tonora

We are travellimg to Vietnam in mid October. Staying in 3 to 4 star hotels.
How much does one offer as tips to staff in restaurants/bars, to luggage porters and to drivers who collect us at airport?
Thanks

jacster

No money for guessing you're American - the rest of the world doesn't tip the way you're used to so count yourself lucky. Having said that, the Vietnamese, for some reason, are an incredibly poor country (US$300 GDP per person - compare that to the US with US$33,900 per person) so all the tips you give will be going to a good cause.

JamesA

$1-2 is appreciated

ashburntraveler

Tipping is not customary. Neither taxi drivers nor waiters/waitresses expect it. Being an American, I did it anyway. When you add on a 15% tip, tips end up being under a dollar anyway!

Lyndie

Do not tip unless service is exceptional. Viethnam is in its baby stage of tourism-they have no fuc----- idea of hospitality-2 visits July & Dec 2003 confirmed our suspicions-go to Laos & Cambodia! Cheaper & better!!!

Kathie

Gee, Lyndie, I don't think I've read anything but complaints from you lately.

No doubt VN is still in the early part of the process of developing tourist infrastructure. Nonetheless, on our recent trip to Hanoi we encountered mostly very good service. We did tip for good service in restaurants, and we always rounded up on our taxi fares. We also tipped the belmen at the hotel, as we had lots of luggage. Small tips are much appreciated.

Lyndie

Hi again Kathie. Is this bb for the positive and the negative? I have posted about positive experiences but sincerely believe that others may want to know about shoddy treatment-agree or not, I'm gonna keep doing what I believe is the best to do-let people know when suppliers underdeliver. It's very easy to post good stuff-you have to be a bit brave to post negatively because someone almost always gets a bit upset. Dunno why-don't read my posts! Best of luck.

Neil_Oz

It's all pretty subjective, though, isn't it? Personally, I found the Vietnamese to be a naturally hospitable and courteous people with a good sense of humour, and most times the service we received reflected those traits. No, some people and institutions haven't quite "got it", but you could say the same of our own countries.

cjbryant

hey gang, consider the implications of tipping in areas that aren't structured for tipping as part of compensation.

EG in the US waitstaff make only about 75% of standar minimum wage and the balance of their income is from tips.

By tipping where tipping isn't done you start to upset the balance of the local economy and wage structure.

No, tipping when you shouldn't won't bring the planet screeching to a halt, but over time it changes the local economy permanently over the course of time.

I realize that it seems harmless enough, but its best to find out about and adopt "local" behaviors when you travel.

Logos

Very logical cjbryant....I have to agree w/ you there

Neil_Oz

Me too. No offence, but while America has made many fine contributions to the world, that ubiquitous tipping culture isn't one of them. It seems to me that an enforced reliance on tips also lets employers off the hook of having to pay their people a living wage, and rather than being a reward for service above and beyond the call of duty it is now regarded as a right. I'd be inclined to spare the Vietnamese this if at all possible - they don't need any more wheedling beggars. I'm not advocating being a skinflint, as there are other ways of making a meaningful contribution, e.g. to the many orphanages or patronising the restaurants that specialise in employing street kids (there are a couple in Hanoi to my knowledge and perhaps others elsewhere).

cjbryant

No offense taken, the reason some folks think of us as "fat,dumb Americans" is that sometimes some of us behave like fat, dumb Americans. As a culture we tend to assume that everyone does things our way and if they don't, it's only becuase we haven't properly "educated" them to our way of thinking.

I've had a very tough time getting fellow Americans to undertand this one, but I finally came up with a method that seems to work.

When they ask how much to tip in a nontipping country, I just ask them how much they typically tip the clerk at their local convenience store in the US.

When they get done looking at me like I have two heads, I can usually convince them that tipping where tipping isn't done makes no sense....

spearhead

On my first night in Hanoi, I left the equivalent of about 75 cents on the table (10% of the bill, approximately) and the waiter came running after me to let me know that I had forgotten my change. After that, I didn't tip anywhere, and no-one seemed like it was out of place.

PeterN_H

Authors of the last five posts, please make the same comments the next time you see the tipping query arise in relation to China. Suggesting that tipping isn't appropriate there (as indeed it isn't) is almost a guarantee that one will be abused. But the same arguments apply there as in Vietnam.

Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Logos

Do you guys remember the anti-american sentiment about US culture Polluation....well here it is again...but now it's tipping I am going to southeast asia in late Jan...and I'm going w/ cjbryant advise...and stand on higher moral grounds

Neil_Oz

Thanks Peter - I'm hoping to visit China later this year.

I should confess that almost the first thing I did in Vietnam was to reflexively tip a cab driver. He was so startled that I made a mental note not to repeat my mistake (say hello to a fat, dumb Aussie, cjbryant!).

While we're on dos and don'ts - this will be obvious to many, but when visiting designated places such as temples, please remember to dress appropriately. Several members of our tour group omitted to do this when visiting the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex in Hanoi and turned up in shorts, etc. The result was that we were all sent to the back of a very long line, innocent and guilty alike, by a deeply unimpressed guard. We tried to pretend that we'd never seen our fellow travellers before, but this proved fruitless.

cjbryant

deptrai

One of the reasons this American likes to travel to asia so much is the fact that I'm not expected to tip. People will look and you funny and sometimes feel uncomfortable themselves when you try to offer them a tip.

You are paying a tip in some hotels through "service charges" on your bill.

Dave