jerseygal72

Hi all! First off I'd like to say this forum is a gold mine of info! Great suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, what to see & what to avoid. The hubby & I are taking a mini holiday in Vancouver this Sept. First time there. I'm so excited! We'll be staying at the Sheraton Wall Centre. Booked it through priceline thanks to many of you travelers that use & recommend them. Great deal! Okay, my first question has to do with tipping. Waiters, bellhops, taxi drivers, etc. I've scoured books & web sites looking for something on this subject. May sound silly but I don't want to come to Canada and offend someone by not knowing. Second question, my hotel doesn't run a shuttle service and was wondering if someone would have any suggestions on the best way to get to and from the airport. Taxi? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

oneillchris

Just as in the US for meals its 15-20% pre-tax, we pay tax on meals, so tip the same as the 15% tax and you'll be OK. For a cabby that depends small ride small tip never more than 5-10 on a big ride and in the city on a 10 dollar fare or less tip nothing. Bell boys door holder and alike 2-5 each

BAK

I've managed to eat in a lot of fine restaurants in Canada without bribing a maitre d'.

Otherwise, it's pretty much the same here as in the USA.

Servers love it when you tip in US dollars, leaving the same face amount as you would in Canadian dollars. (i.e. the tip should be ten bucks Cdn and you leave $10us)To some US tourists, the echange rate does not matter, and to the servers, it's an extra bonus.

At the Vancouver airport you'll find both taxis and assorted limos. When I visited Vancouver often, the limos were pretty much the same price as the taxis, and nicer.

BAK

GaryA

Actually BAK, having been in the service industry many years i can tell you that while we're not stupid, (of course we'ld rather have $10US than $10CAD), the superior atitude with which it's usually given tends to tarnish the pleasure.

What do I mean by that? Well, Canada is a major industrial country with an economy stronger than any other of the G8. When foreigners diss our money by insisting on using theirs thereby giving the implication that it's somehow 'better' than ours, we rightfully or wrongly feel insulted. You'ld be amazed at how many times we have to answer the question - 'are those prices in US$?' - Jeex, if they were it would say so!; or worse 'how much is that in real money?' Americans figure that if their money is good here than their stamps must be as well so you'ld be amazed how many hotels put their own Can. stamps over the US oines as a gesture of good will. Not that the person sending the postcard will ever appreciate it.

If it sounds as though I'm being anti-American I do apologise because the fact is that the vast majority of Americans in Canada on more than a day trip change their money into Canadian and are very, very respectful of Canadians and our sesibilities. Much more than most other visitors from abroad, who more than Americans even insist on using US$ in Canada.

Anyhow - that's my rant for the week.

goldilox

One overlooked area of tipping (worldwide, I'd say) is housekeeping. Though cleanliness is probably the most important requirement of a hotel room, and housekeepers are some of the lowest paid and hardest working employees, they are rarely tipped.

Some people who do tip the housekeeping staff leave a lump sum on their last day. I prefer to leave a little each day in case there are different housekeepers. I put it in an envelope with 'Housekeeping' written on the outside so they don't think I've just left money lying around. The general rule is $5/day.

sockboy

My impression is that tipping isn't as automatic or quite as generous in Canada as the US. Many Canadians routinely leave 10% tips in restaurants - that would be seen as very cheap in the US - minimum wage in Canada is generally higher than the US. But, of course, no one is going to complain about a bigger tip! You don't need to worry about insulting anyone.

Patrick

I can't imagine leaving my tip in US dollars. If I wanted to give them more money than usual, fine, I'd give them a couple extra Canadian dollars. But to leave "my" money instead of theirs just seems rude to me. One thing to do when traveling is to make preparations. Getting the local currency and using it seems like one of those things any smart traveler should be capable of doing. I'm with GaryA on this one.

oneillchris

I beleive that without the rhetoric and staying factual my tread was right on the nose, and a 10% tip in a fast food diner may cut it in many canadian cities it will certainly not do in an elegant restaurant, if you tip 10% say in toque in Montreal its because something was very wrong with the serve staff or the meal.

As far as US or Canadian tips, unlike the very touchy posters here today most wait staff would love a few bucks american extra as long as it was given with the best intentions.

WARNING: Canadians love and Hate americans all at the same time, recently in a readers digest Poll we were more afraid of Americans than of a potential terorist attack.
Any intelligent Canadian realizes that part of our liberty is gained due to our big neighbors but we hate to be reminded of it, so remember thats why the touchy touchy posts

sockboy

I should have been more clear, you are absolutely right, when you are talking about fine dining, a 10% tip is very low. I was thinking of more casual, everyday type restaurants where the service is not a huge part of the experience. I don't think anyone would leave 10% anywhere in the US though!

jerseygal72

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your help & your comments. I'd also like to make a comment to GaryA. I have this feeling you've recently dealt with some "ugly" Americans. For that, I apologize on their behalf because I doubt they'd apologize themselves. Hopefully, they were just ignorant (no excuse really) which is what I would have been had I not asked this question.

I'm thoroughly looking forward to my visit and promise to change my currency ASAP, laugh a lot, and enjoy your beautiful country.

fufujuice

I absolutely disagree with you, oneillchris.

fufujuice

Your "warning," that is.

Canuck_girl24

General rule of thumb for family & moderate restaurants is to "double the GST" It's the nation-wide tax of 7%. If service is great round up a bit. On the VERY rare occasion service is awful-leave nothing (only if the server cannot help the situation ie) being busy).
Taxis-if the fare comes to $17, leave $20. I really don't think they expect huge tips.
Some cities have independent shuttles that run similar to taxis-check with the front desk of the hotel.

Gavin

I generally regard 15% of the pre tax total as appropriate for "on-par" service in reataurants. A more for better than average service. I tip taxi or limo drivers 10%. Tipping a little bit less a part of Canadian culture than American but there is much less difference between Canada and the US than between Canada and the UK.

oneillchris

Be more specific Fufu, which part the part we half hate or half love or the part we owe our freedom in part to big brother totally disagree with what?

Hey its not like its a secret but I was talking factually if you dont beleive this is how canadians feel refer to this html

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...hub=TopStories

The only part up for debate is that most americans dont realize that this is generally how Canadians feel about them.
Now if your referring to the part that we owe them some of our freedom, this is debatable, but this is also confirmed in other polls

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselection...327486,00.html

So no matter what you feel and I feel (I love Americans) the majority feels as I stated

gotribe

A $5.00 a day tip for housekeeping seems excessive. That's $35.00 more for the hotel in seven days. Some people tip nothing so they'd be happy to get $2.00 a day.

GaryA

I agree with gotribe, unless you have a two room suite or a room with a kitchenette in which case excellant service would warrent $5/day. However one of my pet peeves is not having my room done up when I want it, (i.e. before noon), after I've been gone for a few hours. In those cases I'm not very generous. I understand hotels being anxious to have their rooms ready for incoming guests but since they say check-in is after 3PM I feel they should take care of stays before noon if they are out of the room by 10AM.

G_Hopper

One of the reasons it is suggested you tip 15-20% in the US is that often the servers are paid next to nothing ($2.15 per hour in the state where I live). Are Canadian servers also paid poorly or do they get something closer to a living wage before tips?

sockboy

Wait staff in Canada can not be paid less than minimum wage. Which averages at about $7/hr in most provinces. Ontario used to have a special minimum wage for staff who receive tips (don't know if they still do), it was slightly less - but nothing close to $2/hr!

Citylghts

No one seems to have addressed your question about transportation from the airport so I'll tackle that.

The Airporter runs every 15 mins to all the major downtown hotels. The cost is $12/person one-way and $18 RT and takes about 30 mins to get downtown. Reservations aren't required.

Cab fare should be about $20-$25. I don't believe there's an extra charge for additional people.

Having grown up on the Ontario/Michigan border, I'd say tipping is pretty similar on both sides. The main difference is that sometimes on the Canadian side, you have to add an extra "U" or flip the "E" and the "R." Otherwise, you'll love Vancouver, it's a gorgeous city. Take the ferry to Richmond just to get great photos of the downtown skyline if for no other reason.