Hello Gayle,

Tipping...

If you use (I can't remember what they are called right now) the folks that help with carrying your luggage at the airport you need to tip them. They are a bit pushy I think, but then again its their job so thats what they need to do to get the business... in any case if you need help they are there to tow your things and if you don't need them because you can carry your own things then just say no thank you before they start picking up your things!!

The taxi driver - some folks tip the driver others do not... if you are on a taxi tour and the tour is good then you might want to tip. The not tipping is often when its just a taxi ride without tour.

Hotel - you might tip your maid for the room. Room service if you use it.

Charters and tours - you might tip the mates and/or tour guide.

Restaurant - tip bartender, wait staff.

I might be missing some folks, hopefully someone else can help if I did miss something.

--Islander

Hello Gayle and Islander,
Are you talking about Skycaps? I actually had to track one down. I had the baby with me and couldn't carry my luggage thru customs. He carted my luggage, waited with me in customs and then took my luggage to where it was loaded. I tipped him and he seemed grateful. I guess if you travel light than it would be unnecessary for a skycap, but helpful if you do. Average tip is one dollar a bag.

We tipped all services (waiter/waitress, bartender, etc.) 20% for good service, 15% for average service, 10% for horrible. We tipped taxis a dollar per person per ride for an enjoyable ride. One taxi driver in particular had another fair waiting and drove like he aimed to kill us. No tip for him. After that ride we found that the 'older and seasoned' drivers drove slower. Personally I did not enjoy the safari type buses and would wait for a 'private' taxi (private taxis still pick up other fairs, but are usually air conditioned and are large conversion vans). I never took a tour of the island, our taxi drivers told us everything we wanted to know and then some.

I tipped the hotel staff a few dollars per service per day(maids, bellhops,etc.), however I did not stay in a resort type hotel which I assume you would tip higher. The website below says to tip the maid $5 minimum - maybe at a resort? I noticed that when I purchased things on credit card that many receipts automatically had a tip line. When buying a couple bottles of water, I would cross out the tip line. I don't think you have to tip for everything!

www.tipping.org has some 'standards' on tipping worldwide and is very helpful.

I think a lot of the service industry on the island lives by the tourism and tips, so understanding that usually makes it more agreeable to tip. Hope this helps.
Teresa

i tip everyone, from the skycap to the taxi driver, to the people who keep my room spic n span. i usually leave $5/day for the maids, though.

i gotta check out that site, tipping.com.

my personal tipping practice:

standard tip is 15% with the maid exception, above.
excellent service, i'll tip as much as 20%
lousy service, i leave no tip at all!

a pet peeve: sometimes the special guest of management at a restaurant, hotel, spa, or anyplace else will neglect to tip. that's not fair. the staff didn't give you the freebie, the management or owner did. tip the peeps, y'all!