i would do it independantly....spend what you save on honeybee!!

I'd do it yourself. If you ask the local drivers or pop into a nearby hotel, they probably have a list of prices.

Definatly worth doing yourself for a better price. For a tip in rupees 20/30 is ample ,if there only
carrying your bag to the taxi office.

You shouldn't tip any person who may carry your bag the few metres to the government taxi booth. Fares are set there by distance and painted for you to read on a large board. You pay the correct amount and get a receipt. Any tip to the taxi driver at point of arrival is at your discretion, 20/30 rupees more than adequate.

£1 = 77 rupees approx. at the moment. A full days unskilled manual labour is currently waged at 150 to 200 rupees for a very long days work. Keep that in mind .

Handing out an unnecessary half days wage when you are perfectly able to get your own trolley to the taxi booth only adds to inflation and increases the perception of foreigners as intellectually cretinous cash machines.

Your taxi driver will no doubt want to be your best friend 'official driver' for the duration of your holiday, with full lists of trips and excursions, Kashmiri carpet and gemstone emporiums. Settle in to your surroundings and take stock. Always haggle, when you reach an agreed price they are still making a handsome profit.

You are not being charitable to the poor and needy by giving unnecessary tips, believe me. Don't go on holiday with all that First World guilt. You'll only end up short of pocket, not eased of bad conscience.

Why should it cost you more on the return journey to the airport? It is the same distance.

Avoid using money change counters at the airport, the rate of exchange is extremely poor. There are many ATM's along the route (and Authorised Dealer money changers), your taxi driver will be more than willing to stop, and you can get rupees at proper daily going rate there.

Remember, it's not London with the meter running. A Goan taxi driver will happily sleep in his cab all afternoon while you sightsee or are at the beach, this is one of the charming things about Goa.

Also, never buy rupees in the UK. You'll be lucky to get 50R/- to the pound.

You shouldn't tip any person who may carry your bag the few metres to the government taxi booth. Fares are set there by distance and painted for you to read on a large board. You pay the correct amount and get a receipt. Any tip to the taxi driver at point of arrival is at your discretion, 20/30 rupees more than adequate.

£1 = 77 rupees approx. at the moment. A full days unskilled manual labour is currently waged at 150 to 200 rupees for a very long days work. Keep that in mind .

Handing out an unnecessary half days wage when you are perfectly able to get your own trolley to the taxi booth only adds to inflation and increases the perception of foreigners as intellectually cretinous cash machines.

Your taxi driver will no doubt want to be your best friend 'official driver' for the duration of your holiday, with full lists of trips and excursions, Kashmiri carpet and gemstone emporiums. Settle in to your surroundings and take stock. Always haggle, when you reach an agreed price they are still making a handsome profit.

You are not being charitable to the poor and needy by giving unnecessary tips, believe me. Don't go on holiday with all that First World guilt. You'll only end up short of pocket, not eased of bad conscience.

Why should it cost you more on the return journey to the airport? It is the same distance.

Avoid using money change counters at the airport, the rate of exchange is extremely poor. There are many ATM's along the route (and Authorised Dealer money changers), your taxi driver will be more than willing to stop, and you can get rupees at proper daily going rate there.

Remember, it's not London with the meter running. A Goan taxi driver will happily sleep in his cab all afternoon while you sightsee or are at the beach, this is one of the charming things about Goa.

Also, never buy rupees in the UK. You'll be lucky to get 50R/- to the pound

Extremely sound advice.I could not have put it better myself.

Papa

moksha wrote:

You shouldn't tip any person who may carry your bag the few metres to the government taxi booth.
£1 = 77 rupees approx. at the moment. A full days unskilled manual labour is currently waged at 150 to 200 rupees for a very long days work. Keep that in mind .

I hardly think tipping 20/30 rupees works out at half a days wages even at your calculations Moksha
and you were unable to carry it yourself you would be glad to pay it.

I think his point was a pound equals roughly 77 rupees.Average days pay 150-200 rupees therefore if you tip a pound.....well work it out for your self.

Papa

Papa wrote:

I think his point was a pound equals roughly 77 rupees.Average days pay 150-200 rupees therefore if you tip a pound.....well work it out for your self.
Papa

IM talking about the 20/30 rps for the tip to carry her bag to the taxi office,which she is going to do, read the first post

"Why should the taxi cost more to return to the airport"..... Because of the Cavelossim taxi drivers mafia like set up. Last year when they were not on strike they were charging 900rps back to the airport with a minimum fare of 150rps for a short ride!

Split
Yes I've read the first post carefully and agree with Papa.
Moksha makes it quite clear. The bandits at the airport want £1 to carry your bag a few yards, This equals half a days wages (rs77), 20-30 rupees is more than ample.

Where is the problem with this post?
Its totally accurate. It is totally clear.

This sort of arguing for arguements sake is whats really causing all the problems on HT at present.

johnny five wrote:

Split
Yes I've read the first post carefully and agree with Papa.
Moksha makes it quite clear. The bandits at the airport want £1 to carry your bag a few yards, This equals half a days wages (rs77), 20-30 rupees is more than ample.

Where is the problem with this post?
Its totally accurate. It is totally clear.

Not at all
He said [ Any tip to the taxi driver at point of arrival is at your discretion, 20/30 rupees more than adequate. ] He was talking about when you get to your destination ,not at the airport.

what he said also said was [You shouldn't tip any person who may carry your bag the few metres to the government taxi booth. ] and i disagree,in my first post i said [its worth 20/30 rps]. then in my next post said [that if you are unable to carry the bag yourself its worth paying 20/30 rps.] Its because people like you .we are having these problems.

Not sure if this is the correct thread for my question but here goes

In January we are doing the Golden Triangle Tour, Flying from Goa to Jaipur a car with a driver and English speaking courier whilst we are there. Eventually ending up in Delhi to fly back to Goa and finish of our holiday.

I now its down to personal choice and if i feel that i have had a good service ect, but how much would be appropriate as a tip
50 rupees per day, per person i.e. 300 inr/- for the 6 days? (I did wonder about 500 inr/- each or should it be more?)

I am not looking to short change them but by the same token I don't want to go mad and massively over tip.

GM06
Ian

Okay - clarification, especially for 'split'. OP said '...The last couple of years I have managed to get out of the airport without paying the £1 tip for having my bags snatched off me....' There is no such tip. Report any individual demanding such bribes at your first point of entry to Goa as the cheats that they are. They are preying on your innocence and tiredness, and many will try and demand a great deal more than 20/30 rups, cause they read you, your luggage, destination, status and fatigue in a millisecond.

I gave advice. There is no reason to pay any tip for some 'bag handler' to push your trolley a few metres to the pre paid taxi booth (outside the terminal) i.e. 20/30 R/-, or another tip (£1 perhaps, or a great deal more) to the man/boy who loads your bag into his taxi which is also unnecessary even if he has his hand out and cajoles/harrasses you. Even if you are disabled or have special needs there is no justification for this behaviour. The cops take a cut of all your generosity anyway.

If you have paid the government rate for your fare, the taxi driver is getting a commission for your fare already. It is not even necessary to tip him on arrival at your destination and 20/30 rupees would be generous e.g. if he carries your bag up a few flights of stairs, and doesn't have his hand out like one of the multitude of beggars you will later encounter.

Split. OP wants to avoid paying what he/she thinks is a mandatory £1 tip to get bags from baggage reclaim to the taxi booth. £1 = 77 rupees approx. Daily manual unskiled wage equals 150 to 200 rupees. Do the maths. Said unofficial/illegal luggage handler is neither a government employee or member of a registered baggage handling company; he's a chancer paying bribes to the cops to allow him into the so very secure anti terrorist airport seclusion zone.

Giving said c*n artist £1 (or much much more) is half a days wages of unskilled labour in a few seconds to this low life. Comparison of the value of money is irrelevant, like 'it's only a quid'. Indians think likewise and give these trumped up deceivers very vocal short shrift.

This started with the intention of giving helpful advice, but seems to have deviated because a nit picking individual can't grasp the simple fact that a tip is not mandatory or necessary, should not be extorted from you under harrassment, and any tip is already factored in to the government taxi fares.

If you want to arrive flashing your cash, so be it. Consider for a moment the inflationary impact your largesse has on the local economy and the ability of locals to afford the ever increasing prices for basic essentials. Crash Test Dummies (soon to be tested i.e. fleeced) with more money than sense impact severely on the local ' non tourist' liveliehoods, foster resentment and abuse towards 'gora' foreigners, and only make you a 'mark' for further cheating.

It's because of people like this that there are so many problems, not least for the Goans, many of whom still dry their fish for storage during season so they can eat through the monsoon.

Dear Identical Twins

Your comments are duly noted.
Thank you for your interest.

johnny five wrote:

Dear Identical Twins

Your comments are duly noted.
Thank you for your interest.

Johnny five you are talking in riddles here (well to me anyway) can you explain the above comment or I'll have to remove it in order to keep the thread on track. Thanks. If you would prefer to do so via pm that's ok.

i take some single dollar bills with me to give as tips i think it works out at around 50 rps

Surely, it's nothing to do with the amount it's more to do with the attitude of the bag carriers. Having my bag snatched from the back of the coach before I have had time to even get off is very irritating, as is someone trying to take it from the baggage arrival carousel.
Must admit, last year on arrival I refused to let go and the guy gave up. On my return I gave the guy 30 rupees and he said it was a £1 so I asked him if he wanted to return them to the coach which was all of 15 metres away. He declined and accepted my offering.
A couple of years ago we had a 7 day tour of Kerala with First Choice. Between 4 of us we gave both our driver and guide 2000 rupees each and I always leave a minimum 10% for the waiters when we eat out.
That said, I think tipping should be outlawed. Everyone should be paid the going rate for the job and tips shouldn't be there to make up the shortfall. It's daft that you tip the taxi driver but not the bus driver, the hairdresser but not the optician.Why should the waiter thats carried a plate of lobster be tipped more than the one who carried a plate of rice ?
No doubt none of the porters at the airport are on fixed salaries and consequently the free for all that results.

Back to taxis...........................

A tip for first timers. If the taxi driver asks you if it is your first trip to Goa, say NO. He'll offer to take you here and there, and he must pop into this shop etc if he thinks you are green.

Don't let anyone carry your bags, go to taxi office right opposite airport entrance and get a ticket and pay going rate.

Exchange a minimum amount to cover taxi fare at Airport exchange.

Don't let taxi driver hussle you into taking trips. You can research this in first few days, just relax.

Don't be afraid to say No Thanks