Tipping is part of American culture. Photo / Getty Images
Tipping is part of American culture. Photo / Getty Images
It’s enough to make most Kiwis gasp, but if you’re planning a trip to the US, it pays – quite literally – to allocate extra money for tipping, writes Ewan McDonald
Q. We’re taking advantage of the new flights to the US and going for the first time later thisyear. Do we really have to tip everyone?
A. Yes, it’s against our nature but take it from a naive Kiwi, chased down an LA boulevard by an irate, cussing waitress on his first overseas trip, having not understood the local rules, tipping is part of American culture.
It is also a sad indictment on the way the Land of the Free treats its workers. Wages are abysmal, there’s no minimums, there are no protections, sick leave, maternity leave, zero-hour contracts and at-will firing are the norm. So, your tip is not a reward for good service – customer tips make up the larger part of their income.
As Qantas points out in its Travel Insider pages, “In America, tipping is optional in name only. Legally it’s voluntary but if you slink out of a restaurant without leaving a gratuity of between 15 and 25 per cent, you’re likely to be chased by a waiter demanding to know why” (see paragraph two).
Slink out of a restaurant without leaving a gratuity and the waiter may demand to know why. Photo / Getty Images
“Think of waitstaff as independent contractors you’re paying to wait your table. Taking a seat at a restaurant in the US means you’re entering a social contract with your waiter – you can’t apply Australian [or Aotearoa] standards here.”
In restaurants, 15-20 per cent on top of the bill, before sales tax, is standard, with 25 per cent for top-notch service. Some restaurants will add a gratuity if you’re with a large party or it’s a public holiday. If the bill reads “gratuity included”, you’re not required to pay extra.
In a bar, it’s $1 a drink. You order and pay for your drink and leave a dollar bill on the bar top for the bartender. If you’re buying food or drinks over the counter, say in a coffee bar or fast-food place, you don’t have to tip but it might be an idea to leave a dollar in the tip jar if you feel like it.
In the case of truly bad service, which is rare to be fair, you could try to leave without tipping or make your point by leaving, say, 10 per cent. Good luck with that.
In many US cities, tips are increasingly included in the bill and often are well above 15 per cent. That’s because many bars, restaurants and the like are finding that overseas visitors aren’t used to / don’t like the practice, so the local operators get their retaliation in first. A recent article suggests 20-25 per cent as the going rate in the Big Apple.
Taxi or Uber drivers will expect 15-20 per cent of the fare. Airport skycaps and hotel bellhops (we’d call them porters, staff who pick up your suitcases and show you to the room or gate) should get a few dollars a bag, more if they’re lugging heavyweight items like golf clubs. Valet parkers and hire-car assistants will have their hand out for $2-5 at drop-off and pickup.
For hairdressers, manicurists and beauty therapists, it’s 15-20 per cent, plus a few dollars for the apprentice who washes your hair. If you have food delivered, pay 10 per cent.
A word on hotels: guests should leave $2-5 a night for the housekeeper each time the room is cleaned. This doesn’t happen every day, especially since the pandemic – it may be every second day or on demand. The hotel association recommends leaving the cash “in a marked envelope making it clear that it is intended for the housekeeper”.
In the US, guests should leave $2-5 a night for the housekeeper each time the room is cleaned. Photo / Getty Images
You might expect that you’ve paid for an all-inclusive guided tour but again, as Intrepid Travel points out ever so politely, “tipping is never compulsory, but always appreciated.” The company suggests $7-$10 a day on a multi-day, small-group trip in the US.
According to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, service charges benefit all employees, including cooks and dishwashers as well as servers: “The service charge model ensures that employee compensation is fair, reliable and not reliant on the diners’ experience or bias.”
There is another way, of course, but that would require US businesses to pay their workers a living wage and accept the sort of employment conditions that the rest of the civilised world accepts as fair and reasonable. Sorry, but until Hell freezes over, you’ll just have to grin and pay up.
