[midorosan2]

The business of tipping must be the most hotly debated subject among travellers. I am in my final quarter century and have been around the block a few times and I am now set in my ways.
I am fortunate to live in Hong Kong where the business of tipping is very discreet and subtle, typically tipping in restaurants never goes beyond what has been added which is usually fairly modest. One does not tip taxi drivers and there is an unwritten rule that the driver keeps the odd 50 cents though if you don’t have change he’ll usually rule in your favour.
For personal services of any kind it is appropriate to tip and the amount should reflect the service provided, if two guys have hauled a fridge uo twenty floors you make sure the tip is big enough to cover several beers and some.
I can honestly say I have never been asked for a tip in all my years in this part of the world unlike the USA where it is both embarrassing and humiliating for all parties and all too often very aggressive.
The most common response one will hear when offering a tip that will almost certainly be refused is “it’s my job”
I love living here.

[K1ngston]

+1 midorosan2 I live and work in Singapore and its exactly the same here, service at a modest amount is added to the bill in any restaurant, I frequent one establishment where they decided to not include the service at the start and the staff received no monies at all, as its not the norm here. Taxis are the same rounding down mostly.

Everyone therefore knows where they stand, for me there is nothing more obscene than seeing a on a restaurant bill that we recommend a 18.5% to 25% tip for a meal!!! This happened to me recently at a well known steak establishment in Miami and was horrified, in my mind there is no justification in the world for that type of gratuity ….

[MrMichael]

In general when tipping I go for 10% if the service has met my recommendations, if it has exceeded them I have gone to 15-20% often with raised eyebrows from MrsM. Is service is included , I tend not to tip unless it was beyond my expectations. Any place I eat would struggle to convince me to swallow any more than a 15% service charge.

Frankly I find the whole service charge thing rather distasteful. The price on the menu should include serving it unless they are making it clear I am expected to cook it myself in the kitchen, serve it and wash up afterwards…..sounds like home!

[TiredOldHack]

Having worked in a hotel, many many years ago, I know that tips added to bills rarely reach the staff.

If space is left on a CC bill for a tip, I strike through it, and put a banknote with the slip if I’ve had decent service, and nothing if I haven’t.

I always, always leave something for the chambermaid(s), under the pillow where they’ll see it and whoever comes in to check the minibar won’t, because the chambermaids really are at the bottom of the pecking order in hotels, and deserve every little extra.

[MartynSinclair]

We have discussed “tipping” and the “service charge” issue on several threads before. There is another kind of hidden tip.. the one that is added for a party in excess on a “number” of guests….

Is it correct that the only compulsory one is where a charge is added for a high numbered party or is that too discretionary….?

[NTarrant]

Martyn – the size of the party should not matter. Where do you draw the line, 6 or 8? Also if a party of say 8 are under one booking and the bill is split, e.g. What 4 have is on one bill and the other 4 on another, then there is no longer a party?

[manxman123]

In the USA there really is no discretion about tipping and it would be a very brave man who didn’t tip at least 15%.
I remember once going a package ski holiday in The Lodge in Vail, Colorado. Breakfast and dinner were included in the price, and each time we were given a bill showing zero to pay. But we were expected to tip on the notional value of the meal. The trip turned out a lot more expensive than we expected . . .

[jsn55]

Tipping has gotten way beyond annoying. I try to “think” about what’s on the bill and what service I received.. Except for waiters, I don’t tip people for doing their jobs. Any special service gets a tip. If there’s a restaurant service charge I ask the waiter directly if he gets the money. If no service charge, I tip in cash. I don’t tip for buffet, serve-yourself or anything that has not produced any service. If somebody cheerfully keeps my table tidy, replenishes drinks and coffee, then a cash tip. If a taxi driver carries my luggage around, I tip unless he’s surly. For group dining, I do understand the mandatory charge, because people in a group tend to not tip at all. For included meals at a hotel, always tip on the amount you would have spent.on the meal. My husband tips everybody all the time … it’s that New York syndrome I think, that made its way west, then the midwesterners started questioning why they were tipping and the whole conversation started and nobody knows what to do and everyone goes on an on about it. I prefer to keep it simple. Tip for service.

[DavidGordon10]

I am just back from a short holiday trip to New York – first time in NY for more than 15 years. I am used to the USA habit of restaurant owners failing to pay their service staff properly and, gritting my teeth, used to paying 15 – 20% to the waiter. However, something new to me is restaurants calculating for you, and printing on the bill, “suggested” tips, usually at two or three rates – 18% would be this, and 20% would be that and 25% would be the other.

This seems to me to be just simply vulgar. Our American friends may feel able to justify it, but (a) I can work out 15% or 20% perfectly well, thank you and (b) don’t want to be told what a discretionary amount should be.

[SimonS1]

Indeed David the whole thing is utterly tedious.

I can remember about 20 years ago that business trips to the US were quite prized and the ones everyone wanted to go on. These days the grinding delays at the borders and other things like never ending tipping for one thing or another mean it’s quite the opposite: basically if you get the US trip you have drawn the short straw.

[BRin1406]

DG10 & SS1 Totally agree, just back from a week in Cape Cod, where the practice of suggested tips was widespread. We paid cash at one restaurant where the service was not too good leaving a15% tip.As we walked away from the table the waitress called after us across the room “Is that all you think I am worth” Unbelievable.

[DavidGordon10]

SimonS1 – yes, I know what you mean. I think it is fairly place-specific. My regular trip these days is to Philadelphia, which is much less hyperactve than New York. Also, the border problem varies a lot by airport. Never enter the USA at IAD! If I have to go to Washington I go to Philly or Baltimore and get the train.

BRin1406 – I hope you replied either “yes” or “not even that much”.

[BRin1406]

DG10: The response was “I did consider 10%”

[PeterCoultas]

Remember an utterly appalling service some years back in a restaurant near Capital Reef NP – my appreciation of their performance meant that their tip was my pocket full of cents, 5cents and a few dimes – the waitress burst into tears!

[BRin1406]

I think the situation in the US has reached the state where restaurant staff look upon tips as a right as opposed to something given for good/exceptional service.

[Author]

Posts