Tipping in Egypt
Discussion
Hi Everyone,
Looking for a quick bit of advice. Off to Egypt soon (All inclusive) but I just need to work out the tipping thing. I have done some research but its not really definitive.
Who should I be tipping (ie the bell boy that carries the bags, the house cleaner etc.)
How much is considered a decent tip?
Advice appreciated.
Looking for a quick bit of advice. Off to Egypt soon (All inclusive) but I just need to work out the tipping thing. I have done some research but its not really definitive.
Who should I be tipping (ie the bell boy that carries the bags, the house cleaner etc.)
How much is considered a decent tip?
Advice appreciated.
EVERYONE will expect a tip, and I mean EVERYONE. It is very much a 'tip' culture.
If they interact with you in any way or provide even the smallest service they will expect a tip.
I went quite a few times around 10 years ago now, but I doubt it's changed much.
If you're staying in a hotel, tip your room cleaner on day 1, tip the bar staff and waiting staff, all the usuals. They accepted any currency when I was there. And take some pockets of shrapnel, pound coins etc for tipping random people you meet during the day to stop them giving you grief if you have nothing to tip with.
If they interact with you in any way or provide even the smallest service they will expect a tip.
I went quite a few times around 10 years ago now, but I doubt it's changed much.
If you're staying in a hotel, tip your room cleaner on day 1, tip the bar staff and waiting staff, all the usuals. They accepted any currency when I was there. And take some pockets of shrapnel, pound coins etc for tipping random people you meet during the day to stop them giving you grief if you have nothing to tip with.
This was one thing I hated about egypt when we went, constantly felt like people were trying to put their hand in my pocket and extract money for even the tiniest thing.
I had been pre-warned but thought they were taking the piss so it was still a bit of a shock, we were in a 5* place and it was still expected. That said I took care of the bar staff and the waiters and we were never left without a drink, halfway though and then at the end of our stay i made sure to find our maid and gave her a decent amount as well.
I had been pre-warned but thought they were taking the piss so it was still a bit of a shock, we were in a 5* place and it was still expected. That said I took care of the bar staff and the waiters and we were never left without a drink, halfway though and then at the end of our stay i made sure to find our maid and gave her a decent amount as well.
The AI place we stayed in had a no tipping policy, although we did tip our room cleaner as he was great. Food, drinks and service in general was poor except for the extra charge restaurants so didn't bother tipping.
Outside of the resort you'll find people harassing you everywhere baying for your money, one of the worst countries I've been to in that respect, you'll be paying them just to go away. We gave our driver a nice big tip though after a long day trip to Luxor as he didn't stop at any souvenir shops as instructed and didn't drive like a maniac.
Outside of the resort you'll find people harassing you everywhere baying for your money, one of the worst countries I've been to in that respect, you'll be paying them just to go away. We gave our driver a nice big tip though after a long day trip to Luxor as he didn't stop at any souvenir shops as instructed and didn't drive like a maniac.
Everywhere we went we were hassled, it was not nice.
As soon as we left the airport terminal to walk to our coach people came up and almost snatched our bags from us. One crazy thing at the Vally of the Kings. A guy standing outside the toilet with loo paper, so much per sheet. Or should it be so much to s
t.
As soon as we left the airport terminal to walk to our coach people came up and almost snatched our bags from us. One crazy thing at the Vally of the Kings. A guy standing outside the toilet with loo paper, so much per sheet. Or should it be so much to s
t.Thanks for all the replies. I have a bit of a different problem as well....
No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
CoffeeGuy said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have a bit of a different problem as well....
No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
Definitely USD, the local currency fNo one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
king reeks!CoffeeGuy said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have a bit of a different problem as well....
No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
Don't bother with EGP, everywhere will take USD, EUR or GBP.No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
Even the visa on arrival fee is cheaper in USD compared to EGP.
Gary29 said:
EVERYONE will expect a tip, and I mean EVERYONE. It is very much a 'tip' culture.
If they interact with you in any way or provide even the smallest service they will expect a tip.
If they interact with you in any way or provide even the smallest service they will expect a tip.
We went to Sharm a few years back and there were about a dozen people boarding the hotel coach which was waiting for us. There was an issue with the luggage area so the driver said to put them up in the seating area. It would have been a job to carry them on via the door so I asked the driver to open the fire exit. I got stuck in and started passing the cases up to him. On the last case he came running down and asked me for a tip. I knew from that point on what sort of a trip we were in for.
CoffeeGuy said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have a bit of a different problem as well....
No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
THey will take anything tbh, pound coins are fine take a load. And take some tenners to change them into notes they will love you for this. No one seems to have Egyptian £'s in stock or even available. I have tried several different sites and none of them list Egyptian £. I realise its a bit of a dodgy currency but even so, no one has it!
Would taking USD, purely for tips be appropriate?
Glassman said:
We went to Sharm a few years back and there were about a dozen people boarding the hotel coach which was waiting for us. There was an issue with the luggage area so the driver said to put them up in the seating area. It would have been a job to carry them on via the door so I asked the driver to open the fire exit. I got stuck in and started passing the cases up to him. On the last case he came running down and asked me for a tip. I knew from that point on what sort of a trip we were in for.
Anyway we got a pre booked bus from the airport and as soon as we got on it the sob stories started. There was a "guide" on board to get us where we were going to and a driver and a driver's mate.
The guide started to get on the mic and tell everyone how hard working they all were and what good men they were. They suggested a tip of £10-15 each per person on board and did so with a straight face. I think the ticket only cost £3 per person- was only a 30 min drive. I think we ended up giving them a tenner between all three of them but being a bit of a tight wad it was a bit much.
The hotel food and drink was absolutely incredible value for money. Astonishingly so in fact.
So just for anyone reading this in the future…. USD is totally acceptable. Talking to the staff and vendors they where saying that GBP is preferred over USD followed in distant third by Egyptian pound.
We found that tipping a few dollars per morning or afternoon seems to be fine and gets us decent service. USD is useful because you can just drop a couple of dollars rather than messing with GBP coins or Egyptian funny money.
Oh and we did indeed get asked if we can swap GBP coins for notes at least once.
We found that tipping a few dollars per morning or afternoon seems to be fine and gets us decent service. USD is useful because you can just drop a couple of dollars rather than messing with GBP coins or Egyptian funny money.
Oh and we did indeed get asked if we can swap GBP coins for notes at least once.
Is anywhere safe from tipping culture? Anywhere?
On the topic of currency exchange, Eurochange and the Post Office always have them. Perhaps it's location specific if you live in a larger city.
Alternative if you do need local currency is to withdraw at an airport ATM upon arrival. Keep your eye on the exchange rate on Google (GBP to EGP) so that you know how much you're getting.
By way of example:
I also find it useful to get onto Google Translate if ever there's a language barrier abroad: input your sentence in English and translate it into theirs. They can read it off the screen.
On the topic of currency exchange, Eurochange and the Post Office always have them. Perhaps it's location specific if you live in a larger city.
Alternative if you do need local currency is to withdraw at an airport ATM upon arrival. Keep your eye on the exchange rate on Google (GBP to EGP) so that you know how much you're getting.
By way of example:
I also find it useful to get onto Google Translate if ever there's a language barrier abroad: input your sentence in English and translate it into theirs. They can read it off the screen.
captain.scarlet said:
Is anywhere safe from tipping culture? Anywhere?
On the topic of currency exchange, Eurochange and the Post Office always have them. Perhaps it's location specific if you live in a larger city.
Alternative if you do need local currency is to withdraw at an airport ATM upon arrival. Keep your eye on the exchange rate on Google (GBP to EGP) so that you know how much you're getting.
By way of example:
I also find it useful to get onto Google Translate if ever there's a language barrier abroad: input your sentence in English and translate it into theirs. They can read it off the screen.
Yes, the UK is safe from the tipping culture. We -generally - only tip for service 'over and above'. Long may it continue.On the topic of currency exchange, Eurochange and the Post Office always have them. Perhaps it's location specific if you live in a larger city.
Alternative if you do need local currency is to withdraw at an airport ATM upon arrival. Keep your eye on the exchange rate on Google (GBP to EGP) so that you know how much you're getting.
By way of example:
I also find it useful to get onto Google Translate if ever there's a language barrier abroad: input your sentence in English and translate it into theirs. They can read it off the screen.
Vasco said:
Yes, the UK is safe from the tipping culture. We -generally - only tip for service 'over and above'. Long may it continue.
I don’t think we are safe. We are expected to tip restaurant staff, hotel porters and maids, taxi drivers, etc etc. WHY? Then you get restaurants adding a 10% - 20% service charge to the bill. Or, you get that bit on the card terminal to add a bit extra. I always like to leave cash on the table. Then I could be accused of encouraging tax evasion.
It’s all a mess, and should be sorted out.
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