Here’s a tip on one of the last great travel mysteries
When the time comes to settling up their bills, even savvy travelers develop amnesia about tipping.
Should you tip taxi drivers, leave a monetary “thank you” for hotel maids or shell out something extra for the room service waiter when a surcharge has already been added to the tab?
How much does a doorman deserve if he hails a cab that happens to be waiting smack in front of the door?
Is a tip merited if passengers are climbing out of the car in time for you to climb in?
Do you cross his palm each and every time the doorman stands at attention holding an umbrella to protect you from deluges of rain?
What about the battalion of concierges who accomplish impossible feats? These men and women definitely are some of the best-connected in any city’s top hotels. They’re famous for snagging impossible-to-get reservations at restaurants, tickets for sold-out plays and other cultural events.
For special clients and tokens of appreciation, a definite underground exists. Clients know better than to ask specifics. Instead, they’re appreciative of miracles in the same way a child is when a magician mysteriously pulls a rabbit out of a black satin top hat.
Do you tip him or her as you check into the hotel — or when you’re leaving?
That depends on whether or not you’re a regular. If you are, dollars to doughnuts the concierge will have already reserved a better room than newcomers might receive. Yes, some quarters (not to mention bathrooms) are definitely better than others. Contrary to the photos on the hotel’s site, assume its marketing department knows better than to showcase the worst room and has no compunction when photographers use wide-angle lenses. What may look like a perfectly satisfactory room can be situated so close to the elevator or the storage room that getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep is a challenge.
It’s as if there’s a pipeline among hotel employees as to who’s a good tipper and who’s not. Those who are (amazingly) merit extra service.
Even though the general manager’s office would be unhappy to hear this, my experience has always been that when I ask the housekeeper for an extra washcloth or two and reward her with a bit of pocket money, I don’t need to ask on subsequent days. Being a maid in a hotel invariably is an entry-level, low paying job and what are peanuts to you, can make a difference in that person’s standard of living.
The debate as to when it’s appropriate to leave a few extra coins or bills is ongoing. Don’t take what some guidebooks advise as gospel and use the advice as rules of thumb. There are so many variables.
There’s no right or wrong; there may be recommendations, but consider them precisely that. Nothing is carved in stone and before you know it, there’ll be a new set of rules. And please don’t think that the dollar and the Euro are at parity. If only that were the case. Tip according to the country where you are.
In Paris, for example, tips are included at restaurants — allegedly. Unless the place is a dive and there’s no service, don’t stiff the waiter if you want to return. It’s amazing what great memories service personnel have.
The same is true in other EU countries. But in Italy, Spain and some other countries, there’s a cover charge for just occupying the table and having a roll plunked in front of you. Don’t expect a rebate if you don’t want bread and tell the waiter to take it back to the kitchen. Once you sit down, the table as well as the cover charge are yours.
In this era of the strong Euro and pitifully weak dollar, EU residents are flocking to the US to shop until they drop and to take advantage of the “good” life. Don’t be surprised if you see a notice on menus in multiple languages announcing that service isn’t included.
Restaurant owners and managers are well aware their staff’s take home pay is predicated on tips. Some places will even add a “suggested” tip, as if tourists and business people forget their math skills when leaving home.
When I was last in China, the taxi driver refused a tip because they’re illegal and each cab is equipped with a tiny microphone. When I later traveled to Hong Kong, I tried exiting the cab without tipping. It’s a miracle my hand wasn’t slapped.
We may not have been speaking the same language but there are times that a shared language isn’t a necessity. It’s amazing what looks can convey. A glare is worth a thousand words and I reached into my wallet as quickly as I could. The idea of being tarred and feathered lacked appeal.
What are some of your hints when it comes to tipping? Undoubtedly, there are a thousand variations and permutations.
Karen Fawcett is president of Bonjour Paris.
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7 Responses to “Here’s a tip on one of the last great travel mysteries”
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Good point on the memory of service workers. My advice is to always tip a friendly bartender at an all inclusive resort–even if it is against the rules.
More often than not at Sandals or a SuperClubs property, I will tip a friendly bartender a $20 (discretely of course) and miraculously the word spreads and my glass is NEVER empty.
This also works well in the resorts that mix AI and EP. Typically the bartenders will service the EP guests first hoping for a tip and the AI people last because they are likely not to tip. Cough up the $20 and move to the head of the line!
An aside: One reason that EU tourists coming to the US sometimes aren’t well-liked is they’re not in the tipping habit. Cultural differences may be one thing.
Being stiffed is another. K
When are Americans going to demand that service people be paid a living wage and gratuity be included in the price of the meal/service? As a consumer, I am tired of subsidizing wages that should be being paid by the employer. Let’s go back to what TIPS were intended for originally - To Insure Prompt Service.
I believe in a “When in Rome” attitude, and whether you like the concept of tipping or not, it’s simply not appropriate to be a cheapskate when you’re in a place where tipping is the norm.
I travel all around the world and always find out what the tipping customs are for that country before I get there. There is tons of tipping information on the internet and on forums. And when in doubt, it’s easy to ask hotel concierges, or others in management and find that I get honest answers.
I love going countires where a tip isn’t expected for everything, but when it is, I go with the flow. Shortchanging (literally) a worker, isn’t taking a stance, it’s just being cheap.
When we stay in hotels, we leave a tip for the maid daily, as opposed to at the end of our stay, because we don’t know which days she works. I’d hate to leave a tip on the 4th day for all the days, when the first 3 days our room was serviced by a different person and the person who worked 3 days got nothing and the maid on the 4th day got a 4 day tip.
To Terry Bee…
Americans can demand all they want, but the system is not going to change. Workers in US restaurants depend on your tips for a living. I don’t love the system either, but it is what is it is so please don’t take out your annoyance on the people who are depending on your gratuity to live.
Terry –
Please lobby your government officials to change the laws that allow employers to pay these service employees paltry wages. Maybe you can make a difference.
Until the laws are changed, however, the situation is what it is. If you are not willing to “subsidize” these hard-working employees through tips, then you must NEVER partake of their services.
Terry Bee– The main problem with your suggestion is that if this happens (paying service industry workers higher wages and eliminating or reducing tips), you will find that your meal and drink prices are going to increase, maybe by more than the 20% or so that your tip would be. The money has to come from somewhere, and restaurant/bar owners are certainly not going to foot the bill.
I agree with Candice, travellers need to find out what the rules are in the places they are going. I remember going to a nice resort - we were having a family function, and it is amazing how much trouble it causes the waitstaff when the Europeans come and don’t tip. You see, the waitstaff have to “tip out” based upon the gross bills of their tables, so they have to forward tips on to the other workers, such as busboys etc even if they don’t have that income. When you don’t tip in these cases, you actually cost the waiter or waitress money. this “tip out” practice is of course, absurd, but if they didn’t have it, I suppose the other staff would get bilked. And another note about europeans not tipping…on a trip to the UK last year, we had no problems leaving tips with people, they took it graciously. Of course, the British were excellant hosts which made it very justifiable to tip.