Tipping abroad

[Hambagahle]

Totally agree TC2 with the last sentence. Follow the custom of the country... We hate tipping and the whole "culture" that goes with it but when we are in the USA we remember to do it. And I think we are so nervous about under-tipping we over-tip! Ah well!

[Boatmans Lady]

If you are in a country where tips are expected the person's livelihood probably depends upon receiving tips, you should tip - regardless of what country you are from.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment and will state this often when the ugly subject of tipping rears it's ugly head on a travel forum for Brits to the States.

I'm prone to telling them, that they are in a foreign country with a different culture and customs and that as they are the visitors, despite how they feel, they should abide by that country's ways, customs and beliefs.

They have a choice, they don't have to visit a country where they disagree with their way of life, and secondly, if they aren't willing to tip, don't go and eat where tips are expected. Eat in counter service restaurants or book accommodation that you can cook your own meals.

[Travelcat2]

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment and will state this often when the ugly subject of tipping rears it's ugly head on a travel forum for Brits to the States.

I'm prone to telling them, that they are in a foreign country with a different culture and customs and that as they are the visitors, despite how they feel, they should abide by that country's ways, customs and beliefs.

They have a choice, they don't have to visit a country where they disagree with their way of life, and secondly, if they aren't willing to tip, don't go and eat where tips are expected. Eat in counter service restaurants or book accommodation that you can cook your own meals.

 

You stated that better than I did ....... thank you!

[Paul&Shark]

I think the tour guides expect a tip if the tourists are American. I'm just back from a MSC (nearly all European passengers) and at no time did I feel any of the tour guides expected all tip.

 

 

 

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Yes indeed! Most European guides, servers, drivers etc do NOT ecpect tips. However Americans do tip....Most European and people from Asia do NOT. Americans should remember that tipping can be a culture shock. In some countries tipping is not done at all and is considered to be offensive!!......

[Travelcat2]

I think the tour guides expect a tip if the tourists are American. I'm just back from a MSC (nearly all European passengers) and at no time did I feel any of the tour guides expected all tip.

 

 

 

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That is the problem. People from the U.S. are looked at as idiots for tipping inappropriately and people from the U.K., Australia and other countries are looked looked at cheapskates. This is not how it should be (or would be if we simply paid attention to the customs of each country).

 

Paul&Shark - Your "offensive" comment is right on. However, people in the U.S. don't seem to care. As has been said on CC, she people feel it is their right to tip or not tip as they please - regardless of how wrong or offensive it may be.

[Uncle D]

Sean Connery-

"Alex, I'll take the category Tipping A Broad for $200".

[Fletcher]

As a UK/European traveller I have a rule - I never, ever, tip anyone in Europe or North America. The US tipping culture is degrading for everyone and it has corrupted some countries I know quite well - French Polynesia, which is part of the EU, comes most readily to mind. In developing world countries, such as Burma, Cambodia etc, I think rather differently and tip according to circumstances.

[Travelcat2]

As a UK/European traveller I have a rule - I never, ever, tip anyone in Europe or North America. The US tipping culture is degrading for everyone and it has corrupted some countries I know quite well - French Polynesia, which is part of the EU, comes most readily to mind. In developing world countries, such as Burma, Cambodia etc, I think rather differently and tip according to circumstances.

 

The American federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees that receive at least $30 per month in tips. This is not a living wage in the U.S. If a food worker does not make $30/month in tips (highly unlikely since that is just $1/day) their employer must up their wages to equal out to the U.S. minimum wage which is only $7.25/hr. which is also not a living wage in the U.S.

Here is a breakdown by state: https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

 

You may want to consider this when you visit the United States. IMO, not tipping them is an insult and degrading.

 

Granted, in some states (WA state for example) the hourly minimum wage is $11.00. Some servers easily make another $20-$50 per hour in tips which is quite a disparity,

 

As I mentioned previously, I am just as upset with people that tip when it is not the culture as I am with non-tippers. IMO, if we cannot respect cultures around the world, we should not expect them to respect us.

[Carole2313]

We research the countries we will be visiting and tip accordingly. JMO but in the U.S. the custom it to tip servers 15-20%. Not tipping at all is offensive.

 

 

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[Fletcher]

The American federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees that receive at least $30 per month in tips.

 

I would suggest that is offensive and degrading. I still won't tip in the USA. When you consider how much you pay in restaurants - well over $200 for my last meal in the USA - you understand how the restaurants are exploiting both their customers and their staff. But at that restaurant, at a Hilton in Florida, no one seemed bothered if I tipped or not. I even saw people tipping staff at the breakfast buffet when you serve yourself!

[garyb(uk)]

I would suggest that is offensive and degrading. I still won't tip in the USA. When you consider how much you pay in restaurants - well over $200 for my last meal in the USA - you understand how the restaurants are exploiting both their customers and their staff. But at that restaurant, at a Hilton in Florida, no one seemed bothered if I tipped or not. I even saw people tipping staff at the breakfast buffet when you serve yourself!

It is a tipping culture in the USA. YES I think employers take advantage of their employees by paying them peanuts but until the law changes to somehow bring their wages up to something realistic (and I can't see that happening) then it is the poor waitress etc. who are bending over backwards to make your dining/hotel or whatever experience good for you that you are penalizing by refusing to tip. You are hurting the employees NOT the establishment.

[fizzy]

Fletcher..It is mystifying why you spend so much time traveling through a country where you find the customs so offensive. It might be easier or CHEAPER for you to get from point A to point B by traveling through America, but I assure you it is not the only way.. From a servers point of view, you might be the most pleasant or interesting customer at a table or at the bar...the first time you come in. With all the money that you have mentioned that you save doing things :" your way",: would it not be better spent at a place where doing things "your way" is welcomed? A well traveled and educated person would understand these things rather than seeming to brag about being cheap....which is how it translates.....as you know.

[Fletcher]

Fletcher..It is mystifying why you spend so much time traveling through a country where you find the customs so offensive. It might be easier or CHEAPER for you to get from point A to point B by traveling through America, but I assure you it is not the only way.. From a servers point of view, you might be the most pleasant or interesting customer at a table or at the bar...the first time you come in. With all the money that you have mentioned that you save doing things :" your way",: would it not be better spent at a place where doing things "your way" is welcomed? A well traveled and educated person would understand these things rather than seeming to brag about being cheap....which is how it translates.....as you know.

 

In the 80s I went to the States, mainly LA, three or four times a year on business. In the 90s my wife and I did many great driving trips across the States, visiting about 40 states. I complied with the tipping culture then, to a certain extent, but I always felt uncomfortable about it. Things came to head with me at a hotel in Colorado called The Broadmoor (the name of the UK's most famous criminal asylum) when it seemed I tipped about five people between driving up and entering our room. Every member of staff had their hand out. It was then that I thought, no more of this.

 

In the last ten years I have only spent two nights in the States, once transiting en route to Tahiti and once last November in Florida before boarding a Seabourn ship. It's not really the tipping thing that has kept me away from a country I love - it's also the airports and those welcoming customs officials.

[UUNetBill]

In the 80s I went to the States, mainly LA, three or four times a year on business. In the 90s my wife and I did many great driving trips across the States, visiting about 40 states. I complied with the tipping culture then, to a certain extent, but I always felt uncomfortable about it. Things came to head with me at a hotel in Colorado called The Broadmoor (the name of the UK's most famous criminal asylum) when it seemed I tipped about five people between driving up and entering our room. Every member of staff had their hand out. It was then that I thought, no more of this.

 

In the last ten years I have only spent two nights in the States, once transiting en route to Tahiti and once last November in Florida before boarding a Seabourn ship. It's not really the tipping thing that has kept me away from a country I love - it's also the airports and those welcoming customs officials.

While I agree that the tipping culture in the US is way out of hand (a point which will be driven home, no doubt, when I spend a week at The Broadmoor hotel next month) I think it's just bad form to not tip in a culture that expects tipping. As another poster mentioned, you're hurting the employees, not the establishment - and that little act of rebellion isn't going to affect the customs one bit.

 

As a retired military member, I have lived and traveled overseas extensively. And I've always tried to learn and respect the customs of the countries I visit. Any breaches of etiquette I've made have been entirely unintentional...knowingly stiffing someone on a tip is, to me, equal to wearing dirty shoes into someone's home in Japan, or offering something to someone with your left hand in the Middle East...doing it out of ignorance is one thing, but deliberately doing it is not good. At all.

[fizzy]

In the 80s I went to the States, mainly LA, three or four times a year on business. In the 90s my wife and I did many great driving trips across the States, visiting about 40 states. I complied with the tipping culture then, to a certain extent, but I always felt uncomfortable about it. Things came to head with me at a hotel in Colorado called The Broadmoor (the name of the UK's most famous criminal asylum) when it seemed I tipped about five people between driving up and entering our room. Every member of staff had their hand out. It was then that I thought, no more of this.

 

In the last ten years I have only spent two nights in the States, once transiting en route to Tahiti and once last November in Florida before boarding a Seabourn ship. It's not really the tipping thing that has kept me away

from a country I love - it's also the airports and those welcoming customs official.]

I have carefully read your comments and am glad that you have enjoyed visiting the U.S. on travel over the years. You have probably made a wise choice to avoid travel here, at this point, since you seem to be needing a more budget friendly form of travel and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. It's a win/win for all concerned.

[Hambagahle]

TC2 is right - be aware of the customs of the country before you go there and comply with them. For the most part service staff in the US get a meagre wage with the expectation that tips will make it something they can live on. it is awful. Our waiters etc would not accept this but they (American ones) are stuck with it. my feeling is if you don't want to abide by this - don't go there. And I really really wish that Americans coming here (to Europe but specifically to Switzerland) would tip the way we do. Which is very very small.

 

Last night in a nice restaurant our bill was 124frs. We left 2frs and that was because we are regular customers and like the waitress...

[UUNetBill]

TC2 is right - be aware of the customs of the country before you go there and comply with them. For the most part service staff in the US get a meagre wage with the expectation that tips will make it something they can live on. it is awful. Our waiters etc would not accept this but they (American ones) are stuck with it. my feeling is if you don't want to abide by this - don't go there. And I really really wish that Americans coming here (to Europe but specifically to Switzerland) would tip the way we do. Which is very very small.

 

Last night in a nice restaurant our bill was 124frs. We left 2frs and that was because we are regular customers and like the waitress...

When I lived in Germany oh so many years ago, we left 'trinkgeld' which was basically just rounding up to the nearest DM or DM5 or whatever...it was a sign of gratitude, but also more of a convenience as we didn't have to deal with a pocketful of change. I'd much prefer that here in the US, say dinner runs $94 - just toss a hundred on the table and be done with it...but no - we end up figuring "was the service worth 20%? Or 25%? Maybe just 15%? Should that include tax? Alcohol? What about if we're splitting checks? Who gets the tip? Do we split that, too?" It's a royal pain.

 

Oh, how easy it was to just pay a tab of DM 38.50 with a pair of 20s and just 'stimmt' the rest of it... (yeah, I'm showing my age, I know...)

[Boatmans Lady]

As a fellow Brit, I don't subscribe to Fletchers view and I too have been visiting the USA for nearly 40 years as I have family in the deep Midwest, which was a real eyeopener when I first visited and discovered that most roads were dirt once we were out of the city, but I digress.

Whilst I may not agree with a country's culture or customs. whether it is the USA, China, India or an Arab country, I do my research and based on that will decide if I'm happy to travel within that country. If I decide [the I is the royal we] we try to 'fit' in within that country and abide with their ways and customs, whether it is no alcohol, covering the body, no displays of affection [hard on us as we invariably hold hands, put an arm around each other etc] tipping etc.

If we aren't comfortable, it is simple, we don't visit that country. There are countries that their very views on human rights, women's rights, have seen us decide that these aren't places we would be comfortable spending time in, so we haven't been, but these are the ways of these countries and they as their own nation are entitled to live their lives by their values, traditions and beliefs.

Because I'm English, it doesn't mean that our ways are better and you should adopt our ways. I do believe that history tells this story when we formed the British Empire and declared to numerous countries that they were now British!!

How many of these places have reverted to self rule and once again are independent countries?

 

Please people, respect others ways of life, you are the visitor in their country, it isn't your country. If you aren't happy with this, simple, chose another country to visit or stay in your own.

 

Personally we love travelling, exploring, learning about a countries history, culture and landscape and feel very privileged that we are in a position to be able to do this.

With tipping, is another few hundred dollars worth getting het up about when you know in advance that a country you are visiting is a tipping culture, just add it in as given cost.

[gjkov]

I am Swiss and travel a lot in EU countries. There is no "blanket rule" for tipping.

 

In Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France the service charge is included in the menu or bar price (and hotel prices too) However it is customary to leave a little something. In the UK (and I suppose Ireland) tips are not included for the main in the menu price and 10% is normal. Some restaurants have started to include tips so it pays to read the menu more carefully than usual - it will be mentioned there.

 

Adding 15-20% to a meal bill is NOT appropriate anywhere in Europe although your server will love it.

 

US travellers need to understand that our service staff are paid a decent wage which includes all benefits - social security, health care, 1 month or more vacation etc. They do not depend on tips to give them a living wage. ALL the money that goes towards their benefits is in the published price.

 

 

I certainly wish this was the case in the US. Much simpler.

 

We always like to tip a little something for good service and appreciate all the good information on this thread.

[flossie009]

:confused: What happened to that old concept of tipping to acknowledge exemplary service?

 

From reading this thread, and others, on these Boards it appears that the primary reason for tipping is one or more of the following:

• to make up for poor wages payed by employers
  
• it is shown (as a suggestion) on the bill/check
  
• it is the custom in the country
  
• others are tipping, and I don't want to appear cheap
  
• I want to make an open display of my benevolence
  
• it is the only way to be given reasonable service (pre-tipping/bribing)
  

Do people advocate tipping in cash or by adding an amount to payment by credit card?

I don't know about the U.S., but in the UK there have been many reports of 'tips' added by credit card not being distributed to employees; the additional money is just pocketed by employers, reduced by 'admin charges' or offset against the minimum wage :(

[Boatmans Lady]

:confused: What happened to that old concept of tipping to acknowledge exemplary service?

 

From reading this thread, and others, on these Boards it appears that the primary reason for tipping is one or more of the following:

• to make up for poor wages payed by employers
  
• it is shown (as a suggestion) on the bill/check
  
• it is the custom in the country
  
• others are tipping, and I don't want to appear cheap
  
• I want to make an open display of my benevolence
  
• it is the only way to be given reasonable service (pre-tipping/bribing)
  

Do people advocate tipping in cash or by adding an amount to payment by credit card?

I don't know about the U.S., but in the UK there have been many reports of 'tips' added by credit card not being distributed to employees; the additional money is just pocketed by employers, reduced by 'admin charges' or offset against the minimum wage :(

 

I normally try to tip in cash. On the odd occasion that I have looked to put it on a card, I will ask the server/waitress if they receive the tip if I add it to a card.

If they don't receive the tip, I won't added it onto a card.

 

Just as an aside, we took a holiday to an 'all inclusive' luxury resort, where it was made perfectly clear that all forms of 'extra' tipping was not allowed and any staff found accepting 'tips' would lose their jobs, so please don't place their employees in this position.

There was an employee rewards system in place that as customers we could contribute to by filling in comment cards for any above and beyond service received.

The service we received was fantastic.

[Travelcat2]

I normally try to tip in cash. On the odd occasion that I have looked to put it on a card, I will ask the server/waitress if they receive the tip if I add it to a card.

If they don't receive the tip, I won't added it onto a card.

 

Just as an aside, we took a holiday to an 'all inclusive' luxury resort, where it was made perfectly clear that all forms of 'extra' tipping was not allowed and any staff found accepting 'tips' would lose their jobs, so please don't place their employees in this position.

There was an employee rewards system in place that as customers we could contribute to by filling in comment cards for any above and beyond service received.

The service we received was fantastic.

 

We also tip in cash. I'm curious what country the 'all-inclusive' luxury resort was in. We've been to several in Mexico and many people tipped in order to get a decent drink (which obviously should not be the case).

[Fletcher]

Let's say you are in a restaurant in an American city or a town in the mid-west and you order your food and it's delivered within a reasonable amount of time but the quality is disappointing or even terrible. You might send back a course or hardly eat a course. Do you still tip the wait staff? You can't NOT tip the chef or the owner.

 

Does a meal in a three-star Michelin restaurant in NY or Chicago costing, say, $500 merit a tip of $100 when that waiter is still just bringing you a plate of food that might cost £100 somewhere else?

 

Do you tip in cash or do you just add on a tip to the credit card reader when the restaurant owner might keep all the tips. This sort of malpractice was uncovered at one of London's most famous restaurants recently.

[Travelcat2]

Let's say you are in a restaurant in an American city or a town in the mid-west and you order your food and it's delivered within a reasonable amount of time but the quality is disappointing or even terrible. You might send back a course or hardly eat a course. Do you still tip the wait staff? You can't NOT tip the chef or the owner.

 

Does a meal in a three-star Michelin restaurant in NY or Chicago costing, say, $500 merit a tip of $100 when that waiter is still just bringing you a plate of food that might cost £100 somewhere else?

 

Do you tip in cash or do you just add on a tip to the credit card reader when the restaurant owner might keep all the tips. This sort of malpractice was uncovered at one of London's most famous restaurants recently.

 

This is really about culture and what is right and not right. While a hamburger may cost $10 in a local restaurant, it likely would be $30 or more in a hotel. It is It is your/our choice whether to eat in a hotel restaurant or one less expensive. If you buy a $10 hamburger, the tip is $1.50 - $2.00 (average). If you have the same hamburger in a hotel, the tip is $4.50 - $6.00.

 

Owners and chefs do not get tipped but bartenders and the people that clean your table get a percentage of the tip.

 

If a restaurant owner was keeping tips, they could be sued by their employer. This is a non-issue in the U.S. I won't say that it has never happened but, if they are caught, they will be fined.

 

There has been a couple of rare occasions when the server did not deserve a tip due to horrible service. We let the manager know and made sure to tip the bartender (if we ordered drinks) and the bus person (the person cleaning tables).

 

You can argue this until you are blue in the face but there will be few (if any) people that will agree that it is okay to ignore customs of a country. It is a matter of respect and common courtesy whether we like it or not. As has been said, if there is a country whose customs we feel we could not follow, we would not visit there (this has not happened yet in the almost 100 countries that we have visited).

[Boatmans Lady]

We also tip in cash. I'm curious what country the 'all-inclusive' luxury resort was in. We've been to several in Mexico and many people tipped in order to get a decent drink (which obviously should not be the case).

 

We have done, two actually, one in St Lucia and the second in Srl Lanka.