First ABD trip gratuities question

[Peachy22]

We'll be leaving this summer for our first ABD trip to England/France. For those of you who've been before, what is the best way to pay gratuities to your guides? I've heard some pay with cash, but that seems like a lot of cash to carry. Also, any guidance on how much to tip the ABD guides? Someone at ABD recommended $9-12 per person per day, and I'm wondering if this is the range most stay in or if you tip more. Thank you.

 

[sayhello]

We'll be leaving this summer for our first ABD trip to England/France. For those of you who've been before, what is the best way to pay gratuities to your guides? I've heard some pay with cash, but that seems like a lot of cash to carry. Also, any guidance on how much to tip the ABD guides? Someone at ABD recommended $9-12 per person per day, and I'm wondering if this is the range most stay in or if you tip more. Thank you.

Cash used to be the best option, but these days, many of the Adventure Guides take PayPal or Venmo. But sometimes, the local Adventure Guide can't take either, it depends on the locale. And by local Adventure Guide, what that means is that *generally*, one of your Adventure Guides will be from the United States, and the other will be local to wherever you are. When I did London/Paris, we had Landon, our American Adventure Guide and we had Adam, our British Adventure Guide. This isn't *always* the case (for instance, I had 2 American Adventure Guides in Scotland, and Canada requires all Adventure Guides be Canadian).

So anyways, the upshot is, I generally don't carry cash for the tips anymore, and I make sure to ask the Adventure Guides what form of payment they can accept. If it's cash only, or not an app I have or want to use, then I'll hit an ATM towards the end of the trip for the cash in the local currency. ATMs are pretty easy to locate these days. Otherwise, I'll pay by whatever app.

As for tip amount, your Adventure Handbook will list the recommended tip. It was previously $9-$11 per person, per AG, per day, but I wouldn't be surprised if they've bumped it up to $9-$12. I always tip *at least* the max suggested amount. But I frequently will bump it up a bit because the Adventure Guides work their tails off and totally earn and deserve it!!

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

We'll be leaving this summer for our first ABD trip to England/France. For those of you who've been before, what is the best way to pay gratuities to your guides? I've heard some pay with cash, but that seems like a lot of cash to carry. Also, any guidance on how much to tip the ABD guides? Someone at ABD recommended $9-12 per person per day, and I'm wondering if this is the range most stay in or if you tip more. Thank you.

The suggested gratuity info is found under the En Route/During Your Adventure section. It will also be in your advenfure handbook; you will get the link emailed a couple of months before departure. Definitely ask the guides their preferred method of payment; most are set up for PayPal or Venmo but the local guide in New Zealand was cash only.

As to amounts, it is always up to the guests whether to be low end, high end, or lower or higher, whatever you feel is appropriate. Personally I am usually at the upper end of the suggested range, or rounding up, because the guides work long hard hours to ensure a wonderful experience. I think you will be amazed, as they set the standard that is hard to beat!! Only one time have I been at the lower was and only for one guide, because I didn’t care for the guide - there was a definite lack of enthusiasm, they didn’t add much to the experience in my opinion, and I hope I don’t get that guide again.

Gratuities​

Adventure Guide Gratuities
Gratuities for your Adventure Guides are not included. Based on the quality of service you have received, we suggest the following gratuity guidelines. Please note that this is for each member of your traveling party, per Adventure Guide, per day.

Per Adult/Child/Per Adventure Guide/Per Day—$9 - $11 USD

Example:

• For an 8-day adventure, the Adventure Guide gratuity per Guest, per Adventure Guide: $72 - $88 USD.
• A family of 4 for an 8-day adventure: $288 - $352 USD per Adventure Guide.

For 2 Adventure Guides, this is a total of $576 - $704 USD.

Gratuities for your Adventure Guides may be paid in US dollars, local currency or via money transfer. Please check with your Adventure Guides for their preferred method of payment.

 

[jimmymc]

Most people tip within or above that range. I'd guest it's about 50/50 between those two options, so you can decide when you do the trip. Cash in either the local currency or USD works. In the handbook for my trips, ABD also specified Paypal as an option.

 

[shairpdrh]

We'll be leaving this summer for our first ABD trip to England/France. For those of you who've been before, what is the best way to pay gratuities to your guides? I've heard some pay with cash, but that seems like a lot of cash to carry. Also, any guidance on how much to tip the ABD guides? Someone at ABD recommended $9-12 per person per day, and I'm wondering if this is the range most stay in or if you tip more. Thank you.

We did the same trip in August last year and the guides preferred cash because of the fees for the apps when paying in a different currency. I got cash from an ATM near the Paris hotel. The first one I tried didn't work, but the second worked perfectly. That said, I could have paid using an app if it had been the best option for me. I wanted to give them as much as possible, so cash worked out well!

We definitely went well over the recommended amount after seeing everything they did to make our trip as wonderful as possible! Obviously up to you what you give.