Olga Merz
etiquette teacher, head of the School of Good Manners
Background
The history of tipping in different countries interpreted in its own way. The Germans, the British, and the Americans consider themselves the founders of tipping. Each of them has their own interesting theory about this.
So, the Germans are the ancestors of "drinking" money. In the Middle Ages, clean drinking water was available only in public wells, and it was not easy to get it from there. This was done by unemployed young people who were rewarded with a small fee, it was called trinkgeld (“a small amount” - in the translation from German). Now this is the term used to refer to tips in Germany.
The British tell their version. In the 18th century, tea drinking was popular in tea houses and elite tea gardens, where service was carried out by means of special boxes with the inscription KIPS placed on the tables, which meant "to ensure immediate service."
In America, it is believed that the concept of tipping arose with the advent of taverns, bars and other similar establishments. Americans and Canadians are still very sensitive to tips, the size of which can reach 20-27% of the order value.
The French are the most rational about the history of tipping. In the last century, they issued a decree requiring establishments Catering add a service charge to the total bill.
Each country has its own regulations and tips.
Going on a trip, it is worth reading about the features of a particular country and paying special attention to tipping - everywhere there are subtleties.
So, in the countries of the East, one should be very careful in showing one's generosity in order to avoid an unpleasant situation. For example, in China, Japan and Korea, it is customary to leave the amount indicated on the bill, since tipping is officially prohibited by law. They may be perceived by staff as an insult. In this case, you will most likely be caught up and returned what was left in excess of the bill. In Singapore, tips are also prohibited and even equated with a bribe. In countries like India and Thailand, tipping is not required, but a small reward usually elicits a positive response from waiters.
A low tip is accepted in Scandinavia - 3-6% of the bill. They are very kind to the service and believe that the cost of the order also includes a service fee.
In Germany and the Czech Republic, the tip is 8-10% of the bill. About the same in Italy, but in this country it is customary to immediately include service in the bill.
In England and France, the tip is about 15-18% of the bill, but, as you already know, the French already have "all inclusive" in the bill. In the UK, tipping is encouraged but not required. The size of the tip in these countries also depends on the place where you came to eat: in a respectable restaurant, tipping is obligatory, and in simple cafe or in a pub you can just treat the bartender, tips in monetary terms can offend the staff.
And what about our tips?
In Russia, there is a certain tip standard, which is 10% of the order value. However, this amount must be justified high quality service. So, should you always leave a tip?
Tipping is a reward for staff at the request of the client, and not a mandatory part of the restaurant visiting program. In addition, now there are more and more establishments in which you should pay attention to what is written on the bill. In many high-profile restaurants, tips are often already included in the price.
You should also understand the inner meaning of the tip, so if you want to thank a particular waiter, it is better to do it in cash, and not by transfer to a card. Think about how much you are willing to allocate for the reward. As already mentioned, 10%, and this is the maximum tip limit, which you should not go beyond.
You should not leave a change for tea (by the way, this is how it is customary in Israel), just like it is absolutely not necessary to leave a tip when visiting a cafe during a business lunch. But if the waiter was especially prudent to you - he warmed up the juice for the child, allowed her not to order a separate lunch for her daughter and
Tipping as a form of voluntary remuneration for quality service- the norm in many countries popular with tourists.
Regular questions are raised by the etiquette of leaving a tip: when, to whom and how much to pay, how to transfer money - in person or leave it in a conspicuous place. Finally, tips are not only an item of etiquette, but also an expense item that must be foreseen in advance.
In crowded resorts and in countries where the tradition of tipping has developed historically, waiters, bartenders, hotel staff, flight attendants, bus and taxi drivers, guides, less often hairdressers and gas station workers receive additional monetary incentives.
At the same time, the etiquette of other countries not only does not imply monetary gratitude for an already paid service, but also gives reason to regard such an impulse as a way to humiliate the attendants. That is why before the trip it is always appropriate to get acquainted with the traditions of the country you are going to visit.
How much is it customary to leave a tip
The optimal tip size varies by country, and often by region within a country. Gradation of payments is observed in service areas. Below is the average size tips abroad: who and how much gets depending on the profession.
- Waiter, bartender, cook - 10%;
- Taxi driver - 10-15%;
- Porter - 1-2 euros;
- Maid - 5 euros per week;
- Tour guide - 5-10 euros;
- Courier - 1-2 euros;
- Stewardess - 5 euros.
You can leave a tip not only in cash, some restaurants offer you to choose the amount to be debited from the card. In a number of fast food establishments, small hotels, the issue of remuneration for staff is solved even more simply: a tip jar (Tip jar) is in a conspicuous place.
You don't need to worry about the size of the tip if it is included in the bill and is already written on a separate line. And if the service was excellent, even in this case, you can thank them additionally by adding another 5-10% to the check from yourself.
Tipping in Russia
Dear readers, how much do you tip when traveling? We would appreciate it if you share your experience in the comments below.
A true gentleman knows when and how to tip wait staff. An ill-mannered and uncouth man - no. Tips are not required, but they are left for decency, thereby demonstrating their respect for the serving staff. The only time you shouldn't leave a tip is if you've been served inappropriately and the person providing the service has made no attempt to remedy the situation. Leave tips carefully. If you do this “in public”, demonstrating how generous you are, you will only show yourself as an ill-mannered person. Still, tipping is an art. From our text you will learn how a real man must leave a tip and in what situations how much money should be given.
Why do you need a tip?
Tipping is given only in the service sector. Here are some reasons to leave a tip:
1)If a person did his job better and faster, perhaps even in greater volumes than required. It's just a way to show your gratitude for a job well done. Some people say, "Why should I tip people who are doing their job?" I answer them: “You work in a company and receive bonuses or bonuses for some merit.” At its core, the bonus is just a very large tip. When office workers get bonuses, they usually don't say, “Don't give me bonuses. I'm just doing my job."
2) To show my gratitude. Many service workers are incredibly overwhelmed, don't get a thank you, and don't get paid enough for their hard work. Agree, it's nice to hear from the boss "thank you" for a job well done. People in the service industry do jobs that we don't want to do ourselves. They pick up our trash, deliver mail, bring food. Their pay often doesn't match their efforts. Tipping is a way to say "thank you" to those who rarely hear this magic word.
3) Tipping provides great service. This works especially when the same person regularly does some work for you. Tipping acts as a motivation for the service staff, and from this their respect for you increases every time. If you tip the bartender or waiter at your favorite restaurant, next time you will be served even better.
4) The income of the attendants depends on tips. Service workers earn incredibly little. If they didn't get tips, they wage would be even lower than the minimum. Tipping is optional, but it is required.
How much tip should you give?
N.B. Keep in mind that it is customary to tip different amounts in different countries.
Travel
Hotel room cleaning.
A good tip for the person who cleans your room is $2 to $5. Don't just leave money on the nightstand. It may not be clear to the maid that the money is for her. Leave the money in the envelope marked "for the maid."
Guide.
$1 to $5 per person in your group.
Messenger.
$1 to $2 for every suitcase he carries for you.
Staff
Masseur.
10-20% of the total cost of the procedure.
Nurses.
Usually hospitals don't tip nurses as it's not allowed. But this little money can motivate her to do her job better and take care of the patient.
The hairdresser.
Tipping - 15% of the cost of a haircut.
Car wash.
$3 is a great tip for car wash workers. If they complete their work quickly, they usually give 10% of the cost of the work.
Tattoos / Piercings.
15% of the total cost of the procedure.
Delivery Services
Pizza / Food delivery.
Tipping is usually 15% of the order value. If the weather is bad, snow, ice or tsunami outside, and you risk the life of the guy who delivers your food, you have to pay extra for it.
Furniture / large loads.
$5 per person. If they also help you collect all this, you can't avoid an extra tip.
In the town
Waiters.
Tips range from 15 to 20% of the order value.
Bartenders.
From 15 to 20%. If the staff did their job better and faster than you expected, you can give more.
Taxi.
The standard tip is 15%. If the taxi driver brought you to your destination faster, thank him with a big tip.
Holidays
It should be noted that during the holidays the cost of tips increases slightly. And if, for example, you need a nanny who would sit with the children while you are on a date with your wife, it is better to give her a good and necessary gift instead of a tip. Again, it all depends on the holiday itself.
Holidays abroad have long ceased to be exotic for us, but living in a resort, I constantly come across the fact that our tourists still do not know how to tip. Or they torture themselves with questions like “Who should be tipping?”, “How much to tip without offending?”, “What is the right way to tip?” , “But didn’t I give a lot for a tip?”, Or they don’t bother at all and don’t give a tip - it’s easier and cheaper.
However, it is no secret that often tips are one of the main sources of income for employees of the tourism business. Saving on tips, you simply deprive a person of his well-deserved earnings. It seems terribly unfair to me, so I have prepared a small cheat sheet that will help you become the most desirable tourist in any resort :)
For convenience, I quote the tip in dollars, but the equivalent in euros or local currency will do.
Who and how much to tip at the hotel?
Porters at the hotel - 1-2 dollars for each suitcase.
Room cleaners in the hotel - 1-2 dollars can be left daily on the dressing table.
Reception staff it is not necessary to tip at the hotel, only if you really want to thank a particular person for the excellent work. However, in some third world countries (particularly in cheap hotels in Egypt and Turkey), your tip can extremely favorably influence the decision of the receptionist to give you a better room - in this case, you should give it immediately upon check-in for approx. 20 dollars.
At the restaurant
All inclusive restaurants, you don’t need to leave a tip, however, you can leave a couple of dollars to the waiter, who distinguished himself in your eyes, in order to separately thank him for his work.
Waiters in restaurants where you pay for the order, most often leave 10% -15% of the order value. However, in some countries the tip is added to your bill by default, so always pay attention to what is written on the receipt. The size of the included tip is indicated in the SERVICE line.
Whether a tip will be added to the bill can be found either with the waiter or on the menu - restaurants usually list all additional fees at the bottom of each menu page.
Also, do not forget that in restaurants, tips are also an indicator of how satisfied you are with the service and food. Therefore, if the restaurant leaves tips at your discretion, you have every right to reduce the amount of tips (down to zero) if you did not like the service or food, or vice versa to increase the amount of tea if the restaurant exceeded all your expectations.
On excursions
During excursions, it is customary to tip drivers (of buses/boats/horses/etc.). If the tour is for a group, then it is enough to give from 1 to 3 dollars at your discretion (and your tour guide will most likely remind you of this). If the tour is individual, then the driver deserves an amount of 5-10 dollars, depending on the type of transport and the duration of the tour.
Tour guides it is not necessary to tip, but if you really liked your guide, you can safely thank him for his work. Just keep in mind that guides usually make good money, so either tip at least $20 or just don't tip anything. Believe me, the guide will be more likely to be offended by a tip of 1-2 dollars than by their complete absence.
Other
In addition to the above cases, it is customary to leave for tea spa employees(masseurs, cosmetologists, etc.). Tipping can be left at the end of the procedure personally to the specialist, or at the reception of the salon when paying the entire bill. The amount of the tip usually depends on the cost of the services provided to you, but the minimum can be around $3-5 per procedure.
Other employees you don't have to give a tip in the tourism industry, but you can always thank someone personally for a particularly excellent job or non-standard service. It can be musicians, photographers, animators, sellers, taxi drivers, etc.
Don't forget that tea is your way of expressing gratitude to an employee. If an employee frankly hacks, and you are unhappy with his work, then you can safely leave nothing for tea!
Well, the last piece of advice - before traveling abroad, still, do not be too lazy to search the Internet for information about whether tips are accepted in this country and in what amount. It turns out that there are beautiful countries on our planet, for example New Zealand, where people have never heard of tips at all and are unlikely to understand why you are throwing money at them :). In fairness, I’ll say that apart from NZ, I don’t know other such countries yet ..
It is difficult for a Russian tourist to get used to the fact that when calculating travel expenses, tips should be taken into account in a separate column. From time immemorial, it was believed that a tip is a gratitude to the service personnel for a job well done, expressed in monetary terms.
Tipping is not required. However, in recent times the situation has changed and tips have become, to put it mildly, more than desirable, almost obligatory in the hopes of the attendants. In the service industry, almost all employees explicitly or implicitly expect to receive tips. This is due to the fact that wages are quite modest and tips make up a significant share of income, if not the only source of daily bread. (For example, porters). The size of the tip is even mentioned in the recommendations of the US National Restaurant Association.
Usually tips are given after work is done, but sometimes they are given before work to ensure the quality of the work or service. Tips are given in cash, they can be included in the bill or, if you pay by card, you can add a tip to the bill. The size of the tip starts from a few coins and does not end. As a standard, in restaurants they are 10% of the order amount with small deviations, 1-2 dollars for the service and rounding the amount up when paying for a taxi by the meter (you can leave less). And yet, how much is it customary to leave a tip? Below is a list of countries:
Tipping in the UK: Carefully read the bill in a restaurant or hotel, and if tips are not included, leave 10-15% of the total order. In any case, the waiter counts on a small reward for promptness.
The bartender does not leave a tip, but you can offer a drink.
In a taxi, the amount is rounded towards the driver.
How much to tip in the US and Canada: Tipping is given to everyone. They start from 15% of the invoice amount presented for payment. In the most expensive restaurants Tips can go up to 25%. Usually, the higher the service, the more tips the attendants expect. For example, a maid in a mid-level hotel receives a tip of $1-2, then in a Las Vegas hotel the maid refused to tip until the amount rose to 10 greens.
In taxis and beauty salons, you can add 10-15%. Even McDonald's will not refuse if you leave a few dollars.
Tipping in the US is an indicator of the quality of the waiter's work, if the tip is missing or small, then the manager believes that the waiter's work is not satisfied and may even ask the client to explain what caused dissatisfaction.
How much to tip in Japan: Japan is one of those countries where you don't give or take tips. According to local customs, tips may offend the owner, he will consider that his establishment looks too poor or he pays too little salary to his employees.
If you leave change, they will catch up with you and return you under the pretext that you forgot to pick it up. This is the culture of the land of cherry blossoms.
How much to tip in Cuba: Officially, tips are prohibited by law and are considered as an attempt to bribe. However, everyone knows who and how much to expect from the client.
And if the tourist forgets, he will be politely reminded, because the main source of income for the servants is tips.
How much to tip in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria: Tipping is rarely expected, only in expensive restaurants and cafes - from 3% to 10% of the amount. Tips that are too high can be confusing.
How much to tip in Mexico: Tips can be given in dollars or local currency.
Restaurant 5-10%; porters, maids, staff at the gas station - $1-2. Taxi bills are rounded up.
How much to tip in France: Tipping is called pourboir. The service fee is already included in a separate column in the bill and is 15% of the amount for dinner in a restaurant. But even in this case, it is advisable for the waiter to additionally leave a few coins on the plate for the bill. In the South of France, tips are the only income of a waiter. Taxi leave 5-10% of the bill for the trip. Maid 1-2 euros.
Tipping in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Tipping is not accepted and is not expected. Everything is strictly according to the check. Tipping is included in a separate column in the order amount. If you are very pleased with the service, or just out of sympathy, you can give a small amount to a maid or taxi driver.
How much to tip in Turkey: In the former empire, they are very fond of tips and they are called “baksheesh”. Despite the fact that they are already included in the bill of 7-10%, more cash gifts are expected from you. Enough 1-2$ (or their equivalent in local currency) and you will be warmly grateful. On yachts, in hotels there are even special plates or boxes for tips.
How much to tip in Greece: Here they are called filodorima and make up 10% in restaurants. In taverns, 1-2 euros is enough for a porter, a maid. Taxis always expect rounding up. Tipping is not personally handed over.
How much to tip in Germany andCzech Republic. Are not mandatory as they are already included, but the waiter hopes to get a premium. Giving tips openly is considered indecent. Usually the reward is invested in the bill brought by the waiter. Tour guides are given tips in an envelope. In a taxi, the bill is rounded up, and the excess will be accepted with gratitude. In bars in Germany, on the contrary, they can regular customer offer a free drink from the establishment.
How much to tip in Italy: Tipping is included in the bill and is called "caperto" (service and serving) - 5-10%. The waiter will not refuse if you leave a few euros.
How much to tip in Spain and Portugal: The bill does not have a special column for tips. So you can leave the standard scheme.
How much to tip in India and Thailand: Tips are not considered mandatory, no one expects them, but they are not refused if you appreciate a job well done and efforts. In restaurants and hotels, service is included in the receipt provided.
How much to tip in Egypt: Tips are expected because the wait staff only work for a fee. In hotels, restaurants, taxis, it is enough to add 10%.
How much to tip in Israel: A special attitude to tips, Here they expect rewards even for the simple performance of official duties. So in the beauty salon, tips are expected - a haircut master, a head washer, a styling and paint master.
Everyone needs to be gifted, although not necessarily. But they are, oh, how they are waiting. The rest of the tip is within the limits accepted throughout the world.
How much to tip in the UAE: Tipping maids in the hotel should be given only in the hands (they are strictly forbidden to even touch the money left in the room).
Taxi drivers are not given a tip, as they agree on the price for the trip before boarding. In hotels and restaurants, 10% of the bill is sufficient. Porters always count on 1-2 dollars for luggage.
How much to tip in Australia and New Zealand: Tipping is not accepted, they are not expected, but they will be very grateful for rounding the bill towards the employee .
How much to tip in Tanzania: The poorer the country, the more tips you want to receive without applying special efforts. Even for permission to take a picture of yourself local hopes to get a decent reward.
How much to tip in China: Tipping is officially prohibited and not accepted especially in the provinces.
It is enough to leave 4-5% in expensive restaurants, $ 1-2 for a waiter or maid, as the staff still hopes to receive a reward. An interesting point - the refusal of a tip implies that they will be offered again and then they will be accepted without much enthusiasm in the language, but with gratitude in the soul (they just have such a ritual).
Tips from seasoned travelers:
- tipping is optional, but encouraged;
- if the tip is included in the bill, you can refuse to pay, justifying your decision
– almost always tips provide better service;
- a tip offered to a person who is currently on a higher rung of the social ladder will be regarded as a bribe and subject to civil or criminal liability, depending on the laws of the country;
- it is very good to add a smile, a pleasant voice, a joke to the monetary reward
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