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Post by renmarkable on Jan 18, 2015 6:47:04 GMT
him guys were off on the European cavalcade tour early may. I no longer have my brochure, and I cannot recall what's the "suggested" tips for the guide and driver...as an Australian I don't wish to appear rude,but at the same time don't know an appropriate amount....
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Post by bet on Jan 18, 2015 8:36:54 GMT
Hi Renmarkable as a guide the prepaid gratuities for your tour in the brochure including both guide and driver is A$179. I believe it's about €4 a day for guide and €2 for driver
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 18, 2015 15:37:16 GMT
thanks, somehow I was thinking it was more than that!
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Post by purvis on Jan 18, 2015 16:11:54 GMT
renmarkable: Many of the Australians on the tours I have taken with Trafalgar (14) have chosen not to pre-pay the tips and wait until the end of the tour to decide whether they were satisfied or not with the service especially of the tour guide. Often they tip more than the guidebook suggested but on occasion less if the service left something to be desired. The choice is then left up to you and not directed by someone else.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 18, 2015 21:01:49 GMT
I intend to pay afterwards also, don't like the concept of paying in front for something of an unknown quantity. my last tour was 13 years ago, and I can't recall what we did. the whole tipping issue is fraught with danger for someone who doesn't do it , and frankly feels uncomfortable with it....I keep having the sneaking suspicion it's just a convenient way for employers to avoid paying decent wages...but that's my prejudice showing, I know! thats a lot of tours, may I ask if you have done the European cavalcade by any chance?
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Post by Oz-T on Jan 18, 2015 22:07:08 GMT
Hi Renmarkable, Tipping is indeed a strange custom for us here in Australia, isn't it? Other than leaving a small tip in restaurants and taxis, it's generally not required and we feel awkward when faced with it overseas. Here are some tips on tipping : 1. Tipping is appropriate when you have the combination of three things: a) A personal service is provided (e.g. waiters, doormen, bellhops, room service/housekeepers, taxis etc); b) You're in a country where the wages for such people are very low; and c) You're satisfied with the service provided. You don't need to tip in takeaway food outlets because no personal service is provided - you simply lined up to buy something, then took it away instead of being served at a table. 2. As Purvis noted, prepaid gratuities are the new method of tipping on tours. Like you, I dislike it for several reasons: Do they really get the money and know it came from me? What if the service was bad? I also dislike saying goodbye to the tour director (TD) and driver, thanking them for their great work, but not immediately handing a tip. It feels like I'm being cheap and I don't like having to say that I already prepaid the gratuities. I think the practice also creates an opportunity for some meanies to pretend they prepaid when they didn't. 3. The suggested tips are in my opinion, adequate. However, you can add or subtract from it as you see fit. I always bring along a few envelopes for this purpose - I put the cash inside, seal it and write a short note of thanks on the front so they know it came from me. They will say thanks anyway, so by the time they open it, I'm not around for any further thank yous. (Tipping isn't meant to be anonymous; nor is it the conduit for endless appreciation by the recipient). Take more than two envelopes because you will probably have more than one driver (they can't work every day of the tour like the TD often does). You share the driver tip proportionately. 4. The recommended tips are printed on an itinerary that will be included in the paperwork your travel agent gives you. Don't expect to see this until around three weeks before departure. The amounts are usually similar to what Bet said, so you can allow for this in your cash budget. Try to ensure you tip in local currency, not A$ - it takes away a bit of the goodwill if the recipient has to head off to a currency exchange and loses some of the tip in fees etc. 5. You don't have to tip in any included restaurants on the tour. Everyone simply eats their meal and leaves later. You may wish to consider tipping any local guides you have. These are the local experts who join the tour for an hour or two to show you around a city etc. They often miss out on tips due to the short-term nature of the work they do, but as they are indeed paid to do this, it's up to you if you wish to add extra. Being a tourist who asks endless questions of these guides to learn extra about a place, I like to tip them for the additional time they take to answer my queries.
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Post by bet on Jan 19, 2015 0:54:38 GMT
I don't agree with the concept of prepaid gratuities either but I understand why it's done as Aussies and Kiwis can come across as being stingy as it not common practice for us. Despite not agreeing with it, I did do the prepaid gratuities last year for the Insight & Trafalgar tours I did, as it was a first time I had travelled with them, the convenience factor and it removed any awkwardness. As it worked out I had a terrible Insight TD and a wonderful Costsaver TD. I don't regret doing it though, as I would personally feel really awkward knowing what to tip a bad TD, but each to their own.
i do know the TD have a list as to who has prepaid, as this was acknowledged & appreciated on both tours I did. But I wondered if the full amount goes to them of if Trafalgar keeps a slice of it.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 19, 2015 1:34:18 GMT
it's obviously changed a lot in 13 years, so when do you get the option to prepay? is it the same time as you get your optionals? I think on my last trip, we had actually done a couple prior to choosing and payment.. I can recall thinking that's incredibly risky for the tour guide...in those olden days we paid, i think, by travellers cheque....I'm assuming it can now be paid by either cash or c card, or a combination ...is that right? also, now much did you guys budget per day for Europe over and above the optionals? I know the Swiss franc has gone nuts, so I'm hoping that I have enough francs for I think 2 days, if not, the card can have a work out. thanks for all, your advice guys
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Post by californian on Jan 19, 2015 2:10:25 GMT
I am probably the person that knows the least, but I think the tips started to be charged at the time of paying for the tour probably 4-5 years ago; people get a voucher and gives it to the TD, same way others give cash. And I think it's offered only in some parts of the world, I have never been offered or asked to pay in advance, here in the US. Not sure why, perhaps because many tourists are not familiar with tipping.
You shouldn't worry about Swiss Francs, since not only credit card are accepted everywhere, euros are as well.
My rule of thumb when touring is about 20 euros per day per person, just to cover lunch, water, ice creams, post cards, etc. small souvenirs, some days more, some days less, but I will think it is average. Of course transportation (tube, metro or taxis are extras, but credit cards are accepted everywhere) Have a wonderful trip.
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Post by bet on Jan 19, 2015 2:21:00 GMT
I paid the prepaid gratuities with my final payment to my travel agent. Just check that your travel agent hasn't already included the prepaid option in the total cost of your tour, as that happened to some of the people on the tours I did. They didn't realise at the time of booking and paying. For budgeting I'm quite hopeless at it and wouldn't know what to recommend, so much depends on what sort of a eater, drinker and shopper you are. I'm not a drinker or a fancy eater so I don't spend all that much there but I spend elsewhere, fortunately though there isn't much free time on tour to spend lots of money apart from the usual lunch, snacks and the occasional dinner
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Post by Oz-T on Jan 19, 2015 2:49:11 GMT
That's also my understanding of prepaid gratuities, Bet - you pay them as part of the tour. I like the idea of being able to hand a voucher or receipt of some type to the TD and driver as that makes it more personal and showing gratitude.
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Post by Oz-T on Jan 19, 2015 3:00:33 GMT
... also, now much did you guys budget per day for Europe over and above the optionals? I know the Swiss franc has gone nuts, so I'm hoping that I have enough francs for I think 2 days, if not, the card can have a work out. thanks for all, your advice guys It's fairly easy to work out, Renmarkable. First, look at your tour and determine what included meals exist for the Swiss segment. Then decide what optional tours you're doing there and whether they include any lunches and dinners. Assuming all your breakfasts are included (as they are on tours), you'll then know how many lunches, dinners and drinks you have to buy. A very rough way of estimating the price of these is to assume that each meal is similar in cost to what you'd pay in A$, except it's in US$, pounds, euros, or in this case, Swiss francs. This means that if you're used to paying A$25 for a main course near home, it'll cost roughly 25 Swiss francs over there. Apply that concept to every non-included lunch and dinner. Then add snacks, drinks and anything else you suspect you might be spending (e.g. souvenirs). You might need more for taxis, buses, trains and entry fees, but only if you think you'll be using them in Switzerland (less likely if you're on a tour). After doing all this, you might well discover that there's not a huge amount of Swiss currency needed. If so, take enough to cover what you think you'll definitely spend and if you run out, simply convert your euros to Swiss francs - this way you won't be leaving with francs you can't spend elsewhere. Then turn your mind to the more important budget exercise: euros. You'll be spending these far more than you will francs, so prepare your euro cash budget the same way as I described the Swiss segment. It'll be a trickier exercise because there's more days involved and it's a little uncertain how much you'll be spending. I prefer to lock in the exchange rate and therefore avoid any adverse surprises. To do this, I buy a debit card with other currencies on it. This way, I load it with euros before leaving home, and when I go to a Eurozone ATM, I withdraw from the euro balance. For padding, I add further funds in A$, this way accepting a FX conversion only if I need to dip into the extra funds. Upon returning home and cancelling the card, the withdrawal of Aussie dollars doesn't incur any FX fees.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 19, 2015 3:13:46 GMT
thanks heaps, I already have lots of euros. I travel regularly to Asia, and you can save a hell of a lot by purchasing euros there...I don't care if I have currency left over as I won't have any trouble changing them once I'm back in Asia....
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 20, 2015 9:53:15 GMT
we have basically budgeted 100 euros a day whilst on tour, so is the consensus that's heaps?
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Post by californian on Jan 20, 2015 18:47:32 GMT
we have basically budgeted 100 euros a day whilst on tour, so is the consensus that's heaps? What are you including? and are you talking just cash? If it is for incidentals like lunch, coffee, drinks, etc, per person, it is "heaps", but not very much if you are planning to pay for optional tours and dinners. Of course, shopping depends on each one, and there are many places that if you don't spend certain amount credit cards are not accepted.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 20, 2015 21:20:06 GMT
we will have the credit card for backup, but i have seen too many people getting stranded whilst relying in cards alone... that's just for daily spending money, optionals are already budgeted for. i only carry accessibly the daily budget of cash, so it's not a safety issue. that would include any dinners not included in the optionals
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Post by Oz-T on Jan 20, 2015 21:48:47 GMT
We wouldn't go through 100 euro a day on a tour, even if we paid for lunch, dinner, coffees, a bottle of wine + daily tips. And on a day in which we had an included tour dinner, we would only spend maybe €20 max (on lunch), so the average would be less than €100 a day. We don't spend much at all on souvenirs and shopping so our euros go on non-included meals and a little on transport (usually rail fares in a city before or after a tour).
Accordingly, I think you'll be fine with €100 a day, using your credit/debit card as backup. We pay for optional tours via credit card (as I trust the tour company) so that reduces the cash requirements.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 21, 2015 2:01:00 GMT
thanks guys! easy as!
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wen
Junior Member
Posts: 29
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Post by wen on Jan 30, 2015 21:52:56 GMT
It seems we are on the same tour Renmarkable It's getting closer, after the summer we've had spring in Europe sounds fantastic We are excited this is our (husband & myself) first trip to Europe Ive done a tour before around UK & Ireland with Globus which was fantastic i spent so much time researching mostly via the Trafalgar boards Are you stooping over we have 4 nights in Singapore & 4 in London then as I mentioned in another post are leaving a day early and staying in Paris 2 extra days I'm enjoying all the tips I'm picking up from these boards You realise even the the question you might think is dum someone else has asked and someone else has answered it
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 31, 2015 7:22:19 GMT
wow!!! which date departure are you on? we are on the 5th? May departure. we have a couple days in Dubai and then a week in London. with a few days afterwards in London. it's been almost 14 years since we were in London, and I can't wait.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 31, 2015 7:27:22 GMT
the decision by trafalgar to close down their forums is baffling,on my last tour I did lots of research, it's just about impossible now compared to then.. you have to wonder At their logic or lack thereof..
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wen
Junior Member
Posts: 29
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Post by wen on Jan 31, 2015 9:22:57 GMT
Hi Renmarkable Well in that case we will see you on the coach as we are on the same tour !! Can I guess from your user name you are from South Aus.? We are Queenslanders I'm sure there will be heaps of Aussies on tour as Trafalgar seems to be popular with us I was the only Australian on the Globus tour I did, probably as it was July the other passengers(all from US) said that was their most popular holiday time And yes I agree it was a shame the Trafalgar forum went But I really enjoy this one
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 31, 2015 9:39:37 GMT
the tour I was on a zillion years ago was about 60% Australian! will be interesting to see how full it is also? I will attempt to send you a message...
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Post by Oz-T on Jan 31, 2015 11:20:27 GMT
the decision by trafalgar to close down their forums is baffling,on my last tour I did lots of research, it's just about impossible now compared to then.. you have to wonder At their logic or lack thereof.. It was indeed baffling. As a group, we provided a network of free marketing for Trafalgar. We spruiked the Trafalgar name, talked endlessly about their tours and helped prospective customers find the Trafalgar tour that best suited them. We asked for nothing in return, yet Trafalgar simply dumped us, with very little warning. Their CEO couldn't even follow through with prearranged phone calls, so something awfully wrong seems to have afflicted them from within. It was an extraordinary act of corporate stupidity. I have since heard from travel industry insiders that Trafalgar became a bit of a laughing stock over this - apparently their forum drew more people into travel agents around the world than they realised. And a rival tour company couldn't believe their luck when Trafalgar "shot itself in the foot" - and they even wondered whether someone would get fired for such a monumental blunder. Many people no longer feel any loyalty to Trafalgar and will consider other tour companies if they offer good deals. That's better than being dedicated to just one operator in the industry. For this reason, I like the idea of this forum being open to all sorts of travel ideas, without being aligned to any one company or style of holiday.
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Post by renmarkable on Jan 31, 2015 18:39:29 GMT
for what it's worth I agree with that assessment. if the board had closed prior to my booking I would probably have booked elsewhere. the amount of info I received from it for my last trip was amazing. it probably indicates enough wrong with the company to choose elsewhere, and face it, they are not the only fish in the pond.
the comment about competitors expecting a firing over this would have to be correct, you could see them rubbing their hands together.
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