How Much Should We Tip Our Tour Guides?
Posted by Alternative_Ethereum@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 40 comments
We are a family of 4 going from Asia to USA next week. We'll be taking various "tours", such as --
- Antelope Canyon Tour (ACT), which is of large tour group type
- Gunblast Vegas (GV), which is of small group type (max 8 people)
The tour price we paid for our family are: ACT more than USD 300 , GV more than USD 700
The question is: Are we really supposed to tip (up to) 20% of the tour price, i.e., ACT = USD 60 and GV = USD 140 assuming their service is acceptable?
Last but not the least, how much would (did) you pay as a native American for similar tours?
Tok56@reddit
I never realized people tipped for a tour tbh
Perdendosi@reddit
Someone leading 25 people around a museum? No tipping necessary.
Someone driving you on a hop on hop off bus and giving commentary? If they do a particularly great job or go out of their way for superb service (really great commentary, do something special for the patrons) and they have a tip jar, maybe I'll throw a buck or two in.
But if you hire a driver and guide to take you and 4 of your friends on a half day or day trip? At least some tip would normally be expected.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
I agree. I usually tip a couple bucks for the drivers and the tour guide really depends on how much they're doing but it's at least 5 up to 20, maybe more if it is a private tour
tcspears@reddit
It’s not as common as restaurants, but if you have a private tour guide, people may tip if the service was above and beyond.
New_Part91@reddit
Coming to US to learn how to load and shoot firearms? I hope you are put on a high watched list for life.
FunTricky903@reddit
…why?
bh0@reddit
Tipping on the Antelope Canyon tour is entirely optional, maybe 50% of my group gave our guide a couple $$ at the end (Lower Canyon). I doubt anyone gave more than like $5. It's one of those things where the guide/service might be good or bad and gets tipped accordingly.
If it's a private tour of only your group, you guys should pool together some tips from the group.
RHS1959@reddit
No. The 20% guideline is for restaurants. If you book a private tour for a group of four you might tip $10-20 total if you feel that the service was excellent. For a large group, like a bus tour, $5 per person is plenty.
backlikeclap@reddit
I think tipping is a lot more optional for activities like this, where the guide is already being paid above minimum wage (and maybe getting free housing as well). A $20 tip would be considered more than enough by most people. If the guide really went above and beyond their duties then you could go up to $30 or $40.
A zero tip, or a "small" tip of $5-10 would also be acceptable.
cm070707@reddit
Idk about the GV but the antelope canyon tours I’ve been on definitely do not provide housing and there’s nothing stating they make above minimum wage. I usually tip $10-20 per person. Do not assume any guides get free housing and do not assume pay.
Js987@reddit
For the large group tour guide, a simple flat-dollar tip (say, $20) is probably fine unless that particular day is light on people and you get extra attention. A small group tour should indeed be a percentage of the total, 10-20%.
Ritterbruder2@reddit
I personally don’t think tipping is necessary in either place.
If I recall, the Antelope Canyon “tour” isn’t really a tour. They pick you up from the parking lot, drive you to the canyon, and drop you off. You are then free to explore the canyon on your own. All the driving to the canyon is off-road and you are on ancestral Indian land; hence you have to be driven there. But this was 10 years ago. I don’t know if things have changed.
At firing ranges, the guy there is a safety officer who loads and handles the guns for you. You are already paying extremely high markups for ammunition at these places.
tcspears@reddit
Tipping is always optional in the US, but it’s very common in restaurants, and services (like a barber). Those positions are basically independent and the tips are their main wages, like a commission.
Outside of those areas tipping is not that common. For things like tour guides, you may tip them if you felt they did a great job, or wanted to thank them. If nothing stood out, there’s no reason to tip. Similar to most Asian countries (other than Japan) where tipping isn’t expected, but it does happen when someone feels like they received really good service.
Tomagander@reddit
It would never occur to me to tip a tour guide. Tipping is for wait staff at sit down restaurants, and pizza delivery persons (and other take-out I suppose but I never get that).
Perdendosi@reddit
... And anyone handling your luggage ever who's not an airline employee. Airport porters, bellhops, hotel luggage storage folks. There's a LONG history of tipping those folks, and luggage porters don't have to make minimum wage, I don't believe.
... And taxis. In the 20th century, that just meant rounding up the fare to the nearest dollar. (First, because it was a huge pain for taxi drivers to make change, and second because taxi drivers who didn't own the license didn't make very much money.) Now, it's closer to waitstaff percentages. Uber and Lyft drivers are independent contractors and can lose money on nonstandard rides (like to my house in the suburbs). So if they come and pick me up or take me to a place where they're going to have to have a hard time getting another ride, I'll tip them a lot. If it's from downtown to the airport, I'll tip a couple of bucks.
... And movers, especially if the move is particularly difficult or the weather is particularly inclement. Some people buy them pizza, but I think they kind of get sick of pizza. So I think you have to tip a minimum that allows them to buy themselves a decent meal when they're done.
That would be my "absolute minimum" of people who should be tipped in the U.S. There are lots of other folks for whom I'd say tipping is now customary -- hair and nail stylists, personalized tour guides, hotel housekeepers, entertainers, and really anyone who performs a personalized service.
I know that tipping culture has gotten out of hand and we can debate whether we should be encouraging the expansion of tipping or laws and policies that hold employers to account for their employees' wages, but those first three categories are going to be tipped employees for a long time.
RedditBeginAgain@reddit
Tipping 20% would be excessive, but go wild if you want to. On a large shared group tour $20 per family would be more normal. For a small group consider being more generous.
If your guide is great, and really makes your day feel free to be generous. If they basically just drive the bus zero is fine.
TrailGordo@reddit
I used to lead similar tours. For three hours with a small group (max of 8) I would typically get $20-30 per group unless it was one large group of 8ish people. Then it might be $40-50 for the group. But this also was a scenario where the tour content was semi-customized to the group’s interests and there was a lot more one-one-one time for questions or chit chat. So it was a fairly personal experience. And I did all the driving as well as lead the walking tour. Getting less than $20 was a bit disappointing. I did make a bit more than minimum wage, but my state then had just the federal minimum wage rate. Plus the work was basically seasonal and certainly not guaranteed to get 40 hours per week. So I really did rely on tips.
For a large group, like on a large tour bus, I think tipping less is ok since there are more groups and it will be less personalized than the small group. $3-5 per couple is probably about right, or a family of four probably about $5-8.
bloodectomy@reddit
As a rule of thumb you tip these people:
servers at sit-down restaurants, barbers/hair dressers, bar tenders, tattoo artists, food delivery drivers, movers - basically people who are personally attending you or saving you wear and tear on your body.
you don't need to tip (eg) tour guides, fast food cash register folks, mechanics, tradespeople, etc
five_two@reddit
If the guide is just speaking, i will tip $5-10/person depending on the duration. If the guide is doing physical work (bike tour, kayak tour, etc), I will tip 20% because they’re doing more with setup and tear down.
Roam1985@reddit
Not a requirement, but 20 bucks at the end of each would make those guides' days.
GiraffeWithATophat@reddit
I have never tipped a tour guide. Guided tours are expensive enough and the guide is presumably getting paid decently.
Tipping is usually for more personal assistance. Restaurant servers, bar tenders, and jobs like bellhops are servicing YOU. A tour guide is speaking through their script to a group.
Capable_Suit_7335@reddit
In the USA at least in my area we don’t tip unless it’s waitstaff. Waitstaff usually gets paid bellow minimum wage so that’s why tipping is so huge to them.
For a luxury service a tip is appreciated but should not be required because those people make a livable wage (in theory).
Whatever tip you feel like is acceptable or appropriate should be fine.
DependentSun2683@reddit
15% should make them all happy
CVK327@reddit
Tipping isn't required everywhere. There are specific places you need to - Restaurants, bars, and golf caddies are the ones that come to mind. Most of their income is tips. With most other services, the employee gets paid fairly already, and if you feel like you want to tip, giving anything extra is a nice plus for them.
No-Fix-614@reddit
Nobody expects 20% on the entire tour price like it’s a restaurant bill. For tours, most Americans usually do something like $5 to $20 per person depending on how long/personal the tour was. Maybe more if the guide was amazing. Dropping $140 for a guy letting you shoot guns in Nevada would make him name his next child after you.
FamousCow@reddit
If it's a private tour that is a half day or less $10/person; full day $20/person. Large group, usually $10-20 for all of us. Multi-day tours, I'd tip $10-20/person/day depending on how they do.
rudyremembers@reddit
It probably wouldn't even occur to me to tip, what am I paying for a tour if not the guide's time and access? If presented with a tip jar at the end of the excursion, and the guide had been good, I might throw in $10-20?
marylander_@reddit
I probably wouldn't tip a tour guide like that. Maybe a small one. 20% is more for servers and waitstaff who it is legal to pay under minimum wage.
Meloncov@reddit
Large group tour, $10-$20 is plenty. Small group tour, 10-20%.
InvestigatorJaded261@reddit
As a tour guide, this is optimal. But tipping is also not a requirement.
Meloncov@reddit
Also, while tipping tour guides is definitely polite, it's not all but required in the way tipping waiters is. A significant percentage of people won't tip, and even a smaller tip is going to be appreciated.
Bread9846@reddit
I would not tip a tour guide, unless I felt they did an exceptional job. A tour guide should already be making very good money, as long as they are being screwed by their management. Mandatory tipping in the US is for food service workers.
IamGleemonex@reddit
When I’ve done tours like this, nowadays, the tour guide will likely have a Venmo they give you at the end of the tour. You don’t have to tip, but if you enjoyed the tour and the tour guide, I think it’s the right thing to do. You don’t have to factor in a percentage for this. Just a flat payment of $20 or $40 would be fine.
Also, just one other note:
“Native American” has its own meaning. It means the people who lived in the Americas before European settlers and colonization. I know it’s a whole weird semantics thing. But I am mentioning it because there are people who will hear “Native American” and think that’s what you mean. It would be better to say something like “US citizens” or even just “as someone who was born there”.
TiFist@reddit
For a 'regular' tour (large group, or not something that is made especially for you) then $10-20 per person is typically appropriate.
A very small, individualized tour may be something you pay a higher tip (like 10-20% of the overall tour for all people combined) but if they do this tour all the time and you're just one more group doing it, then the $10-20 per person rate is probably fine.
Mountain-Lychee4359@reddit
Tip culture exists because wait staff receive lower wages than the minimum in some places so that their wage is supplemented by tips. If the companies you're using pay their staff well, then it's not a big deal, you just do it to be polite. Tip at your discretion. Class typically determines how much a person tips. I can't afford to tip much for places that pay employees well, but I try to tip wait staff the full 20% if possible for table service.
Level-Object-2726@reddit
20% is mostly just for food service. If its an all day thing, I'd say maybe up to $50 for great service, if its just a couple hours like $20.
houdini31@reddit
I usually do $20
Alternative_Ethereum@reddit (OP)
$20 per family member, i.e., $80 in total (4*$20), or just $20 to the guide on behalf of my whole family?
houdini31@reddit
On behalf of all you guys unless you are the p ly ones on the tour then I might do more than $20 if there quite a few of you
Mesoscale92@reddit
I would recommend asking local subreddits. It would depend on how long the tours are and how much effort the guides are putting in.