Who and how much to tip (USA)

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

Hi,

I am thinking of going to USA maybe this summer or early next year. Thinking of New York or California.

Of course the USA has a different tipping culture to UK. In the USA, when you go how much do you generally tip, who do you tip?

Following as off to California in August

You tip absolutely everyone - taxis, bar tenders, wait staff (inc hotel breakfast), coffee shop etc 20%. If you are at a hotel and they get you a cab or take your bags out of the car, they need a couple of dollars as well. It really adds up

Everyone. 20%.

My fil tips 25% in CO.

Absolute bloody nightmare. You are expected to tip EVERYBODY. Whenever I go to the US I have to factor in a 20% uplift on every dollar I spend.

Restaurants - minimum 15%, although 20% is considered the norm
Luggage handling - at least a couple of dollars per piece, but if someone brings your luggage to your room, I usually give $10
Cab rides, about 10% or a couple of bucks for short journeys. Usually it's a "keep the change" thing
Concierge services (if they help you organise something), again $10
Doormen, getting a cab for you or whatever, $5

Take plenty of small notes so you can reach easily for tip money.

However if you're never planning to go back and don't care if they all hate you then you can get away with less or not tipping at all. (But don't be surprised if you get chased along the sidewalk by an angry waiter demanding their tips.)

On card machines when paying, they usually give 3 options starting at 18%, but you can decline any. Note:They also have a maximum 75% rate to prevent you being scammed.

Most paper bills/checks when paying have 2 lines under the amount for tip, then total, leaving the % up to you.

I usually leave just above 10% and round up. For example if my bill is $87, 10% would be £8/9, buy ill put $13 to round to an even 100. Staff seem OK with it.

And don't forget your maids at the hotel, and barman per drink, and the attendant in the ladies room, and virtually everybody else you have any interaction with...

Agree with @AmandaHoldensLips

Waiting staff 20% minimum. Even 10% these days is seen as rude and not enough. They live off tips mostly.

And just throw $10/5 at anyone else who does literally anything for you.

It adds a whack to your total spends, be prepared.

yes go above and don’t forget sales tax when shopping ie you don’t pay the price on the label in NY it’s another 10% we love NY but as a family of 4 adults I would never want to add up how much we spend extra

@AmandaHoldensLips what does a bathroom attendant do and how much do you tip? Do they hand you soap? Genuinely confused and have never been to somewhere that has one (or USA).

I saw this on a New York visitors Fb page - not sure how accurate it is

The staff may seem okay with it, but they’re just being polite and not actually okay. I am afraid that is far too little to be tipping at a US restaurant. It should be 20%.

Basically everyone, it’s ridiculous. The man at the airport wanted a tip for checking in my suitcase. I can’t check in my own suitcase and I can’t tip every single person in the airport so I didn’t tip him. Had no idea he would have expected it tbh and had no change. It costs so much. Also be aware in NYC the prices shown don’t include tax so when you add on tax and tip the total price is loads more

@crymeout In fancypants restaurants, hotels and some other places there is a woman in the ladies room who keeps the place tidy and nice. She always has a plate out for tips. Often the tips is the only pay they get.

Throwing dollars around like confetti, that’s the only way.

I ALWAYS take $1 & $5 5 notes and lots of them otherwise you overtip.

10% in a restaurant?! I’m surprised you’ve not been called out on that. My SIL was a 25% + tipper every time!

Take plenty of cash (or card) as the US is very expensive and in most areas, the food is pretty awful always come back craving plain vegetables and anything without a blood honey glaze.

Did LA for a weekend last August that was about long enough for me, have previously done SF, Arizona, Michigan, Seattle, Ohio and others - lived in Michigan for 6 months - but at least there you can go to Canada

This is really helpful, sorry for hijacking OP but another question from me, we (2 adults and a 7yr old) are going for just under 3 weeks, eating out will be paid for on card so any suggestions how much cash we should take??? Not been to the US in 6yrs so can't remember how much we took last time.

It puts me off going. I have no objection to paying for a service but I like to know what that service will cost upfront, so I can decide if it is worth my while utilising it. What happens if you don't tip or tip too little? I ask that genuinely. If the person you are meant to be tipping is someone you won't see again, how could you get into trouble for not tipping enough?

It's not as difficult as it seems because there's a lot less service these days, our 4 star hotel didn't have luggage service nor concierge (New York) no need to tip in coffee shops or anywhere self service. 15% ish if waited upon.

@whoruntheworldgirls I lived there for years and basically never used cash (except quarters for the laundry machines in the basement of my apartment, something I really don’t miss). Waiters and bartenders you can do by card. Ditto cabs but they’re so bad I’d always recommend avoiding them in favour of lyft or uber anyway. So I’d go with just for the hotel door staff and chambermaids plus a small contingency.

@Wherethewildthymeblows It’s just a different culture. Servers don’t get proper minimum wage so no tip and they’re quite literally earning a pittance. Getting the exact cost upfront just isn’t a thing- you also don’t get the sales tax included on price tickets, because it varies so much on a city, county and state level so it’s just not practical. So of course you won’t get arrested or put on a TSA no fly list for not tipping but it’s pretty harsh to stiff the wait staff to prove some sort of point. Budget accordingly and accept it’s part of American culture or if you don’t want to do that then that’s fine and there are plenty of other lovely places without a tipping culture to visit instead.

@Wherethewildthymeblows - it's really rude to not tip or under tip. You would be viewed as a total arsehole. You might even get a piece of their mind (and nobody in the restaurant would blame them).

@whoruntheworldgirls - you will get through a lot more cash than you expect I would imagine. The US is expensive. For 3 weeks I would take at least $1000 in small notes for tips. That's only $47 per day, so actually you will probably need double that, so $2000 for tips alone.

I didn't mean I would deliberately not tip or undertip. I just meant I wouldn't know how much to tip and might sometimes - because I come from a non-tipping culture - genuinely not realise that a tipping opportunity had arisen. Eg I have heard you leave a tip for housekeeping in your hotel room when you go out for the day. Every day? Or just at the end of your stay? It is not something I have ever had to think about in other countries I have stayed in. You accept that the cost of your room will include housekeeping.

But if all that will happen is that someone will abuse me for not tipping - well, maybe I wouldn't want to tip someone like that anyway!

Sadly even the tip is going on an inflation. 20% is pretty standard to be honest … I would even say that 25% is becoming more standard. There’s been a hugeeee service industry shortage in the US so a lot of restaurants/bars find it difficult to keep staff. They have record low unemployment meaning they cannot find anyone for replacement this has caused a lot of core services inflation.

I wouldn't go. Mainly for this reason. Companies expecting the customers to pay their employees so they don't have to is disgusting. I am aware it isn't employees fault. Their r list of other reasons too.

Just stick to self service or fast food/fast casual places for meals and you can avoid a lot of the tipping situations. If you're getting table service, the expectation is 20%
I rarely stay at fancy hotels that would even offer luggage help.
Tipping for services like hairdressing and taxis I find no difference than here in the UK (assuming you tip in the UK)

20% is normal minimum tip.

But almost everywhere will let you add the tip via a card/screen from coffee shops upwards.

You need cash only for hotel staff of different types.