Currency for tips in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland

I would say, yes, its rude. (But, it's kind of you to ask) Their currency is not the $. They would have to take all their foreign currency to a bank to have it converted. There likely would be a fee and a less than favorable exchange rate. If it's standard practice to give the drivers and guides tips, I would guess there would be a QR code or some way to pay with a credit card. But, that's a guess.

Regarding US dollars......last year at a hotel I frequent in Scotland, one of the housekeepers, who I know, came up to me and handed me $10 in US currency. She had been left it as a tip. She said "it's no use to me."

I offered to give her the equivalent in British pounds. She refused. So instead, I knew she was an animal lover and donated the money to the local animal shelter when I returned to the US. (I also matched it out of my own pocket.)

Don't assume they can accept US dollars or credit cards.

Does your tour company offer suggestions about how the requested tips should be done, or where and when to make ATM withdrawals, and whether that’s anything they’ll be expediting, and just how much would be a reasonable withdrawal?

If they’re asking you to pay the tips, perhaps they can provide some level of guidance. We did get cash in Iceland, but our trip there was in 2014, before things became more and more cashless. In 2023, we visited both Denmark and Norway (not on a tour), and didn’t withdraw cash in either country.

I would never want to walk around with zero local currency, but then I tend to stay weeks in each country, so my situation isn't typical.

Based on my experience in 2022, I can tell you Norway is so close to cash-free that I had a very, very difficult time finding a bank-owned ATM in Oslo. When I did locate one, it had a line of 10-12 people waiting to use it. I don't know whether the situation was/is so extreme in other cities there, because I did not need to make a second withdrawal. In the end, I used a non-bank ATM that --to my surprise--didn't charge a fee or force me to accept DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion). My guess is the owner makes enough money from users who do not understand DCC is a very, very bad deal that it doesn't need to assess a separate charge.

Obviously, I'm not suggesting Hawaii is a foreign country, but I just did a boat tour there. I signed up online, where there was an option to to add a tip. When we took the tour, there was a QR code where we checked in. There also was at least three QR codes for tip payments on the boat. With those countries you are traveling to using cc so heavily, I'd be surprised if there wasn't a similar set up, if tips were expected/common.

Before:
I would put a huge question mark on the tour company because tipping is very unusual in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Do they underpay their service providers that these need tip to survive? If so, which quality of drivers and guides can you expect? Or do they work with underpaid people from Eastern Europe?

I recommend to look for a different company.

rude to pay the tips in USD

Yes, it makes their life more complicated for receivers. Currency USD plays no role in most European countries. People would need to bring it to a bank which can be a very long distance away.

The tips mentioned are probably for the guide and the driver. Not an unusual request.

No to credit card and maybe to US $. However, US dollars are not as valued in the countries you mentioned as they have strong, perhaps stronger, currencies of their own. The dollar requires the recipient to go do an exchange. Instead of being a “reward”, it becomes a task with a bit of a burden. It can also seem like we Americans feel like the world should do everything our way and can’t be bothered with their country’s currency.

If you absolutely have no way to get local currency, then I guess something is better than nothing. However, you know in advance which countries you are visiting and how many days in each. You can plan in advance and either order currency prior to leaving or use ATMs once there.

Edited to add: Tips are always voluntary whether suggested by tour company or not….

Before the euro was introduced more than 25 years ago, any trip to multiple countries in Europe involved getting multiples currencies, and keeping track of what to use where. Tap-to-pay didn’t exist, credit and debit cards weren’t quite as pervasive, and travelers cheques were a standard part of any trip. Conversion fees were an accepted, regular part of the process. Having large amounts of various currencies wasn’t unusual. Now it seems like we don’t want to have to withdraw too much, especially if not being in a particular country for very long.

Let’s say you pulled out $100 to $200 worth for each country. Will that satisfy the tip needs, with anything extra going towards meals and some shopping before you arrive in the next country? Little cloth bags, or Ziplocs might be helpful for keeping various currencies separate, if you wind up wanting to hang onto any for future use.