Should I tip my Tour Host/Manager , Driver and individual step on guide ?
In a nut shell , the answer is yes , if you feel they have done a great job
How much ?
Tipping is always a personal decision, and usually falls into a range that you select based on the level of service you received
Here are a few guidelines for tipping in the UK :
Coach Driver - A friendly and helpful driver who gets you safely to and from your destination ,offers helpful information , always helps people on and off the coach and is always prompt should receive a tip of £3-£5 per person per day of driving depending on the level of service. For this tour our driver will be with us for 4 full days and 2 partial days . Therefore a rule of thumb for great service would be to tip £5 for 4 days and £3 for two partial days ...so a total of £26 pounds or $40 CAD total.
Tour Host/Manager - Your Tour Host or Manager not only looks after you while you are on the coach, but every moment you are on the tour. He or she is the glue that keeps a tour humming along and is always working behind the scenes to fix or avoid any snags that could quickly de-rail the tour. Days are very long for a Tour Host/Manager who doesn't sleep or relax until every one on the coach is safely tucked into bed and everything is all taken care of for the next day. A great Tour Host/Manager is worth his/her weight in gold .
A rule of thumb for tipping your Tour Host/Manager is £5-£7 per day per person . Our Tour Host/ Manager will be looking after each person for 8 days. The minimum per person per tour should be £40, ( $60 CAD) with the maximum being £56 ( $85 CAD) for outstanding service.
For step on Guides who are with us for a full day, a minimum of £3 per person per day ( $5 CAD) is recommended with £5 for great service
For guides who do a 1-2 hr walking tour £1-£2 per person. ( $2 - $4) For smaller groups of under 10 people the higher £2 ( $4) per person is recommended, while for larger groups, the £1 ($2) per person is adequate.
So as an example, for this tour you should plan to set aside a minimum of £50 or $100CAD to divide up between Tour Host/Manager , Coach Driver, and 3 step on guides ( Manchester, Chester and Liverpool.) The largest portion should go to your Tour Host/Manager , with the coach driver receiving the next largest amount . In pounds this would translate to £25, £16 and 3 guides x £3 .
These are just guidelines , and you can certainly choose what you wish to tip. But please do remember, in most cases these folks do work very hard to ensure your vacation is as worry free as possible.
Here is a helpful article on tipping in general in the UK
https://www.globalcoachtours.com/blog/ArticleID/10/tipping-guidelines-in-britain
What Clothes Should I Pack
Pack whatever clothes you would be wearing at home in late August/early September. A light rain jacket and comfortable walking shoes - don't bring brand new shoes - make sure they are well broken in ! A light weight sweater is always good to have on overnight flights as the cabin can get cool.
Bring one or two dressier outfits for any special dinners and in case you want to go to a special concert or theatre in your free time.
Leave your expensive jewelry at home, just in case. Just remember, this is your hard earned vacation, and you want to be comfortable .
Travel Tips
It's always a good idea to take a photo copy of the first two pages of your passport, just in case you ever lose it or it gets stolen. It is much easier to get a replacement if you have this information with you. Keep it somewhere else from where you keep your passport.
Bring a spare pair of eyeglasses with you, just in case your current ones get lost, broken or stolen.
It's always a good idea to bring an extra prescription for any medication you need to take. We have had cases where people have left medication in the bathroom in a previous hotel room .
Speaking of medication , please do list any medication you need to take and any medication you cannot take , or allergies , on your registration form in the appropriate section. We are not being nosey, we are just making sure that if there was any situation whereby you needed medical assistance and couldn't speak for yourself, our Tour Host /Manager would have access to this information to pass along to medical authorities.
Please do bring along any non prescription meds you are accustomed to taking , such as Tylenol . But if you do run out and need to get over the counter meds, please remember that In the UK, " Night Nurse" is like our Tylenol PM for sleep , and Paracetamol is like the Tylenol we take for pain.
Here are a great couple of tips from Neville who was actually mugged in Quito and was so thankful he had done this.
When you check in to the hotel, take one of the business cards with the hotel address on it and put it together with a £20 note in your shoe. That way you will always have the hotel address and phone number ,and a bit of cash to get there in case you do get your purse or wallet and phone stolen.
VERY IMPORTANT please note , the electrical current is different in the UK.
Be sure to pack the appropriate travel plug adapter that fits the local sockets, as well as a voltage converter. The UK has it's own plug and socket system TYPE G, which is unlike the rest of Continental Europe. As opposed to our 120V 60 Hz in Canada, the electricity in the UK is 230V 5hz....so even if you get the correct plug adapter , if you don't also get the converter that steps down the voltage, you will fry your phone or flat iron ! You can get travel plug adaptors with voltage converters at places like Best Buy or Amazon. Don't wait until you get to the UK to buy one , as they will be reverse from the ones sold here, and will be virtually useless with your appliances.
A small telescoping umbrella is always a good thing to have, as well as a small backpack or cross body bag to keep your valuables right in front of you.
Please do not travel without travel insurance. Trip cancellation is optional but highly recommended, but proof of out of the country emergency medical insurance is mandatory for this trip.
Please don't wander off by yourself at any time without letting someone know where you are going and what time you will be back .
Before travelling, check with your cell phone provider to see how much an international plan is so you can call home if need be or your family can reach you. Unfortunately most plans are pretty expensive.
If your phone is unlocked ( make sure it is before you go ) you can purchase a sim card in the UK and just swap your existing sim card with that one. Just make sure you bring along an envelope to store the tiny sim card in until you get home , and don't lose it !
Here is an article on the newest thing called E Sim Cards....I've never tried it but it looks pretty easy to set it up. No more having to swap Sim cards .
https://www.traveltomtom.net/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/best-prepaid-uk-sim-card
One of the cheapest and easiest ways to keep in touch with people while you are away is through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Whats App. As long as you have a wifi connection you can talk to people anywhere , but you won't be able to use your Canadian phone plan to make a phone call without incurring big charges. The last thing you want to do is make a call from your hotel room to the family back home. Long distance and International long distance is very expensive from hotel rooms.
if you happen to have an older phone that still works, why not think about bringing that and just getting a UK sim card to pop in. That way if you lose your iPhone 7 it won't be nearly as much of a disaster as if you lose your new iPhone 14.
If you have any older pound sterling notes , most places in the UK will no longer accept them. But do bring them with you, and go to a Post Office right away where they will exchange them for new notes. They will exchange up to £300 at a time.
The best post office to head to, is the Manchester Spring Gardens #26 one, just up one of the side streets in the pedestrian shopping mall on Market Street and around the corner from a Barclays Bank. About an 8 minute walk from the hotel.
Coach Etiquette
Some seats on a coach are considered by some to have better views and vantage points for sightseeing. In order to give everyone a fair chance to experience the views from each angle, we will be rotating seats daily . We will ask folks to all move back 3 rows and across the aisle from where they sat the day before. Those who were seated in the last 3 rows the day before will move up to the front, and so on.
Once in your seat for the day, we would ask that you remain in that seat for the entire day for sanitary reasons. The surfaces of the coach will be all wiped down after the end of each day, but not throughout the day. Every little bit helps, and we thank you for understanding.
Please do stick with the group and don't wander off to look at something and get left behind. It's a scary feeling being in a place you don't know and getting separated . Always keep your eye on the group if you stop for a moment . Please let someone know if you need to make a quick dash to a washroom , and the group will wait for you before moving on.
We have all been on those tours where the same two or three people are always the ones missing when the Tour Manager does the headcount before leaving an area. Please don't be one of those people that everyone else is constantly having to wait for. Be courteous by being on time. Keeping up and being on time for departures will help us all have an enjoyable tour. Sometimes we are on a fairly tight schedule, and each 5 or 10 minutes we have to wait for stragglers could mean we might have to miss a planned stop entirely. When departing the coach for a stop, you will be told how long we will be stopping for, and what time to be back at the coach, and where the coach will be parked. Please do listen to your Tour Host/Manager's instructions , and always keep track of the time.
Luggage
Pack light ...you will be dragging your luggage through the airports by yourself. Leave room for the treasures you want to bring home. Most airlines these days do not give you any free checked bags , and charge crazy amounts . Make sure you check with your airline regarding checked luggage allowances and fees well in advance .
Rolling clothes sometimes keeps them from wrinkling as much and keeping the number of pairs of shoes you bring to a minimum can cut down on luggage weight substantially....as can swapping out full size bottles of shampoo and conditioner for travel sizes, or just purchase when you get there and throw away what you don't use. If you do pack any liquids in your suitcase, make sure they are in sealed plastic bags- like freezer bags.
If you are planning to purchase liquor to bring back, its always a good idea to have a few extra large plastic bags on hand to use to put liquor in, and then use your clothes to wrap around the bottle to shield it from bumps.
A low cost luggage scale is worth its weight in gold, as are the new tracking devices which you place inside your luggage so you always know where it is , even when the airlines don't ! Both these items can be purchased on Amazon very inexpensively.
Don't pack your passport or any medications you need in your checked baggage. Especially in this day and age when luggage horror stories have been happening the world over. Make sure you pack your medication, any valuables, your passport, cash and credit cards, a light sweater or jacket and a full change of clothing in your carry on bag , and keep it with you at all times.
Tour Host /Manager
As a courtesy, we ask that if you have an issue with something like your TV is not working in your room or there is a burnt out bulb , please notify the front desk and not your Tour Host/Manager. If however you have notified the front desk several times ,and nothing has been done , we ask that you let your Tour Host/Manager know the next morning, so that it can be dealt with.
Tour Hosts/Managers work very hard for very long days , and often just need some down time after dinner is finished. and during free time.
Unless it is an emergency that really cannot wait until breakfast the next morning, please let your Tour Host have some rest so that he/she will be bright eyed and ready to tackle anything the next morning ! Thank you for respecting this request.
How Much Money Do I Need to Bring ?
Only carry small amounts of cash with you. Order a few pounds sterling to have with you when you first land in Britain , enough to give tips and maybe buy a coffee , but for the rest you will most likely be using your credit card. With ATM machines everywhere these days, you can withdraw what you need for just a day or two, and you can have it in local currency without having to go to a bank or Currency Exchange kiosk in the airport where exchange rates are not always the most favourable.
Here are a great couple of tips from Neville who was actually mugged in Quito and was so thankful he had done this.
When you check in to the hotel, take one of the business cards with the hotel address on it and put it together with a £20 note in your shoe. That way you will always have the hotel address and a bit of cash to get there in case you do get your purse or wallet and phone stolen.
Returning Back to Canada
Remember after you have been out of the country for 7 days, you are allowed to bring home the equivalent of $800 CAD when you return to Canada. In that $800 total you can have 1.5L of wine, or 1.14 L of spirits, or 8.5L of beer.
You can also bring 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars , or 200 grams of tobacco. The total of all your items including liquor and tobacco can not exceed $800.
You cannot bring fresh produce or any meat products back to Canada.
If you purchase something fragile as a gift for someone , consider asking the store to ship it to your residence as a gift.
While you are outside Canada, you can send gifts free of duty and taxes to friends at home in Canada under certain conditions.
Gifts you send from outside Canada do not count as part of your personal exemption, but gifts you bring back in your personal baggage do and are treated like any other purchases.
Hopefully some of these little travelling tips and tidbits will be helpful.
