travel tip: tipping
Spain: You don’t gotta. In nicer restaurants, it’s appropriate to leave 5-10%, but skip it at bars and such (the management often keeps the tips). If you feel bad not tipping, just some extra change. A Euro or less will still be more than totally sufficient.
Italy: You won’t see the locals do it, and you don’t need to do it at a bar or cafe, but in restaurants, it’s good to leave a few Euro for the server. Two Euro for lunch, three for dinner - that’s been my M.O.
Got tipping advice for a specific country or region? Let me know, and I’ll add it to the list!
Japan - tips will often come right back to you, the waiter/waitress asking if you forgot your change
In Austria and Germany, round the total bill up 10% or up to the next whole Euro. You tell the server what you had, they tel you what you owe, and then you hand over the $ and tell them the total you want to pay (including tip). For a coffee costing 2.70, for example, you tell your server “3.00″ and hand over whatever cash you will be paying with. They will give you change as appropriate.
Do not leave tip on the table.
For full meals, as opposed to coffee or beer, you might tip slightly more. A couple Euros is fine.
I was going to mention what Christina said. I was in Germany a few months ago and was told if you leave a tip as we do in America, they think you are showing off. I don’t know if that’s true, but we never got any complaints about rounding up. It’s also nice not having to break it all down.
France: Gratuity is already included in all restaurant bills, but it’s okay to leave a little extra if you’ve had especially good service.
France: But you should always leave something. Round up to the nearest euro in a bar, a euro per person for lunch, 5% atleast in a nice restaurant (total bill over 150 euro). It wouldn’t be considered rude, per se, to not tip(unpardonable rudeness would be leaving the restaurant without saying “Merci, au revoir” to the waiter), just very very cheap.
On a boat in Croatia, my friend and I were talking to an English couple about our travels and theirs and the conversation came around to tipping. We commented how it was hard to leave a table without tipping, or without tipping the standard 20%, because it felt rude and cheap, even though we know that the practice varies in other countries and rarely (ever?) is as high as in the US. The English laughed and replied that when in the US, they just can’t bring themselves to tip 20%, because it feels like they’re being ripped off (I suppose to us it’d be like paying $50 at the register for a shirt, and then being asked to pay another $5 at the door upon exiting). To us, the tip seems like part of the cost of dining, whereas to them it seems like an exhorbitant surcharge.
The place where our mentality really killed us was London, when my friend, who only had a five-pound note, gave the whole thing to a cabbie for a 2.5-pound fare. She felt cheap asking for one pound change, but later realized she’d basically tipped $5 on a $5 fare. When she told him to keep the change, the cabbie cheerfully replied “Thanks! Quite generous of you miss!” It was at that point she bothered to do that math….
In India, a small tip is proper for most instances, although nowhere near the 15 - 20% expected in the US.
At the airports in India (at least in Mumbai and Hyderabad), you will be cornered in the restroom for a tip. There is usually a woman in the restroom that will “direct” you to the proper toilet and expects a tip for it. I actually had one woman yelling at me because I didn’t understand what she was saying. Generally though, they are less forward about it.
Italy: I studied there for a semester and was taught to not leave a tip if you were charged a coperto(the fee for your place setting…clean napkins and dishes),usually a euro or 2 per person while dining in a restaurant. If it wasn’t on the bill we would leave about that much anyways. Have you noticed this to still be typical?
ps. I’m really enjoying reading about your travels. Your stories are bringing back fond memories!
Portugal - I just got back and the tip is not included in a bill unless the menu and/or bill tells you that it is. I found that most places did not include a tip. However, it is customary to leave between 5% and 10% on the little tray that the bill is handed to you on.
Tipping in Europe is so confusing!
Tarkista luotto-raportti ennen kuin haet pikalainaaan - ei ainoastaan tarkistaa luotto-raportti antaa ilmi, miten voit katsoa tulevaisuuteen lainanantajia, se paljastaa myös mahdollisuuden entistää tietoja, jotka ovat väärässä ja myöntää itsellesi parhaat mahdollisuudet on hyväksynyt .