Tipping in America

[User74893677]

I’m going to New York and Boston at Easter with my children. The flights were a gift but I’m paying for our hotels and obviously food, activities etc.

Ive read that we should tip at least $5 per night for housekeeping. And similar if the hotel looks after our bags before/after check in/out. And generally for pretty much everything - helping take our bags to our room, provide local information etc.

Ive worked out that we will easily spend more than $100 just on tips for the hotel staff alone - for services it’s not customary to tip for here in Europe.

AIBU to consider not tipping for these things? We are travelling on a budget and $100 (or more) is a lot of cash!

I know we will have to tip in restaurants but we’re not planning to eat out much - it’ll be warm so the plan is to buy picnic/take out food for at least two meals a day to keep costs down (also I have the least foodie children in the world and they’re very happy with picnics and take out burritos etc!).

I anticipate people saying that if we can’t afford to tip, we can’t afford America 🫣

i am from NYC. you have to tip. you absolutely do not need to use valets to park, you do not need to get help with your luggage. most people don’t. you don’t even need to tip of the hotel looks after your luggage and it is not hard and fast. leave $20-$25 for the cleaners for the week in your hotel. you can leave a little less if you don’t get service everyday which is normal since covid. sometimes just ask for fresh towels. there is a lot of room between $100 and $0

Ha.. I live in the boondocks and yeah 10%-12% has not been fine since the 90’s when 15% was standard.

Please don’t listen to this advice (unless you’re going to somewhere like SFC or Los Angeles which has only recently (10 years) gone to a standard min wage).

also at starbucks of fast food places no way do i tip 20%. in most places a dollar or two (counter service type) choose “custom tip” and leave $1-2. that is fine.

In a sit-down restaurant, you have to leave a tip, but feel free to ignore tipping in more fast-food-type places. Leave housekeeping one larger tip on the day you check out if it’s a small hotel and you’re aware that the same person has been cleaning your room.

You also need to be aware that the price printed on menus and labels in shops isn't the total price. The tax goes on top of that.
Tax varies by state and town so you'll need to look that up.

The reason for mentioning is that if you think your biill is $100, it could end up being $107. Then you tip the subtotal, you don't tip the tax, so you'd add $20 (as that's 20%) and the final amount payable would be $127.

@User74893677 I hate to break it to you but you won’t be keeping the costs down by buying groceries in the US! Groceries are EYEWATERINGLY expensive in the us. Honestly it's insane

A PP asked about the chef etc when tipping in a restaurant… When you tip in a restaurant the server “tips out” so their coworkers- the bussers, chefs, dishwashers, hostess etc all receive a portion of the tip.

Minimum wage in New York State has gone up over 70% in the last decade. It's currently $15.50 (16.50 in NYC).

In Massachusetts it's gone up 66% to $15.

I tip whatever round number is around 20% but if that means the total bill comes to a strange number like $34.47 then I round down, not up, so I might be tipping more like 19.5%, not 20.5%. In general, as long as I tip above 18% I feel comfortable. There has been a move to convince people that 20% is the minimum tip in the USA, (i.e. what you tip for "meh" service) and that the correct tip for Good Service is 25% or even 30%. There has also been a backlash to this effort as people find it makes eating at restaurants so unaffordable that they just don't bother to go to restaurants.

The employees only offer their help because it's assumed you are going to pay them, and you definitely have the option to refuse and carry your own luggage. You can even refuse housekeeping services and tidy your own room, if that's what you want to do. It's just like any other person who is trying to sell something. I assume you're able to decline offers to sell you something you can't afford in your home town, right, even if the seller is disappointed?

Some restaurants also add service fees to the bill.

ktla.com/news/local-news/restaurants-are-now-twice-as-likely-to-charge-a-service-fee-but-where-does-the-money-go/

I hate the tipping culture too but it's absolutely expected in America. The going rate is 20% these days and I've heard that some waiters will confront you if you give less than that.

New York in April is too cold for picnics! If you're intending to cook please also be reminded that their fresh produce costs significantly more than in the UK.

I completely disagree with this. If you can't afford the tip, you can't afford the restaurant, cab or hotel. No matter how nice you are, the employees can't pay their bills with sincerity and respect.

Tipping in the US is getting out of hand, even self service machines ask for a tip - don’t add it!

Hotel generally you’ll be fine not tipping unless the concierge brings your luggage to your room. Even so, if you confidently smile and wish them a good day, they won’t stand and demand a tip. But I’d say take your own luggage or tip. Luggage storage - it’s a no from me. Housekeeping is up to you. Considering most hotels charge a daily resort fee now, I consider that the tip money.
In restaurants it’s customary to tip 20%, same with Taxi’s.
In coffee shops, again I never do & know locals who only tip on occasion of exceptional service or when the outlet is rammed.

Wait staff are often on tip wage which can be as low as $2.13.

Restaurants that do that are greedy as Hell in my view!

of course you are being unreasonable to think it's ok not to tip.

if you travel, be respectful of other cultures and social norms. it's not that difficult

For goodness sake @User74893677 you are getting your flights for free. If you’re worried about an extra $100 on tips then may I respectfully advise that this New York trip is not for you.

If you're paying for family-sized hotel rooms in NYC and Boston I really doubt that USD100 is going to put much of a dent in your budget.

American here. Except for when we went to Disney World, we have always taken care of our own bags. As for housekeeping, the problem with tipping at the end is that the housekeepers don't always have the same rooms, so on a five-day stay, you could have the same housekeeper for four of them and the day you check out, a different one, who has now gotten all the tip for themselves. Since we always need extra towels/washcloths etc., we tip daily and leave a note asking for the extra towels, etc. needed. I usually only tip a few dollars a day, but we also don't stay in super five-star hotels either.

I would love to see tipping taken out of the equation here, but it seems it would be a difficult road. Since Covid, restaurants have had to really up their pay rate for waitstaff. Many/most around here advertise $15-18/per hour. BUT, the waitstaff still want a 20%+ tip on top. Smaller, family restaurants haven't upped their wages like the chains and since their prices are usually more reasonable, and the place smaller, we tip more there than other places. But, I freely admit that it bugs me now to have places expect a 20%+ tip when the bill is always $100+ for food that was 1/3-1/2 cheaper pre-Covid, and you see the waiter having 5 tables. Most patrons spend about an hour and a half or less at a restaurant around here, so the wait staff are making bank and none I know or have talked to want to get rid of the tipping, even if they were to make $20-22/hour.

If you’re on a tight budget Flashfood and too good to go might be useful.

We have just returned from Florida. We have travelled across the USA a lot over the years.
Up until this year, New England was the most eye opening experience for tipping.
A Standard 20% was added to the bill and then requested an additional 7, 12 or 15% on top.
To be honest the actual customer service has declined dramatically. I honestly begrudged tipping for what was actually very mediocre service but they know you are going to tip so no need to even try.
A real disappointment.

I've never tipped the housekeeping in the US and been many times

Air bnbs are not legal in manhattan. A hotel is absolutely the right choice for us this time. Last time I was in New York was for a work trip and I had hand luggage only. I still felt pressure to accept “help” to carry my bag to my room. The bag is just carried on the air train and subway from JFK 🫣

Just stick your do not disturb sign on and only have house keeping do your room once or twice rather than daily.
Top $2-3 instead of 5.

The first time we went to the US we didn't realise about tipping housekeeping and about halfway through our stay got a knock on the door from one of the staff asking if there was a problem with our room. We were a bit confused as the room was always spotless. Then did a bit of googling and was mortified. Tips from then on.