Tipping on an SPB Tour.

I am looking into booking our tour for St. Petersburg on our Baltic Cruise next summer. I am going to use SPB Tours and was browsing their website when I noticed something. It says their price does NOT include a tip for the guide (10%) nor for the driver (5%). I was thinking about the cost and for my partner and I, we would be tipping a total of $60 to the guide and $30 to the driver, almost $100 in tips. Anyone who has taken this tour, did you tip this amount? That seems really high to me being that the cost of the tour is not exactly cheap, so I would assume the driver and guide are being paid a decent salary based on the cost of the tour. I know they cover lunches and entry fees and have other overhead but surely the guide and driver should be factored into that cost. Is this just a suggested tip or is it an actual cost? I hate to sound cheap but I would have thought handing each a $20 would have been nice, especially with up to 16 people per tour.

I am looking into booking our tour for St. Petersburg on our Baltic Cruise next summer. I am going to use SPB Tours and was browsing their website when I noticed something. It says their price does NOT include a tip for the guide (10%) nor for the driver (5%). I was thinking about the cost and for my partner and I, we would be tipping a total of $60 to the guide and $30 to the driver, almost $100 in tips. Anyone who has taken this tour, did you tip this amount? That seems really high to me being that the cost of the tour is not exactly cheap, so I would assume the driver and guide are being paid a decent salary based on the cost of the tour. I know they cover lunches and entry fees and have other overhead but surely the guide and driver should be factored into that cost. Is this just a suggested tip or is it an actual cost? I hate to sound cheap but I would have thought handing each a $20 would have been nice, especially with up to 16 people per tour.

I am assuming that you are talking about a 2-Day Tour. We tipped those percentages last year. We toured with three other couples and our cost per couple was higher, so the gratuity per couple was probably a little higher as well. Our guide helped all of us with our night one evening plans and was pretty flexible with us as adjusted our itinerary a little.

The suggested gratuity was $25/$30 for the guide and $10/$15 for the driver. I checked my email to confirm. That's about $20 per day per person and you are suggesting $10 per person. The amount seemed right for very personal service. We tipped in that range, not more. If you feel comfortable in the lower range 25 and 10 go with that. Your preference per person is 10 and 10 or $5 per day per person for each. That seems low to me for what they do.

Other tour operators suggest the same figures.

They're probably (?) in line with the US but not with Europe, and I suspect - but don't know - that they're higher than the norm in Russia.

But one thing's for sure - there's not the same "presumption" of tips as there is in the US. So I suggest you tip whatever you feel happy with, based on the quality of tour & guide. It's not the big deal that it is in the US.

We gave the guide 10%, and asked that she give some of it to the driver. She seemed perfectly happy with that.

JB :)

I think Americans are so used to the tipping tradition at home they think it is natural all over the world. And generally only tour companies, do sort of expect it when they work for Americans.

But we don't automatically do the "U.S. standard" (15-20%) when tipping in other countries. And we tip only if the guide did above and beyond or added to the fun of the day. "When in Rome, do as the Romans."

Thanks for the replies. I do feel they are taking advantage of the fact that many of the people on the tour are Americans and they know Americans are used to tipping. I know tipping is not at all the same over in Europe although I will be honest and say I am not sure about Russia. Tipping on a tour seems odd, though. That isn't something Americans would be used to tipping on over here. You put that into the cost of the tour. The owners of those tours must be making a killing since they must be paying the guides pennies and having them rely on tips. It puts a sour taste in my mouth.

Your preference per person is 10 and 10 or $5 per day per person for each. That seems low to me for what they do.

But a tip is not for paying them to do the job they were hired to do. Europeans and Russians are paid a living wage. It is not at all like in the U.S. where our servers are paid a minimal amount, with gratuities making up the majority of their pay.

What seems low to a Bostonian, is not low in Europe. Note John's comment. It's just how one looks at other country's traditions.;) And certainly a personal choice. Certainly any tip the OP adds will be more than a fellow Russian adds.:)

Thanks for the replies. I do feel they are taking advantage of the fact that many of the people on the tour are Americans and they know Americans are used to tipping. I know tipping is not at all the same over in Europe although I will be honest and say I am not sure about Russia. Tipping on a tour seems odd, though. That isn't something Americans would be used to tipping on over here. You put that into the cost of the tour. The owners of those tours must be making a killing since they must be paying the guides pennies and having them rely on tips. It puts a sour taste in my mouth.

You are certainly in your right to tip or not on any of the tours you take in Europe. No one is going to chase you down or trip you on the way off the van. Do what you feel comfortable with. Only a fellow American with a different view of tipping will look at you funny. :p

But a tip is not for paying them to do the job they were hired to do. Europeans and Russians are paid a living wage. It is not at all like in the U.S. where our servers are paid a minimal amount, with gratuities making up the majority of their pay.

 

What seems low to a Bostonian, is not low in Europe. Note John's comment. It's just how one looks at other country's traditions.;) And certainly a personal choice. Certainly any tip the OP adds will be more than a fellow Russian adds.:)

Maybe the companies that cater to Americans don't pay a living wage and they let their employees know that they should expect X amount in wages and Y amount in gratuities. In any case, we went out to dinner in St Petersburg and the Steves guide said 10% in restaurants is an appropriate tip.

The way I looked at it is that SPB provides a general range for gratuities. You are not obligated to follow it, but I think they expect their customers to follow it and the guides, who are licensed, expect it as well. There are some smaller mom & pop companies in St Petersburg who run their own tours and get great reviews in TripAdvisor. Since they own the companies and run the tours, maybe no tips are expected. That could be an option to those who want a quality tour, but who are uncomfortable leaving $20 per person per day for tours.

Thanks for the replies. I do feel they are taking advantage of the fact that many of the people on the tour are Americans and they know Americans are used to tipping. I know tipping is not at all the same over in Europe although I will be honest and say I am not sure about Russia. Tipping on a tour seems odd, though. That isn't something Americans would be used to tipping on over here. You put that into the cost of the tour. The owners of those tours must be making a killing since they must be paying the guides pennies and having them rely on tips. It puts a sour taste in my mouth.

I really think you are being a bit presumptuous, aren't you. You have deduced that the owners of these great companies are paying their wonderful guides pennies, while raking in all the profits? WOW. Where did you get this stuff from.

PLUS, as an American, maybe we do things in a different way, but when I get good service, exceptional service, as I did on my tour, I want to reciprocate with a decent enough tip. If Europeans frown on that, so be it.

And where does it say most people on these tours are Americans. On my tour, we had 16 people and only 4 were Americans.

I have been posting on this board for many years, and every one returning from St Petersburg has nothing but great praise for their guides. Speaking about them as highly educated, knowledgeable and always ready to help. I hardly think they are being paid pennies. Another WOW.

Tipping is up to you. No one will shoot you, not let you off the tour bus if you do not want to leave a tip. You go to a restaurant and leave 18 %, so a 10% tip for two full days of extraordinary service is surely not way out of line.

And to the OP, your price of a tour is NOT high at all, for 2 days, probably about $300 PP. See what a private tour guide will cost you to show you a European city.

anyway, when we went, we tipped 10%, $60--2/3 to the guide and 1/3 to the driver and were happy to do it.

Cheers

Len

I am looking into booking our tour for St. Petersburg on our Baltic Cruise next summer. I am going to use SPB Tours and was browsing their website when I noticed something. It says their price does NOT include a tip for the guide (10%) nor for the driver (5%). I was thinking about the cost and for my partner and I, we would be tipping a total of $60 to the guide and $30 to the driver, almost $100 in tips. Anyone who has taken this tour, did you tip this amount? That seems really high to me being that the cost of the tour is not exactly cheap, so I would assume the driver and guide are being paid a decent salary based on the cost of the tour. I know they cover lunches and entry fees and have other overhead but surely the guide and driver should be factored into that cost. Is this just a suggested tip or is it an actual cost? I hate to sound cheap but I would have thought handing each a $20 would have been nice, especially with up to 16 people per tour.

Hi, We were on a SPB 2 day active tour in St. Petersburg. It was the most wonderful tour we have ever had. Our guide and driver could not have been better. Victoria, the owner, welcomed us back on our last day and thanked us for using her company. I do not recall what tip we gave, it was a few years ago, but I know it would have been a reasonable amount because we had such an enjoyable time. The price of the tour was a great deal cheaper than our ships tour and I know we had a much more interesting and amazing time than those on the ship's tours. My advice is if you enjoy your tour reward the work the tour guides and drivers do by giving them a tip. If not don't bother. We have only once been on a private tour where the guide was not very good and seemed disinterested in her work so we did not tip. We are still here to tell the tale.

Have a wonderful tour.

I find it interesting that people pay thousands of dollars or euros etc for a wonderful vacation but don't want to pay a tour guide or driver. Curious. To each their own....

It was the most wonderful tour we have ever had.

My advice is if you enjoy your tour reward the work the tour guides and drivers do by giving them a tip. If not don't bother. We have only once been on a private tour where the guide was not very good and seemed disinterested in her work so we did not tip.

 

.

I agree totally with you. We don't tip because someone "expects it" as one poster feels. We judge the tip amount by the tour guide's performance. We expect a decent tour. If the guide adds to our day with personality, knowledge etc he/she will be happily rewarded .

We too had a bad guide once. While driving, instead of adding information about the area, he spent the time on his cell phone talking in his native language. So rude and unprofessional that none of our group of 8 tipped. He basically acted as a driver, not a guide.

I find it interesting that people pay thousands of dollars or euros etc for a wonderful vacation but don't want to pay a tour guide or driver. Curious. To each their own....

Everyone here pays for their tours. :confused:

Everyone here pays for their tours. :confused:

I think they meant, tip the guide and driver.

Cheers

Len

If I have a good time, I tip and I tip well. 10% means we had a good time. I've tipped 20% several times before.

In Hong Kong, we did a "3 hour" walking tour that went over 5 hours including the lunch that my husband and I happily covered for our guide - we had a blast. We wanted to adopt him for the rest of the trip! I think we tipped him over 30% - money well spent! I only wish we could clone him and tour with him all over the world :)

I have no problem tipping guides, drivers, servers etc when it is my option.. on cruise ships where they automaticly add it on, I don't like it, on tours when the owner tells me I should tip $xx I don't like it because it is no longer my option. It should be for service above and beyond the expected. It should not be presumed or demanded.