Tipping Private Tour Guides

Guidelines for tipping a tour guide (full day tour):

Large group--$2-$5/2-5 euros/2-5 pounds per person depending on the local currency.

Small group/family (private guide) 10-15% of the cost of the tour. This is for the whole group. So, if the tour itself cost say $100 then a $10-$15 gratuity for the entire group would be appropriate. It depends, of course, on how good a job he/she did.

Please remember that the vast majority of tour guides are independent contractors and not employees of the tour company. Therefore, they rarely get any kind of benefits and the "tourist season" is not all year long.

Frank, the tourist season seems to be all year round in many Europeon cities, notably Rome, London and Paris.

Also as indepentdent contractors are they not being paid a wage then, but receiving the whole amount and then just paying out for their expenses and admissions ?? Is that correct. Like a business owner??
If that is true I would think to tip less not more ot an independent guide, , I would tip more to a tour guide attached to one of those big tour companies as I bet their wages are just that , wages, and smaller then we imagine.

While the tourist season may seem to go all year round, the major months are still mid-April through mid-October. Business declines the other months.

Most independent guides work for a local tour company. So, you will hire a guide through them. The tour company gets most of the money.

A guide you hire directly also has additional costs such as liabilitly insurance, licensing, commission payments to referring agencies like concierges, hotel owners, front desk people, and so on. This type of guide will get to keep more but has much higher expensess. But that guide is probably doing work on your behalf before you even meet him/her.

I've worked with many local guides who added special stops to their tours that had to be worked on prior to meeting the group. It's these guides "connections" that you're giving them the extra for. And a private tour guide should be adding more than you would get on a regular tour.

I don't know about you, but if someone gives me great service, or goes out of their way to customize a tour to my interests, I like to show my appreciation.

Tipping is optional. If you think the guide was terrible, you don't have to give him anything. But then, they wouldn't be in business very long.

Frank, I do tip for great EXTRA service, I just do not get tipping someone for what I paid for , when in fact some of these private guides charge HUNDREDS of dollars for a day.. sorry, but in my life that is alot of money, and I expect alot for it.
I have tipped for certain extras, attitude is a big one, if I feel someone is truly enthusiasitic and has the ability to make me interested in what they are saying , then that IS worth more then a knowledgable but boring, "going through the motion " type of guide.

I think that regardless of how much a tour costs, I tip by time. If a tour costs me 50 euros for 2 hours I am not tipping them more then 5 euros. If that same tour was a whole day, but still only 50 euros( not likely I know ) , I would consider tipping 10 euros, as I tip for TIME and effort not just on a percentage of fee. Does that sound really unfair to you( I realize you used to guide) so I expect your opinion to be fairly representative of the trade.

The questions was what to tip a private tour guide for a FULL day's tour. I gave the going rate.

A two hour tour should not cost 50 Euros and a tour guide would only expect one or two euros.

But again, you can tip whatever you want. You don't have to tip anythihng. There are people who don't believe in giving a penny more than is necessary and there are others who like to show extra appreciation if they had a really good time.

I've led two week tours where I've been given 10 dollars by a couple as a tip and on the same tour was handed $100 by another couple. (At that time, the suggested tip was $2/day per person.) Tipping is individual. If you don't like my answer, tip whatever you want.

Pat, you don't like my answer, tip what you want, I don't care because I'm not your tour guide.

But again, I was asked what the suggested rates were...not by tour guides....but the guidelines found in tourbooks.

WHOA, Frank stop the hostility, I WAS asking you, and I did point out that I respected your opinion as a former guide.
Someone needs a nap or less caffiene.

I can respond for East African countries. A safari guide will anticipate $10-$15/day from each person on the tour. Obviously less if he's not that good, more if he's outstanding.

I can tell you that our guide was given $15-$20/day because a tour guide can make or break a trip. Ours happened to be FABULOUS and we were short 2 people. We were supposed to have 6 for our safari, we had 4 instead. Since all of us were together, it was basically a private safari for us and our guide went above and beyond (staying with animals at our behest or move on to see something he heard about on the radio.) He was wonderful and deserved every penny.

Pat, I just try to give information and help out. My response seemed to make you angry. I tried to answer your questions again. You got angrier and nastier.

I'm not going to play along. I was not hostile. I was just trying to answer your question.

I like knowing general guidelines for tipping. When I know what a normal tip is, I can adjust it up or down based on the quality of service I received.

Americans are often criticized for over-tipping. Too often we even give big tips for bad service.

In general, we need to get better at rewarding good service and not rewarding poor service.

Frank I was not the least bit angry. It seems that you seem to wish to think the worst of my posts.

Thank you .

I was asking for more explanations, counting on your experience in the career to enable you to clarify your opinions. Apparently tipping was a sore spot for you.

And in some countries, tipping is non-existant: Japan (considered rude), China (foreigners are overcharged anyway), Australia, New Zealand.

So far, I haven't found a European country where tips aren't appreciated even though a service charge may be added.

And yes Brad, you're right, Americans do tend to overtip which is why so many waiters in Europe love to wait on us.

ON the other hand, I once had a group of 250 British cellphone dealers on an incentive program in Los Angeles who would go down to the bar every day for a drink. Only they never tipped because they don't do that in pubs in the UK. The poor waitresses would get stiiffed and come to us complaining that we should tell them tip. We did, but it fell on deaf ears.

As Brad said, knowing the guidelines ahead of time is a good thing. How much to tip is a personal thing.