christraveller

We are from New Zealand and are going to Hawaii in July. As we do not tip in New Zealand, can you advise what you tip for and how much. Also, what do you not tip for. Many thanks in advance for your help.

obione980

Hi, Chris! As an Australian (we don't tip at home either) I'll be interested in the replies.

We go to the USA every two years or so. Our practice:- We tip 15% in restaurants. Bellboys/porters $2 per bag. Taxis 15%. Most other people - zilch!

It's very stressful coming from a total non-tipping culture (where the minimum wage is about $15 per hour), to one where workers actually rely on tips for their sustenance.

'When in Rome.............'

Responses here will be interesting!

Orlando_Vic

Hi christraveller,
You will get a lot of good responses here, but first I want to give you a good reference to peruse. http://www.tipping.org/tips/us.htmlh...g/tips/us.html

Frankly, I wish we could just pay service personnel a living wage and dispense with tipping altogether. Hope you have a wonderful time in Hawaii. We are visiting New Zealand in April.


__________________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

spirobulldog

Typically 10-15% is the norm. If you go on any excursions you will most likely want to tip there as well. If you go on any boat rides, ziplines, snorkeling tours, etc. If I do get poor service or I really don't like something, I don't tip. Most people leave the maid service at hotels a tip. If you get a drink at a bar or especially if an attendant brings you a drink by the pool you would want to tip.

doug_stallings

Sorry to say, but the tipping standard in restaurants is more like 18% now, and with the economy the way it is, I think the servers deserve it.

Taxi drivers get tipped. Barmen in bars get tipped a dollar or two for each round of drinks (something you definitely would NOT do in Australia or New Zealand). Tour guides tend to get tipped as well.

You tip people in the hotel that do a service for you (carry bags, bring extra stuff to your room, etc.); most of this happens only once or twice during the say and doesn't add up to much ... a dollar or two at most per bag, a dollar or two for each service. You also leave a dollar or two for the maid (I do that every morning since the cleaning person is not always the same). You tip the room-service waiter (ideally a dollar or two in cash) even if a so-called "service charge" (not to mention an additional "gratuity" is added to the bill) because they don't often get this money.

It seems like a long list, but that's the way it's done in the U.S. for good or for ill.

Just to be clear, unless you get exceptionally poor and surly service in a restaurant you ALWAYS tip at least 15% because service is never included in the U.S. But I would be on the lookout for the stray restaurant that does add a service charge. I notice that more and more places are adding these during the economic downturn, and if a service charge is added, you do not tip.

sylvia3

"Most people leave the maid service at hotels a tip"
I disagree totally. You are paying through the nose for a clean room already. Those who expect tips in the US are usually those LEGALLY paid below the minimum wage, which is restaurant and bar help in MOST states. Yes, porters, taxi drivers also have hands out. However, we were the ONLY ones to tip on a recent boat excursion (and we thought they were very deserving of a tip, they went above and beyond). And before I get blasted here with (re: maids) "oh, but it's so little to you, and they clean up your mess"; I expect FOR THE PRICE I PAY to have the room cleaned (and I never leave a mess). This is a recent phenomenon, and is IMO a way to feel self-righteous.

wbpiii

The tip for meals should be between 15-18%. I generally go 18% with good service. My wife tips the maids. I not going to say sylvia is wrong, just different views.

sludick

Doug's advice is good. I will add, servers in restaurant have a percentage taken out of their below-minimum-wages for taxes on tips regardless of whether or not you tip them. As I recall, the assumption is that they receive a minimum of a 10% tip; they are supposed to report (and pay additional taxes on) anything above that. In effect, if they do not receive that minimum tip, it costs them money to wait on that table, and they are only receiving a fraction of the minimum wage to start with. I too wish we could just pay them an honest wage.

sludick

(Hit Enter too soon). Also, a server may have to "tip out" other employees, such as the bus boy who cleans your table. That, too, is regardless of whether or not you tip the server. I tip 15-20%, usually 20%.

MikeT

This is a recent phenomenon, and is IMO a way to feel self-righteous.

As opposed to flailing around saying, "With the price I paid . . . "

It's also not a recent phenomenon. People staying in hotels have been leaving tips for housekeepers for decades.

happytrailstoyou

These guidelines are widely accepted: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

HTTY

vjpblovesitaly

http://129.3.20.41/eps/eh/papers/0309/0309001.pdf

“By 1795 tipping was common in hotels as well. Crouch (1936, p. 544-545) reports the remark made by one journalist:

If a man who has a horse puts up at an inn, besides his usual bill, he must give at least one shilling to the waiter, sixpence each to the chambermaid, the ostler and the jackboot, making together half a crown. If the traveler only puts up to have refreshment, besides paying for his horse’s standing, he has to give away in the day another half-crown, which makes five shillings in the day to the servants."

nytraveler

Tipping is part of the culture - there's really no way around it. Standards may differ slightly in differnt parts of the country.

But as a basic rule

Restaurants - 15-20% (the higher end for nice service)
Taxis- 15-20% - higher end if they help with luggage (never less than $1)
Bags in hotel - from $2 up - depending on # of bags and price range of hotel (upsacle hotel tip more)
Bar - 15% minimum
Hotel service (extra pillow or towels or ???) - minimum $2
Valet parking - min $2
Hair dresser - 20%
Room service - 20% (a service fee listed goes to the hotel - not the staff)
Chairs or towels at hotel pool - min $5 for a couple

If in doubt - tip.

Just so you understand - restaurants wait staff typically earn about $2.50 per hour (WAY below minimum wage) and get free meals (big deal!) - so they must have tips to survive.

suze

I *always* tip the room maids (not just in Hawaii, anywhere I travel). I leave $2-3 on the unmade bed each morning.

In restaurants I tip 15-20% of the bill (if you don't want to tip waiters, there are lots of food courts and other casual options available in Waikiki where tipping is not required).

For taxis I just round up the fair so they get a couple bucks. For shuttle drivers I tip $2-3 when they lift my luggage out at the end of the ride.

janisj

Sylvia is wrong - "This is a recent phenomenon, and is IMO a way to feel self-righteous."

Maybe in her circle - but chambermaids/housekeepers have been tipped for generations. Maybe not at Motel 6 or Super 8 but at most other levels of hotel, a tip of $2 - $5 per night is about standard. Not everyone does tip them though. In the USA, tipping is just another holiday cost.

In restaurants - not in all states, but in many/most, you can look at the tax amount on your bill and double it. That will work out to around 14%-18% of the total tab before tax. Just makes the calculation easier (since one doesn't typically include the tax in total when figuring the tip)

ksucat

Having lived in Sydney and being an American it was very weird for me not to tip..I would always leave some $$ and they would chase me down for the money I left on the table.
Doug's reply was a good one.
Wife and I are 20% or more with service in food and bars.
Bellman if we use them is $2-5 per bag but I have given a $5 for just helping us to the front desk.
I do not tip the maid, since maids change per day.
I do leave my wine or goodies that have not been eaten that are still packaged.
With bartenders, we are sitting at the bar with more than a couple of drinks, it pays to tip well the first round..drinks become stronger and the bartender is more apt to throw free things your way..not always.
Taxi driver or shuttle is 20% if the shuttle is free and they are taking you 15-30 minutes, I tip $5 per person.
As far as deducting the tip from the tax is so frigging cheap, IMHO..
Just round up to 20% and if you need to shave off a dollar or two then you will have 18%.
15% was so ten years ago.

Aloha and have a great time.

nytraveler

Sorry - I have always tipped maids - as did my parents when I was a chid - so 40 years ago is hardly recent. (I remember my parents having a discussion on how much to tip when we stayed in a mini-resort on a New England lake - since my dad is "thrifty" and he wanted to leave less. My mom went back in and added more after he was in the car.

spirobulldog

As if not already confusing enough, there are some restaurants that you don't tip. Generally fast food restaurants. I am always a little confused about tipping myself when I order at the counter, then sit down, then someone does bring me my order. If they check on me again, then I feel like I should tip. If all they do is bring me my food and then never see how we are doing, then I don't tip. A lot of pizza places are like this.

Generally you don't tip the owner of a business. If your hairdresser owns the salon you don't tip, if your hairdresser works there and isn't the owner, you do tip.

My 10-15% was meant in general terms and didn't neccesarily apply to a restaurant.

Wonder how many here feel obligated to leave the trashman or postman something at Christmas?? I always tip, but never truly thought anything about it until I got married and my wife waited tables the first year of our marriage.

LoveItaly

Housekeeping can change every day which is why when I stay in a hotel I leave the tip each day. I always take some small envelopes with me but normally there are enough envelopes in the room to use. I put the tip in the envelope and mark the outside "For housekeeping" and lay the envelope on the bed pillow. I have actually received some lovely thank you's from the housekeeper from time to time. I can't remember not ever tipping the housekeeper, it is not anything "new". I also tip bellman too but the housekeepers sure have a harder job than the bellmen.

spirobulldog

Seinfeld has an episode about tipping a chamber maid.