Jamila

What's the customary tipping in London? Is it 15% of the bill at restaurants? What about taxis?

janis

Often the gratuity is included as an item on the bill. So let that be your guide - if it isn't, tip as at home. 20% in very high class places, and 12 - 15% in others (of the amount BEFORE taxes - this is significant since the VAT will be over 17%).<BR><BR>taxi cabs do not include tip - so 10+ % of the fare plus a pound or two if they do extras such as carry your bag to the curb, etc.<BR><BR>A pound (minimum) for a doorman to hail a cab)<BR><BR>cloakrooms\toilet attendants 50p to a pound.

kate

Wow Janis, 20%?? I'd NEVER pay that.<BR><BR>We tip less in the UK than the US. Most restaurants now include a (discretionary) 12.5% service charge on the bill. In this case, don't tip as well, and if you're not happy with the service you are entitled to ask for that 12.5% to be removed from the bill. Most people will tip 10% if a service charge is not included.<BR><BR>Taxis - round up the fair, or add 10%.<BR><BR>But never feel obliged to tip anywhere if you don't feel happy with service. It's not demanded in the same way it is in the US. Taxis are expensive, for one, so I sometimes resent having to pay even more. I tip if they've been particularly helpful or I'm feeling generous.

Annie

I second Kate's posting. Janis' sounds too much like tipping in the U.S.

Lindsey

Jamila - just to clarify a comment from Janis' response - the bill will usually include VAT - it won't be shown as a seperate figure unlike the USA where sales tax is added to the face value.<BR><BR>Also, there's no need to tip in pubs, although if you're there for a while and are continually served by the same barman it is customary to offer them a drink too. Most usually take the price of a drink as a tip from your payment, but sometimes will welcome the opportunity for a well earned pint!<BR><BR>I'm more likely to tip cab drivers if they have been helpful, especially friendly or if it's late at night - it's often a good incentive for them to wait until you're safely in your door before driving off.

janis

To further clarify - thanks Lindsey -<BR><BR>The 20% is for the HIGHEST quality restaurants - just as it is in the States. We are talking about Michelin star places, etc. And I tried to emphasize the tax factor. If you are tipping 12-13% on the entire bill you actually tipping about the same as I am since I tip 15% on the amount before tax.<BR><BR>And when I get some sort of discount or buy 1, get 1 free deal, I always tip on what the full bill would have been - the server doesn't do less work simply because I got a bargain.<BR><BR>And why - if 12.5% is typically added on, do you think 10% is OK when it's not?<BR> <BR>(just a thought - maybe the fact that two ladies commented on never tipping that much is why women are generally considered such cheap tippers and often get worse service) <BR><BR>

kate

Janis, well actually 10% was always the norm in restaurants. 12.5% is a new ploy by restaurants to squeeze extra cash out of us.<BR><BR>This isn't a female thing - I know of noone in London who would willingly pay more. We're just not really into tipping too much. It really is one of the greatest culture shocks when visiting the States.<BR><BR>And I have eaten in most of the top restaurants and would certainly never dream of tipping 20%.

traveller

Like you would in the states, 20% for fancy great service, 15% for average.

LOL

no offense, Kate, as it isn't your "custom", but those of us who have waited tables in the US can verify the fact that many of you can't tip for diddly. Some New England restaurants have 'reminders' for British and Canadian patrons shellacked to the book your bill comes in.<BR><BR>It IS the custom in the US to tip for service (unless you get bad service then you see the manager!!)...you mentioned the restaurants "squeezing money" out of you, do your tips go to the establishment or to the servers in London?? I'd love to know before I put my money on the table.

egg

&gt;do your tips go to the establishment &gt;or to the servers in London?? I'd love &gt;to know before I put my money on the &gt;table.<BR><BR>They usually get shared among the staff, but not always. Personally, I think we should take a leaf from the Icelanders' book and pay people a decent wage and ban tipping altogether.<BR>I'd say 10% unless the bill was small enough to make 10% look silly.

XX

To LOL<BR><BR>Why would the restaurants in New England have to remind Canadians about timpping? I think we have the exact same tipping customs. Which is to tip everyone in the service industry because we know they are all making less than minimum wage and rely on tips. Unlike Europe where they are paid more fairly.

ron

The reason, XX, for the signs in New England restaurants is that we Canadians have a well-deserved reputation for being less than generous tippers. One reason is that, in Ontario at least, the minimum wage is, with one exception, the same for service industry and non-service industry workers. The exception is for servers in establishments licenced to serve liquour, for whom the minimum wage is 90 cents less than the general minimum wage. In most cases a 10% tip would more than make up the difference.<BR><BR>I find Janis' rules interesting. Buy a &pound;100 meal in a fancy joint, the server, probably male, gets &pound;20. Buy a &pound;10 meal in a greasy spoon, the server, probably female, gets a quid and a 20p coin. Get a doorman to wave at a taxi and open its door, he gets a quid or more. The, I imagine female, cloakroom attendants gets half of that.

janis

ron - you probably don't understand the restaurant business. In that high end establishment they don't turn the tables more than once most nights and the servers have very few tables to cover. Therefore you are getting very personal service. Plus the tip is shared among the subordinate staff.<BR><BR>While in the "greasy spoon" they turn the tables evey 45 minutes and the server handles several tables. So that server actually has the chance to earn just as much or more in tips.<BR><BR>It has nothing to do with gender.

Keith Legg

Just tip as much as you feel the service warrants. If it has been exceptional, then tip well, if it's been rotten, just pay the bill. There's no real hard and fast rule to this here, especially as many places in the UK now include a service charge anyway. Also, the norm here is to put the tip in change on the table rather than add it to the credit card slip - there is a great swell of opinion against that here.<BR> <BR>However, a mean thought crosses my mind - not that I'd do this, I have to point out! As a tourist, it's unlikely you are going to be returning to that establishment any time soon, so......

Keith Legg

Just tip as much as you feel the service warrants. If it has been exceptional, then tip well, if it's been rotten, just pay the bill. There's no real hard and fast rule to this here, especially as many places in the UK now include a service charge anyway. Also, the norm here is to put the tip in change on the table rather than add it to the credit card slip - there is a great swell of opinion against that here.<BR><BR>Taxis don't usually expect a tip - black taxis are extortionate anyway - but I usually just leave the change. However, I always tip minicabs (ie the normal cars) if they are helpful.<BR> <BR>However, a mean thought crosses my mind - not that I'd do this, I have to point out! As a tourist, it's unlikely you are going to be returning to that establishment any time soon, so......

Kavey

Jamila<BR><BR>I live in London, always have, and enjoy eating out. So my perspective is that of a local. I also eat out in restaurants outside of London and tipping is fairly standard in the SE, I can't comment on other areas of England as I am not a frequent visitor.<BR><BR>We (locals) do not tip 20% in London. The only people I have ever heard do that are visitors who don't realise that 20% isn't necessary. Now if anyone WANTS to tip 20% no one is going to stop them. You won't get arrested for splashing your money about! If you feel you've had service for which you want to tip 20% go for it, heck you can leave 25 or 30% if you really want to! But 20% is NOT expected, even in the top restaurants. I have occasionally tipped 20% in a local restaurant to express extreme satisfaction when the staff went above and beyond their job for a birthday event I held there.<BR><BR>The standard used to be 10% up until the last 5 years or so - most people now tip between 10% and 15%. <BR><BR>Restaurants which have suffered from low tips in the past are often the ones which automatically add tip to your bill and I have seen them add between 12.5% and 15% never more.<BR><BR>I had always assumed the tip was based on the total amount, not the amount before VAT. Certainly when I have ever been to dinner with anyone, the tip has always been calculated on the total bill presented, which includes VAT. I will ask around to find out if other people think it should be calculated on the amount before VAT but I have never heard of this.<BR><BR>As mentioned above, you are entitled to ask for the service to be removed should you wish, and yesterday evening I made exactly that request when visiting Belgo Centraal (HUGE disappointment, the one in Chalk Farm is sooo much nicer). Regardless of how busy the restaurant was, with the number of waitstaff they had on duty it should not have been _that_ difficult to get their attention, talk about avoiding eye contact to the extreme. There was not the slightest problem with having the service charge removed from the bill.<BR><BR>It's not a step I have felt the need to take very often, but I have found that in some restaurants where tip is added automatically serving staff make less of an effort, perhaps because they know the tip is assured as most people feel to embarassed to have to ask specifically to have it taken off the bill.<BR><BR>Taxis I can't help you with, though I usually tip &pound;1 for the few short rides I have taken in central London.

AnnaC

I'd agree with Kate and Kavey. Standard tipping in London is between 10 and 15% of the total bill (including VAT - it isn't always split out in such a way that you can see how much it is before tax). Ten percent is normal - going up to 15 for particularly good service. I have tipped nothing when the service has been particularly poor - but this is rare.<BR><BR>LOL - the reason for higher tips in the US, as I understand it, is that waiters and waitresses are usually paid less as a standard wage than they are in the UK - so they need higher tips to get a decent amount of money to live on. It is true that people in the UK who go to the US don't always realise this - just the same as those from the US who come to the UK don't realise it. Of course, you'll never see notices shellacked to anything in the UK saying please don't tip as much as you do in the US!<BR><BR>Like Kavey, I only ever tip anything like 20% in local restaurants where they have gone out of their way to be helpful. Never in any top restaurant in London would I tip that much - and I've eaten in a few. This is not because I am mean, but it is the custom in the UK.<BR><BR>As for taxis - I never get cabs in London, but I usually tip my local (just outside London) taxi drivers about 10% - just round it up to the nearest sensible number that is around 10%.

sue

Regarding tipping in London, we will be <BR>goint there in a couple of weeks. We<BR>have reservations for tea at the Ritz.<BR>Is tipping required for tea?<BR><BR>Thanks for any help.

Duh

yes - Duh. Tipping is requied. Well actually it isn't required but why would you think you should go someplace like the Ritz and stiff them on the tip? Either it is added to the bill or you add it yourself.

sue

Thank you Duh.<BR><BR>For your information, I have never<BR>stiffed anyone for a tip. If I can<BR>afford to go to the Ritz, I can certainly afford the tip.<BR><BR>My question was if anyone knew if it<BR>was included in the price.<BR><BR><BR>Thanks for the info.<BR>