executive-travel-assistant-tipping-travel-tips

Tipping

As the world gets smaller and the American business traveler takes their local customs abroad, tipping is increasingly apparent, expected and inflationary. Hotel staff, restaurants and taxis are all but on the “must give” tip list in most parts of the world. Increasingly the hairdresser, spa attendant, tour guide and housekeeping will expect or at least “hope” for a tip.

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As the world gets smaller and the American business traveler takes their local customs abroad, tipping is increasingly apparent, expected and inflationary. Hotel staff, restaurants and taxis are all but on the “must give” tip list in most parts of the world. Increasingly the hairdresser, spa attendant, tour guide and housekeeping will expect or at least “hope” for a tip.

Having said that, tipping started in countries where the minimum wage was low. Tips were given to supplement the worker’s income based on the level of service and dedication delivered. An incentive for extra effort if you like. In some parts of the world, the minimum wage has ever increased and you would have to question whether tipping is warranted, eg United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Consideration needs to be given to your company policies, local custom and recognizing and appreciating good service when deciding whether or not to tip. If so, how much?

There is a movement in North America for no tipping, where the services charges are built into the price. Let us see how that progresses.

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Hotel Tips

In which country are hotel tips required and hoped for and who in a hotel should receive a tip? Here are some tips for you. Doorman, porters, room service. housekeeping and valet in hotels in US will expect a tip. It is not customary to give concierge a tip unless you are rewarding exceptional service or service which is extremely

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In which country are hotel tips required and hoped for and who in a hotel should receive a tip? Here are some tips for you. Doorman, porters, room service. housekeeping and valet in hotels in US will expect a tip. It is not customary to give concierge a tip unless you are rewarding exceptional service or service which is extremely important or urgent to you (eg recovering your lost bags from the airline, organizing limousine service with minimal notice and accessing tickets to “money can’t buy/sold out” concerts/sporting events)

Elsewhere in the world, tipping is not necessarily required or “hoped for” and certainly not for all staff in a hotel. Check out this table for suggestions on who to tip what and how much by region in the world.

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Tour Guide Tipping

$US 5-10 per day will be expected for tour guide tipping in US, Canada, South America and increasingly in Europe. Sometimes the fare will note that tips or gratuities have been included. In this case, no tip is required but will be appreciated.
Elsewhere in the world, tour guide tipping is not necessarily required. Nor is tipping “hoped for” and

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$US 5-10 per day will be expected for tour guide tipping in US, Canada, South America and increasingly in Europe. Sometimes the fare will note that tips or gratuities have been included. In this case, no tip is required but will be appreciated.

Elsewhere in the world, tour guide tipping is not necessarily required. Nor is tipping “hoped for” and certainly not for all staff in a hotel. Check out this table for suggestions on who to tip what and how much by region in the world.

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Cash or Credit Card

There is always a question about whether to pay your tip with cash or credit card. Paying cash for tips will ensure that they get to the person they are intended for. If you add them onto the credit card charge, One of two things will occur. Often the establishment has a system for dividing them between all the staff

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There is always a question about whether to pay your tip with cash or credit card. Paying cash for tips will ensure that they get to the person they are intended for. If you add them onto the credit card charge, One of two things will occur. Often the establishment has a system for dividing them between all the staff at the end of the day/week in a pre-determined formula or unacceptably, not allocating them to staff.

Especially when good service is rendered you will want to ensure that the appropriate person gets the reward. On the other hand consider the dishwasher who does not interact with the public who may benefit by the “manager’s discretion” approach. An alternative is to add the standard tip to the credit card charge. Then give individuals who provide good service an extra tip in cash.

Check out this table for suggestions on who to tip what and how much by region in the world.

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executive-travel-assistant-tipping-western-europe

Tipping in Western Europe

Tipping in Western Europe is not expected but welcomed.
Hotels Tips are not expected but international hotels are increasingly following the North America model.

Porter nil in general but in international hotels €1 per bag, £1 every two bags,
Room Service (10% if not built into the bill as service charge)
Valet and Housekeeping will not be expecting it but

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Tipping in Western Europe is not expected but welcomed.

Hotels Tips are not expected but international hotels are increasingly following the North America model.

  • Porter nil in general but in international hotels €1 per bag, £1 every two bags,
  • Room Service (10% if not built into the bill as service charge)
  • Valet and Housekeeping will not be expecting it but the US custom is increasingly prevalent in International Hotels

Restaurants Service charge is often added to the bill. Otherwise in international restaurants 10% standard, more for good service. Pubs nothing.

Taxis Rounding up to the next £/€ for under £/€10, to the next £/€+ 3 between £/€10 to £/€30 and 10%+ for over £/€30

Spas/Hairdresser/ Nail Salon 10% of the treatment between all those who participate depending on seniority and time spent – eg 3% for individual who washes your hair and 7% for hairdresser

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Tipping in Australia/New Zealand

Hotels Tipping in Australia/New Zealand is not expected but increasingly common in international hotels especially

Porter $A1 per bag
Room Service 10% if not built into the bill as Service Charge
Housekeeping nil in general

Restaurants Service charge is increasingly added to the bill. Otherwise up to 10% for good service is welcomed
Taxis Tips are not expected – Minimum

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Hotels Tipping in Australia/New Zealand is not expected but increasingly common in international hotels especially

  • Porter $A1 per bag
  • Room Service 10% if not built into the bill as Service Charge
  • Housekeeping nil in general

Restaurants Service charge is increasingly added to the bill. Otherwise up to 10% for good service is welcomed

Taxis Tips are not expected – Minimum fare is usually expected at $A10. It is then customary to round to the nearest $A

Spas/Hairdresser/ Nail Salon Tips are not expected

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Tips for tipping in North America

Tipping in North America is almost mandatory. You will have heard stories about what has transpired when someone has tried not to tip.
Hotels Tips are expected especially

Porter (min $US1 per bag, $US5 for 3 bags),
Room Service (10%+ if not built into the bill as service charge)
Valet $3-5
Housekeeping ($10 per week, then $US1 per day)

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Tipping in North America is almost mandatory. You will have heard stories about what has transpired when someone has tried not to tip.

Hotels Tips are expected especially

  • Porter (min $US1 per bag, $US5 for 3 bags),
  • Room Service (10%+ if not built into the bill as service charge)
  • Valet $3-5
  • Housekeeping ($10 per week, then $US1 per day)

Restaurants A service charge is often added to the bill and a tip is expected over and above that. 18-20% on the total bill (including tax) is standard when no service charge is added. Up to 10% above the service fee when charged for great service. Remember that bar waiters and floor staff earn very little – the tip is their income.

Taxis 20% and more for good service. The screens in the taxis where you see the fare when you are paying by credit card will offer 20%, 25% and 30% as auto options as well as enter your own amount. Min fare is $US10

Spas/Hairdresser/ Nail Salon 10% in Canada, 15-20% in US of the treatment between all those who participate depending on seniority and time spent – eg 5-7% for individual who washes your hair and 10-15% for Hairdresser

Curb Side Check In At the airport, curb side check-in is efficient and easy. It saves time from joining what is usually a long line inside the terminal. They issue boarding passes also (if you do not have this already printed). Knowing how much to tip them is a bit tricky since they used to get your bag to the plane, as in take cart loads of bags to the tarmac. Today the bags join the same system as all others. 1 bag and boarding pass should be $5, 3 bags and boarding pass closer to $10. Minimum is about $2 per bag

Tipping in US in detail Here is a link to a table outlining the range and detail of tipping in USA by recipient. It is on the twitter feed for this website Click Here All credit to waitbutwhy.com

Canada – some nuances by region Here is a CNN article on tipping in Canada which is similar to US but there are some nuances in Montreal for example Click Here

Hot Tip: At the Bar: If you are drinking at the bar, especially if you have cash, a tip of $1 for a beer or a glass of wine is common. Make sure you put the $1 on the counter as each drink is presented. You do not have to add 20%. Cocktails require more work so you should pay closer to $2 for a cocktail (perhaps $5 for 3). However, if you pay with a credit card, you need to pay more. Perhaps not the full 20%. Because a credit card purchase requires processing through the management, you need to up the tip.

Hot Tip: When the restaurant is offering a deal: If you are at a restaurant that has an offer, for example, 2 for 1 deal or a discount, the tipping is supposed to be based on the bill/check if there were no discount. Why? because the waiter’s service is not being given at a discount. Here’s an example.

Let us say that the deal is 2 for 1 on main course (or entrée as it is called in US). Your total bill/check $100 and the normal tip @ 20% would be an additional $20. Your main/entrée is billed at $20 but it would have been $40 if you had paid full price for both. So the bill/check would have been $120 + tip if you did not have a deal and therefore the tip would have been $24 (not $20). So according to the (unwritten) rules about tipping in USA, you should be paying $24 tip which makes the total $124 (as opposed to $120 as it appears on the bill/check) because you have added the tip for the main/entrée that you got for free as part of the deal. Complicated? Very!

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Tipping in Asia

Tipping in Asia is not expected but welcomed.
Hotels Tipping in Asia is not expected but increasingly common in international hotels.
Restaurants Service charge is often added to the bill and a tip is not expected over and above that. If no service fee is added, up to 10% is welcomed
Taxis Tips are not expected but are welcomed. Rounding up to

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Tipping in Asia is not expected but welcomed.

Hotels Tipping in Asia is not expected but increasingly common in international hotels.

Restaurants Service charge is often added to the bill and a tip is not expected over and above that. If no service fee is added, up to 10% is welcomed

Taxis Tips are not expected but are welcomed. Rounding up to the nearest 10 in the local currency is appreciated

Spas/Hairdresser/ Nail Salon Tips are not expected

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Tipping in Middle East/Africa/Eastern Europe

Tipping in Middle East/Africa/Eastern Europe is not expected but welcomed.
Hotels Tips are increasingly expected especially in international hotels.
Restaurants Service charge is sometimes added to the bill and a tip is not expected over and above that. If no service fee is added, up to 10% (South Africa) is welcomed but this varies from country to country
Taxis Tips are

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Tipping in Middle East/Africa/Eastern Europe is not expected but welcomed.

Hotels Tips are increasingly expected especially in international hotels.

Restaurants Service charge is sometimes added to the bill and a tip is not expected over and above that. If no service fee is added, up to 10% (South Africa) is welcomed but this varies from country to country

Taxis Tips are not expected but round up to the nearest 10 in the local currency is appropriate.

Spas/Hairdresser/Nail Salon Tips are not expected except perhaps at 5 Star Hotels, up to 10%

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Tipping in South America

Tipping in South America are increasingly expected as this market follows the North American model.
Hotels Tips are expected at 5 Star hotels

Porter min $US1 per bag
Room Service 10%+ if not built into the bill as Service Charge
$US1 per day

Restaurants Around 10% is expected at 4-5 star restaurants
Taxis Negotiate the fare prior to getting into

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Tipping in South America are increasingly expected as this market follows the North American model.

Hotels Tips are expected at 5 Star hotels

  • Porter min $US1 per bag
  • Room Service 10%+ if not built into the bill as Service Charge
  • $US1 per day

Restaurants Around 10% is expected at 4-5 star restaurants

Taxis Negotiate the fare prior to getting into the cab and then if you are transported safely and efficiently consider tipping around 5-10% extra

Spas/Hairdresser/ Nail Salon 5-10% is customary. 10% is expected at 5 Star hotels

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