GRATUITIES

Going on vacation can be expensive when you fly to another city, take taxis, stay in hotels, and go out for dinner. These are also places where a person may be forced to pay a gratuity as an add-on to the bill, or may want to leave a monetary token in appreciation for quality service, also known as a tip.

Tip used to be an acronym for "To Insure Promptness" and was given before service was provided. If everything was acceptable or excellent, an additional gratuity was provided afterwards. Today, providing a tip has become standardized. In some places, everyone from the waiter to porters to proprietors figure gratuities as part of their wages. The question for many people remains 'how much do I give?". Travelers don't want to seem overly miserly, but they don't want to spend all of their vacation money on gratuities.

A different type of tip: The few extra dollars you spend on a gratuity will not spoil your vacation, but the service provider will appreciate the gesture and "insure promptness" next time.

Remember that a gratuity or tip should always be voluntary and dependant upon the quality of service you receive.

We are in the process of setting up a guideline for tipping our various excursion and trip guides and will post as they are determined. Tipping of lodge and lodge staff is the same as if you were staying at a 4-star hotel.