. It is 100% safer than carrying cash. I am in my 70’s and although daunting, I’ve tried to keep up with technology such as banking online, transferring money, sending cash to another that they receive it in seconds. I worry less that way than trying to worry about about cash stashed someone on my body or hidden away someplace my luggage or hotel room safe. Once it’s lost or stolen - it is gone.
On another note, there are companies that require their TD to be tipped more than 15.00 per person per day.
OurTravels34 - agree! I have had ZERO issues with Zelle & ApplePay for YEARS.
There are lots of issues with Venmo & PayPal lately, but I'd love to tip with Zelle or ApplePay. Much easier than carrying so much cash around for 2 weeks. Many times we do try & find an ATM towards the end of the trip, but often, the smaller towns don't have them easy to find.
It takes a long time and a lot of training to fly one of those large commercial airliners, such as an A-320. A bus driver doesn't need nearly as much training. Because of that, the airline pilot is paid more than a bus driver. In many of the countries we travel to, a bus driver is not a wealthy person and those tips are really appreciated.
I don’t have to worry about carrying extra tipping money this coming year, my only Tauck tour is a small ship one, so tips are included. Maybe when I book a 2026 trip in the next few weeks, I’ll find recommendations of $20 a day pp. Maybe the tip will add up to more than the price of a tour.
How about preloaded visa or Mastercards???
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.
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.
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.
Chris Morrison is the one of the best TDs Tauck has. They should all be up to his standards.
There are four or more tour directors on the small ship cruises and more than one on the river boats. To make it fair for all the directors, that’s the simple reason. Can you imagine everyone liking the same director and not tipping the same to each.
Agreed. He was very good on our Morocco tour.
While I like the idea of Tauck including all gratuities, I wonder whether the TDs would like it. We often add an extra tip for exceptional service, ship or shore. Many TDs may not like the idea of including the tip on land tours, because I suspect a lot of what they get in tips is under the table! Also not including the tip provides an incentive for the land TDs to be nice, interact with the guests and not just be a monitor.
The suggested amount does not seem excessive, given the cost and quality of the trips. I wonder whether the increase of 25% is to attract better/more TDs?
It is unfair not to increase the compensation for the small(er) group TDs. Instead just increase the base price of the small group trips. I appreciate the opportunity to take a small group tour and would hope that the quality of the TD is the same or better than the bigger groups. There are some lazy or poor TDs out there.
I don't understand the proportionality of the tip for the bus driver to the TDs. 2/3 of suggested amount of TD?
Sealord, I did not in anyway intend to insult airline pilots. Being a retired Naval officer I've known and worked with many aviators, one of our good friends and neighbors is a pilot for United and another is a former Blue Angels CO. I was responding to Smiling Sam's post and just trying to get across the point that Tauck coach drivers do more than just safely drive us around. There is so much behind the scenes work that TDs, CDs, and coach drivers do that most of us don't understand until we've taken multiple tours.
I'm sorry you've gotten mistaken for a bell hop. I guess it's the same as the male pilot at Oceana who thought I must be a nurse because I was a female officer.
Again, I admire the work pilots do and am very thankful when they get us safely to where we're going.
If they raise the cost of tours instead of suggesting tips, what happens when they implement "no tax on tips"?
Claudia, the point I was trying to make was that the bus drivers don't do specific, varying tasks for individuals on the tour like the TDs often do. The drivers job, may contain many facets but they all relate to the working of the bus or the tour as a whole. Their tasks don't vary for individuals on the tour. This is why I say, since they don't provide any custom services to each individual, then I believe the tipping paradigm shouldn't apply.
The bus drivers tasks are the same for all people on the tour so why should any of their compensation be driven by an individual tour taker's tipping desire. If they, at times, provided custom services to individuals, like TDs often do, then I'd think differently.
Not sure how this is relevant.
First, I suspect many cash tips are not reported as income.
Second, a good number of TDs aren't American, so their tax laws are different than ours.
Third, the promise of no tax on tips was made by a pathological liar, so it may or may not happen. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
I really doubt if "no tax on tips" will ever happen.
To rephrase, I should have said "if" they implement "no tax on tips". Raising the cost of the tours as an alternate to requesting tips could possibly present a tax issue for those who are American.
Since many of the new journeys are smaller in size I wonder if they are trying to make the tour director " whole" versus leading a larger group. They definitely could add the cost to the journey price, but I've seen a rather significant jump in the 2025 tour price to the 2026 ones specially for the solo traveler fare. Trips are getting pricier but the dollar has been very strong versus local currencies. Given the size of their operation, I wonder if they hedge the cost of the trip in dollars versus the local currency price. oh well, probably a few less journeys in the future.
We have two back-to-back trips next year with Tauck. We are going to Namibia for eleven days and then Elegant Africa for twelve days. We will have $1,150.00 for the tips. I just wish they would add it to the price of the trip to make our lives easier than carrying around a lot of money.