balitrav

At the end of the month, I will be visiting Perth with a friend.

We have gotten conflicting information about tipping in Australia. What is expected and appropriate in restaurants?

Do we tip cabs drivers? Housekeepers in the hotel?

Thanks for any help you can give - it's very appreciated!

KayF

I would say tipping anywhere in Australia is not necessary. If you are from North America it will feel strange but we are just not used to it here and don't wish to encourage it.

If you have a fabulous meal with wonderful service, then you could tip 10% but don't feel you have to. It won't be expected. Service staff in Australia are paid decent wages and don't need to top up their salaries with tips.

I never use cabs but I guess you could round it up if you wanted. I think tipping in hotels would be unheard of here.

If anyone tells you tipping is expected here, or the norm, they are telling porkies.

Kay

Melnq8

This Yank living in Perth LOVES the non-tipping culture!

The price you see is the price you pay, simple. Tax and service is included in the price. This will make more sense to you when you see how much things cost here.

I sure wish we'd adopt the built in GST in the US.

I do round up for taxis once in awhile, but more out of convenience than anything - it's only shrapnel.

eliztravels2

I agree with the other posters. Having just returned from our 7th trip to Oz I too have learned to love the non-tipping, tax-included pricing. Prices are already high, why would I voluntarily raise them? As noted, service people are well paid and by tipping you are introducing a cultural practice that is not welcomed by the majority of the locals who already pay plenty for goods and services year round. Tipping by visitors is misguided generosity or courtesy.

balitrav

Thanks so much for your help!

We're really looking forward to our trip, and want to make sure we are following what is customary in your country.

Out of curiosity - another question we've had mixed answers to. Do women - middle aged - wear shorts in public there? We don't plan to, but have found it interesting that we hear yes they do, and no - never. Maybe some parts of Australia it's ok - and others it's not?

Like the US - it's a BIG country. I'm sure there could be different ways to dress in different parts?

Melnq8

<<Do women - middle aged - wear shorts in public there?>>

I certainly do. I live in my shorts.

There are no rules. Do what you're comfortable with.

balitrav

Thanks Melnq8! We're very excited about visiting Perth.

We're looking forward to seeing some of the west coast of Australia.

We've scheduled several day trips to see some of the sights outside of the city. One includes visiting some wineries

Less than two weeks until we leave - yippeeee!

Melnq8

Safe travels balitrav - enjoy WA.

eliztravels2

Have a great time.

balitrav

Thank you eliztravels2 - I'm really looking forward to our trip!

stormbird

I live in shorts!! It's 37 degrees C here- too hot for anything else. We're a pretty casual mob Downunder and pretty chilled so don't worry too much about anything - you'll also find us to be very friendly so don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it.

balitrav

Thank you stormbird! I'm feeling pretty welcome already - you've all been very nice and helpful with my questions.

I leave a week from today - time to really start getting organized. I'm a list maker and have old lists from past trips. A few tweaks here and there, but I think I've got things pretty well under control.

I'm so excited!

dreamon

Wearing shorts is more dependent on the size of you derriere than where you are! I would be more inclined to wear shorts outside of the major city centres but no one would bat an eye if you did.

We live in Melbourne and generally always tip (less than 5%) if we eat out at a restaurant in the evening. That's commonplace amongst my friends. But it is certainly not expected in most places and I would hate to see the tipping culture of the US start here. No tipping required for taxis.

jeransan

Does no tipping include those that give you tours through your country?
Thanks

Bokhara2

Yes

balitrav

jeransan, thanks for asking about tipping on tours. I hadn't thought about that.


We have two tours scheduled. Well actually, just one. We got an email yesterday saying one was cancelled due to not enough people signing up.

I'm assuming that in place of the cancelled tour - we'll find something even more amazing to take it's place

We leave tomorrow - I'm so excited!!!

jeransan

Thanks so much for info on tipping. Tipping always adds a big chunk of change to the cost! Appreciate knowing this!

balitrav

I just returned from my trip to Perth - what a lovely city!!

Thank you to those of you who helped with my questions - I really appreciated it.

I loved knowing that the price I saw on a menu, was the only price I needed to pay! Made my life so much easier!

I've done a fair amount of traveling over the years, but I can't remember any city where the people were more friendly or helpful than Perth.

Any time I might have a map out trying to figure out where I was going, someone was sure to walk up and offer help. If they didn't know an answer off the top of their heads, they would pull out their cell phones and look it up! One even led us down several streets to make sure we got to where we were headed. Wow!!

You have a beautiful city! For some reason I didn't expect quite so much vegetation. We spent our first day in Kings Park - what a spectacular park - right in the middle of the city.

Those lightning storms were something else! I sure hope they've stopped - and no more fires caused by lightning strikes!

Thank you for sharing your city - I have great memories of the time I spent there.

Melnq8

I'm glad you enjoyed our fair city balitrav.

Sadly, our southwest is burning up at the moment, there's a pretty big fire raging down south and gobbling up my favorite part of the state.

eliztravels2

I've been watching the reports of the bushfire as well. Hugely distressing. I can't grasp the magnitude of it.