Fellow travelers. Looks like our trip in on. 42 days remain until departure. So question….. what’s the recommendation for tipping our tour directors? I know all other tips are covered but we used to tip the director at end of trip. Any advice?
Tipping guidelines are in the pre-trip information you should have received by email after making your final payment. The current guidelines for land tours are $10 per day for the TD and $7 per day for the driver.
I view Tauck's tipping suggestions as a minimum only guideline. I plan in advance, have my thank you cards and cash ready. I find that I usually exceed the guidelines. My choice, certainly not a requirement. And I always leave something for some crew members on riverboat tours. They work so hard and are away from home for such long periods of time.
Our pre-trip document says tipping for tour directors is included. Are you tipping the amounts mentioned above on top of this?
“ Typically, gratuities for the Tauck Director are not included in the price of the tour. Tauck's River Cruising programs however feature a Tauck Cruise Director as well as a team of Tauck Directors (rather than a single individual), and we recognize that awarding gratuities to a group can be complicated and costly. For this reason, we have made an exception to our policy and have included the gratuities for the Tauck Directors and the Tauck Cruise Director in the price of your journey. Gratuities for the motorcoach driver(s), local guides, hotel bellmen, ship staff and restaurant staff have also been included.”
All gratuities are included on the riverboat tours; they are not included on land tours, with the exception of the local guides. Nonetheless, if I receive exemplary service on any tour I show my appreciation. This is merely my choice.
Tips for the "Tour Guides" are Included on the tour cost.- Tipping for "Tour Directors" are NOT.
Tour guides- are the local guides from each city, the ones that explain and show the city around.
Tour Directors - are the ones that take care of the tour logistics, make sure everything runs smoothly, help out with any issues, protects the group.
Yes, I agree. There have been a few occasions in which I have tipped a local guide (they are quite regulated in Europe by the way), especially when one has spent several hours with the group.
Hello. Would love some guidelines/suggestions for tipping. There are 3 in our party (land tour) and I thought I'd read $10 pp/pd for tour director and either $4 or $7 pp/pd for driver. My travel agent reports that Tauck now suggests $15 pp/pd for tour director and $10 pp/pd for driver. That would be around $450 for tour director and $300 for driver, which sounds like an awful lot - and I don't want to be carrying that amount of cash with me. Also, even though the tour book says "11 days" I assert that it actually works out to 10 days (I don't count trip home as a day). Would love to get everyone's input. Thank you.
In my opinion, the amount of the tip to the tour director should reflect your opinion of the job they did. If you feel they did an excellent job, you should say so with your tip. If you feel they were not a really good tour director, you should trim your tip.
In the past, we've always used the guideline of $10/day/person. If the tour director was great (as our Morocco TD was) we exceed that.
We've been on a number of Tauck tours and only had one tour director who was not up to Tauck standards (that was on the tour of Ireland).
I count the final day as one of the days for the tip. There's a lot of work to be done to arrange the rides to the airport (or wherever) and often the TD gets up an at ungodly hour to see people off. If there were problems with the luggage transfer (which has never happened to me), the TD would have to deal with that, too.
Agreed MCD. Tauck counts the first and last days as part of the tour. Since they also set the guidelines you should use their number of days in determining the gratuity for the TD. Driver tip I base on the number of days on the bus.
Would appreciate some more input. We are on Bridges Italy tour in a couple of weeks. Had plan to tip TD and Driver; however, in the final trip details sent several weeks ago Tauck says it has made exception and all gratuities for TD Driver, local guides, restaurants etc. have been included in the Tour cost. Definitely don’t want to be “cheap” but adding additional tips to those already included for our party of 6 would be rather expensive.
Thanks for any input you can provide.
@Johnwvu In a situation where the gratuities are included in the tour, you can give a modest tip if you felt the TD went above and beyond. You would not do $10/day/person in that situation but some amount that would express your gratitude for the way s/he went above and beyond. It could be $20, $50, or even $100 depending on the situation.
On the Morocco tour we took this year, the TD went all out to recover our luggage that the airlines lost. It took six days but he was able to get our bags to us. By ourselves, we would have never retrieved them. That was what I considered "above and beyond".
Fun story about tipping. We took the Scandinavian land toor in June 2016. Our TD was a UK citizen and resident. We, and I suspect all others on the tour, tipped him in US dollars, using Tauck's' guidance, on the last day of the tour. The next day the Brexit vote was taken and the US dollar appreciated 30% against the British Pound the following day. Timing is everything.
whogastim
8:53AM
Question re: tipping on land tour…do we tip Tour Director and Bus Driver in Euros or Dollars? We’ll be in Italy if that makes a difference.
On our Italy trip this past May we took enough US Dollars to tip the Tour Director and Driver. Our tour director turned out to be a European citizen (Sweden as I recall) but lives in Italy. We decided to tip in Euros since she lives in Europe full time. Same with the driver who was Italian. It made more sense to tip them in Euros.
I don’t think the TD’s often have time to go to a bank. They sometimes offer to be a ‘’bank’. Guests often show up with nothing but large bills for convenience, and there is no place to get small bills. That is one of the reasons I carry a variety of small bills. On our last trip I used about fifty singles for tips for people that did things not arranged for by Tauck.
Be mindful of the exchange rates when your gratuity is in local currency or a mixture of currencies. If the minimum guideline is 15.00 U. S. dollars per day you should compute the equivalent in local currency.
kfn: “ If the minimum guideline is 15.00 U. S. dollars per day … “. Sorry … it is not. I have my final travel documents in my hand dated 4/26/2022. The ‘recommended’ not ‘minimum’ is ten dollars per day per person. We tipped more than that, but your post left me concerned that we did not tip as much over the ‘recommended’ than we thought. If the ‘government’ keeps increasing the money supply, that number of course will need to be revised.
It doesn't really matter, in my opinion. What matters to me is making sure I fairly compensate them for the level of service they provide. Do what you feel comfortable doing.
Tip in the currency of the country where you’re traveling. If you use US dollars, they’ll have to pay a fee to exchange it to their own currency, which means they’ll get less. I take the amount recommended by Tauck, convert it to the local currency, then add to that.
Comments
Tipping guidelines are in the pre-trip information you should have received by email after making your final payment. The current guidelines for land tours are $10 per day for the TD and $7 per day for the driver.
I view Tauck's tipping suggestions as a minimum only guideline. I plan in advance, have my thank you cards and cash ready. I find that I usually exceed the guidelines. My choice, certainly not a requirement. And I always leave something for some crew members on riverboat tours. They work so hard and are away from home for such long periods of time.
Our pre-trip document says tipping for tour directors is included. Are you tipping the amounts mentioned above on top of this?
“ Typically, gratuities for the Tauck Director are not included in the price of the tour. Tauck's River Cruising programs however feature a Tauck Cruise Director as well as a team of Tauck Directors (rather than a single individual), and we recognize that awarding gratuities to a group can be complicated and costly. For this reason, we have made an exception to our policy and have included the gratuities for the Tauck Directors and the Tauck Cruise Director in the price of your journey. Gratuities for the motorcoach driver(s), local guides, hotel bellmen, ship staff and restaurant staff have also been included.”
All gratuities are included on the riverboat tours; they are not included on land tours, with the exception of the local guides. Nonetheless, if I receive exemplary service on any tour I show my appreciation. This is merely my choice.
Tips for the "Tour Guides" are Included on the tour cost.- Tipping for "Tour Directors" are NOT.
Tour guides- are the local guides from each city, the ones that explain and show the city around.
Tour Directors - are the ones that take care of the tour logistics, make sure everything runs smoothly, help out with any issues, protects the group.
mil,
Yes, I agree. There have been a few occasions in which I have tipped a local guide (they are quite regulated in Europe by the way), especially when one has spent several hours with the group.
Hello. Would love some guidelines/suggestions for tipping. There are 3 in our party (land tour) and I thought I'd read $10 pp/pd for tour director and either $4 or $7 pp/pd for driver. My travel agent reports that Tauck now suggests $15 pp/pd for tour director and $10 pp/pd for driver. That would be around $450 for tour director and $300 for driver, which sounds like an awful lot - and I don't want to be carrying that amount of cash with me. Also, even though the tour book says "11 days" I assert that it actually works out to 10 days (I don't count trip home as a day). Would love to get everyone's input. Thank you.
The latest documents I got from Tauck this week for a July tour say $10 and $7. But really it’s up to you, it certainly isn’t compulsory.
In my opinion, the amount of the tip to the tour director should reflect your opinion of the job they did. If you feel they did an excellent job, you should say so with your tip. If you feel they were not a really good tour director, you should trim your tip.
In the past, we've always used the guideline of $10/day/person. If the tour director was great (as our Morocco TD was) we exceed that.
We've been on a number of Tauck tours and only had one tour director who was not up to Tauck standards (that was on the tour of Ireland).
Thank you British and MikeHenderson. Much appreciated! Keep those comments coming :-)
I count the final day as one of the days for the tip. There's a lot of work to be done to arrange the rides to the airport (or wherever) and often the TD gets up an at ungodly hour to see people off. If there were problems with the luggage transfer (which has never happened to me), the TD would have to deal with that, too.
Agreed MCD. Tauck counts the first and last days as part of the tour. Since they also set the guidelines you should use their number of days in determining the gratuity for the TD. Driver tip I base on the number of days on the bus.
Would appreciate some more input. We are on Bridges Italy tour in a couple of weeks. Had plan to tip TD and Driver; however, in the final trip details sent several weeks ago Tauck says it has made exception and all gratuities for TD Driver, local guides, restaurants etc. have been included in the Tour cost. Definitely don’t want to be “cheap” but adding additional tips to those already included for our party of 6 would be rather expensive.
Thanks for any input you can provide.
Ah, yes, I think on Bridges tours, the tips for the TD are included! This is the same as on River Cruises and Small ship cruises
John
If Tauck says it's included, you're good. Of course if you feel so inclined you could tip a little extra.
@Johnwvu In a situation where the gratuities are included in the tour, you can give a modest tip if you felt the TD went above and beyond. You would not do $10/day/person in that situation but some amount that would express your gratitude for the way s/he went above and beyond. It could be $20, $50, or even $100 depending on the situation.
On the Morocco tour we took this year, the TD went all out to recover our luggage that the airlines lost. It took six days but he was able to get our bags to us. By ourselves, we would have never retrieved them. That was what I considered "above and beyond".
Question re: tipping on land tour…do we tip Tour Director and Bus Driver in Euros or Dollars? We’ll be in Italy if that makes a difference.
Chose whichever is more convenient for you.
Fun story about tipping. We took the Scandinavian land toor in June 2016. Our TD was a UK citizen and resident. We, and I suspect all others on the tour, tipped him in US dollars, using Tauck's' guidance, on the last day of the tour. The next day the Brexit vote was taken and the US dollar appreciated 30% against the British Pound the following day. Timing is everything.
On our Italy trip this past May we took enough US Dollars to tip the Tour Director and Driver. Our tour director turned out to be a European citizen (Sweden as I recall) but lives in Italy. We decided to tip in Euros since she lives in Europe full time. Same with the driver who was Italian. It made more sense to tip them in Euros.
We usually tip in dollars with maybe some local currency like pounds or Hungarian florints that we're not planning to use anytime soon.
I figure with the wad of cash the TD and driver will be getting, unless they're stashing it under their mattress they need to take it to a bank.
I think it's more important to tip fairly (or even generously this past year) than which currency.
I don’t think the TD’s often have time to go to a bank. They sometimes offer to be a ‘’bank’. Guests often show up with nothing but large bills for convenience, and there is no place to get small bills. That is one of the reasons I carry a variety of small bills. On our last trip I used about fifty singles for tips for people that did things not arranged for by Tauck.
They are constantly dealing in cash to tip local guides, porters, etc. Where do you think that local cash comes from?
We always tip generously in USD. If we have any local currency remaining at tour’s end, we will add it for the TD as well.
Be mindful of the exchange rates when your gratuity is in local currency or a mixture of currencies. If the minimum guideline is 15.00 U. S. dollars per day you should compute the equivalent in local currency.
kfn: “ If the minimum guideline is 15.00 U. S. dollars per day … “. Sorry … it is not. I have my final travel documents in my hand dated 4/26/2022. The ‘recommended’ not ‘minimum’ is ten dollars per day per person. We tipped more than that, but your post left me concerned that we did not tip as much over the ‘recommended’ than we thought. If the ‘government’ keeps increasing the money supply, that number of course will need to be revised.
Sealord - I was using the $15 as an illustration only. If.........
We usually tip in the local currency just because I always thought that would be easier for them. Maybe we need to rethink the currency we use.
terrilynn,
It doesn't really matter, in my opinion. What matters to me is making sure I fairly compensate them for the level of service they provide. Do what you feel comfortable doing.
Tip in the currency of the country where you’re traveling. If you use US dollars, they’ll have to pay a fee to exchange it to their own currency, which means they’ll get less. I take the amount recommended by Tauck, convert it to the local currency, then add to that.