Tipping- USA

[theyoungishman]

Can someone please tell me about tipping culture in the USA? I'm from Australia where tipping is not done ever, and now I'm stressing of how, when and how much.

For example do you tip taxi drivers, or bell hops at hotel? what about when you've taken a tour to the tour guide? Is cash expected? Restaurants are easy as tip will just be added to the bill and I can pay by card (I think- or do you need to tip separately in cash)

I was hoping to have a largely cash free holiday but now it seems I'll have to get cash out purely for the ability to pay tips, which is a pain.

I really wish prices were just already inclusive of tax and service charges and we just went and paid as normal?!

We used to do 10% in restaurants

I remember the server getting a bit offhand in the hotel restaurant in Vegas but it was so expensive in the first place

Tended to self cater tbh

That's a 2022 guidebook that I posted a picture from so I guess so, if you are buying a $5-7 dollar beer/drink a dollar is 15-20% of that though. On the few occasions we handed the bartender cash they didn't seem disappointed in $1 per drink. We paid by card in most places though so just opened tabs and added 20% overall at the end.

a 10% tip to waitstaff is no longer acceptable. The floor is 15% now.

Covid has expanded the tipping culture. People are tipping more. Most quick service restaurants now offer tips at point of sale and people are tipping. It hasn’t made it to fast food quite as much, but a few have tried. Cash transactions are increasingly rare, again, Covid really killed those off, so this is all by card or smartphone.

you will really only need paper money for tipping bellhops and cleaning staff at the hotel. I would have some as backup or a plan to get some, but you shouldn’t need too much.

Just pay for your beer with a card and tip 20% using the card.

Trouble is the exchange rate is lousy and everything has gone up

Last went in 2018 and the extra taxes were annoying such as resort tax

I'm not surprised the waiters were offhand if you were tipping 10%.

We may not like it, we may think it's ridiculous but the cultural norm in the US is a minimum tip of 15% ( conversely the going rates for tips seems to be even higher in more expensive restaurants and 18-20 % is the norm in high end places)and one just needs to factor that into the cost of the meal along with taxes and work out if that's within budget before picking the restaurant or go fast food if it feels unaffordable.

I actually find the US pretty expensive for eating out. Much better in France or Spain where only a small rounding of the bill is required.

Yes it was only ever in Vegas though for one meal, everywhere else was fine, this was circa 2011

My dh went to Vegas in the Winter and it was much cheaper so I think it was a rip off anyway

They should pay their staff a decent wage in the first place

The state tax is another bug bear

The Americans could claim VAT back in the Uk when they visited

Currency can be a really bad rate at the airport so we have taken out $500 in 10s, 5s and 1s to take with us, but in a restaurant will add to the bill and pay by card (make sure your card is one that does not charge extra every time you spend in a foreign currency - most of them do!)

I never think of it as a tip, but a service charge. In the UK the cost of your food plus cooking, serving and clearing it is included in the menu cost - you tip a bit for good service
In the US the culture is different - the menu price is literally for your food/drink - all the service element is extra and I usually allow 18-20%

I know a lot of people dislike it, but you have a choice where to travel to and if you are not going to fit in with their culture, don't go!

I have worked on and off in the US and much prefer their level of service there so I do t mind it's costed differently