USA tipping allowance anyone?

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Does Anyone have any idea how much to budget for a couple of weeks travelling round in the US? Mix of staying in national parks and LA, mid range hotels will be eating and drinking at mid range bars, cafes and restaurants. Is 20% the norm? Don’t want to stiff people and equally don’t want to pay over the top unnecessarily. TIA.

Yup. 20 percent. Make sure you’ve checked over government’s website re travel advise to the US, how to protect your phone at customs etc. And that your visas are in perfect order.

I was tipping 15% most the time, never got any funny looks, plenty of thank yous too. I think the 20% is not routine. On the west coast, at least where I was, minimum wages are higher for restaurant workers so they don’t expect as high tips. We also ate in places like delis with seats where you pay at the counter and there’s a tips jar, how much you put in is up to you.

20% is the norm. Even coffee shops for a take away will have a tip option on the card reader or expect you to leave money in a tip jar.

And don't forget that all prices you see are excluding tax.

About immigration into the US, the advice is now to delete some social media like FB, threads, Twitter from your phone as they can check.
Do have paper copies of your hotel booking, return flight and maybe other bookings you made already at hand like rental car, other hotels along the way so you can show that you are a tourist and not wandering around wanting to work.

Travelled from Denver, though the Utah National Parks/towns, onto Vegas and then San Diego last October.

Never tipped more than 15% anywhere and never felt hassled to tip.

20% may be true for some of the bigger cities, especially New York, but definitely not the norm from my experience.

20% is excessive, 15% is fine.

Have you the National Parks booked? there is a possibility of some being closed because of DOGE cuts

Oh my!

how to protect your phone at customs

Gulp

Fortunately managed to book the parks before the cuts

I hate to tell you, but where I live, 25% is encouraged as the new middle option in the range that you get on the electronic screen!!

Yes 20% is fine for meals. Also “a dollar a drink” as a rule of thumb at bars and coffee shops, they usually have dishes for coins on the bar or you can add to the bill if paying by card.
Didn’t tip anywhere else.

Where are you @VeryQuaintIrene

Western North Carolina - we had that horrendous hurricane so it may be a little bit to do with that and people trying to recoup money, but I think it's creeping in everywhere. I'm holding steady at 20%, FWIW.

It depends what figure you are working off. The initial price or the price on the bill that'll include sales tax? But yes broadly 15-20% for anything even approaching acceptable service.

In terms of budget it is getting more expensive every year. Friend hasn't been in years and took an empty suitcase to fill with bargains like you could in the 2000, think it came back empty.

Mid range I'd be expecting 40-50 usd for a basic main meal and soft drink. Starbucks breakfast coffee and croissant around $15.

Have a bit of a look at menus online so you know what to expect. Have a great time.

American here: 15% for restaurants. $5-$10/night for hotel rooms. I insist on carrying my own bags otherwise.

@IReallyLoveItHere totally agree about shopping. We went two years ago and DD had some birthday money. Despite sales and discounts, it was really hard to find a bargain.

I found it already more difficult in 2011 but 2023 - nearly impossible.

It depends what figure you are working off. The initial price or the price on the bill that'll include sales tax?

good point. Probably the whole bill - what’s generally the norm?

Just back from similar trip. We were offered 18%, 20% and 25% choice on our bills.

We did have one that automatically added 25% and then gave us options to choose for additional tip. We declined the additional tip. Quite shocked at the gall really.

We didn't book national parks and had no problems. There were less staff at Hoover dam though but they told us it was due to illnesses.

Found food/eating out incredibly expensive plus the tips. Also parking at some of the hotels was not cheap, SF was $72 a night, LA was $64, Las Vegas was $42. We could have found cheaper but not near our hotel and we were using it during the day to sightsee. Parking in the outdoor carpark at the top of Rodeo Drive was $6 for 3 hours which was a nice surprise.

We did have a holiday of a lifetime and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The standard US practice is to tip a percentage of the pre-tax amount. So for $100 with 10% tax you would leave $20 for a 20% tip, not $22.

(Incidentally, this means that when you pay the "discretionary 12.5% service charge" in the UK you are actually paying 15% on a like-for-like basis, as the basis of that 12.5% includes 20% VAT.)

Given that sales tax is around 10% and tips are around 20%, and the exchange rate is often around $1.30 to the £, you can look at a menu and say that a $25 item will cost you roughly £25.

Lots of helpful info on here, thank you all.

20% is the norm unless they throw it at you. 15% would be stingy no matter where you are.

Another American here. I agree with others that 20 percent is generally the expected amount in restaurants.

No complaints from anywhere in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and So. Cal. with us only tipping 15% in restaurants last year.

You might be made of money and consider 15% stingy - i don't

I'm not made of money by a long shot, but knowing how abysmally servers are paid here makes it hard to press anything but the 20% key.

How likely is it to get to them if it’s not given in cash do you think?

Hard to guess. Most restaurants will have a system how tips are distributed, named server gets the most, the rest depending on their job.

Independent coffee shops normally divide the tips between the employees.

DH is in the US a lot for work and hardly uses cash outside the tip for the hotel maid he leaves in the room when he checks out, everything is done via the credit card.

@cyclingmum67You decided to pay them less than is the norm. Do you think it would be ok to pay less for other things? If you can’t afford it don’t buy it. This is exactly why Us servers dread Brits.