Tipping!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>I know tipping is much more prevalent in the United States than in most other countries (heck, its even illegal in some places) but for the benefit of us internationals, could someone please explain who, where, when, how and how much we should tip whenever we are serviced? I've heard of stories where tourists have bad experiences due to their lack of knowledge on the issue to tipping in the US and I sure don't want to come across any if I can help it!</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>Restaurants 15-20%. </p>

<p>15% ordinarily, even when things aren’t perfect, because it is usually management’s, the kitchen’s or other servers’ faults when service is slow. Slow service is usually caused by people not showing up for work when scheduled – either other servers so your server is stretched over too many tables or the kitchen does not have the usual number of people to get the food out fast. Believe me, your server is counting on tips to make a decent wage so he or she wants you to be happy. 20% if things are faultless. </p>

<p>Round up to the nearest dollar if you are leaving cash. Minimum a dollar for small orders. An easy way to calculate the tip in your head is to take the sales tax on the receipt (usually between 7 and 8%) and double it, rounding up. Or move the decimal on the total to be 10% and add half of that amount to make 15%.</p>

<p>Be ready for servers to be a little cold to you, as college students are notoriously stingy tippers, except the ones who have worked as servers themselves.</p>

<p>Another time I tip is when my luggage is being carried by someone, then a dollar a bag. </p>

<p>Valet parking people get a dollar. </p>

<p>Taxis I round up to the nearest $5, then add $5, so a 5, 10 or a 20 or mix of those covers it. You don’t want to get exact change back from the driver. Just say “give me a 10 back” if the ride and tip are $10 and you have to give him a 20. Sometimes if that is just too much or too little tip I throw some ones into the mix to make it right.</p>

<p>I’ll be interested to hear what other people do. My attitudes may be way out of date.</p>

3

<p>Parking valet’s get a dollar, but taxi’s get $5? I tend to even it out a bit and give them both 2 or 3 $. And 1$/bag isn’t much unless you have a lot of bags- I figure more like $5 per trip.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for helping me out guys :)</p>

<p>So whenever I make a small order, do I tip the waiter every time? Or should I wait till I’m done with my entire meal before tipping everyone who has served me?</p>

<p>$5 for each cab ride sounds like quite a bit doesn’t it? Especially if its just a short ride, won’t the tip make up almost half the total fare?</p>

5

<p>You’d usually leave a tip at the end of a meal. Generally speaking, if its a common chain restaurant (i.e. Mcdonalds, Carl’s Jr), you don’t need to tip. If it’s one of those $5-$15 dollar restaurants, just tip a few bucks for the waiter/waitress on the table after you leave. If its a fancy restaurant, 15%-20%. Some restaurants automatically add a mandatory gratuity fee to your order.</p>

<p>If your trip doesn’t cost that much, I’d still tip $2 or $3.</p>

6

<p>Don’t need to tip for take-out
Cab $2 for a short ride
$1-$2 per person for Buffet style dining if a server brings drink refills and such.
Valet parking people get $2 - $5 depending on cost and service.</p>

<p>You should know that most servers in the US are paid very little and count on at least average tips to make up for their low wages. </p>

<p>Tipping should be a way to say thank you. I personally like to way over tip every once and awhile because it’s the least expensive way to make someones day special.</p>

7

<p>There are two things to look out for:

  1. If you go to a sit down restaurant with 6 or 8 people then many restaurants automatically add in the tip. You need to look for this on the bill as Gratuity and the cost. They will not mention this to you or point it out. Frequently they still leave the TIP space on the credit card slip that needs to be signed blank. Some do this so you add in 15-20% since you did not notice the gratuity line above and then you double tip.
    Just write tip included in the space and write the final price at the bottom. </p>

<ol>
<li>At take out restaurants many of the people also leave the tip line blank and want you to add in a 15% tip. Don’t fall for this one. I just write in the space “take out” and keep the same total.</li>
</ol>

<p>When I have been traveling, if I am not sure about tipping I frequently ask the person at the next table or someone who just got out of the taxi or shuttle with me. In some countries like France, they had a service charge already figured in.</p>