Another tipping question

[SantaFeFan]

18 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

In UK I thought it was typical to tell the barman to 'Have a drink yourself' if you had several drinks at a bar. The barman would take a small tip. Wozz ?

 

Correct. That is the accepted practice. The barman will add about half the price of a pint as his tip.

 

I think that Wozz is living in the past. There is information published at visitbritian.com about current norms:  https://www.visitbritain.com/us/en/plan-your-trip/money/tipping#

 

Some highlights from this article that visitors will encounter:

 

- If nothing is added to you dining bill and you are happy with the service you've received, a tip of around 10-15 per cent is standard. Many restaurants automatically add a service charge to the bill, so do check before leaving a tip.

 

- In Britain it is quite normal to tip taxi drivers and it's customary to round the total fare up to the nearest pound.

 

- If a porter takes luggage to your room for you, it is customary to tip them approximately £2

 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by SantaFeFan

[Glad Bailey]

As a general rule in the UK we would add 10% tip to restaurant bills,

checking it has not been added already.

Taxis would be about 10% on short journeys,less percent on longer trips.

Also for no reason I can fathom,we tip hairdressers about the same

[Tedferg]

13 minutes ago, Glad Bailey said:

As a general rule in the UK we would add 10% tip to restaurant bills,

checking it has not been added already.

Taxis would be about 10% on short journeys,less percent on longer trips.

Also for no reason I can fathom,we tip hairdressers about the same

"I'll be leaving you now Sir" 🙂

 

[DCThunder]

1 hour ago, Glad Bailey said:

As a general rule in the UK we would add 10% tip to restaurant bills,

checking it has not been added already.

Taxis would be about 10% on short journeys,less percent on longer trips.

Also for no reason I can fathom,we tip hairdressers about the same

Is it the general practice in the UK (or elsewhere across the pond) to leave a few pounds/euros in the room for the housekeeping staff at a hotel at the end of a stay?

[justafem]

17 hours ago, DCThunder said:

Is it the general practice in the UK (or elsewhere across the pond) to leave a few pounds/euros in the room for the housekeeping staff at a hotel at the end of a stay?

I always leave a couple of bucks for the hotel staff.  I'm in hotels probably 15 times a year, same chain, same location, same day of the week.  I don't know if others do.  

[DCThunder]

45 minutes ago, justafem said:

I always leave a couple of bucks for the hotel staff.  I'm in hotels probably 15 times a year, same chain, same location, same day of the week.  I don't know if others do.  

I always do in the US, and have assumed that this was the proper etiquette practice elsewhere in the world, but I don't want to be accused of "flashing cash for better treatment".😉

[justafem]

1 minute ago, DCThunder said:

I always do in the US, and have assumed that this was the proper etiquette practice elsewhere in the world, but I don't want to be accused of "flashing cash for better treatment".😉

For me, it's a mute point.  I stay one night.  Not as though I could be accused of flaunting when they don't see me for another month.  Sometimes I WISH I got preferential treatment, would probably get me into my room faster than the half hour wait in the lobby.

[wowzz]

On 11/9/2022 at 4:30 PM, Tedferg said:

In UK I thought it was typical to tell the barman to 'Have a drink yourself' if you had several drinks at a bar. The barman would take a small tip. Wozz ?

If I'm just popping into a pub for a drink or two, no tip. And, I don't carry cash any more ! Foreign tourists might leave a tip, locals don't.

[wowzz]

On 11/9/2022 at 4:48 PM, SantaFeFan said:

Correct. That is the accepted practice. The barman will add about half the price of a pint as his tip.

Not accepted practice for 99% of Brits.

[wowzz]

On 11/9/2022 at 7:39 PM, DCThunder said:

Is it the general practice in the UK (or elsewhere across the pond) to leave a few pounds/euros in the room for the housekeeping staff at a hotel at the end of a stay?

Not common practice in the UK, especially in your average chain hotel.

However, in the unlikely event that I stayed in a hotel for seven days or more, and had the same staff every day, I might leave something.

Edited November 11, 2022 by wowzz

[Roberto256]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Not common practice in the UK, especially in your average chain hotel.

However, in the unlikely event that I stayed in a hotel for seven days or more, and had the same staff every day, I might leave something.

 

my experience in europe...

 

Most hotels add 'service' to the bill.

 

Apparently, this is ok with the locals.

 

[PTMary]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

If I'm just popping into a pub for a drink or two, no tip. And, I don't carry cash any more ! Foreign tourists might leave a tip, locals don't.

 

We have friends who are Brits and live in Bristol. Their college age daughter is a waitress in a local restaurant off the tourist path. She receives tips all the time. 

 

A tip doesn't have to be paid in cash. It can be added to the bill.

 

From what you say, I am guessing that some locals are cheaper than others - just like here in the States. 

Edited November 11, 2022 by PTMary

[PTMary]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not accepted practice for 99% of Brits.

 

Most of us on CC would not be "99% of Brits" and would travel predominantly in areas that tourists would visit, so your point is moot.

 

Most of us care about doing the right thing where we would typically visit, not what is the practice in some small village off the beaten path or tucked away in a residential area. It would be nice if "100% of Brits" would do the same thing when visiting foreign counties or cruise on foreign cruise ships. 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by PTMary

[wowzz]

21 minutes ago, PTMary said:

We have friends who are Brits and live in Bristol. Their college age daughter is a waitress in a local restaurant off the tourist path. She receives tips all the time. 

I didn't say that I never tip in a restaurant.  If the service is friendly,  then yes, a tip is in order,  but not at  US levels. 

Don't forget,  the UK minimum wage is somewhat greater than in the US !

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, PTMary said:

foreign counties or cruise on foreign cruise ships. 

As this is a Princess board, I will confine myself to what we do on Princess. We have Princess Plus, so all tips are taken care of. We normally then tip our steward, and,  if we have the same servers at certain bars  or restaurants,  we will tip them at the end of the cruise. 

But, I'm sorry, if I walk to a bar, and the bar tender just pours me a glass of wine and hands it to me,  that, in my view, does not justify a tip.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

Most hotels add 'service' to the bill.

When booking hotels in the UK, the price you see is the price you pay.

[c-boy]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

When booking hotels in the UK, the price you see is the price you pay.

no AARP discount ?     😄

[Princessfan20]

Tipping is such an individual choice and people determining what they will do based on a variety of data points but a major one could be did the service did not warrant a reward.  

 

There are no right or wrong answers and the sky is not going to fall if a person does not follow the norm.

It is a tip and that's all!!

[jeromep]

Tipping is such a hot button, unfortunately.  A little story that seems relevant.  Seattle increased their minimum wage to something like $15 a few years back.  There was a bit of a stair-step into the increase over a few years, but it was a huge increase over the former minimum wage in the state.  Once the full $15 had been implemented a number of restaurants, especially higher end ones, started placing a 20% "service fee" on their bills as a line item under the food.  Washington has a sales tax, so that was a taxable charge.  Supposedly the service charge was placed there to account for the higher wages.  The big question I had was, why not just raise your prices to account for the labor costs and call it good?  A few restaurants removed the tip line from their credit card receipts... for a while.  But some well meaning, if not a bit ignorant, customers asked to have it come back so they could tip.  I don't live in Seattle (thank the heavens), but when I am there and am dining, I don't tip.  I know how much the minimum wage is, I know there is likely a "service fee", I can tell that the cost of a meal out is much higher than at home, so in my eyes, the bill is the bill and it all washes out.

 

I had hoped that the mad dash to have increased minimum wages would have broken the American tip culture, due to higher prices and the workers supposedly now earning a "living wage", but that hasn't happened yet.  I'm not quite sure the psychology that keeps it going.  Seriously, you tip after the service has ended, so how does that get you better service.  Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

As far as my behavior on cruises; I've always left the auto-tip in place.  It was made apparent that the service staff on board were paid on a tip differential basis.  I'm not against that if it is made clear and all the players, so the business, the employee, and the consumer, are all on board.  I don't think that tip differential compensation is a great way to compensate employees, but on the other hand it does work for some industries.

 

I think we are starting to see the transition of the mass-market cruise lines to a more all-inclusive model, like the high-end lines which do not have tipping.  This means higher cruise costs across the board because the cruise line will be taking responsibility for the compensation.  I think that Princess Plus and Premium are the beginning indicators.  We'll see how they evolve that as time passes.

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I didn't say that I never tip in a restaurant.  If the service is friendly,  then yes, a tip is in order,  but not at  US levels. 

 

Yes, but you did say you never tip in a pub.  So does that include those "gastro pubs"?  Or does it mean you never tip for a beverage?  Do you adjust the amount of the tip to exclude any beverage you have at a restaurant?  Curious Americans want to know.

 

[Hammoandnads]

2 hours ago, Kay S said:

Yes, but you did say you never tip in a pub.  So does that include those "gastro pubs"?  Or does it mean you never tip for a beverage?  Do you adjust the amount of the tip to exclude any beverage you have at a restaurant?  Curious Americans want to know.

 

I can confirm that in Aus, we never tip at pubs, even when we buy a meal. The exception is fine dining with table service. We don’t leave a tip in our hotel rooms, it’s all included in the base price. We have industry wide minimum wages for all - staff get higher rates on weekends and permanent staff get 4 weeks paid vacation leave (with a 17.5% loading to cover the additional costs of their vacation) and 2 weeks paid sick leave per year and non permanent staff get a 25% loading on their base wage.
I didn’t realise you leave money in the hotel room - do you leave a thankyou note? What about Airbnb?

[Roberto256]

7 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

 

my experience in europe...

 

Most hotels add 'service' to the bill.

 

Apparently, this is ok with the locals.

 

 

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

When booking hotels in the UK, the price you see is the price you pay.

 

In quoting my post, you seem to have overlooked a portion of it.

 

I don't want to burst your bubble, but 'europe' encompasses more than the UK.

 

[DCThunder]

13 minutes ago, Hammoandnads said:

I didn’t realise you leave money in the hotel room - do you leave a thankyou note? What about Airbnb?

Yes, I try to leave a hand-written note of thanks along with a tip at US hotels.  Depending on how long I've stayed in a hotel room and how much service housekeeping has done, I'll usually leave $2-3/night.  

 

When/if I make it to Oz before I die, I'll remember that I don't need to do this Down Under.

 

As for AirBNB, I don't leave the owner squadoosh since they're probably charging me a "cleaning fee" on top of all the other nickel and dime charges that seem so prevalent nowadays.  

[Hammoandnads]

Thankyou, that’s been super useful. No more tipping faux pas for us!

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Kay S said:

Yes, but you did say you never tip in a pub.  So does that include those "gastro pubs"?  Or does it mean you never tip for a beverage?  Do you adjust the amount of the tip to exclude any beverage you have at a restaurant?  Curious Americans want to know.

 

It's a good question.

Basically,  if you are just ordering a drink, I don't tip. Indeed, many pubs now have an app. You sit at your table,  order a drink using the app,  and your drink is delivered. Similarly you can order food in the same way. 

In a more traditional pub, it is more nuanced.  Sometimes you go to the bar to order, and the food is delivered to your table,  other times a server will come and take your order. If the former,  probably no tip. If the latter, when there is a bit of a chat etc  perhaps a few £, but the tip will be the same,  irrespective of the amount of the bill.

To be honest, the same would apply in  a gastro pub. Just because the meal is more expensive, does not mean that I should tip extra. 

I think that what needs to be recognised is that staff in the UK and Europe, get paid a decent wage, plus paid holidays etc. They are therefore not dependent on tips to survive, which is not the case in the US.

In the US, I understand that staff are grossly underpaid,  and require tips to survive. So, I tip accordingly.  Elsewhere, staff are paid realistically,  and therefore a concomitant tip is appropriate.