How many dollar bills to take

[xlxo]

Never understood tipping a cab driver. Unless they carry your bags and groceries for you. Like tipping me as a police officer for pulling you over and not giving you a citation a tip for doing so. Doesn't make since.

If you take a cab from the Vegas Airport.... the driver will often chat you up....

• this is after they "long haul" you on the freeway
• make you feel guilty for not pushing the 40% tip button when paying by credit card

 

[MUN]

I would estimate it based on the following.
$2-3 per bag for porters (x2- before and after)
$30+ in one's for room service
The excursions are the hard part. It depends on the cost and the level of service. I plan on bringing a couple of hundred (mix of 5, 10, & 20s)

Why and who would you tip on excursions?

MUN

 

[JW9DVC]

If you take a cab from the Vegas Airport.... the driver will often chat you up....

• this is after they "long haul" you on the freeway
• make you feel guilty for not pushing the 40% tip button when paying by credit card

I don't feel guilty. Ever.

 

[MillauFr]

We brought $200 in ones and fives for our 4 day cruise.

 

[tinker&belle]

We used at least $50 ones for tips between transportation and room service etc on our 5 night cruise. For our upcoming 8 night I am going to bring $100. Better to have extra than run out.

 

[MunFam]

Why and who would you tip on excursions?

MUN

I worked in the guided tour industry for years. It is customary to tip your guide and the bus driver (esp if they keep the bus running to keep it cool/warm or do curb pick ups instead of making you walk out to some remote parking spot.) You tip in a restaurant, right? They provide a service just like a waiter or waitress does...even though you are paying for the food, just like you are paying for the tour.

 

[MUN]

I worked in the guided tour industry for years. It is customary to tip your guide and the bus driver (esp if they keep the bus running to keep it cool/warm or do curb pick ups instead of making you walk out to some remote parking spot.) You tip in a restaurant, right? They provide a service just like a waiter or waitress does...even though you are paying for the food, just like you are paying for the tour.

Yes I tip in a restaurant, but wait staff income is tied primarily to tips. Is that the case for tour guides?

 

[MissMet]

I'm super "type a" so take this with a grain of salt...

I look at my "schedule" and mentally walk through each day and calculate how much I'd tip for each encounter, each day and tally how much I need down to how many singles, fives, tens, etc. It's actually pretty easy to figure out. Then I get small envelopes, fill them with the amount planned, label them with the date, person, & amount, and place it in a ziplock bag. I also keep a larger envelope in there with a few extra bills just in case I miss someone or want to add to the tip I had already pre-decided. I keep that ziplock bag in our safe and then each day we just take out all the envelopes with that date. It really helps us to never feel stressed that we don't have the cash to tip AND we don't touch our "spending money" cash or vice versa.

Walk through your trip... cab drivers, porters, housekeeping (if they'll be a hotel stay), tour operators, room service...

 

[Dug720]

Just as a note, if you plan on using Lyft or a pre-paid car service, you can include the tip in that charge. No need for cash there.

 

[MunFam]

Yes I tip in a restaurant, but wait staff income is tied primarily to tips. Is that the case for tour guides?

In my experience, yes...5 years ago, the going rate for a tour guide was about $12-15 per hour (which was only a few dollars over minimum wage)...that would be for a 50 passenger tour where each passenger paid $150 for the day trip and cost to tour operator was the bus, guide, lunch and admission to attraction ($12). I was with the group the entire day answering questions, giving tours while we were driving, etc, so those tips are what really made up for the lack of pay. I worked for one of the better paying companies.