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)

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!