Tips on Tipping from a World Traveler

It seems odd to me that people have such strong opinions about tipping – especially those opposed to it. I have traveled a lot over the last three decades. Not as much as the true “road warriors,” but far more than most people. I travel all over the US on a regular basis, and generally visit a minimum of two or three other countries each year. I have been to five continents and find lots of places where tips are appreciated, and a few where they are discouraged.

So let’s start with the “appreciated” and “discouraged” discussion. The one place that stands out as most adamant about discouraging tipping is Australia. Business owners often get angry with tourists who tip their staff. The common argument is, “My employees are paid well. They don’t need your tips.” But that’s the owner’s perspective, not the employee’s.

In my experience, all over the world, restaurant and bar staff are among the lowest paid people people in any society. The same is generally true of folks who clean hotel rooms. All of these people are grateful to have a little extra money to spend. Even in Australia and Europe, where tipping is not the norm, I have talked to hundreds of service people over the years. None of them has ever said, “We don’t need your money. We are paid a good wage.”

A Question of Service

Having traveled to dozens of countries, and all across the US, I have seen first hand that there is a very strong connection between tipping and service. Among the worst service you will find anywhere on earth, you can count Australia and those places in Europe that discourage tipping. And this makes perfect sense. The staff receive the same pay whether you are extremely happy, pleased, displeased, or completely irritated.

You’ll notice, in places like this, that you are less likely to have table service. So you order at the bar and then take a number to your table. And while you’re waiting to order, the servers don’t care how long you’ve been waiting, or sometimes what order people arrived. Why should they care? Yes, there’s some grand belief that the overall service reflects on the whole company. But how many minimum wage, short-term employees really focus intently on that concept?

In my opinion, there’s a direct connection between tipping and good service. And the fact that the bosses think they are paying well is not really a significant factor for the employees.

Bad Bosses

I was quite naive until a few years ago. I thought that leaving a tip automatically meant that it went to the service person. Then one day I mentioned an extra tip to my house cleaner and learned that the people sent to my house had never received the tips I included with my monthly payment. The owner had kept all of their tips. I was surprised and irritated. I gave the person I was talking to a good sum of money to share with her co-workers. And then I fired the service.

Since then I have made a point of putting tips into the hands of people directly whenever possible. And I’ve kept my eyes and ears open. I discovered that it’s common for hotel managers to visit rooms and steal the tip money intended for the housekeepers. So now I put an envelop with a thank you note in a place where the housekeeper will find it. This is not just with low-end motels. Brand name hotels and resorts are all the same. It’s very sad to me.

Similarly, I tip massage therapists, delivery people, and others directly whenever possible.

There are also good bosses. When I was a young adult, I went to tip someone who had given excellent service and he stopped me with this information: “I’m the owner. Owners and managers don’t need tipping. Employees should be tipped, if appropriate.” That was a very clear, concise set of guidelines I’ve always remembered.

Very recently, I checked into a small hotel in southern California. There were stairs right next to the front desk and the elevator was down the hall a bit. When I was told that my room was just at the top of the stairs, I decided to drag my suitcase and another piece of luggage up the stairs. I was traveling with tabletop signs and handouts that were heavy.

So I asked guy at the front desk to watch one bag while I hefted the other one up the stairs. When I got to my room, I put down the suitcase and turned to go get the other. The guy was standing there with my other bag. I was surprised and started to open my wallet to give him a couple of bucks. He promptly said, “No thank you. I’m one of the owners.” It was both excellent service and a reminder that the rule about owners still stands.

When to Tip – Especially in the Era of Robots

The question of when to tip has become a bit muddled with modern services. Here are my thoughts on the emerging service industries.

If someone is just an order taker, a tip may not be necessary. But then, there’s nothing for the folks who bring you food or prepare it. But, if there’s a sign indicating that tips are shared with servers, etc., then I would go ahead and tip in order to encourage good service. I would love it if these signs become common.

If ordering and paying are self-service and the wait staff are really just delivering food, a lower tip percentage is in order. On one hand, the staff (cooks, wait staff, bus staff, and even dishwashers) are generally very low paid. On the other hand, if you don’t have a point person who personifies your dining experience, it’s a little harder to pay more for better service.

If you have the opportunity to tip “up front,” you can often get better service. The best example of this is at a crowded bar. If you wait a while to order drinks, tip big the first time and the bartender will likely remember you when you return for more. Remember, in a bar, a good bartender knows how many people are waiting, who got there first, and who treated them well. This is where generosity pays off.

For other general services (cleaning, delivery, driving, etc.), a decent percentage of the service fee is still in order. I tend to tip well. For me, 10% is the low end and rounding up from the 20% mark is the high end.

For some services, such as housekeepers at the hotel, I consider $5/night to be a reasonable tip in the US. In the pandemic, many hotels cut back on daily service so it’s now every three or four days. It’s hard to tip for days when I receive zero service. So I do adjust for the number of actual cleaning days.

As a side note: Shame on Marriott and other hotel chains that cut these jobs so severely, boosted their profits dramatically, and then did not return to full service once the pandemic eased. For me, this deserves to be answered with a lower level of loyalty, even though I have lifetime status.

The bottom line on institutionally lower levels of service: You’ll probably be tipping more when you get good personalized service and tip less as humans are replaced with automations.

“Recommended” Levels for Tipping

One of the most irritating recent trends is recommended levels of tipping. They tend to be higher than most people have historically tipped. I was recently in a taxi that offered up recommended tips of 17.5% (a very odd number), 20%, and 25%, plus custom.

Since I’m often around the 20% level, that’s the easy choice for me. If service is low, or I leave the taxi grateful to be alive, it might be very low. And if the driver whines about how little they make with Uber or Lyft, that generally lowers my tip as well. Ironically, this entire post is about helping people in low paying jobs. But if someone chooses to do a job, part of the tip is directly related to a good service experience, which doesn’t include complaining to the customer about your poor job choices – especially when unemployment is lower than it’s been in your lifetime.

My biggest pet peeve is when tips are added to the bill without permission. I understand why this is done with groups for ten or twelve. But when there are one or two people, adding an automatic tip is very bad form. I try to ask the server whether they actually receive that money. Most do. So I leave it at the recommended level. But I tend not to add an additional amount.

One final note: At high end restaurants, I tend to tip closer to 10%. The primary reason for this is that a percentage based on an absurdly high price takes us away from the argument that these folks are underpaid. Their salary might be minimum wage, but if they get 10-15% of a $200 bill for each table, chances are good that they are no longer underpaid.

Final Notes

These are just some of my thoughts. I find that people are very happy to get tips no matter where they are in the world. I don’t tip managers and owners, generally. But I do tip individuals who provide a service, such as creative people on Fiverr or related services.

You need to figure out what your rules are. Personally, I find no value in the argument that these people should just do their jobs and be happy. As a rule, I tip people who earn very little money by the standards of their country – no matter what their bosses believe.

I welcome your feedback. What “rules” do you have around tipping at home and away?

🙂