Traveller Letters: Tipping in North America - what they think of Australians

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Traveller Letters: Tipping in North America - what they think of Australians

A Canadian taxi driver revealed the North American perspective on Australians and tipping.

A Canadian taxi driver revealed the North American perspective on Australians and tipping.Credit: Shutterstock

CANADIAN DRY

On the tipping question, some time ago when travelling in Canada we engaged a cab to take us to a diner.

As we were a bit naive about the tipping protocols there we asked the cabbie what was the general rule for tipping. He said to us "You are Australian aren't you?" When we said "Yes", he replied, "Do you know the difference between an Aussie and a canoe?" – before we could reply he answered "Well sometimes a canoe will tip". Needless to say we gave him a generous tip. He was quite helpful too.

John Munro, Toowoomba, QLD

FLOAT THEIR BOAT

My logic is if you can afford to go on a cruise you can afford to tip the staff (Traveller Letters, September 22).

Cruise ship staff are hard working, separated from their families for up to nine months a year and they do this to improve their lives and those of their family.

Their wages are minimal and the hours very long I would feel very mean spirited if I did not tip these always smiling hard working folk.

Patricia Broadbent, Dural, NSW

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POLITE RESPONSE

I disagree with Michael Gebicki ("Everyone asks," Traveller, September 15). There is no component of politeness in tipping.

Politeness may be the absence of blowing one's nose on the table napkin, or not eating peas with a knife, but tipping is generosity after exceptional service and/or part paying someone else's employee.

Graham Harris, East Ballina NSW

TOURIST TRAPP

Credit: Alamy

Kylie McLaughlin's Salzburg winter experience (Traveller, September 15) reminds us of the beauty of Salzburg in all seasons.

We have just returned from a European tour of many fascinating cities including Salzburg, on the banks of the river Salzsach. The highlight has to be the night we spent in the original Von Trapp family villa at number 34 Traunstrasse in suburban Aigen in Salzburg.

The villa was once occupied by the Von Trapp family, of The Sound of Music fame, from 1923 to 1938 and has been a hotel since 2008. Book early to get to bed with history made famous by the movie Sound of Music, though the original villa was not a set for the movie.

Follow it up with a full-day coach tour (organised by Panorama Tours in Salzburg) of the movie set locations, with some fascinating stories of the epic movie directed by legendary Robert Wise.

Even the faint hearted were brave enough to sing along with the tour guide, who insisted that we use the words "schnitzels with potatoes" and not schnitzel with noodles" as in the movie when singing the song My Favourite Things. All 14 nationalities on board the bus complied without hesitation.

Ranjith Samaranayake, Hunters Hill, NSW

BUNKER MENTALITY

At last a feature on a part of Europe that rarely gets a mention in travel liftouts, the Balkans, and in particular Albania (Traveller, September 15).

This is the most bizarre country I have ever visited, which I was fortunate to do when it was one of only two countries in the world at the time that were Stalinist.

Every town I visited had a statue of this dictator and even the main street in the capital was named after him. It was reputed to have less than 2000 cars in the country then, which accounted for everyone walking on the road.

This was a country where no one was allowed to leave and anyone entering it was continually under surveillance, and where it was estimated that one in three people were informers to the security police.

Yet this was a country of profound beauty and where ancient ruins, whether they be an aqueduct in the middle of the countryside or an amphitheatre used as a garbage dump, were yet to be discovered and noted as worth preserving.

There were thousands of concrete bunkers strewn all over the country in front of hotels, homes, on the beaches and in parks and of varied sizes. They were built by Albania's mad and bad dictator Enver Hoxha to ensure citizens were able to defend their turf in case the country was invaded. It is a country worth discovering.

Con Vaitsas, Ashbury, NSW

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

For those who are geographically-challenged, the new Qatar service Doha to Cardiff (Traveller, September 15) connects Wales and south-west England, not south-east England.

Tim Wood, Hawthorn, VIC

GERM OF AN IDEA

Helena Campbell is probably wrong in her assumption that she and her husband contracted their symptoms from the airconditioning on the plane (Traveller Letters, September 22).

Many people who contract these symptoms get them simply because they are in a place full of people and some of them were ill before they boarded the plane.

Take teachers, for instance, in a crowded classroom with children spluttering with coughs and sneezes who should clearly be at home.

I would suspect there are more germs in the toilets on the planes than there are from the airconditioning, which is mostly fresh clean air, cleaner than on any other public transport.

Paula Watson, Holgate, NSW

MICE WORK

Reading Donald Daniels' letter, "Mad About Saffron" (Traveller Letters, September 15) reminded me of our trip to Luang Prabang in February.

We had been told about Big Brother Mouse an organisation that helps young people learn to read and write in their own language as well as learn English. We volunteered to teach English at a new school built in a village about 30 minutes drive from Luang Prabang.

It was a remote school originally built to teach teenagers English but the government insisted all children must attend so there are infants to high school. Some of the older students help with teaching the younger children.

We sat in circles of 10 kids each using pictures and words which they followed. It is an amazing experience, for which we happily paid $10 each, including a home-cooked vegetarian lunch.

We felt very humbled by our visit. The people have virtually nothing, and are still being maimed by landmines, but we always received big smiles and warm welcomes.

John Hockney, Leura, NSW

SWISS BLISS

Thanks for the nostalgia, Brian Johnston ("Six of the Best", Traveller, September 15).

We have been lucky enough to enjoy several Swiss winter experiences and have added others to our bucket list with the Burgenstock Resort at top of the list.

One of our most enjoyable experiences was visiting the alpine town of Leukerbad twice. The natural thermal waters and the heated outdoor pools gazing over snow-covered mountains was just unforgettable.

Rhoda Silber, Manly, NSW

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