Yacht Crew Gratuity Ibiza: What's Standard, What's Generous

Crew gratuity is not the discretionary line you might think it is. On weekly charters in the western Mediterranean it is built into the planning numbers, with conventions that everyone in the industry uses — captain to chief stew, owner to broker. Below is what is normal, what is generous, and what nobody mentions in the brochure.

Weekly charters: 10 – 15 % of the charter fee

Industry standard. 10 % is the floor on a well-run charter where everything went to plan but nothing was beyond plan. 12 – 13 % is the typical comfortable number. 15 % marks an exceptional crew week — and it is recognised back in the industry by name; captains keep mental lists.

On a €40,000 weekly charter, that's €4,000 – €6,000, split by the captain across the crew. A typical 4-crew flybridge: captain 35 %, chef 20 %, first mate 20 %, chief stew 20 %, deckhand 5 %.

Day charters: 10 – 20 % of the day rate

Day charters tip differently. The day rate is smaller, the effort to total-day-of-service ratio is higher, and there's no APA — so the tip should be a touch heavier in percentage terms.

On a €4,000 day on a 70ft flybridge, €600 – €800 is the comfortable range, handed to the captain at the dock at the end of the day in cash or wired the next morning. Card tips work but lose 2 – 3 % to processing.

What is and isn't in APA

The APA covers crew tips on weekly charters by default — which means at the end of the week the captain reconciles the unspent APA and the tip is paid out from it. If the APA is depleted (a heavy fuel-burn week), the tip is additional and paid by the lead charterer.

See our companion piece on how APA actually works for the line-by-line.

Cash vs card vs wire

• Cash: Preferred by crews. No processing fees, immediate split. Bring small denominations.
• Wire: Fine for larger tips. Go via the boat's operating company wire (the captain provides the IBAN at the end of the charter).
• Card: Available on most yachts via the on-board terminal. Loses 2 – 3 % to the processor; the crew still gets the net.

What not to do

• Tip individual crew separately. This breaks the captain's split. Hand a single envelope to the captain.
• Tip during the week. Save it for the final disembarkation.
• Split the tip across crew by who you spoke to most. The stewardesses are visible; the engineer was below decks fixing the AC at 03:00. Trust the split.