How Much Should I Tip My Guide? We Asked Guides How ...

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I was on a backcountry hut trip in British Columbia last winter, and at the end of an incredible, powder-filled week, my group of friends and I realized what most of us had forgotten: cash. Specifically, enough money to tip our two hard-working ski guides, as well as the cook, who’d been making us delicious meals morning and night, and the hut caretaker, who’d been pre-heating the sauna and shoveling the path to the outhouse.

It was a major oversight on our part. In the end, we cobbled together what cash we had and the rest of us chipped in via PayPal, a clunky fix.

In America, we know that when we go into a restaurant, it’s expected that, assuming the service is decent, you will leave your waiter a 15 to 20 percent tip on the bill. But when you go on, say, a guided backcountry ski trip or a whitewater rafting trip with a commercial outfitter or an afternoon of guided fly-fishing, the assumptions of gratuity are less clear. Are you always supposed to tip in those cases, and if so, how much?

“Guiding is very similar to the restaurant industry. It’s a service industry,” says Shane Robinson, a Seattle-based mountain guide and the founder of Graybird Guiding. He also guides for the company Alpine Ascents International. “Unfortunately, guides are probably not paid as well as they should be. So, most guides rely on those tips to make ends meet.”

Ice Axe Expeditions’ guide Lel Tone (left) on a backcountry ski trip with the author and friends in the West Fjords of Iceland

(Photo: Megan Michelson)

Tips for outdoor guides and instructors vary wildly—some people tip a lot, some less, others don’t tip at all—and every destination is different. If you’re traveling internationally, many countries don’t have a tipping culture like the U.S.

“Tipping these days is much more common, but it’s not across the board,” says Dave Hahn, a long-time guide for RMI Expeditions who has guided on peaks like Mount Rainier and Mount Everest. “I think of a tip as a reward for a meaningful time or for someone putting themselves out there for you, not as an expectation.”

Given that guides are often the one who makes your trip or instruction stand out above the rest, we recommend always being prepared to tip. But sorting out how much to give and when to give it after a shared adventure can be awkward, confusing, and feel so hush hush, like no one’s talking openly about it.

Well, we are. We asked all the hard and awkward questions to provide these dos-and-don’ts guidelines on how to tip like a pro.

1. Do the Math

Typically, the gratuity rate for guides should be around 10 to 20 percent of the total trip cost. That means if you’re paying $500 for a day or two of guided rock climbing, an appropriate tip for your guide would be between $50 and $100.

2. Do Tip Even On Pricey Trips

Maybe you’ve just thrown down $5,000 for a Grand Canyon river trip. That’s a huge chunk of cash for a guided trip. Do you really have to tip on top of that? The answer is yes. “I sometimes find that when the cost of the trip is higher, people tend to tip less,” says Canadian guide Holly Walker, an ACMG-certified hiking and ski guide and owner of Fall Line Guides.

What helps me is to go ahead and factor in a 10 to 20 percent tip based on the total price of the trip into my initial budget to reduce the shock factor. So for that $5,000 trip, I’d tip $500 to $1,000 to be split up amongst the guides.

3. Do Prepare Ahead

Being a good tipper means planning in advance. You don’t want to get caught at the end of your trip without any cash. (Like, um, me.) Sandy Cunningham, CEO and co-founder of the adventure travel company Uncharted, advises her clients to pack a dozen or so envelopes, each filled with predetermined amounts of money and labeled for their recipient: driver, guide, cook, cleaning staff, etc. “You have your travel pouch with all the important things: passports, vaccination cards, envelopes with tip money,” Cunningham says. “That way you’re ready.”

4. Do Tip at the End of Your Trip

Some guiding services will offer a tip for the guide to be added onto your credit card purchase when you book the trip. But tipping is a token of gratitude that should be delivered at the end of your trip, based on a job well done. Typically, there’s a parting moment, when you and your guide are saying your goodbyes. That’s the best time to pass over the envelope and say thank you for the experience.

“At the end of your time, you pull the envelope out and give it to the person directly,” says Cunningham. “I will often bring my own thank you cards and write a personal note, too.”

5. Do Bring Cash

“I joke that I’ll take whatever form you’re paying in. We’re grateful for however it comes,” Shane Robinson says. But cash is king. If you can’t get cash or don’t want to travel with a wad of bills, American guides are accustomed to receiving online tips via Venmo these days. Just make sure you get their Venmo handle so you pay the right person. “It’s sometimes easier to divide up an electronic tip amongst a guide staff,” adds Hahn.

Venmo is currently only supported in the U.S., so if your guide is Canadian or from any other country, cash is the best form of payment. If you book your guide through a site like 57Hours, the app has tipping built in, and that’s a fine way to tip your guide. If you’re tipping porters, drivers, and local guides directly, cash is always preferred.

6. Do Give U.S. Dollars

Ask Walker, the Canadian guide, about preferred currency and she will say: “U.S. dollars are always OK.” So, feel free to get cash from an ATM at home before leaving the country if you don’t want to deal with picking up local currency when you arrive. “Unless it’s stipulated otherwise, people love U.S. Dollars, especially if their currency is weak,” adds Sandy Cunningham.

7. Don’t Forget About Instructional Settings

Guiding can come in many forms—including lessons from a wide range of instructors. Say your kid takes a private lesson from an instructor at a ski resort in the U.S. or you sign up for a mountain bike clinic or a running retreat. A tip is always appreciated. Again, 10 to 20 percent of the lesson price would be about right. Many guides also teach avalanche safety classes or mountaineering courses, and though tips are far less common in those situations because they’re less service oriented, the guides say they’re very grateful when people think to tip afterward. “As guides, the work is essentially the same,” Robinson says.

8. Do Remember the Rest of the Staff

Whether you’re at a backcountry hut, a wilderness lodge, or a safari camp, you might have a guide or two, as well as a cook, caretaker, or cleaning staff. At the end of your trip, plan on tipping out everybody in a service position. First, tip your guide 10 to 20 percent of the total cost. If you have multiple guides, you can tip the lead guide and they can split that up amongst the other guides. Then leave a separate tip—look for a designated tip box, or ask your guide where to leave it—to be distributed amongst the rest of the staff.

“If you’re heli-skiing, you’ve got pilots, waiters, housekeeping, bartenders, tail guides. If you’re on Kilimanjaro, you’ve got porters, people building tents, local guides,” Hahn says. “Those are times when you probably want to touch base with your guide. You can say, ‘How do I take care of the support staff?’ I don’t want to be bashful about those conversations. I consider that part of my job as your guide to make sure that local staff gets tipped properly. They’re much more dependent on those tips than I am.”

9. Do Collect Your Tips if You’re in a Group

If you’re traveling with family or a group of friends, it’s best to collect your cash into one joint gratuity. You can agree on a set amount per person or each contribute what you’re able. That way, the guide isn’t receiving stealthy handshakes with cash from a dozen different people from the same group. “Having the group collect the tip is definitely preferred and nicer for everyone,” says Walker. “Everyone can still say their goodbyes, but it’s less transactions that way.”

10. Don’t Tip in Beer

Any sign of gratitude—be it a hand-written card or a gift certificate or a nice bottle of whiskey—will be appreciated. But again, cash rules. “Buying your guide a meal or beer at the end of the trip—everyone will appreciate that. That’s nice in addition to your tip,” Hahn says. “My point is anything is nice. If someone had a really good trip and credits you with it and expresses that, they don’t always have to say that in money.”

11. Do Tip Even If You Didn’t Summit

So, you paid for a guided trip and for one reason or another, things didn’t go as planned. Like all adventures in the outdoors, final outcomes can be unpredictable. “Nobody should have to pay for service that was subpar,” Cunningham says. If your guide really let you down, factor that into your tip.

But if you didn’t make it to the summit, that doesn’t mean your guide didn’t work hard. “Sometimes good guiding means saying no,” Hahn says. “There’s this perception that you didn’t get us to the top of the mountain, so perhaps you didn’t work as hard as you might have. But obviously, on those days where it’s avalanche conditions or storms or something happened where you had the good sense to not get anyone hurt, that’s still hard work.”

12. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

Gratuity in general has so many nuances, especially so in the outdoor world. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. “Before you go, check with the operation that you’re booking through if you have any questions about tipping,” Hahn says. Outfitters these days will often provide an exact number or a range of what to consider tipping.

But maybe don’t ask your guide out right what you should pay them as a tip: That exact number is still up to you. “I guided a family for a week and as we were saying our goodbyes, they said, ‘If you were us, how much would you tip you?’” Walker recalls. “It felt very awkward to ask me that directly. I told them, ‘I would tip a percentage that I thought was appropriate.’”

The bottom line is, be prepared to tip. Guiding is hard and often low-pay work, and gratuities are always appreciated.

Outside Correspondent Megan Michelson is an avid traveler who has used many guides on her adventures around the world.

16 January, 2016

Knowing when to tip and how gratuities are managed can be a headache when you’re trying to enjoy a stress-free holiday. Below we have provided a general guide to tipping and gratuities to help avoid any awkwardness on your touring holiday.

Are tips and gratuities included in my tour price?

Some Operators include tipping and gratuities in the trip price for your convenience and peace of mind. This is dependent on the Operator and sometimes the region you are visiting. You can refer to our gratuities guide at the end of this article where you can find a summary of our tour operators and their gratuities. Every tour itinerary page on Global Journeys also includes information whether the Operator has tipping “included”, “optional”, “not included” or “pre-pay available.”

Check with your Global Journeys tour consultant for the inclusions of your tour or cruise itinerary if you are in any doubt, or if you would like to add pre-paid gratuities to your booking. Please note if tipping has been included in the cost of your holiday, this only covers the services during the period of touring/cruising.

Who gets tips?

It is generally customary for tour / cruise directors, coach and excursion drivers, local guides, shipboard crew, hotel staff, porters, wait staff, the hotel concierge, and housekeeping to receive tips. This varies from country to country, with tips in America accepted as the norm but politely refused in Japan. Your tour leader will be able to answer any specific queries around tipping locally, however, here is a general guide to what to expect on your holiday. Amounts shown are in AUD/NZD, but you should always try to tip in the local currency.

Tour Director and Driver

If gratuities for your tour director and driver have not been prepaid, then it is customary to tip at the end of your coach tour. You can choose to do this individually, however, it is common for an envelope to be passed around the group and presented together at the end of the trip. Sometimes you will find a suggested tipping amount in your trip documents, but ultimately this is up to your discretion based on how happy you are with your experience. As a general guide, the tour director is tipped $5-10 per person/per day and the driver would expect to receive $2-3 per person/per day.

Cruise Director and Crew

Almost all river cruise Operators include tipping and gratuities in the price which covers the cruise director and crew. You can choose to tip the cruise director additionally for exemplary service, but this is not expected. You can also feel free to tip any individual crew members who you feel went above and beyond and for any optional (not included) services such as health and spa treatments.

Local Guides and Optional Excursions

Even when gratuities are included in your tour/cruise, this may exclude local guides particularly for optional excursions. This will be noted in your trip details. If gratuities for your local guides are not included, then it is normal to tip for each on tour. It is common for your leader to discuss this with the group at the start of the tour and often collect an agreed amount from everyone to distribute appropriately.

Sometimes the tour leader will do this themselves, or sometimes they will allocate a different member of the group the honour for each locally guided tour. If this is not initiated by your tour leader you can choose to tip individually or ask your leader what is appropriate. Local guides generally expect 10-15 percent of the tour price as a tip.

Service Staff

When gratuities are included or added to your booking, this will often incorporate tips for service staff directly associated with your tour/cruise. Generally, it will include porters at hotels for your luggage, shipboard staff on your cruise, and waitstaff for dining experiences included in your itinerary.

Usually you will only need to tip room service if you use it, and it is good practice to leave a daily tip for your cleaner (especially in America). If gratuities are not included in your tour cost, or the Operator does not offer this as an option, then it is courteous to tip service staff throughout your journey.

What about services outside of my tour/cruise?

You are responsible for all tips for meals and services that are not “inclusions” in your itinerary.

In restaurants, check that tipping is not automatically included in the bill. If not, 10-15% is generally acceptable. In America 15-20% is a standard tip (the greater in cases of exemplary service). When paying for a taxi ride, generally 10-15% of the total fare is acceptable. Just leave the change for short rides.

For accommodation outside of your coach tour or cruise (including pre and post accommodation) tipping is generally not included and is up to your discretion. In USA tipping is part of daily life, so we have put together a quick guide to help you through when you don’t have your trusty tour leader on hand.

In all these instances tipping is at your discretion but to help you plan here is a general guide.

Service Gratuity Porters $1-2 per bag Concierge $7-25 per request (depending on the request and standard of hotel) Doorman $2-6 for hailing a taxi/helping with your bags Room service 10-20 % of the food bill (if not automatically included) Coat check $2-3 for assistance Shuttle service $2-3 per ride Housekeeping $3-7 per day (leave labelled so cleaner knows it is for them)

That’s a lot of tipping!

Tipping is customary in many countries as it makes up the wage component for these services. Many countries don’t have a minimum wage like we do in Australia and New Zealand. If you have the option and you generally tip as a rule, then we recommend pre-paying it if you can. This takes the hassle out of your holiday, and it means you don’t have to budget for all your tips while you are away. Take a look at the table below for a tipping guide by operator.

Tipping Guide by Tour Operator

Here is a guide to the way tips and gratuities are managed by our tour operators.

Operator Gratuity AAT Kings Gratuities are not included in tour price. If you feel that your Tour Director, Driver or Driver Guide has done an excellent job, then tipping up to the equivalent of $5 per day is recommended. APT Gratuities are included for all staff on all APT Tours and Cruises.

Tipping is not included on a few rare activities and outside of the gratuities specified in your itinerary. Ask your consultant if you are unsure.

Avalon Waterways Gratuities for the Cruise Director and crew onboard are included in the cruise price. Tips to your Local Guides on optional excursions are not included in your cruise fare. Bunnik Some itineraries include Bunnik’s ‘Tipping made easy’ program when tips are collected at time of booking, however, on some trips tips are paid locally. A suggested tipping list will be included in your documentation. Back-Roads Tipping is not included in the tour price. It is customary to give your tour guide a tip at the end of the tour if he/she has done a good job. The amount is entirely at your discretion and is not mandatory. Collette The tour price does not include customary, end-of-trip gratuities for your tour manager, driver, local guides, hotel housekeepers, or cruise ship waitstaff. Contiki Tipping is not included in the tour price. Tipping of Contiki Trip Managers and Drivers is completely optional and not mandatory. If you are going to tip, your Trip Manager can guide the appropriate amount for tipping locally as this varies by destination. Cosmos Tips are not included in the tour price. You do have the option to prepay these tips – please ask your Tour Consultant to add these to your booking if you wish. CostSaver Tips and gratuities are included for service staff, including restaurant employees, chambermaids or porters. The option to pre-pay gratuities for the Travel Director and Driver is also available. Your Tour Consultant can add it to your booking. G Adventures Tips are not included in the tour price and tipping is entirely at your discretion. Trip Details documentation includes suggested tipping amounts for each individual itinerary. Globus Gratuities are not included in the tour price, but you can pre-pay these for the land portion of your holiday operated by Globus. Where other operators are sourced for cruising, rail or local tours, the option to pre-pay your gratuities is not available and can only be paid locally. Grand Pacific Tipping is not included in the tour price. Tipping in appreciation for service is at the discretion of the individual. Some tours may organise an envelope to be circulated for a group presentation to the Coach Captain and/or Tour Guide but contribution is not mandatory. Insight Vacations Gratuities are included for baggage handling, meal service for all meals listed in the tour itinerary, and hotel service (excluding room service). Tips are customarily given to your Tour Director, Driver and Local Guides at your discretion.

The option to prepay these tips prior to departure is possible.

Inspiring Journeys Gratuities are not included in the tour price.

If you feel that your Tour Director, Driver or Driver Guide has done an excellent job, then we would recommend tipping up to the equivalent of $5 per day.

Intrepid Travel Tipping is not included in your tour price. While not compulsory, it is appropriate to tip our tour leader at the end of your trip if you’re happy with the service provided. Your documents will usually also provide a guide to suggested tipping. Ask your leader what is appropriate locally. Luxury Gold All tips for services from Local Experts, dining-room staff, housekeeping and porters at hotels, airports, docks and train stations are included. You can also opt to have the tips for your Driver and Travelling Concierge included too. Monograms Gratuities are included for services during the land stay of your Monograms vacation. This includes wait staff at included meals, hotel staff, and porterage at hotels for one suitcase per person. Gratuities for your Local Hosts, Local Guides, driver, and ship's crew are excluded (unless otherwise noted) and are discretionary. Scenic Certain gratuities are included in your tour cost. This includes all drivers, local guides, porters (1 piece of luggage only), and meals included in your tour. Tipping for services not included in your tour are additional. Tauck All appropriate gratuities for luggage handling, bellmen, doormen, dining and ship staff are included in your tour price. Tauck Director and Tauck Cruise Director (if applicable) gratuities are included on all small ship and river cruises and all Tauck Bridges trips. Topdeck Tipping is not included in your tour price. Tipping is customary in America, but your Topdeck Crew will not be asking for any tips themselves. However, it is courteous to tip serving staff.

Tipping local guides is also recommended. Tipping varies by destination, so ask your Trip Leader if you are unsure.

Trafalgar Tips and gratuities are included for service staff, including restaurant employees, chambermaids or porters. The option to pre-pay gratuities for the Travel Director and Driver is also available. Your Tour Consultant can add this to your booking. Travelmarvel Gratuities have been included for all staff on all Travelmarvel Tours and Cruises as stated in your trip details. Tipping is excluded on a few tour extensions in Africa, and on the Hurtigruten Norwegian cruise. Gratuities outside of those specified in your itinerary are not included. Ask your consultant if you are unsure. Uniworld (Asia) Tips and gratuities are included in the tour price for local experts, drivers, local river guides, and boatmen during your trip, as well as on post-cruise land extensions purchased in conjunction with your cruise/tour (excluding Hong Kong). Gratuities for your Cruise/Tour Manager and Ship staff are not included and up to your discretion. Uniworld (Europe) All gratuities onboard and onshore are included in the tour price for your convenience and comfort. U By Uniworld Gratuities for onboard and shore excursions are included in the cruise price. Any other tips are additional and at guest discretion. Viking River Cruises Shipboard gratuities for shipboard personnel are generally included, however, some Asia programs may be exempt. Inclusions for local guides vary by destination and season, so please confirm with your consultant. Viking Ocean Cruises Shipboard gratuities for shipboard personnel are included in your cruise fare on Viking Ocean Cruises. Additional tipping is additional and at guest discretion.

Please note this information is correct at time of publication. Please confirm with your Global Journeys consultant for the details that pertain to your particular tour or cruise itinerary, as inclusions may vary.