SPB Tour 2 day in St Petersburg

[mtfasls]

For those of you who have used SPB Tours in St Petersburg, do you have the same guide and same van mates for both days or is it first come first bus to fill each day?

[dogs4fun]

When we toured with Alla tours, we had the same guide, driver and group composition on all days. Not sure about other tour companies but you could email and inquire.

[John Bull]

Same as Dogs4. I think all tours are the same group & same guide both days.

 

JB  

[Kate P.C]

Same with the  agency we used, Anastasia travel. It was the same guide and same driver. I don't think other agencies change their guides. It is more personal and it was nice to see the same face again the next day.

[jemz1949]

Confused somewhat regarding what tips if any for the tour guides and drivers in SPB  with SPB tours specifically.  I read that European guides/drivers are well paid and as such, tips are usually not expected...and definitely not at the level that would occur in the states.    I then look at SPB Tours site and they suggest specific tip amounts  for each not only in SPB, but also Berlin, Stockholm and all of the other ports that they service.  Your experience?  

 

[northernrose]

We are also going SPB tours and 15 % for the guide and 10% for the driver was suggested tip rate.

We will give a tip to the serve warrants it.

[trosebery]

9 hours ago, mtfasls said:

For those of you who have used SPB Tours in St Petersburg, do you have the same guide and same van mates for both days or is it first come first bus to fill each day?

 

We toured with SPB in St. Petersburg last time, and yes, we had the same guide, driver, and van mates both days -- and I think they actually formed the groups carefully as we were travelling with kids and found ourselves in a group with other kids of around the same age, which was great.

 

Our guide was also very good, and we tipped her without hesitation at the end of our tour. (Our driver too, who not only ably navigated the St. Petersburg traffic but also found us close spots near every attraction we visited.)

 

Have fun!

[fabnfortysomething]

12 hours ago, jemz1949 said:

Confused somewhat regarding what tips if any for the tour guides and drivers in SPB  with SPB tours specifically.  I read that European guides/drivers are well paid and as such, tips are usually not expected...and definitely not at the level that would occur in the states.    I then look at SPB Tours site and they suggest specific tip amounts  for each not only in SPB, but also Berlin, Stockholm and all of the other ports that they service.  Your experience?  

 

you will find that these companies are aiming at USA tourists-the clue is the quoting prices in US dollars

[John Bull]

14 hours ago, jemz1949 said:

Confused somewhat regarding what tips if any for the tour guides and drivers in SPB  with SPB tours specifically.  I read that European guides/drivers are well paid and as such, tips are usually not expected...and definitely not at the level that would occur in the states.    I then look at SPB Tours site and they suggest specific tip amounts  for each not only in SPB, but also Berlin, Stockholm and all of the other ports that they service.  Your experience?  

 

 

 

Broadly correct - it varies a little between different European countries, but generally wages in service industries are low but subject to minimum levels, and  tips are welcomed but not as of right - they have to be earned by providing good service. And yes, because wages have to be at least at the minimum, the level of tips reflects that - anywhere from rounding-up (though of course rounding-up a large bill to the nearest euro can be an insult)  to an absolute max of 10%.

 

But European norms are irrelevant in Russia. 

I doubt many of us know the wage structures or the tipping norms., I certainly don't.

 

A few years back Alla suggested 10% to the guide & 5% to the driver. Even that suggested 15% total is heavy by UK / EU standards.

The 15% to the guide & 10% to the driver  suggested to northernrose might be because they reckon that they can do even better these days, or it might be because we were on a Brit ship and they knew that quoting such a high figure might be counter-productive.  But isn't a total of 25% high even by north American standards ?

 

Personally I'd reckon 10% for the guide and some coins for the driver very satisfactory, and a quick blast round the internet suggests between 5% and 15%, so my 10% sits neatly in the middle.

This of course only for good service  - which it always seems to be with all the operators in St Petersburg.

 

JB 

[dogs4fun]

24 minutes ago, John Bull said:

But European norms are irrelevant in Russia. 

I doubt many of us know the wage structures or the tipping norms., I certainly don't.

Yep - no idea here either. However, in reading online articles (in Russian - i.e., cyrillic script) regarding a specific tour company that had some tax issues last year, I read that the guides for this particular company received no benefits and were paid $100 per day. $100 per day (no benefits) is very low by US standards, especially considering that the guides generally work 9 hour days in Saint Petersburg. I have no idea what the many other tour companies in St. Petersburg pay their guides.

Edited May 23, 2019 by dogs4fun

[John Bull]

7 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Yep - no idea here either. However, in reading online articles (in Russian - i.e., cyrillic script) regarding a specific tour company that had some tax issues last year, I read that the guides for this particular company received no benefits and were paid $100 per day. $100 per day (no benefits) is very low by US standards, especially considering that the guides generally work 9 hour days in Saint Petersburg.

 

OK, but another factor of which I knew nothing until 5 minutes ago is the cost-of-living in Russia.

 

I know that wages and the cost of living are low in most of SE Asia, which is why we westerners find those countries such great value.

And a great many itinerant eastern European labourers came to the UK, living as cheaply as possible in shared accommodation and sending the bulk of their wages back to their families in eastern Europe, where it bought a great deal more.  Because of Brexit the value of sterling dropped by about 13% - it's had comparatively little effect on people who live in the UK - including those eastern Europeans who've settled here -  because foreign travel and imported goods are only a tiny proportion of household expenditure, but for those who sent most of their earnings back to eastern Europe it's effectively meant a drop in wages of close to 13% so in the past couple of years many of the itinerants have switched to working in Euroland.

(I recall that decades ago many young Brit singletons did much the same thing  working in the middle-east oilfields). 

 

I've just done another sweep of the internet - the overall cost-of-living in Russia is 40% to 50% lower than the UK - here's just one of my sources

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Russia

 

That same source shows an even bigger difference compared to the USA.

 https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Russia&country2=United+States&displayCurrency=USD

 

So my pounds buy a great deal more in Russia - and your dollars buy even more.

(not that we've noticed such huge differences in tourist places  )

 

So the guides in St Petersburg aren't doing too badly.

 

JB 

 

  

[Dukefan]

This is from SPB Tours web-site: https://www.spb-tours.com/index.php?plugin=tour_details&action=inrussia&tId=3

 

"Additional Notes:

Tour price does not include the following services: Gratuities for the guide (10%) and driver (5%) to be given separately"

 

Their suggest Gratuities are not 15% Guide and 10% Driver as suggested above.   It is 10% Guide and 5% Drive on both their web-site and my St. Petersburg Tour confirmation.

[dogs4fun]

22 hours ago, John Bull said:

So my pounds buy a great deal more in Russia - and your dollars buy even more.

(not that we've noticed such huge differences in tourist places  )

 

So the guides in St Petersburg aren't doing too badly.

You raise valid points - I was aware that the cost of living in Russia is much less than that of the USA (I was not aware that it was as much as 50% less). However, even at a 50% less cost of living, I could not afford to live on a guide's wages in the US  - especially since there are no benefits offered. I realize that advanced education in Russia is free (not so here) as is healthcare (huge expenditure in the USA).  However, according to my friends living in Russia, private clinic healthcare must be paid out of one's own pocket if you want excellent care - I am told that the public care is not always the best. 

I was looking at things from my perspective and standard of living (middle class - definitely not "well-heeled"). I suppose that if one lives in an apartment, has no taxes to pay (i.e., property taxes, income taxes), has no significant health issues and there is no need to shell out mega $$$ for a university education for one's offspring ... a guide's wages would be adequate in Russia. 

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by dogs4fun

[napoxoguk]

10 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

... a guide's wages would be adequate in Russia. 

 

Another couple of things to consider - guiding is highly seasonal (the season in SPB is about 5 months long); it requires some investment of both time and money (license, accreditations with ALL museums you'd be guiding at); and, finally, the actual salaries advertised on Russian job search sites are in the range of rr50k to rr120k per month (that's $900 to $2000).

[Aus Traveller]

On 5/22/2019 at 11:55 PM, mtfasls said:

For those of you who have used SPB Tours in St Petersburg, do you have the same guide and same van mates for both days or is it first come first bus to fill each day?

We had the same guide and the same van mates for both days. Our tour was organised by a member of CC. I think we had eight mini buses. The tour was superb and the guide was great.

[Marselpo90]

My friends last year went on a two day tour with SPB Tours. Maybe it was a coincidence, but they were disappointed.   

Here's their review on tripadvisor: "Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city but our visit was ruined by a very upsetting experience. First of all, there were no signs for SPB tours in the terminal. We saw signs for other companies but none for SPB. We had to run around looking for our guide. We finally found Anna, our guide and set off on our tour.
It was very hot in the city and our tour van was stopped by the Russian authorities – not exactly sure why we were stopped. But … we were kept waiting in the scorching sun for about 2 hours while our tour guide Anna was questioned and the van searched. They wanted to know how the tour was paid for – was it paid in us dollars cash? We were questioned as to which bank account we sent our SPB tour payment to and they asked to see our invoice/documentation. My husband was very upset because he does not do well in the heat and we all had to wait outside the van while it was searched – no shade! A tour bus from another company stopped and offered to take us to the port terminal but the Russian authorities would not allow us to leave. I asked others aboard ship if any of them experienced a similar issue with their tour companies – none did. It was only SPB tours that were stopped! Very upsetting – what is going on?
My son suggested that I post on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor to see if others had a similar experience. "

Many people on the ship then recommended another company "bienvenidospb tours", they said that they liked everything.
Perhaps you will help my experience from friends.

[Aus Traveller]

From memory, in the terminal there was either a sign indicating that tours were to the right as we exited the building. We had to look around for SPB Tours, but we didn't find this difficult of upsetting.

 

It sounds as if the Russian authorities made things difficult for SPB Tours and for the people on the tour. In a couple of other countries we have had situations where police have stopped our tour bus or in one international border, searched everyone's suitcases. Our's was fairly quick after the official heard that we were Australians - he had a cousin in Melbourne. The search of all the cases took several hours. Unfortunately this happens in some countries. I don't know that it is fair to blame SPB Tours.

 

You mention that they wanted to know which bank account your friends paid to. We paid US$ cash on the day.

[Marselpo90]

8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

From memory, in the terminal there was either a sign indicating that tours were to the right as we exited the building. We had to look around for SPB Tours, but we didn't find this difficult of upsetting.

 

It sounds as if the Russian authorities made things difficult for SPB Tours and for the people on the tour. In a couple of other countries we have had situations where police have stopped our tour bus or in one international border, searched everyone's suitcases. Our's was fairly quick after the official heard that we were Australians - he had a cousin in Melbourne. The search of all the cases took several hours. Unfortunately this happens in some countries. I don't know that it is fair to blame SPB Tours.

 

You mention that they wanted to know which bank account your friends paid to. We paid US$ cash on the day. 

maybe it's a coincidence, do not rule out this possibility. But the fact remains that all the buses of SPB tours except them passed without exception.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Marselpo90

[dogs4fun]

43 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

You mention that they wanted to know which bank account your friends paid to. We paid US$ cash on the day.

Don't know when you toured with SPB but...

I believe that it was customary in the past for SPB tours to accept US$ cash. It is my understanding that this practice is illegal in the Russian Federation. If you check the SPB website you will note that they now state that cash payments can only be made in Russian Rubles - their preferred method of payment is via credit card. I believe that this is true for most of the top tier companies in St. Petersburg - they do not accept payment in foreign cash currency. I think that foreign cash payments are usually schemes to avoid paying taxes.

[Marselpo90]

know someone or not, but I recently read that General Director of the company "SPb-tours" sent under house arrest.
https://tourbus.ru/news/13404.html

[dogs4fun]

41 minutes ago, Marselpo90 said:

maybe it's a coincidence, do not rule out this possibility. But the fact remains that all the buses of SPB tours except them passed without exception.

Actually, I found two TripAdvisor posts from last year wherein SPB buses were stopped - I wonder if this was the same tour bus. There is the one for your friends that you mentioned and there is this one (found on page 74 of their TripAdvisor reviews):

Interesting Experience

Had a 2 day trip booked. Met on time and introduced to guide Anna and Driver Sergei. Anna very knowledgeable and personalised the tour by snippets from her own life. English was perfect and comprehension was no problem. Sergei navigated without any incident. We had an unusual incident when we were pulled up by Russian police(at least we hope they were) as no ID was shown. Detained for approx 2 hours in the blistering heat. Asked to keep calm whilst 2 tourists were questioned and asked to provide proof of how the tour was paid for and which bank accounts money went into. Anna and Sergei were also questioned for several more hours. Still have no idea why? Just remember to take all your documentation with you when on this tour. Cannot fault the service or the tour.

 

[Marselpo90]

5 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Actually, I found two TripAdvisor posts from last year wherein SPB buses were stopped - I wonder if this was the same tour bus. There is the one for your friends that you mentioned and there is this one (found on page 74 of their TripAdvisor reviews):

Interesting Experience

Had a 2 day trip booked. Met on time and introduced to guide Anna and Driver Sergei. Anna very knowledgeable and personalised the tour by snippets from her own life. English was perfect and comprehension was no problem. Sergei navigated without any incident. We had an unusual incident when we were pulled up by Russian police(at least we hope they were) as no ID was shown. Detained for approx 2 hours in the blistering heat. Asked to keep calm whilst 2 tourists were questioned and asked to provide proof of how the tour was paid for and which bank accounts money went into. Anna and Sergei were also questioned for several more hours. Still have no idea why? Just remember to take all your documentation with you when on this tour. Cannot fault the service or the tour. 

 

now I understand why my friends and another bus stopped. Most likely this is due to the fact that the company did not pay taxes on 82 million rubles.

[dogs4fun]

Personally, I would make no such accusation as I am not in possession of the facts - jmo.

Edited May 29, 2019 by dogs4fun

[Marselpo90]

I have not read this on one of the sites.

[bfgood2]

  Four of us are booked with SPB Tours for a St. Petersburg 3 day tour and another tour (they do all the Baltic countries). I have emailed to the company and referred them to this thread and am waiting to hear back from them with a response. Perhaps they can post here. 

 Upon reading this thread I went to look at the Trip Advisor reviews that have been recent (2019) and they are almost all 5 star reviews from this season. From looking at the link  in a travel newspaper in Marselpo90's post concerning the owner of the company, it appears that the alleged misconduct for tax evasion took place in May 2018.  This was an allegation, so I certainly don't have enough information to know if it's accurate.

  For myself,  I feel comfortable going forward with them. With over 5500 reviews  on TA they have been held in very high regard by travelers who have used this company. I will post again in July after our trip with an update.