REPOST: Who Should You Tip -- and How Much?

To whom should you give tip to and why? Learn the details from this Huffington Post article.

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Tipping really shouldn't be so hard. The service was good, you leave a token of your appreciation, and everyone is happy. Not so fast. This is one of the most difficult aspects of travel to navigate, since you have to take into consideration everything from how employees are paid to cultural traditions that could have you embarrassing yourself and your waiter just by leaving that 15 percent (apps like GlobeTipping -- which gives advice for tipping in restaurants, hotels, and more in 200 countries -- can help you along). We consulted experts and avid travelers for their thoughts on the scenarios that trip up travelers most and got their advice on how to avoid awkward situations.

CRUISE STAFF

In the old days, cruise lines provided an envelope and suggestions for how much to tip the crew members with whom you had direct contact during a sailing. Now it's the norm for major cruise lines to automatically add the tips to your bill (which could take you by surprise), especially in the U.S. and the Caribbean. "In the last 10 years or so there's been a trend toward automating [tips] where the cruise line said 'we'll take care of that for you if you just mark this off on the bill,'" says Spud Hilton, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle's travel section and Bad Latitude blog. While some cruise lines make it possible to adjust the included tips if you wish, on others those included tips have become mandatory and cannot be adjusted. In this case, says Hilton, "the tipping is no longer about you and the person giving you good service -- it's about service in general on the ship." And that service, he says, can even extend to things the cruise lines shouldn't expect passenger tips to cover -- including employee education. Always check with your cruise line to find out if tips are included (and whether or not they can be adjusted) before setting sail.

WAIT STAFF

We've got tipping in the U.S. down when it comes to restaurants -- leave 15 to 20 percent unless there's some outstanding circumstance. It's not so cut-and-dried abroad. A general rule for tipping in European restaurants is to leave a couple of euros if you're happy with the service, rounding a 47 euro bill up to 50 euros, for example. But in Denmark and New Zealand, no tip is expected at all. And be on the lookout for service charges that are included in the bill. In Norway, a 10 percent service charge is typically included (though you should leave 10 percent if it is not). But be aware that in some places, that service charge doesn't always cover the full tip. In Aruba, for instance, 15 percent is automatically added to the bill (this is distributed to everyone, including the kitchen staff). If you were happy with the service, leave an additional 5 to 10 percent and give it directly to your waiter. When in doubt, ask the hotel staff what the local customs are for tipping at restaurants. It's confusing when Europeans travel here as well. A couple years ago, the bar at a trendy New York restaurant started automatically adding 20 percent tips to bar tabs, since waiters were sick of being stiffed by European visitors who may not have been aware of customs on our shores.

BELL MAN

The tipping conundrum gets all the more confusing when you arrive at a big hotel with a flotilla of staff members on hand to assist you. One person grabs your bag from the car, another wheels it to reception, and yet another delivers the luggage to your room. You could get dizzy tossing around dollar bills. It's better to give one handout when you've reached your room. "The person who usually takes your bag from the car to check-in doesn't really expect to be tipped," says Peter Shankman, an entrepreneur who spends 85 percent of his time traveling, "They usually rotate their shifts (with the other porters delivering bags to rooms). The person who brings the bag to my room is the one I tip."

STAFF IN CHINA AND JAPAN

Believe it or not, tipping is considered rude in China and Japan, and is just not done. That goes for cab drivers, restaurant wait staff and workers in hotels. But there is a big exception to this rule that could take even the savviest traveler by surprise. Keep reading to find out!

SHUTTLE VAN DRIVERS

Those courtesy shuttles you take from the airport to the car rental parking lot and from your hotel into town shouldn't be viewed as a completely free ride. Whether there's a jar for tips or not, you should hand off a dollar or two to the driver as you're getting dropped off. "If I have really heavy bags, I usually give the driver a few bucks," says John DiScala ofJohnny Jet.

HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING

"Housekeeping is probably the most controversial -- and misunderstood -- tipping subject in hotels," says Charlyn Keating Chisholm, editor of About.com's hotels and resorts site, who has written several blogs on the topic. "Many people don't, but you should definitely be tipping the maid at your hotel," adds DiScala. "And if you tip every day instead of at the end of your stay you'll get the best service." A couple of dollars per day is acceptable. And when there's no official envelope for tipping, it's best to leave the money under the pillow instead of on a dresser, DiScala advises -- in the latter case, maids may think the cash is not for them, and leave it behind after they clean. Even better, he says, find your housekeeper in the hallway and pass her a few dollars while thanking her for work well done. One caveat for this is if you are staying at a small inn or B&B. It's usually the owners themselves taking care of the tidying up, so forgoing the housekeeping tip is perfectly acceptable.

CONCIERGE

You don't need to tip a hotel concierge for sketching the route to the best local sushi joint on your map or arranging an airport shuttle. But if a real effort has been made to get you tickets to a sold-out show or a table at an impossible-to-book restaurant, the concierge deserves a special thank-you for his or her efforts. Tip somewhere between $5 and $20, depending on what you've requested, says DiScala. Slide the cash to the concierge in person or have it delivered to them inside one of the hotel's envelopes with a brief message expressing your gratitude.

TOUR GUIDES

Tips for guides are rarely included in tour prices, and are expected whether you were shown around the Roman Colosseum for an hour or the Great Barrier Reef for an entire day. "Generally speaking, $3 to $4 per day (in local currency) is acceptable for guides of shorter tours and $7 to $10 per day for full-day tour guides," says Andrew Schrage, co-owner of Money Crashers Personal Finance. When in doubt, ask the tour operator what is considered an acceptable tip -- the question comes up so often that many agencies even post the information on their websites, he says. When we say this is standard worldwide we mean it -- yes, even traditionally non-tipping countries like China and Japan (see, we told you there was an exception). But making a big show of passing over a few yuan or yen is still frowned upon. "Ideally, you would not give the tip directly after someone has done a favor for you," says Greg Rodgers, who runs several Asia travel blogs, including one on About.com. "That is like paying for the service. Instead, giving the tip at a later, unexpected time would be better." Most tours in China will include transport back to your hotel or the airport, so wait until the final goodbyes, not right at the conclusion of the tour. According to Rodgers, just taking cash out of your pocket is the worst way to tip in Japan. Put the money in an envelope and seal it before passing it to your guide.

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This Louis Habash blog site offers more travel tips and ideas, which can serve as a guide for both experienced and first time world explorers. 

REPOST: Smart Traveler, Smartphone

This National Geographic article shares that smartphone applications can be useful both before you leave for your trip and while you're traveling.

Image Source: intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com

If you want better customer service on your next trip — and who doesn’t? — then reach for your pocket.

But don’t bother pulling out your platinum card to impress a ticket agent, or a crisp bill to tip your bellhop. Whip out your wireless device instead.

Your smartphone is likely the most effective tool for securing the treatment you deserve when you’re on the road. Today’s iPhones and Galaxys are multipurpose tools for travelers, 
allowing us to send messages, calculate a tip, find a flight, and, oh yeah, make an actual voice call. And the built-in camera is for more than just the cute faces your kid or cat makes.

“Smartphone photos have leveled the playing field when it comes to customer service,” says Carlos Miller, publisher of the blog Photography Is Not a Crime.

It isn’t the digital images alone that prod companies into upping their game, but the potential of the images to spread across social networks. Often, photos broadcasting the moldy bathroom tiles or the broken airline seat offer a shortcut to the normal grievance process, eliminating the need to write a complaint letter.

Take photos of your rental car as if it were your newborn baby.

Companies will do a lot to avoid having their reputations besmirched by photos of broken toilets, busted TV screens, and unpalatable meals. Sometimes, you don’t even have to post the incriminating images online to encourage a business to do the right thing. Just the suggestion of your finger hovering over the Instagram icon is often enough. Karen Rinehart, a writer who lives in South Bend, Indiana, routinely photographs her hotel rooms when they are unclean. “When the staff sees me snapping away, someone usually offers to get the room cleaned or give me an upgrade to a better room,” she says.

Dave Nathan, a retired firefighter from Birmingham, Alabama, was disappointed when he used his Delta frequent-flier miles to purchase a first-class seat on a flight from Berlin to Paris on Air France, one of Delta’s code-share partners.

“It turned out that this version of first class was three-across coach seating with the middle seat blocked out by a flip-down tray,” he recalls. “My knees were firmly wedged against the seat in front of me.” He sent an image to Delta, which credited him with 9,000 frequent flier miles.

The phone is also your most loyal companion when you’re on the road. Take a broken parking meter, for example. Michael Edelstein snapped a cellphone image of his busted meter in Berkeley, California, and when he received a ticket, he sent the picture to the court. Case dismissed.

Also, take photos of your rental car as if it were your newborn baby. In an effort to boost profits, some car rental companies aggressively pursue every possible damage claim, even for minor dings and dents, and even when there’s no proof you did it. Your photos may be your only defense against excessive or specious charges. Make sure you take photos before and after the rental period.

At the airport, I opt out of the TSA’s full-body scanners at the screening area, which means I automatically receive a pat-down. Lucky me. Taking photos or a video of the manual search (or having a traveling companion do it for you) is perfectly legal, as long as local ordinances don’t forbid it and you don’t interfere with the screening process. I find that it makes the screeners conduct their search by the book (lest the images end up on Facebook).

But hang on, shutterbugs. Not everything can or should be photographed. “In the United States, as a general rule, if you can observe something from a public place you have the right to take a photograph,” says Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association.

When it comes to private property like a hotel lobby or the interior of an aircraft, photography is sometimes restricted by policy. Osterreicher says the rules should be clearly posted. But there are documented cases of passengers being shown the door for taking photos of their airline seat. The scenario is even murkier overseas, where laws or customs can prohibit taking pictures even of public places.

I think it’s only a matter of time before the travel industry embraces photos as a way to help customers. It sounds far-fetched, but some industries have already done so, according to Jordy Leiser, who co-founded an independent customer service ratings and analytics company called StellaService.

One confectioner asks a customer to send a picture of a damaged box of chocolates before it authorizes a refund. The most forward-looking businesses, Leiser adds, “use photos to enhance their efficiency and better serve customers.”

With every photo you take and post online, you’re pushing the travel industry toward a day when it welcomes your photos of its products — especially the ones that illustrate your disappointment — because it’s an opportunity to improve.

If that ever happens, I may be out of a job.

Louis Habash writes articles on the places that he have visited, its people, what to explore, where to dive and much more. Visit this Facebook page for more updates.

REPOST: On a Budget in Thailand? Consider a Meditation Retreat

This Huffington Post article proves that you can still explore the world like a king and queen without spending too much.


In Thailand, on a budget, and looking to explore your spiritual side?

It's time to consider signing up for one of the ubiquitous seven-to-ten-day (generally silent) meditation retreats held all across the country. Buddhism is particularly widespread and thriving in Thailand, and many organizations offer retreats to help both Thai citizens and foreign travelers learn more about the philosophy. No meditation experience is necessary, and although the concepts are Buddhist, these retreats (usually) present the material in a very pragmatic, pluralistic way.

Think ten days of guided meditation, no distractions, with delicious food prepared for you and a peaceful environment in which to reflect about life. You will "sit" for three or more meditation sessions per day, of an hour or more, with plenty of free time in between to rest and reflect. Retreat centers are generally set in peaceful, natural locales. A staff (usually volunteers) will prepare you nutritious meals to keep you going. The best part? Since they usually operate on a donation basis, these retreats are free.

I went to one in the beginning of June, in part to dig a little deeper into my Berkeley hippie roots, and in part to stretch my budget a little further. I kept my expectations low, bracing myself for something shallow, easy, and new-agey. But I was pleasantly surprised--the retreat surpassed all my expectations. Honestly, I'm ready to call it profound.

It was a serious, challenging ten days that pushed me far out of my comfort zone and into new and unexplored mental territory. Over the course of seemingly endless meditation sessions, I began to observe myself and my motivations with more clarity than I ever had before, and was able to let go of a number of the compulsions which (I realized) had been driving me. My ability to focus and concentrate shot way up, and when I returned to my normal traveling routine, I found that I was harder to upset and frustrate.

This might sound too good to be true, but it isn't magic. Anyone can do what I did--thousands do, after all--but few seek the opportunity. Outside of a "retreat" setting it can be very difficult to find the structure and support (food, housing, guidance and reinforcement) to help you to let go of your anxieties and to reflect intensely on yourself and how you approach others and the world. This was my first time through it, and it was, apologies for the cliche, a life changing experience. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Being a budget traveler, of course, a week-plus of free food and accommodation is the delicious icing on a very nourishing cake.

These are offered all over the country by many groups. The organization I went through has one of the biggest networks, which you can see here. Other organizations can be found here and here. Retreats can fill up far in advance, so try to book ahead.

If you go looking for a "fun" or "relaxing" vacation-from-your-vacation, you'll probably be disappointed--these retreats will push you in ways you might not be ready to handle. But if you go in with an open mind and a willingness to change and grow, it might just be the best ten days you ever spend.



Find more links about travel by following this Louis Habash Twitter page.

Taipei: Beyond money and appetite

When most people think of Taiwan, or its capital city, Taipei, the image that comes to mind is a bustling city of cheap electronics, mid-brow fashionable clothes, and great food. To some extent those representations are correct. Laptops and smart phones are cheaper here, and there is a plethora of cheap fashion items and delectable goodies in the night market. But a traveler’s consumerist side must make amends with the city’s other assets.

Image Source: http://www.pangcouver.com/

Taipei is the gateway to Taiwan, and every island tourist has to stop by the capital city. There are plenty of decent hostels and hotels here for every budget. I stayed at the Amba, which is a modern-looking hotel in Ximending. A couple of bus rides later, I found myself looking at the Taipei 101.

Image Source: http://www.inhabitat.com/

The Taipei 101 is a modern technological marvel. At 1,671 feet (509 meters), it used to be the tallest building in the world before being surpassed by the Burj Khalifa at 2,722 feet (829.8 meters) in Dubai. The tower’s first five floors are filled with designer stores, while the rest are rented out as office spaces to some of the largest international companies headquartered in Taiwan. An indoor observatory occupies the 88th and 89th floors, and an outdoor observatory the 91st floor.

Image Source: http://www.stepbystep.com/

My peers know me as a history buff, so a troop to the National Palace Museum was a given in my itinerary. The museum showcases a collection of rare artifacts and artworks from the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule China. Being an ardent lover all things historical, I found this place very interesting—and ended up staying for a whole day just immersing myself in the country’s rich history and culture.

I never thought that I would find Taipei interesting, but I did. I would love to come back some day.

Traveling the world is a Louis Habash kind of life. I am constantly on the prowl for the next destination. My Twitter page documents some of my travels.

REPOST: 5 Days of Mother-Daughter Bonding in New York City

Traveling might be the perfect bonding moment for you and your family. Read about a mom and daughter adventure in NYC from this Escape Travel article. 

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

I hadn’t been away with my mother in a long time, and New York City seemed like the place for some family-friendly female bonding with its exciting department stores, quirky cafes and countless museums and art galleries to explore. New York had always appealed to me, with its wide avenues lined with soaring sky-scrapers and beaming lights that never dim in the ‘city that never sleeps’. I had previously read a lot about the Big Apple, not to mention watched countless television shows and films set in the city, but had never yet been. I felt that New York was the perfect city in which to spend some quality time with my mother for a city break packed with endless things to see and do.

Getting our bearings on the first day, we collected our CityPASSES at the tourist information centre on Seventh Avenue. These passes are a great way to see some of the top attractions of New York City at a lower price, from the Museum of Modern Art to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Unfortunately, the latter was closed when we were visiting due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy but has since been reopened. There are other ways to see the iconic Statue of Liberty, however, and one of them is hopping aboard the Staten Island ferry. Departing from Lower Manhattan, this completely free of charge very gave us fantastic views of the symbol that everyone associates with New York and is a great option for those on a budget.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

Our first day also led us up to the highest point of New York City, the Empire State Building which has a fantastic observatory. Included in the CityPASS, ascending to the peak of this towering structure and peering down upon the panoramic views of New York below is a memory I will never forget and one that I am glad I shared with my mother.

As we are both Beatles fans, we took a stroll through Central Park later that sunny afternoon to stop off and pay our respects at the John Lennon memorial, Strawberry Fields, before heading to a little bistro for risotto and a chat over coffee. Soaking up the fast-paced atmosphere of New York City, we reflected on our first day in the Big Apple and were eager to see more of it.

The morning of our second day took us to the 9/11 Memorial which is a tribute to remember those killed during the terror attacks in 2001 and 1993. The memorial was truly moving and standing at the site of the twin towers, watching the water rush into the gaping holes that used to be where these towering buildings once stood, I felt an unspoken bond with my mum as we stood in silence and paid our respects to the tragedy that shook the whole world, let alone New York.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

After a spot of shopping in Century 21 for some bargains and later, Macy’s and Bloomingdales (we’re girls, it has to be done!), we made our way over to the Broadway Theatre that evening to see Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s fantastic production of Cinderella, a classic show which had previously not been seen on Broadway until now. Laura Osnes was incredible in the lead role with strong vocals in many of the brilliant songs of the show, and Santino Fontana as the Prince brought humour into this magical tale due along with Ann Harada as one of the ugly stepsisters.

With gorgeous sets of enchanting woodlands and elegant castles and incredible costume changes that sees Cinderella dress from her working rags to opulent gowns in less than a blink of the eye, it was a great show in which to take my mother to sample the delights of what a Broadway show has to offer. We were even treated to an ‘after show’ of a man proposing to his girlfriend on stage once the performance had finished. There were plenty of squeals of delight and a few shed tears all around the auditorium once his girlfriend replied with a ‘yes’!

Our third day took us out of Manhattan and into Coney Island which sits on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the borough of Brooklyn, to get a different taste of the Big Apple. We were visiting New York during Memorial Day weekend which is the official start of the public beach season of the city – perfect timing for a beach day and only 45 minutes on the subway. With amusement parks, fairground rides, candy floss galore and of course, miles of white sandy beaches merging into the ocean, it is worlds away from the ‘concrete jungle’ of the city and I couldn’t quite believe how quick it took to get to. After a couple of hours of sampling rides from bumper cars to the Cyclone rollercoaster, we decided to explore a little bit more of Brooklyn and headed out to the Smorgasburg Flea Food Market.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

Lovers of gastronomy will adore Smorgasburg and its countless market stalls selling delicious cuisine from sources from New York City and beyond. We went on the Sunday where the market is based on the DUMBO waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park, but every Saturday it can be found on the Williamsburg waterfront at the East River State Park. Both my mum and I are big food lovers and purchasing fantastic cuisine from mini cheesecakes and marble ice cream to noodles, pizza and refreshing slushies was definitely an afternoon well spent!

On our fourth day we decided to venture into the borough of Queen’s which was easily reached by the East River ferry from Midtown Manhattan. The largest borough of New York City is extremely diverse with restaurants serving ethnic food from around the globe from the immigrants who have settled here over the years. We explored the gorgeous neighbourhood of Astoria which has a large Greek community and stores selling vintage-chic items of clothing. The Athens Square Park is lovely for a mid-afternoon stroll and after a lunch of fresh seafood, my mother and I made our way back to Manhattan to experience another Broadway show.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

The Winter Garden Theatre is home to one of the world’s most successful musicals, Mamma Mia!, and because of the theme of this feel-good show I thought it was the best way for me and my mother to spend our last evening together in New York City. Telling the story of a 20 years-young bride-to-be and her search for her father, Mamma Mia! uses the songs from popular Swedish group ABBA in this fantastic musical.

Felicia Finley played the role of Tanya with wonderful humour and the right amount of sexy vulgarity as she stole the show, but both Judy McLane as Donna and Laurie Veldheer as Sophie were excellent in their mother-daughter roles of the performance. Having seen the West End production of the same show in London, I can say that both were equally filled with the same volume of vigour and life that a show such as Mamma Mia! needs, and we left the theatre feeling happy to have experienced the musical together. ‘Does my mother know’ I love ABBA – she sure does now!

After four days of exploration, discovery, relaxation and soaking up the history and culture of New York City and some of its boroughs, we decided to spend our last day visiting a couple of places we hadn’t had the chance to see. We started off the day with a tour of the magnificent Grand Central Station and then made our way over to the neighbourhood of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. After a quick (okay, long!) stop in Bettie Page Vintage and Retro Clothing, we had a lovely stroll through Washington Square Park and then embarked back to the hotel and to our journey onwards from New York.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

New York City is truly one of the greatest metropolises in the world, and exploring it for the first time with my mother, soaking up the history, shopping, architecture, food and fun of the Big Apple was a trip I could easily (and probably will!) repeat.

Louis Habash is currently a freelance travel writer based in Los Angeles, California. Log on to this Facebook page for more updates.

REPOST: The Ultimate Pool with a View - Jongomero Camp, Tanzania

Would you fancy a pool with a view? How about a view of the safari? Then, you will surely love this amazing place in Southern Tanzania featured by EscapistTraveller.com.

Image Source: escapisttraveller.com

Love safaris and wildlife? Try relaxing by a pool with a difference! Experience Africa’s beautiful creatures simply by chilling out in the sunshine, relaxing after a day’s exploring.

Here at Jongomero Camp, in Southern Tanzania (part of Ruaha National Park) guests can take a refreshing dip in a private pool which overlooks a large, dry sandy river-bed. A typical wildlife playground, guests can witness baboons and elephants in a natural habitat while enjoying all the lush African bush scenery from the pool.

Cazenove+loyd, a luxury safari travel company, are offering a fantastic seven night safari holiday including a three night stay at Jongomero Camp and a four night stay at the exclusive beach retreat, Ras Kutani.

Prices from £3,530 (a saving of £540 per person). www.cazloyd.com/africa-and-indian-ocean/luxury-safari-tanzania

Fly with British Airways from £454 per person .www.britishairways.com

Louis Habash has published some travel and literary anthologies over at his blog site.

REPOST: Let’s Play: Making Travel a Game

This article from the New York Times shares how mobile apps have changed the experience of travel for some people. Read about it here: 


IT WAS A SUNDAY AFTERNOON in SoHo and while most New Yorkers were having brunch, Makeda Peters and her boyfriend were on a street corner craning their necks at a seven-story art installation called “The Wall,” about to embark on what’s known among travelers who love puzzles and prizes as a “gamified city tour.”

For the next three hours the couple would explore the area and learn about its history by tackling trivia questions and accepting benign dares — challenges that came not from a tour guide, but from an app called Stray Boots that Ms. Peters had downloaded to her iPhone.

The first question seemed like a test to ensure that they were in the right spot: “What color is the wall painted?” Ms. Peters typed “blue” on her iPhone. Up popped the verdict: “Correct!” That earned her 10 points from the app, which then provided some history about the 1973 artwork by Forrest Myers. The couple spent the rest of the afternoon racking up points for each riddle and dare they polished off, striving to achieve a perfect score of 240. At the Hollister store they were told to snap a photo of themselves with the shirtless greeters who flank the doors like naughty cousins of the toy soldiers outside F. A. O. Schwarz. Near Greene Street they were asked how many “real” glass windows were above the first floor of the trompe l’oeil public artwork by Richard Haas.

“As we answered questions correctly, we were high-fiving in the middle of the street,” said Ms. Peters, a program coordinator in Brooklyn for a national nonprofit organization called Playworks. “You learn so many cool things.”

Stray Boots, which sells $2-to-$12 tours of more than a dozen cities including New Orleans, Philadelphia and Miami, was introduced last year, though the company began testing the concept in 2009 using only text messages. Since then, it has sold more than 85,000 tours, roughly doubling sales each year, said its chief executive, Avi Millman. (Stray Boots is also available in Britain, where it’s known as UK: The Game.)

I decided to take a tour in Times Square to see if even I, who work there, could learn a thing or two. I rolled my eyes when the app sent me to Toys “R” Us and the M&M’s World store. And I was disappointed that it didn’t explain the evolution of Father Duffy Square. I did, however, pick up a few factoids including how in the 1840s New York Police Department officers wore badges made of copper, which may have inspired the nickname “coppers” and later “cops.”

Yet the app is merely one product in a wave of new travel programs and promotions that are using game theory to win over customers, particularly those under 30 (so-called millennials). Today online tour operators like Expedia are incorporating avatars and trivia contests into the browsing and booking process. Tourism offices in Pennsylvania and Illinois are proffering exclusive Foursquare badges to those who check in at sites in their states. Museums are using portable multimedia players to make walking through their collections feel a bit like being in a multiplayer video game. And the America’s State Parks Foundation is rolling out a new app by ParksbyNature Network called the Pocket Ranger — available in 40 states by the end of the year — that enables users to earn points and win prizes by signing up for GeoChallenges, outdoor quests that require players to use the app’s GPS feature to navigate to sites like dams, trails and reservoirs.

It may sound like play, but it’s part of a broader business trend known as gamification. Gabe Zichermann, author of the new book “The Gamification Revolution” and chair of the annual Gsummit in San Francisco, describes it as the process of using the best ideas from games, loyalty and behavioral economics to engage people and solve problems (or both). It generally involves the use of motivational techniques and psychological triggers, like being alerted to a challenge or offered an opportunity for higher status, often in combination with digital candy like badges, points and leader boards. (Some of the fundamental ideas are derived from research by the social scientist BJ Fogg at Stanford University; you can learn about gaming your own behavior at Behaviorwizard.org.)

Mr. Zichermann, himself an avid traveler, said that things elemental to travel are also elemental to gamification. Hard-core travelers like to keep score: they know how many countries they’ve visited and how many miles they’ve flown. They take pleasure in accumulating badges, like stamps on their passport (and, in bygone days, stickers on their luggage). They check off must-see landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Parthenon as if they are levels in a video game. Even the act of traveling from one place to another becomes a personal challenge: to do so with ever more speed and status.

On a deeper level, though, great gaming experiences speak to our inner desire for mastery, autonomy and purpose, Mr. Zichermann noted. The same can be said of travel. “Why do we travel?” he said. “It’s all about creating memories and discovering ourselves. Gamification is perfectly aligned with that.”

But a common misperception is that it’s strictly about competition, Mr. Zichermann said. Gamification can engage people simply by making travel more playful and social, like Virgin America’s new seat-to-seat delivery feature that encourages fliers to “get lucky” by sending one another cocktails and messages through the entertainment system touchscreens on seatbacks. Or KLM’s Meet & Seat program, which allows passengers to view one another’s Facebook and LinkedIn profiles before the flight and then pick a spot next to an intriguing stranger. Even acquiring travel skills has become a game with language-learning Web sites like Duolingo and MindSnacks. And photo-sharing apps like Instagram and Flickr, while not pure gamification, borrow elements of the practice, making travel feel more communal.

Thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones and big data, gamification is now prevalent in practically every industry, though some of its roots are in travel, going back to the early 1980s, when American Airlines introduced its AAdvantage frequent flier program to create brand loyalty. Despite gamification’s popularity, there are many poorly designed experiences. In fact, the technology research company Gartner is predicting that by next year 80 percent of gamification projects will fail to meet business objectives. When done right, however, gamification can garner brand loyalty while also helping travelers interact, learn, share opinions and explore the world.

To achieve the latter, companies that specialize in gamification say they are trying to design experiences that are emotional, that delight or surprise, unlike early loyalty programs, which Mr. Zichermann described as “transactional systems that are trying to get as much out of consumers as possible while giving as little as possible.”

Even airlines whose longstanding loyalty programs are transactional, are testing new kinds of perks and fresh ways to earn them. Last month American Airlines teamed up with Klout, the company that measures the digital influence of people using Twitter and other social networking sites by assigning them a score from 1 to 100. People with Klout scores of 55 or higher (the average person has a score of 40) received a day pass to one of nearly 40 American Airlines Admirals Clubs around the world.

It was not the first time an airline partnered with Klout: last year travelers in San Francisco International Airport who used the Klout iPhone app and had a score of 40 or higher were granted access to the Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge. Other travel brands, like Airbnb, Legoland California and Virgin America, have also dangled perks to people whom Klout deemed high-ranking influencers.

Ken Comée, the chief executive of Badgeville, which specializes in gamification for brands like Samsung and NBC, said first-generation loyalty programs are expensive to manage and have become too complicated. “I think people have become numb to it,” he said. “That’s really the problem that exists that we’re trying to solve.”

One of the ways Badgeville says it’s doing that is with a game it created for Expedia.com called Around the World in 100 Days, which Expedia plans to introduce in the coming weeks. Designed to get travelers more engaged with the Web site and Expedia’s loyalty program, the game begins with an introductory video. Then, players are asked to choose one of eight avatars and to select the type of travel experience that most appeals to them (city slicker, adventure addict, escape artist or culture buff).

The final step is registering for the game with your Expedia account information (or creating an account if you don’t have one). Tokens finance your avatar’s virtual trip to up to 20 destinations around the world. There are several ways to earn tokens including answering trivia questions (which might also get your name put on a leader board), downloading the Expedia mobile app and, of course, booking travel through Expedia.

The more cities your avatar visits, the more Expedia Rewards points you receive. A map of the world shows players where their avatar is on its journey, and an Indiana Jones-style graphic line between cities enables users to track their progress. There is also a weekly sweepstakes, where five players are randomly selected to earn 100,000 points. “A lot of people are surprised that Expedia has a loyalty program,” said Julius Lai, the senior director of loyalty marketing for Expedia.com. He said that games like Around the World in 100 Days are just the sort of thing a digital company like Expedia would use to “engage people in a very entertaining way in order to achieve what is a very standard goal of a promotion.”

Yet of all the gamification infusing the travel industry, some of the most playful experiences can be found in the hallowed halls of museums.

To appeal to younger generations, many, like the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, have kiosks that enable visitors to send images of themselves to friends or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The Cleveland Museum of Art has a “Rembrandt Yourself” application on its Facebook page that allows visitors to put their face into one of four 17th-century Rembrandt portraits.

At the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, instead of the usual artwork wall labels, there is the O, a device loaded with information about the art on display. The O picks up your location in each gallery and shows you images of nearby works. Click on one for details like information about the art, an interview with the artist or music that references the piece. You’re invited to play the role of critic by tapping a button to indicate whether you “love” or “hate” the artwork. At the same time, the O spits out stats culled from other museumgoers, like “35 percent of women hated this” or “two out of three Americans love this.”

You can also save your tour, so that when you’re back home you can revisit your path through the museum — along with the works you loved and hated. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there is an option to share those images on Facebook and Twitter, too.

As for Ms. Peters, she and her boyfriend liked their first gamified city tour so much that they tried another one. Also from Stray Boots, it led them through the West Village, from the “secret” garden of St. Luke’s Church to New York’s oldest continuously running Off Broadway theater, the Cherry Lane. The tour was called The Perfect Date.

And it was. “We were able to see New York landmarks that we never really knew existed,” Ms. Peters said. “It gave us the opportunity to open our eyes and see things differently.”


Hello! I'm Louis Habash, a travel writer. Follow me on Twitter to find more travel stories.