Tell me about tipping in New York city

[supercatlady]

Off to NYC next week. Only ever been to Florida in US before and it was villa/self drive. In New York we will be staying in a hotel.

We are doing a hotel arranged transfer from the airport and they have helpfully told us we need to tip the driver in cash and how much, but what about if someone takes our bags to our room? Is there a set amount for taxis? Do restaurants and bars add a service charge automatically?

thank you

If you’re staying in NY you need to be prepared to tip absolutely anyone who offers you any kind of assistance/service. Seriously, it’s mad.

tip everyone... New York is the most expensive place i have ever been too.. some places automatically add your tip on, others don't.

we even had to tip the lady who stood at the door of the grocery store and opened it for us!

It's a much more cash carrying culture. And the tipping is mad.

gosh ok. So how much do I need to tip? I’m completely clueless here! What happens if you don’t? (Eg how would you know the lady opening the door needs a tip?)

https://freetoursbyfoot.com/tipping-in-new-york-city/ is a really good guide on expected tips

For restaurants etc there's usually a bit at the bottom of the receipt which gives 3 different percentages and you can choose which one to tip. For things like the cleaners we left a couple of dollars every day. The guy who took out suitcase up was I'm sure 10 dollars. But yep, in NYC tip everyone and have lots of coins. It's the main reason we won't go back.

Oh we also found that when tipping a bar staff, for every say 4th round they gave us the drinks on the house. That ended up a messy night!!

Great advice thank you. So to tip housekeeping staff do you just leave cash on the desk, or do you leave a note with it?

I just left it in the middle of the bed.

I left the cash on the desk in our room every day.

I didn't tip all and sundry and had no problem in NYC.

I tip in restaurants based on the table at the bottom of the receipt. Probably about 17-20%.

Bars I leave a couple of dollars per drink. I want to get served again!

We were in Juniors in brooklyn getting cheesecake (yum). The waitress berated us for not tipping. We pointed out we'd tipped nearly 19% (not 20 due to bills/rounding). She apologised. It's bizarre.

DH wants to go again but I'd happily never go back. Place is messed up.

There is a very long thread running right now about tipping in the US and you might find a lot of information there. Tipping is neither stressful nor confusing. It is a norm in the US.

In restaurants, 20% at a minimum is expected. Yes, you tip the person who brings the bags up, maybe $5/$10. Taxi drivers probably 20% too. Coffee shops, throw a dollar or 2 into the tip jar, bars $3 the first round if you want to get served quickly, they will probably open a tab though and you pay at the end.

@SpuytenDuyvil Sorry but of course it's confusing if you're from another country (most countries in fact), where the tipping expectations are different!

Many countries don't do tipping at all.

In the UK I will normally tip waiters, taxi/Uber drivers, hairdressers, possibly hotel staff. Nobody else really, and they don't expect it. If you don't have spare cash or the service is not great nobody will say anything if you don't tip, and the percentage is up to you. But in New York apparently they will berate and chase after customers if they don't feel you've given sufficiently. Weird and aggressive. It would be nice if US companies paid their workers enough so that they don't feel compelled to do that.

I just find it strange.

Do you have a link to the other thread you mentioned, or what section was it in please?

@Pemba It's called "Tipping in USA." Sorry, I can't cut and paste the link. When I travel, I use Google to find out what the customs are of the places I am planning to go to re: tipping, handshakes, appropriate clothing, etc. It's part of the fun of planning travel and I never want to offend the hosts of the country I am visiting.

This guide covers everything you need to know about tipping in New York: 123nyc.org/how-to-tip-in-new-york/

Exactly, I don’t understand how much people give out about this when it’s well known that it is just how it’s done over there.

Everyone expects a tip in the US. We went to volcano bay water park in Orlando. I went to a small kiosk to get a bottle of sprite, the chap serving passed me the bottle and expected a tip. It’s madness.
DP says the aggressive tipping expectation out there puts him of visiting again