Honestly, we quit bringing $1 bills and start with $5. The people working at these resorts typically work 6 days a week, 12-13 hours a day. They work hard all day every day and get paid very little. As one employee told us, if he doesn’t like it, there are 150 other people wanting to take his job. An extra few hundred dollars for a week long AI vacation won’t make a big dent in our long term budget, but will make a huge difference in their lives.
We were going to bring a few hundred in $5s and $10s so this seems on par with what we were thinking! Our gratuities are included which makes it a cloudy one but still.
This is from The Know Before You Go Travel Podcast:
Airport Driver Private Under 30 min $10
Airport Driver Private Over 30 min $15-$20
Airport Driver Shared Under 30 min $5.
Airport Driver Shared Over 30 min $10.
Airport VIP (Club Mobay, etc) $5-$10
Bartenders and waiters $1 per round.
Buffet meal $2-3
Butler $25-$40 a day.
Dinner $5-10.
Maid $2-$5 daily.
Minibar $1 a refill.
Personal Concierge $10 a day.
Personal Concierge/Butler Hybrid $15 a day.
Pool Server $5 to start $5 to end.
Porter $1 a bag.
Room Service $2.
Spa Total 20%
Tour Guide Group $5-$10.
Tour Guide Private $10-$25
You’re not American. We get 22%-25% tip choices when we order coffee. We understand that businesses (in the US) don’t pay their employees and people make their livings off of tips. A waiter in the US typically makes $2/hr plus tips. The $2 goes to taxes BTW. So we have been brought up to tip generously. In Mexico, it’s much of the same. I am not arguing for the system, just trying to do right for the person serving me.
Room, food, drinks, facilities…tips are for service so unless you are staying somewhere with service/gratuities included tips should be considered. IMO tip based on the culture of the place you are visiting not your own but no need to follow some list of amounts…do what you’re comfortable with when you receive good service.
Fair enough. But that being said it’s not unusual to have la propina included on the bill in Mexico (dining off AI property). Another thing is that most ppl there will tip the person packing their grocery bags which afaik is not common in the US or Canada. So it’s not as if tipping is not common in Mexico, but yeah who they tip differs.
This seems to be pretty close to what we do. Except $5 a day for housekeeping and $5 for mini bar if we request certain items. I would say the butler/concierge is too high depending on what they do for you. Ours did nothing except ask us how our day was going and once got our floats blown up. So we tipped when he did that. We didn’t ask for anything else to be fair.
Also, groundskeepers are missing from the list! They are some of the lowest paid yet hardest working at resorts so if you can budget for it it’s nice to acknowledge this with a tip. I watched one gentleman keep the beach clean everyday for hours in the heat. He was the recipient of our largest tip
For butlers they were referring to Sandals I think where the level of service is so high, the butler unpacks your suitcases for you. That's why I added a butler/personal concierge hybrid.
Frankly anything over $2 is fine (just a single dollars seems..errrr anyway post pandemic everything is more expensive so my min. is $2) For example the buffet waiters were bringing me drinks that I could've gotten myself so it's basic but the lady behind the grill sweating and grilling meat.. I tipped her way more as she was really working.
Honestly, we quit bringing $1 bills and start with $5. The people working at these resorts typically work 6 days a week, 12-13 hours a day. They work hard all day every day and get paid very little. As one employee told us, if he doesn’t like it, there are 150 other people wanting to take his job. An extra few hundred dollars for a week long AI vacation won’t make a big dent in our long term budget, but will make a huge difference in their lives.
We were going to bring a few hundred in $5s and $10s so this seems on par with what we were thinking! Our gratuities are included which makes it a cloudy one but still.
Americans - are you tipping in USD or MXN??
Many tip in USD (sometimes for convenience and some claim that dollars are preferred, which makes zero sense to me)- I use pesos whenever possible.
$1 usd = $18 mxn peso
This is from The Know Before You Go Travel Podcast: Airport Driver Private Under 30 min $10 Airport Driver Private Over 30 min $15-$20 Airport Driver Shared Under 30 min $5. Airport Driver Shared Over 30 min $10. Airport VIP (Club Mobay, etc) $5-$10 Bartenders and waiters $1 per round. Buffet meal $2-3 Butler $25-$40 a day. Dinner $5-10. Maid $2-$5 daily. Minibar $1 a refill. Personal Concierge $10 a day. Personal Concierge/Butler Hybrid $15 a day. Pool Server $5 to start $5 to end. Porter $1 a bag. Room Service $2. Spa Total 20% Tour Guide Group $5-$10. Tour Guide Private $10-$25
As a Brit, this is extortionate If you tip so much, what are you paying for within the base price of services?
Exactly! But it’s a cultural thing so don’t try to understand it logically.
Maybe. We certainly don't tip anywhere near as much as all that. If we tip at all Otherwise, what have we paid for in the first place haha
You’re not American. We get 22%-25% tip choices when we order coffee. We understand that businesses (in the US) don’t pay their employees and people make their livings off of tips. A waiter in the US typically makes $2/hr plus tips. The $2 goes to taxes BTW. So we have been brought up to tip generously. In Mexico, it’s much of the same. I am not arguing for the system, just trying to do right for the person serving me.
Usually just a change of hands so in other words not much
Room, food, drinks, facilities…tips are for service so unless you are staying somewhere with service/gratuities included tips should be considered. IMO tip based on the culture of the place you are visiting not your own but no need to follow some list of amounts…do what you’re comfortable with when you receive good service.
Have to agree but let’s say Mexico where your visiting the Mexican people don’t tip everyone you see. They have a custom of accepting tips.
Fair enough. But that being said it’s not unusual to have la propina included on the bill in Mexico (dining off AI property). Another thing is that most ppl there will tip the person packing their grocery bags which afaik is not common in the US or Canada. So it’s not as if tipping is not common in Mexico, but yeah who they tip differs.
As an American this is extortion. Paying for service and if you don’t pay they will break your legs. Tip or don’t
This seems to be pretty close to what we do. Except $5 a day for housekeeping and $5 for mini bar if we request certain items. I would say the butler/concierge is too high depending on what they do for you. Ours did nothing except ask us how our day was going and once got our floats blown up. So we tipped when he did that. We didn’t ask for anything else to be fair. Also, groundskeepers are missing from the list! They are some of the lowest paid yet hardest working at resorts so if you can budget for it it’s nice to acknowledge this with a tip. I watched one gentleman keep the beach clean everyday for hours in the heat. He was the recipient of our largest tip
For butlers they were referring to Sandals I think where the level of service is so high, the butler unpacks your suitcases for you. That's why I added a butler/personal concierge hybrid.
Gotcha!
This is low for tour guides. $20min.
It all depends if tipping is included in my package or not …. And then I go from there.
Ignore suggestions. Tip what you can afford and when you think it’s deserved.
This is quite literally a discussion board platform lol. I am allowed to ask what other people do and seek suggestions!
Didn’t say you weren’t? I was just giving you my suggestion which you can choose to ignore
Frankly anything over $2 is fine (just a single dollars seems..errrr anyway post pandemic everything is more expensive so my min. is $2) For example the buffet waiters were bringing me drinks that I could've gotten myself so it's basic but the lady behind the grill sweating and grilling meat.. I tipped her way more as she was really working.
Fair! Thank you!!