Tipping - Sorry

[Lonedaddy]

So I get that tipping in Australia and NZ is not customary and similar to Europe round up....  What about shore excursions I was thinking 10 USD per person on them?  And is it acceptable to give AUD  in NZ or should I get some local currency in NZ also?  Also not directly on topic but are AUD or NZD acceptable for shore excursion tips in New Guinea and Lombok/Bali or should I use USD or local?

 

Thanks 

[PerfectlyPerth]

The simple answer is No. Full stop. Tipping is neither expected nor customary in either country and we prefer you leave such customs in your own country. 
 

NZ & AUS are two completely separate countries. With their own currency. 
 

For a cruise stop day trip there is really no need to be carrying cash. Just use a credit or debit card, tap&go, or AppleWallet etc. 

[Lonedaddy]

17 minutes ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

The simple answer is No. Full stop. Tipping is neither expected nor customary in either country and we prefer you leave such customs in your own country. 
 

NZ & AUS are two completely separate countries. With their own currency. 
 

For a cruise stop day trip there is really no need to be carrying cash. Just use a credit or debit card, tap&go, or AppleWallet etc. 

That is Perthically clear !

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

And is it acceptable to give AUD  in NZ or should I get some local currency in NZ also?

 

I don't recall tipping when I visited New Zealand and Australia.  But, I do suggest that you have a small amount of each country's currency in case you may want to use that for a purchase and not a credit card.  

[SinbadThePorter]

17 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

And is it acceptable to give AUD  in NZ

 

Yes, and tell them that it's much better than their own money. Then run.

Edited October 25, 2022 by SinbadThePorter

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 10/25/2022 at 1:00 AM, Lonedaddy said:

That is Perthically clear !

Lol ten points for a good pun !!

[buchhalm]

Meh.

I agree that in Australia and probably the Eastern Territories (Or New Zealand, as they like to think of themselves), tipping is entirely optional.

BUT nobody can stop me if I want to slip the service staff a little bit of cash when the service was ABOVE the expected standard. However, I refuse to partake in the horrid custom that is slowly creeping in where the credit/bank card reader gives you a "tip" option. That's a NO from me. 

 

For Bali, I always leave some change in local currency or Australian $.

The people there make very low salaries, and a bit of extra cash meals a lot to them. $5 or me is peanuts, but for them it means a lot. Don't be stingy! And yes AUD there is  absolutely fine. They can change it at a thousand places. But again, it is totally optional. They wont chase you down the street if you don't tip.

[bazzaw]

and PLEASE do not try to pay for anything in NZ with Aussie Dollars !!!! 🙂 Same as I wouldn't dare to try to pass off Canadian Dollars in the US  🙂

[MMDown Under]

On 11/1/2022 at 1:03 PM, buchhalm said:

Meh.

I agree that in Australia and probably the Eastern Territories (Or New Zealand, as they like to think of themselves), tipping is entirely optional.

BUT nobody can stop me if I want to slip the service staff a little bit of cash when the service was ABOVE the expected standard. However, I refuse to partake in the horrid custom that is slowly creeping in where the credit/bank card reader gives you a "tip" option. That's a NO from me. 

 

For Bali, I always leave some change in local currency or Australian $.

The people there make very low salaries, and a bit of extra cash meals a lot to them. $5 or me is peanuts, but for them it means a lot. Don't be stingy! And yes AUD there is  absolutely fine. They can change it at a thousand places. But again, it is totally optional. They wont chase you down the street if you don't tip.

Your comments were fine until you said "don't be stingy"!

[buchhalm]

8 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Your comments were fine until you said "don't be stingy"!

And your problem would be?....

[Lonedaddy]

6 hours ago, bazzaw said:

and PLEASE do not try to pay for anything in NZ with Aussie Dollars !!!! 🙂 Same as I wouldn't dare to try to pass off Canadian Dollars in the US  🙂

I believe most Canadians would take USD.

[boone2]

3 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

I believe most Canadians would take USD.

But Americans won’t take Canadian. 

[paradiselivin1]

15 hours ago, bazzaw said:

and PLEASE do not try to pay for anything in NZ with Aussie Dollars

That makes sense except that our Princess cruise around NZ (but ends in Sydney) prices excursions in NZ in AUD. Just wondering why?

[possum52]

2 hours ago, paradiselivin1 said:

That makes sense except that our Princess cruise around NZ (but ends in Sydney) prices excursions in NZ in AUD. Just wondering why?

All Princess cruises operating in Australia and NZ use AUD. Once in NZ ports, you will need to use NZD.

[paradiselivin1]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

All Princess cruises operating in Australia and NZ use AUD. Once in NZ ports, you will need to use NZD.

Thx. I expect most places accept Visa or MC if not carrying a lot of cash but I got the impression that some companies will charge a service fee if using a credit card. Do you know if that's true? How about the use of debit cards? We'll be spending several days in both Auckland and Sydney and expect to get some local currency but didn't want to end up with too much foreign currency to be "re-exchanged". I appreciate any guidance you can give.

[possum52]

Yes, most places in both Australia and NZ will accept Visa and MC and some will charge a surcharge. Debit cards, both eftpos and Visa and MC are fine to use. What you will need to keep in mind is how much your banl charges for using your cards in other countries.

 

From the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - 

 

• Businesses can charge a surcharge for paying by card, but the surcharge must not be more than what it costs the business to use that payment type.
• If a business charges a payment surcharge, it must be able to prove the costs it is based on.
• If there is no way for a consumer to pay without paying a surcharge, the business must include the surcharge in the displayed price.

 

Average costs for different payment types

As a guide, the Reserve Bank of Australia has estimated average costs for different payment types:

• Eftpos: less than 0.5%
• Visa and Mastercard debit: between 0.5% and 1%
• Visa and Mastercard credit: between 1% and 1.5%.

To accept these payment types, most businesses incur costs within these ranges. For some they may fall outside these ranges.

 

Card Surcharges

[donaldsc]

1 minute ago, Lonedaddy said:

Absolutely!  Watter's world was the best.

 

Better than that was the person who could not name a country with a name that started with the letter "U".

 

DON

[BulldustHHH]

NZ had the option to join Australia at Federation, if I recall correctly, but opted not to. Probably made some remarks about us being a bunch of crims, or somesuch.

As to tipping ... not the custom in Australia/NZ, but service staff won't mind if you do. It will be quite unexpected. Personally I tend to drop smallish (by US standards) tips for personal services like barbers and drivers.

I'm not sure Kiwis mind Aussie dollarydoos, as they are generally worth slightly more (much like the US-Canada relationship). At the moment the Aussie is worth 9 cents more than the Kiwi dollar. Both are several million to the USD of course 😉

 

[Over from NZ]

On 11/19/2022 at 8:27 PM, BulldustHHH said:

NZ had the option to join Australia at Federation, if I recall correctly, but opted not to. Probably made some remarks about us being a bunch of crims, or somesuch.

As to tipping ... not the custom in Australia/NZ, but service staff won't mind if you do. It will be quite unexpected. Personally I tend to drop smallish (by US standards) tips for personal services like barbers and drivers.

I'm not sure Kiwis mind Aussie dollarydoos, as they are generally worth slightly more (much like the US-Canada relationship). At the moment the Aussie is worth 9 cents more than the Kiwi dollar. Both are several million to the USD of course 😉

 

All correct apart from the money part 🙂. Kiwi's don't mind your $1 coins as they can sometimes be passed of as NZ $2 coins.. but the rest of your money is no good over here. 

[Ron1209]

On 11/7/2022 at 2:00 AM, bazzaw said:

and PLEASE do not try to pay for anything in NZ with Aussie Dollars !!!! 🙂 Same as I wouldn't dare to try to pass off Canadian Dollars in the US  🙂

That was a low blow…..lol

[Kristelle]

Thread is a year old, I'm sure OP's trip has been taken by now.

 

Information about not tipping and separate currencies and card surcharges still the same though. 

[Lonedaddy]

9 hours ago, Kristelle said:

Thread is a year old, I'm sure OP's trip has been taken by now.

 

Information about not tipping and separate currencies and card surcharges still the same though. 

Yes, trip is over didn't tip generally unless something special.  The porter in NZ wouldn't accept it.  On the tours it was not and it was nice to not have to mess with it, Though, several people were tipping for just average tours which ruins it in the long run.  My wife wasn't feeling good on a tour we did via viator from Auckland to the west coast.  The owner came and picked us up so we didn't have to stay another 3 hours.  I gave him a nice tip for that.  I gave the driver that took us from airport to hotel a tip in USD since the airport baggage and customs was a clusterf... to put it mildly and we didn't have time to go get some local currency since customs took so long.  He didn't mind a bit.

[Kristelle]

6 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Though, several people were tipping for just average tours which ruins it in the long run. 

 

 

My bold

 

yes, exactly.

 

that's what us Aussies and NZ'ers keep saying - please don't routinely tip. We don't want it creeping in here. Not for average tours, not even for really good tours

 

If some absolutely extraordinary event occurs, somebody goes really out of their way for you, like you described and you really want to - but then and only then.