Tipping on Tours

Do you tip your tour guides? We're scheduled for a whale watch with Orca, the train in Skagway, and a Misty Fiords floatplane tour. Not sure if tipping is expected and if so, how much per person? What if the tour is with the owner of the company...is it proper protocol to tip the owner?

We do tip tour guides. We base this on the quality of the tour and the quality of the tour guide. It is not necessary to tip the owner but you can if you would like.

Keith

Remember that unlike some of the Caribbean islands, Alaska companies need to follow U.S. labor laws. Nobody except a waiter is making $2/hr, so why feel the need to tip on top of the pricey excursion?

Do you tip your tour guides? We're scheduled for a whale watch with Orca, the train in Skagway, and a Misty Fiords floatplane tour. Not sure if tipping is expected and if so, how much per person? What if the tour is with the owner of the company...is it proper protocol to tip the owner?

Thank you so much for this question. I was going to post a similar question.

I am always confused regarding tipping an owner/operator. I think "well they can raise the tour price if they don't think they're making enough money".

I booked a floatplane tour of Misty Fjords with Island Wings. I understand Michelle, will be our pilot, tour guide, and is the owner. Curious what others who have done that trip have done re: tipping.

Remember that unlike some of the Caribbean islands, Alaska companies need to follow U.S. labor laws. Nobody except a waiter is making $2/hr, so why feel the need to tip on top of the pricey excursion?

While they may not be making $2/hr, they may be low-paid because their employer expects them to make a living wage through tips. They could be paid the minimum wage. Not easy to survive on that, especially if you have someone to support.

We are traveling in less than two weeks on a cruise and have two independent excursions booked. I would like to know the amount others tip for these excursions.....

I don't care if it's the owner or not, I always tip, because I enjoyed the tour.

The "cost" has nothing to do with tipping in my opinion, except to excuse not doing so. Of course, a 2 hour flightseeing is going to be "expensive", so is a multi hour boat tour. If you want to tip do so, plenty of people don't.

I don't care if it's the owner or not, I always tip, because I enjoyed the tour.

 

The "cost" has nothing to do with tipping in my opinion, except to excuse not doing so. Of course, a 2 hour flightseeing is going to be "expensive", so is a multi hour boat tour. If you want to tip do so, plenty of people don't.

Someone give me a general guideline as to how much to tip, what you've tipped in the past, etc. If you do decide to tip, do you tip a percentage of the cost of the excursion or a just a set amount? $10 pp, $20 pp? What?

Someone give me a general guideline as to how much to tip, what you've tipped in the past, etc. If you do decide to tip, do you tip a percentage of the cost of the excursion or a just a set amount? $10 pp, $20 pp? What?

Each person is different. Some tip 10 or 15 percent. Others a set amount. There is no right or wrong and speaking for myself we base this on the quality of the excursion and tour guide.

If we really think the tour guide has added tremendous value we tip more. If we didn't care for the tour guide we might not tip at all. And we are fair tippers.

Just tip would you think is appropriate and what fits with your budget.

Keith

Tipping tour guides is just one of those issues that vary considerably.

There is no right or wrong.

Just do what you think you want to do.

Keith

Someone give me a general guideline as to how much to tip, what you've tipped in the past, etc. If you do decide to tip, do you tip a percentage of the cost of the excursion or a just a set amount? $10 pp, $20 pp? What?

This is my range, and also I tip the shuttle bus drivers.

We tip $5-$10per couple for a 1/2 day tour, $10- $20 per couple for a full day tour.We give the lower range for a bus tour, higher for a boat tour. If it's just a 1-2 hour trolley, bus or walking tour, just a few bucks. Do what is comfortable. If there is a driver and a tour guide, we tip both. Sometimes the tour guide shares the tips with the bus driver. this is what we do, do what feels right for you.

The most we've tipped was $40 to the guide who took us kayaking in Chilkoot Lake near Haines. It was just the two of us with him for about three hours on the lake. That worked out to be around 15 percent of the cost of the excursion through an independent operator. For a larger group tour, it's $5 to $10 per person for us for a good guide.

The times I really have trouble with tipping are when you are in contact with multiple people throughout a tour. For example, you might have a bus driver that gets you to a site, but does little other than drive. Once at the site, you may be helped by a different person in each area you visit. When we went on the mine tour in Juneau, we must have dealt with at least half a dozen people - bus driver, miner, gold panning helpers, etc. So who do you tip in these situations? Do they pool their tips?

Each excursion was different but here's the approx amount we tipped for 2 people:

Pilots - $10 - $20 (provided commentary, and safe smooth flights)

Fishing - $40 - $60 (piloted the boat, provided entertainment, gutted and cleaned our fish, took pictures)

Glacier Trek - $40 (private excursion, took TONS of pictures for us, and helped us repel 50 feet into an "ice cave" for a very special experience)

Dog Sledding - $20 (guide was very entertaining, took lots of pictures and was trying to raise money for the Iditarod)

Skagway - private tour with the owner so we didn't tip because she sets her prices and can determine her own profit. Plus the tour was $$$$.

We didn't usually tip drivers unless there was something really special. In general we don't tip just because we feel pressured but everyone we met in Alaska was pretty great and went out of there way to make the experience memorable.

Hope this helps!

Thank you to all for your responses. It has helped us plan accordingly.

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I don't like to tip at home, but I do. But I decided I would enjoy myself more if I just tipped. Most of the guides work very hard to make you enjoy your time there. On Chilkoot tour to emerald Lake our guide turned around for bears ( who knew bears like dandelions?) and toke us 5 miles off tour to take photo's of ship and harbor after I asked him to. I was so happy and gave him $25, don't tell my wife.