Tipping in Sharm el Sheikh

wkt54

I am going in January for the first time for a month, all inclusive.

I have read in here everyone advises to tip for a better service.

Can you advise who to tip, how much and how often.

Thanks.

kegg_2

There is a reasl problem with over tipping in egypt and the brits a re the worst.

Tipping should be used as a reward for good service not as a bribe to get decent service.

A good guide from trip advisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294200-c94591/Egypt:Suggested.Individual.Tipping.In.Egypt.html

sc1985

I went to Sharm el Sheikh last January. we got told to tip a waitor at begining of holiday (we was all inclusive) and then again at the end.

So we tipped our waitor something like £3 at the start of our trip. Then the next two weeks whenever we ate in the hotel, he would bring over our drinks (remember which we had) and when they was empty just get us some more. (all inclusive so not complaining)
Met some friends over there who never tipped and ended up not getting the same service from the same waitor. So was definatly worth it.
Actually gave him a lot of change we hd left over t the end of our holiday. But maybe not all waitors are the same.

You will get offered a lot of trips and excurtions while your out there. I suggest looking into that before you go. The ones our hotel offered we thought was cheap. Then when we headed out there was the same thing for almost half the price.
Same with shops. This guy told me £50 for a scarf. I said £5. I ended up getting it for £7
They try rip you off in any way they can.
Also as it is a holiday destination most the staff just work there for seasons. Mainly all Male workers, don;t know if your male or female but from my opinion any femle doing something alone gets so much hassle.

lewroll

Hiya, I've been to Sharm quite a few times and find that giving a small tip to people like waiters, pool attendants, taxi drivers(if they haven't hassled you) and room attendants works wonders. They remember you and definitely look after you and your creature comforts better. The amount I give varies, anywhere between 5LE to 10LE (60p to £1.20) each time. Even taxi drivers remember you and should you go for a taxi again, they just give you a reasonable price hoping that they will also get a tip! If you don't think they deserve a tip - don't give one. I don't and haven't had a problem yet.
Enjoy your holiday!!!!

moggitymog

we are also going to egypt in feb and have been told to tip in $, anyone agree?

PolishBigSpender

moggitymog wrote: »

we are also going to egypt in feb and have been told to tip in $, anyone agree?

Why would you tip in a currency different to the one used in the country?

Different story if the currency isn't convertible, but the Egyptian currency certainly is!

kegg_2

Tip in Le if possible, dont tip in pound coins as they cant change them and in most cases it is too much to tip for a small service.
If you dont have any small LE then use a dollar as at least they can change them. If you are going off the sinai and need the visa then take dollars to pay for that ($15 each) and dollars are also useful for duty free in egypt as all items are priced in dollars and even though they will take any currency or card the exchange rate wont be too good.

Lil_Me_2

Tipping in $1 bills is very common in Sharm, just like people tip in £1 coins etc. Whilst we were over in Sharm our regular pool attendant asked us to change 20 £1 coins into a £20 note for him. It didn't bother him that it wasn't egyptian pounds.

In terms of tipping in order to receive good service we had a bit of a mixed bag. As a family we believed in tipping at the end of the holiday varying amounts to all of the staff who helped us. We found that if you're nice to the staff and have good manners then it didn't matter whether you tipped or not!

We met a family out there (that we're still good friends with) who tipped every meal time £1-2 and whilst the staff were very attentive to all of their needs, it wasn't much different to the service we received.

I think it did help that we tended to stick to the same smaller pool that had the same staff, and we sat in the same area for food so saw the same waiters. By the end of the holiday we didn't need to queue for anything, we were served drinks and ice cream at our sun beds and had a couple of smaller preferential treatments such as getting our drinks in proper glasses not plastic cups.

Generally though if you treat the staff with respect and are grateful you will get better service, it isn't all about money.

kegg_2

£20 is the equlivant of a months worth of wages so there was either a case of of tipping going on or he had saved them up to then try to change into a note.


Most of the workers will be sending their money home to their families in cairo, luxor or alexso in effect this waiter had useless money until he could get a tourist to change it and not al tourist are brits or happy to change piles of pound coins.

And the end of the day they wont say no to any currency but why give them a currency that is harder for them to use

Errata

Tip often, tip well, tip in Egyptian currency. Do this and you will help people in ways that you couldn't possibly imagine.

kegg_2

Errata wrote: »

Tip often, tip well, tip in Egyptian currency. Do this and you will help people in ways that you couldn't possibly imagine.

over tipping screws up the whole economy of egypt.
What incentive is there for a young egyptian to train as doctor, teacher ect when they can earn 4 times as much as a waiter in sharm el sheik?

If you want to help the poor of egypt support a charity dont just throw money at waiters and pool boys.