Adventure Guides Gratuity Questions (multi-country itinerary)

[Eree418]

I've seen the posts and the info on the ABD site about how much to tip, but I have a couple of related questions.

For itineraries that travel to two different countries (we're going to England and France), do the two guides stay with the group the entire trip? Or do we have different guides for England vs. France? Just wondering if we're going to have to tip 2 or 4 people, and all at the end or two of them halfway through our trip? Is this info that will be provided closer to our departure? (Less than 80 days, and we're excited!!!)

Next question - PayPal. I've never really used it aside from the rare online vendor that processes payments via PayPal. Does it work like Venmo? Are there processing fees? Does it do the currency conversion for you, or do you need to do that on your own? Do I need to set up an account before our trip? Just hoping to get the boring logistical stuff out of the way in advance so we don't have to worry about it on the trip itself. (I know we could do cash, but I'm assuming most will prefer PayPal?)

 

[sayhello]

Your same two adventure Guides will stay with you for the entire trip. You will probably have different motorcoach drivers (who are well tipped by ABD, but you *can* tip if you want).

I much prefer Paypal to Venmo because if there is an error on a transaction or a problem with Paypal, you have recourse (they will research the issue and can reverse the transaction if necessary), whereas Venmo is like handing someone cash. I would set up the account ahead of time. The Adventure Guides will give you whatever info you need to locate them on the app and pay them. I would check the paypal app for details on fees, I think some of it has changed recently, but it's usually based on what type of transaction you pick (like if it's for goods or services, they pay the fee. If just money to a friend, you pay the fee, and it's not much) and how you fund the transaction.

Sayhello

 

[Eree418]

Thank you @sayhello! I just set up my PayPal account and have another question. I have added a card to my account -- which is the card we will be using during our trip (no foreign transaction fees). Will I be able to pay the adventure guides from that card, or do I need to link a bank account? I'd rather not link my bank account if I don't have to.

 

[sayhello]

Thank you @sayhello! I just set up my PayPal account and have another question. I have added a card to my account -- which is the card we will be using during our trip (no foreign transaction fees). Will I be able to pay the adventure guides from that card, or do I need to link a bank account? I'd rather not link my bank account if I don't have to.

You can use the credit card to pay the Adventure Guides. That's what I always do.

The only time you'd need a bank account linked is if someone pays *you*, or does a refund for you, but not by reversing the transaction. In that case, you can leave the money in Paypal, and just use it to pay others, but if you want your money back to use for other things, you need a bank account linked. I did that once, got the money back, then removed the bank account. I don't like having a bank account tied to PayPal, either.

Honestly, one of the other things I really love about PayPal is that a lot of websites allow you to pay using PayPal, so you don't have to give your credit card information to random websites. I've been using PayPal since like 2002, and have rarely had an issue with them, and those few issues were always resolved to my satisfaction.

Sayhello

 

[Eree418]

Thank you again, @sayhello! I'm happy to have one more to-do checked off my travel list!

 

[sayhello]

Thank you again, @sayhello! I'm happy to have one more to-do checked off my travel list!

You're welcome! You're going to love this trip!

Sayhello

 

[starry_solo]

@Eree41 ... one thing to note. If you pay the person via PayPal and call it a gift, credit card companies may consider it a cash advance. I remember this changed about 2-3 years ago

If you say goods or services, then there's a minimum of a 3% fee incurred by the guides.

 

[Eree418]

@Eree41 ... one thing to note. If you pay the person via PayPal and call it a gift, credit card companies may consider it a cash advance. I remember this changed about 2-3 years ago

If you say goods or services, then there's a minimum of a 3% fee incurred by the guides.

Thank you, @starry_solo! That's good to know. I'll keep that in mind selecting the payment type and when coming up with the tip amount.

 

[Steven G]

I was on the ABD trip to England and France a few months ago, and everything above is correct to my knowledge.

One additional thing: Even though you have two guides (that you should tip), each country also has "local" guides separate from those two. I believe we had two different "local" guides in England, and two in France depending on the day ( only one local guide a day).

This allowed us to break out into 3 smaller groups, which helped.

The local guides were just as great and probably more informative than the main guides if you are into details. You DON'T have to tip them, but you can feel free to if they go above and beyond.

I paid both guides using Zelle. I offered Venmo, but they both asked to use Zelle, which I had no problem with since I already had that set up.

Oh, and one of the guides was from England (Melissa) and the other was from France (Damien), but they both had great knowledge of both. I don't think the fact that one is from England and one from France is necessarily guaranteed, but it was nice.

 

[Eree418]

Thank you, @Steven G! I've got Zelle through my bank account, so that's easy enough if it's their preference. Counting down the days!

 

[Foreveraprincess17]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. Great timing-we are also going to do the ABD England and France this Fall. I was going to ask the same question.

I did not know that you could tip via Paypal. This is great to know. Thanks Say Hello!!

 

[sayhello]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. Great timing-we are also going to do the ABD England and France this Fall. I was going to ask the same question.

I did not know that you could tip via Paypal. This is great to know. Thanks Say Hello!!

You're welcome! Just make sure you check with your Adventure Guides first. They may not all be able to accept PayPal. But most of them seem to be able to accept that or Venmo.

Sayhello

 

[Foreveraprincess17]

You're welcome! Just make sure you check with your Adventure Guides first. They may not all be able to accept PayPal. But most of them seem to be able to accept that or Venmo.

Sayhello

Will do. Thanks!!