Tipping tour guides in NZ and AUS

[Womble99]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

We were on a tour from Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, and the driver did not shut up for the whole trip while narrating the tour to everyone over the mic, all about Aussies not leaving tips. After the tour, I told him I didn't want to disappoint him by leaving a tip, and his narrative was offensive, obnoxious and otherwise spoilt a great day in the national park. It is the only time I have never left an appropriate tip while travelling overseas.

 

It is times like this that I had started carrying some appropriate tips for the kind folk we encounter when traveling abroad.

 

It is interesting to see the reactions you get when they get a tip of a couple of thousand Iraqi Dinars or a couple of hundred Afghanis 🤷‍♂️

[Cruisers47]

4 hours ago, lyndarra said:

Tips, or gratuities, as the ATO likes to call them, are definitely taxable, and need to be reported in personal tax returns. Whether tips are received directly from a customer or from the employer, you need to report all tips as taxable income. This means keeping manual records of the tips you earn, and reporting them when you do your tax return.

square.com

Ha ha…,you sound as if you worked for the ATO like me…happily retired.   

[LittleFish1976]

19 hours ago, Wombat706 said:

Cunard is another that does not include gratuities, booked in Aust in AUD.

 

 

 

Yes, that's right. They do apply an amount separately for 'gratuities' (although I think they've recently changed the name of it) per cabin, per day which can apparently be removed by a visit to the purser's desk.

 

On a ship I would tip my steward and waiter if I felt they'd been particularly helpful but would not feel obliged to if the service had been anything other than exceptional.

 

I've hated seeing American travellers pressing cash into the hand of the serving staff member showing them to their table even before they sat down (in the buffet area!). The whole message coming across as buying service and attention beyond what other passengers would be getting although they've paid the same amount to be on the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

[joejoe 59]

On 12/19/2022 at 5:48 AM, lyndarra said:

Holland America and Celebrity are two. I can't recall if it was included for RCI.

Definitely included on  Rcl 

[Aussieflyer]

2 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

Snip....

 

I've hated seeing American travellers pressing cash into the hand of the serving staff member showing them to their table even before they sat down (in the buffet area!). The whole message coming across as buying service and attention beyond what other passengers would be getting although they've paid the same amount to be on the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

And the number of posts on other boards about how it is important to give a big tip to bar staff at the beginning of a cruise to ensure good service.

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, Aussieflyer said:

And the number of posts on other boards about how it is important to give a big tip to bar staff at the beginning of a cruise to ensure good service.

Highest 'bidder' gets the best service?

The importance of good service is keeping their job, not tips.

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by lyndarra

[Galesa]

2 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

And the number of posts on other boards about how it is important to give a big tip to bar staff at the beginning of a cruise to ensure good service.

Yes. There was a particular nasty post  on a line specific cc forum I was reading on this subject where some Brits were criticised for seeking advice on removing gratuities. There was an honest belief by lot of the responders that the size and frequency of a tip ensured an elevated level of service and those that sought to minimise their tips should expect a poor level of service. It really is a cultural point of difference. 

 

From my experience in Australia and in the UK (I've not spent enough time in NZ to comment about that country but suspect it is very similar) there's a (rightful) expectation of very good service without tipping; and if you receive service above and beyond then the customer may consider providing a small gratuity to the service provider. Or maybe simply a verbal expression of gratitude for such excellent service which in my experience is always gratefully received.

[GUT2407]

I never pre-tip, tip per drink, or even tip weekly, but always try to be nice and polite, find out about them if they have time for a chat, and always have Stella service, often my Diet Coke on the bar before I get there, one cruise first day, at the cafe wife orders a coffee from the back a voice calls “and give her the biggest Diet Coke we have lots of ice no straw” he served us a year earlier on a different ship. What had we done to be so memorable, I guess just been nice, had a laugh and treated all the staff respectfully.

[buchhalm]

28 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I never pre-tip, tip per drink, or even tip weekly, but always try to be nice and polite, find out about them if they have time for a chat, and always have Stella service, often my Diet Coke on the bar before I get there, one cruise first day, at the cafe wife orders a coffee from the back a voice calls “and give her the biggest Diet Coke we have lots of ice no straw” he served us a year earlier on a different ship. What had we done to be so memorable, I guess just been nice, had a laugh and treated all the staff respectfully.

Stellaaaaaaaa!!!!!

🙂

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 12/19/2022 at 11:03 AM, boeckli said:

 

Correct, in US$ - with the option to pre-pay,  in A$ (at a very favourable exchange rate).

We prepaid. The exchange rate was very good. I must admit I'd forgotten about those extra gratuities being required. It blew a nice hole in my budget!

[RobinBancs]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:53 AM, buchhalm said:

But you get chocolates, mugs, scented candles, bath bombs and handmade cards instead.

🙂

I'm a teacher and can tick 4 of those boxes in the last four weeks of school 🙂

 

No bath bombs from my students though!

[nnps]

12 hours ago, RobinBancs said:

I'm a teacher and can tick 4 of those boxes in the last four weeks of school 🙂

 

No bath bombs from my students though!

List them on your tax return? 😉

[RobinBancs]

5 hours ago, nnps said:

List them on your tax return? 😉

Not a chance 🙂

[Suzi66]

On 12/19/2022 at 10:23 AM, buchhalm said:

But you get chocolates, mugs, scented candles, bath bombs and handmade cards instead.

🙂

Not us secondary teachers (I did get one store bought card though this year).  But the kids expect us to give them chocolates, and supply them with pens EVERY single day of the school year.

[Suzi66]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:59 AM, nnps said:

Or your teacher. (I'm a retired teacher).

If only we got tipped!

[buchhalm]

24 minutes ago, Suzi66 said:

Not us secondary teachers (I did get one store bought card though this year).  But the kids expect us to give them chocolates, and supply them with pens EVERY single day of the school year.

My wife prefers primary school. 

Everything is exciting for the little ones.

If she needs peace, they play dinosaurs.  Walk around, and when the music stops lie down. We are all extinct.  First one to move, loses. 

Or play them Arvo Pärt's "Spiegel I'm Spiegel ". After 4 minutes, they are all asleep. 

But if the kids are good, they get my homemade cookies. 

So the munchkins call me The cookie man.....

[RobinBancs]

2 hours ago, Suzi66 said:

Not us secondary teachers (I did get one store bought card though this year).  But the kids expect us to give them chocolates, and supply them with pens EVERY single day of the school year.

I'm secondary also but the Year 12's sometimes get awesome gifts, especially if they're 18 and understand the value of boutique gin 🙂

[GUT2407]

My wife got one lovely gift this year a voucher for a cheese maker (the kids family owns the store).

 

She went to get it “Is it a preset platter or do I pick”

 

The shop assistant wasn’t a family member “Ohhh I’m sorry they are away, you must be the famous Doc, my instructions are to ignore what the voucher says and give you whatever you want, you do know you were the only teacher given this?”

[spersephone]

On 12/17/2022 at 8:33 AM, buchhalm said:

Well, reading through the jungle of Australian awards for the hospitality sector for example, the average person would need a lawyer specialising in labour law to REALLY work out what a - for example  - chef would be entitled to.

Modern awards have been vastly simplified. It should not be too difficult to identify the award someone should be paid under, and the employer should make this transparent to the employee too.

[possum52]

On 12/20/2022 at 9:54 PM, RobinBancs said:

I'm a teacher and can tick 4 of those boxes in the last four weeks of school 🙂

 

No bath bombs from my students though!

My daughter is a primary teacher - years 5&6. She has received some wonderful gifts over the years. Unfortunately this year she may have missed out somewhat as she contracted covid at the weekend and wasn't at school the last two days. 🙂

Edited December 21, 2022 by possum52

[RobinBancs]

5 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

My wife got one lovely gift this year a voucher for a cheese maker (the kids family owns the store).

 

She went to get it “Is it a preset platter or do I pick”

 

The shop assistant wasn’t a family member “Ohhh I’m sorry they are away, you must be the famous Doc, my instructions are to ignore what the voucher says and give you whatever you want, you do know you were the only teacher given this?”

Wow, that's fabulous.  There are some really generous people in the world and it's always appreciated when people are that thoughtful.  I bet she really valued that!

[RobinBancs]

5 hours ago, possum52 said:

My daughter is a primary teacher - years 5&6. She has received some wonderful gifts over the years. Unfortunately this year she may have missed out somewhat as she contracted covid at the weekend and wasn't at school the last two days. 🙂

Oh no, the COVID situation has been horrendous in schools this year too.  Hopefully she got her reports all finalised before that happened and was able to rest and recover early.  What a bummer!

[GUT2407]

14 minutes ago, RobinBancs said:

Oh no, the COVID situation has been horrendous in schools this year too.  Hopefully she got her reports all finalised before that happened and was able to rest and recover early.  What a bummer!

Mrs Gut bought it home last day of school, and shared.

[GUT2407]

16 minutes ago, RobinBancs said:

Wow, that's fabulous.  There are some really generous people in the world and it's always appreciated when people are that thoughtful.  I bet she really valued that!

Well I sure did.

 

What was touching was that the staff knew all about Doc, apparently the student talks about her all the time.

[possum52]

28 minutes ago, RobinBancs said:

Oh no, the COVID situation has been horrendous in schools this year too.  Hopefully she got her reports all finalised before that happened and was able to rest and recover early.  What a bummer!

Thank you. Reports were all finalised and released to parents last week. She just really missed out on saying goodbye and wishing luck to her year 6 students who are heading off to secondary school next year which she was sad about. Fortunately their graduation and other end of year celebrations were last week. Daughter passed covid onto her younger son but husband and elder son hopefully have missed out. She tested negative yesterday and her five days of isolation are up. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by possum52