ot long into the pandemic, Americans were eager to tip
their front-line-working baristas and servers. But now that tip fatigue has set
in — driven by the proliferation of payment tablets that suggest tipping for
everything from a sandwich at a grab-and-go counter to an ultrasound —
consumers are often bewildered by when and how much to tip.
اضافة اعلان
“This is the hottest topic in etiquette right now,” said
Daniel Post Senning, the co-author of “Emily Post Etiquette, The Centennial
Edition” and the great-great grandson of etiquette icon Emily Post. He cites
the pressure of inflation, the disruption of the pandemic and the rush back to
travel for the unease. “There’s growing anxiety and public discussion around
tipping.”
Offering guidance on when and how much to tip when you
travel, etiquette experts, academics, and travelers weighed in with the
following advice.
Make 15 percent to 20 percent your restaurant baseline
Tipping standards at restaurants vary widely around the
world. In the US, the American Hotel & Lodging Association suggests in its
“Gratuity Guide” leaving 15 percent of the total bill or up to 20 percent for extraordinary service.
“The minimum is 15 percent,” said Elaine Swann, an etiquette
expert and the founder of the Swann School of Protocol in Carlsbad, California.
“It can be increased from there based on the level of service received.”
Before the pandemic, tip averages in restaurants nationally
had crept up to 18 percent, a standard that fell back to 15 percent more
recently as inflation grew, according to Amanda Belarmino, an assistant
professor in the hospitality school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “I
don’t think consumers want to be stingy, but everybody’s budget is tight, and
they’re trying to make trade-off decisions,” she said.
Despite expert advice, consumers may not have a choice. In
many US cities, tips are increasingly included in the bill and often are well
above 15 percent. A recent article making the rounds in New York argues for a
20 percent to 25 percent standard.
At a trendy cocktail bar in Los Angeles recently, an $18
drink came to $24 after an 18 percent gratuity and an additional fee for
employee health care. The bartender mentioned that the establishment includes
tips in their tallies because it serves many guests from foreign countries
where tipping is not standard.
Customs regarding gratuities vary by country. On some trips abroad, guides with the high-end tour company Abercrombie & Kent use orientation sessions to advise guests on when to tip in unexpected places — like bathrooms in Egypt — and provide travelers with small denominations in the local currency to do so.
According to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, service
charges benefit all employees, including cooks and dishwashers as well as
servers. “The service charge model ensures that employee compensation is fair,
reliable and not reliant on the diners’ experience or bias,” said Erika Polmar,
the executive director of the coalition.
Beyond the US, tip amounts vary. Often, they are less than
in the US and are sometimes included as a service charge (see the section below
on tipping abroad).
Do not be afraid to say noSome tip requests should be denied, according to experts.
For example, when you are ordering coffee or a sandwich from
a kiosk or counter and are presented with a payment screen including suggested
tip amounts, “push past that awkwardness and push no tip,” Swann said.
“Proprietors are offering a perk to employees, and they’re putting it on the
backs of consumers to absorb.”
Caving in to social pressure or even a scowl from the
employee is, in Swann’s opinion, “giving in to a level of entitlement that
should be nonexistent.”
The growth of credit card payments over cash has made it
harder to show a token of appreciation via the tip jar, especially if you are
not carrying cash. If in the past, you would pay with cash and leave the coins,
Senning advised rounding up on your credit card and doing the same thing
virtually.
Stock up on small bills
Beyond restaurants, travel offers many other opportunities
to leave tips for service providers such as cabdrivers, bellhops, and valets.
Before she takes a trip, Swann goes to the bank to get cash, especially the $1
and $5 bills that are nearly impossible to withdraw from ATMs.
Most experts agree taxi or ride-share drivers deserve 15
percent to 20 percent of the fare, depending on the service and the cleanliness
of the vehicle. (Swann once rode in a ride-share car filled with dog hair and
made the rare decision not to tip.)
Airport skycaps and the bell people at a hotel should get a
few dollars a bag, based on service, and perhaps more if the task is onerous,
like handling golf or ski bags. Valet parkers should get $2 to $5 at drop-off
and pickup.
And if you only have larger bills, Swann added, it is
perfectly fine to ask for change back.
Remember the hotel housekeeper
Etiquette experts say hotel guests should leave $2 to $5 a
night for the housekeeper each morning. The American Hotel & Lodging
Association recommends $1 to $5 a night left daily, preferably in a marked
envelope making it clear that it is intended for the housekeeper. In its
tipping guide, UNITE HERE, the labor union whose members include hotel workers,
suggests a minimum of $5 a day and more for suites.
Not many travelers comply.
Despite having the most physically demanding jobs in hotels
with few avenues for advancement, “hotel housekeepers are some of the
least-often tipped employees in the service industry,” according to Belarmino
of UNLV. “Unlike servers, who are often paid less than minimum wage that is
then made up by tips, hotel housekeepers’ pay is not contingent upon tips.
However, it is a courtesy to tip them.”
But in the age of infrequent or optional room cleaning,
which has become more common since the pandemic, the guidelines get murkier.
“If you stay one night or if you choose to skip housekeeping, I would recommend
tipping about $5 at checkout,” Belarmino said.
If you do not have a guide to instruct you, make learning the culture of tipping abroad part of your trip planning by consulting guidebooks, tourism board websites, and online sources like Tripadvisor.
If housekeeping is available on demand, most experts
recommend tipping each time the room is serviced. And you may want to consider
raising the amount.
“If the hotel won’t do daily housekeeping, make sure to tip
extra on the days that you do get service and at checkout, because rooms that
have gone days without housekeeping are dirtier and harder for housekeepers to
clean,” D. Taylor, the international president of UNITE HERE, wrote in an
email.
Mind foreign tipping customs
Customs regarding gratuities vary by country. On some trips
abroad, guides with the high-end tour company Abercrombie & Kent use
orientation sessions to advise guests on when to tip in unexpected places —
like bathrooms in Egypt — and provide travelers with small denominations in the
local currency to do so.
If you do not have a guide to instruct you, make learning
the culture of tipping abroad part of your trip planning by consulting
guidebooks, tourism board websites, and online sources like Tripadvisor.
“You have to look at two things: Is it expected and
mandatory as it is here in the US for many service jobs? And what is the social
safety net like in that place?” said Pauline Frommer, the editorial director of
Frommer’s, which publishes travel guidebooks covering 48 countries, including
advice on how to tip.
In countries like Mexico, where wages are low, she advised tipping
in restaurants as you might at home. In Europe, where servers are paid better,
tipping is less important. On trips to London and Paris last summer, she found
bills with service fees included, often listed as “SC” for “service charge”.
“If you didn’t know, you might tip on top of that,” she
said, recommending that travelers scrutinize their bills and ask if something
is unfamiliar.
In Italy, travelers might find a nominal charge called a
“coperto” on their bill covering bread and water.
“It comes from the days when you would go to an inn, and if
you wanted to have a tablecloth and plates, they charged you for it,” said Pam
Mercer, the owner of California-based Tuscany Tours, which specializes in
small-group travel in Italy and France.
When it comes to restaurant meals in those countries,
“there’s not a hard and fast rule,” Mercer said. Her company advises guests to
tip 5 percent to 10 percent at restaurants and give the tip directly to the
server.
In cafes and cabs, she rounds up and leaves the change.
“France pays its employees a living wage, unlike the US,”
wrote Janice Wang, an American living in France who runs a Facebook group for
expatriates there, in an email. “Hence, servers, hairdressers and cabdrivers
don’t need tips to live. They appreciate them, but don’t need them. And they
never expect a tip.”
Tip your guide
Guide services come in many varieties — from a walking tour
leader to a mountaineer who helps you navigate a rock face. Travelers might
engage their services for a half-day trip, a two-week tour, and everything in
between and beyond.
The global tour company Intrepid Travel states on its
website that “tipping is never compulsory, but always appreciated,” while also
making the point that tips are a big part of a guide’s income, especially in
the US and Southeast Asia. On a multiday small-group trip in the US, the
company suggests tipping $7 to $10 a day.
The tour company Exit Glacier Guides notes that 10 percent
to 20 percent of the trip cost for its wilderness outings is standard where it
operates in Seward, Alaska. The tip for a group walk led by a naturalist beside
the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park that costs $59 a person would
therefore be about $6 to $12 a person.
CIE Tours, which offers group trips in Iceland, Ireland, Italy
and Britain, recommends tipping tour leaders and bus drivers the equivalent in
local currency of roughly $7 to $10 each a day, depending on the location.
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