What Tourists Need To Know About 'Packing Boys' Before A Trip To The Bahamas

The Bahamas is a major tourist destination and rightly so. It's absolutely beautiful, and full of sun, sand, surf, and so many activities that are ideal for any type of vacation. If you're like most people, you'll probably want to make your Bahamas vacation a long one, and if so, you may have chosen a rental home or a hotel room with a kitchen so you can make food. After all, it can get expensive eating every meal at a restaurant. If you stay long enough, you're likely to visit a grocery store for essentials and dinner ingredients. When you get to the checkout line, you may notice that not only are there people packing up your purchases for you, but also offering to carry them to your car. Known as "packing boys," these workers can be anyone from young kids in school to adults. It seems like a nice service, but you should know that they deserve a tip, and there are very good reasons for it. 

The packing boys aren't paid by the grocery stores they work at. Their income comes completely from tips. That means that you should have some cash on hand before you check out to give a gratuity to the people doing this work for you and saving you from having to carry heavy bags out to the parking lot. Here's what you need to know about the packing boys, and tipping in general for your Bahamas vacation. 

Tourists can be forgiven for not knowing about tipping in certain places. For example, you might wonder if you'd be considered rude for tipping in Japan as opposed to other countries. Or maybe you're staying in an all-inclusive resort and don't know the tipping protocol, which is common. That said, it's a good practice to research before you venture off to your vacation destination. If you're heading to the Bahamas, you should know that packing boys usually receive a tip of $2 per bag. It's also kind to tip something even if they don't carry bags to the car.

One packing boy posted anonymously on the Facebook page for Bahama New May Bey, saying, "... packing boys are not paid by SuperValue and some people fail to understand that. They would give us there [sic] bag and allow us to pack it, knowing they aren't going to tip us at all." While it's certainly possible that tourists don't know packing boys aren't paid, carrying your bags for you is still a service. The packing boy continued, "To top it off some of them don't even say thank you after we pack them, and they don't tip us." 

Even if you're paying by card and don't have cash on you or don't have the means, a simple "Thank you for helping me" goes a long way. And if you don't have cash on hand, you can always visit the ATM and go back. 

While you may not tip the packers at your grocery store in the United States, that's partially because they receive wages from the store. (That said, if one of them carries your bags to the car, you should absolutely tip them for the service.) We know tipping culture has gotten out of control — every payment screen seems to ask you to tip on things like getting a pack of gum or buying a pre-made sandwich. It's frustrating, but there are still personal touch services like this that deserve it. If you aren't going to tip, pack the bags yourself and carry them to your own vehicle. 

When we're relaxing and off from work, it can be easy to forget that the people who live in our vacation destination are doing their everyday jobs. In a place that runs largely on tourism like the Bahamas, remember that they're not vacationing — you are. It's always kind to be generous. That goes for taxi drivers taking you around the island, the housekeeping staff who keep your hotel room clean (and you should tip more if you leave a mess, of course), and restaurant servers as well. (The Bahamas has some delicious places to eat, after all.) You may see a 15% gratuity added automatically on your restaurant bill, but remember that this is often split with other restaurant staff. If you can, be a better tourist and offer more for good service.