Tipping in Chile & Argentina

[dog]

I would like some guidance from those who have recently returned from Chile & Argentina on what's expected regarding tipping in restaurants, taxis, private tour guides and Princess tour guides.

[Lunenburg]

South America in general - 10% in restaurants, round up the bill for taxis or just a few pesos. 

 

Many tours give the guideline of  $5.00 US pp for a half day and $10.00 pp for a full day but when we are on tours with locals from Uruguay they give way less - maybe $2.00 US per person even for a full day and some give nothing. We were on a week long bus tour from Montevideo to Iguazu Falls and everyone on the bus was Uruguayan except us. On the last day they collected a tip for the 2 drivers and tour guide and gave most of what we offered back to us saying it was too much. 

[dog]

IN the restaurants this week 10 percent has been added to the bill. Taxis took your advice and drivers seem fine with that. 

[boom_boom]

In Argentina many restaurants add a 10% fee, but this does not go to the server. Several servers told us, just last week, that tips could only be paid in cash, the restaurant will not put tips on credit card bills. 

We gave about 10% most of the time to cab drivers and servers. We tipped tour guides based on the value we felt we got out of their efforts., Usually at least 10&. They Really prefer US Dollars to the Peso. When we were there the exchange rate varied from 36 to 40 Pesos to the dollar.

[Lunenburg]

23 hours ago, boom_boom said:

In Argentina many restaurants add a 10% fee, but this does not go to the server. Several servers told us, just last week, that tips could only be paid in cash, the restaurant will not put tips on credit card bills. 

We gave about 10% most of the time to cab drivers and servers. We tipped tour guides based on the value we felt we got out of their efforts., Usually at least 10&. They Really prefer US Dollars to the Peso. When we were there the exchange rate varied from 36 to 40 Pesos to the dollar.

 

[cashmeremypuppydog]

On 2/8/2019 at 12:28 PM, Lunenburg said:

We were on a week long bus tour from Montevideo to Iguazu Falls and everyone on the bus was Uruguayan except us. 

Hello Lunenburg,

Would you be kind enough to write a bit about your one week bus tour and could you share the name of the company and web site?  I would really appreciate.  Would you share your email address as well?

The Canadians!😎

[Lunenburg]

It was a great trip.

We took an overnight semi sleeper bus from Montevideo to Foz de Iguazu. The cost included breakfast and a supper buffet each night. One night we went to a dinner show also included in the cost.

We visited both sides of the Falls and most of the others went on an included visit to the hydro dam in Paraguay and did some shopping. We did not go and went to the Bird Park instead.

On our return to Uruguay we visited an amythyst mine and a Jesuit monastery which is now a ruin.

We used Rutatur http://www.rutatur.com/#/excursiones-rutatur-viajes-turismo-1     and went with the slightly more expensive hotel - there are two choices. $485US pp or $425 US pp for March trips.

They have lots of other trips and there are quite a few companies doing similar trips from both Montevideo and Buenos Aires. Such as

https://www.mturviajes.com.uy/mtur/index.php

http://www.aborigentours.com.ar/Aborigen Paquetes.html

There was a small additional charge for the Parks as we are not UY citizens and Canadians need a Brazil visa.

janway@tallships.ca

 

[cashmeremypuppydog]

57 minutes ago, Lunenburg said:

It was a great trip.

We took an overnight semi sleeper bus from Montevideo to Foz de Iguazu....

janway@tallships.ca

 

Hello Lunenburg,

Thank you so much for all the details.  I will study this soon (I copied and pasted your post).  We are heading to Japan for 62-days (17 days on our own and 42-days on the Westerdam) on March 12 so I will keep all my planning for our South America trip for this summer.

I will surely email you in the future.  From your CC’s name and email address, I am positive you live in Lunenburg...  Last week, I was telling the story of the Blue Nose and his print on the dime to my “students” (I just volunteer) at a school where immigrants learn English.  

Thank you again.

The Canadians!😎

[Lunenburg]

Hi, No we live in Uruguay but used to live between Lunenburg and Mahone Bay in NS and still use our NS internet provider.

Have a great trip, we are off to Brazil again by overnight bus in a couple of weeks to Gramado, Canela and Cambára do Sul. The buses down here are great, you get snacks and a meal along with drinks and they have a bar onboard, TV's etc. The service is more like on a plane than a bus.

On the trip to Iguazu, we had a dance contest in the aisle, passengers took the microphone and told risque jokes and stories and after dinner at 11.00 pm we watched a movie till about 2.00 am. They were a fun group.

[Lunenburg]

On 2/26/2019 at 8:40 AM, Lunenburg said:

 

Have a great trip, we are off to Brazil again by overnight bus in a couple of weeks to Gramado, Canela and Cambára do Sul. The buses down here are great, you get snacks and a meal along with drinks and they have a bar onboard, TV's etc. The service is more like on a plane than a bus.

Just to give a brief comment on Brazil.  We took several half day and full day tours with local companies in Gramado and Cambara do Sul. We were the only English speakers, everyone else was Brazilian. None of them gave any tips to the driver or guide. In restaurants and hotels 10% was always added and in one where we only got a verbal bill, we left a dollar or so in reals in case a tip was not included. We were followed by the waitress who told us we had left some money on the table. She seemed almost embarrassed when we said it was for her. Cabs were happy with loose change.