If you’re confused about who you should — and shouldn’t — tip when you travel, take a number. You’re hardly the only one.
“The tipping culture in the U.S. is out of control,” says Laurel Barton, a guidebook author who lives in Lincoln City, Ore., but spent years living in Europe. “I am appalled at how much and often I am expected to tip in the U.S.”
This is the right time to be thinking about it, while you’re planning your upcoming summer trip.
A new poll by USA Today’s Blueprint found 63 percent of respondents say too many businesses are asking for tips, and 48 percent are tired of being asked for a gratuity. As a result, many Americans have stopped tipping.
Why is everyone tipped out? Businesses are soliciting tips for takeout meals and at self-service payment terminals. And there are those who feel we should tip every service employee you encounter in your travels.
But that’s wrong.
Here are a few tips on whom to tip
Here’s a tip or two for your next trip: There’s a short list of people to whom you shouldn’t give a penny and an even shorter list of people you should always consider tipping. There are plenty of folks in the middle — and, as always, there are exceptions to every rule.
And make sure you tip the correct amount. Here’s my guide on tipping (and overtipping).
Don’t tip these people
Travel agents, flight attendants, boat captains and pilots. “No, don’t tip them,” says Barton — even if you’re traveling in America. Why? They’re generally already well compensated. Giving them more creates a system of tip dependency.
Etiquette expert April Masini says you should always check your bill before paying extra, because sometimes, your bill includes a gratuity.
“You would be double-tipping,” she says. That kind of pricing seems to be happening more often. In fact, I experienced it a few weeks ago when I ordered room service in a hotel. When I asked a hotel employee if it included a tip, he cringed, then admitted it was, apparently realizing I would not overtip.
If you’ve overtipped someone and they insist on keeping your money, you can use the Elliott Method to get a partial refund. (And if that doesn’t work, contact my advocacy team. We love cases like this.)
Maybe tip these people when you travel
What about taxi drivers, doormen, hotel valets and bellmen? And how about Uber drivers?
I found travelers in both the “yes” and “no” category when it came to tips. Though many of these travel employees receive a living wage, it’s acceptable to give them a gratuity if they’ve provided a good service.
Who should get a tip when you travel?
Anyone who you know is essentially working for tips, particularly restaurant servers, deserves your consideration.
But the tip should not be automatic, travelers says Tom Krieg, a retired sales manager from St. Cloud, Minn., is uneasy about tipping certain restaurant servers, “given some states, and more recently cities, are substantially increasing their minimum wage levels.”
He’s seen this in Minnesota, which is one of a few states that mandate minimum wage for wait staff. “Many diners continue to tip the standard 15 percent to 20 percent, assuming wait staff still receive significantly less than the prevailing minimum wage and are depending on gratuities to supplement the traditional shortfall,” he says. In effect, they’re overpaying for their meals. (Related: Should you tip your flight attendant?)
Your attitude is important — if you want a tip
Attitude counts, too. Ellen Chiantelli, a veterinary assistant from Carlsbad, Calif., says she goes out of her way to tip more than 20 percent to someone she knows earns minimum wage.
“But if someone is rude, arrogant or flippant,” she says, “I do not tip.”
That’s not likely to go over well with the good folks in the hospitality industry who depend on tips, but maybe they need to read this. Shylar Bredewold, who owns an online travel agency in London, Canada, was stunned when a bartender recently told him he wouldn’t get served unless he tipped. Then it happened two more times.
“I have a hard time with tips, personally,” he says. “There are so many different tipping standards set across the globe — mostly leaning toward not tipping.”
So do I. You should offer a gratuity as a reward for good service and to only a handful of service industry employees who truly need them. Instead, they’ve become like bribes parceled out to bureaucrats. If you want to travel, you must bring a wad of dollar bills. Come on.
“I still think that tipping should be based on the service you receive,” says Diana Winkler, a pharmacy technician from Scottsdale, Ariz. “Not because someone demands it or is paid sub-minimum wages.”
If enough travelers say “no,” then employers would either have to pay their workers a living wage or governments would mandate it. That would be the best solution. No one should have to keep a long list of tippable workers and constantly worry about whether they should or shouldn’t grease someone’s palm with a gratuity.
I’m tired of the tip-baiting
I travel all the time, so I’ve had a chance to observe how people handle tips. And Barton is right — it’s getting much worse.
In Aruba last month, while I stood at the airport waiting for my ride, I watched a spectacle unfold at the taxi stand. A man stood at the pick-up area, “helping” people put their luggage in the car, whether they needed it or not.
The Americans obediently gave him their luggage to lift into the taxi and then forked over a bill and gave him a forced “thank you.” Later, I found out the man wasn’t an airport employee. He was just a guy off the street who was making hundreds of bucks a day by lifting luggage a few inches.
The worst tip-baiting incident happened in Chile. At the end of a restaurant meal, a server showed up with an automatic payment terminal. She then asked me to type the tip into the terminal while she watched.
Giving me a service I didn’t ask for or for which I didn’t agree to pay something is a red line, in my book. I lifted my luggage into the taxi and I pushed the green button on the payment system to pay the agreed-upon amount.
When someone goes above and beyond, I’ll certainly consider a tip. But what we have today is just one step away from extortion: Pay me extra or face the shame of depriving me of a living wage. That’s nonsense.
Tips on avoiding tips
- Take out instead of eating out. If you order takeout, the staff doesn’t expect a tip because you don’t get any table service.
- Visit a business with a no-tipping policy. Restaurants such as New York’s Riki, a Japanese restaurant, have policies that “Tipping is not required nor expected.” But beware: Instead, some “no tipping” restaurants add a mandatory “service charge” of 18 percent to 20 percent.
- Avoid the outstretched hands. (You can.) You can stay in vacation rentals, rent a car or use mass transit, buy your food in a grocery store and take the self-guided tour and avoid having to leave a tip. If you’re on a longer trip, you might like traveling the other way better.
