One more question... I'm usually a generous tipper (18-20%) but I have heard that tips are not expected in Paris and if called for are around 5%. When & who should I tip and how much?

I once embarassed a musician in a bar when I asked where his tip jar was on a trip to Hawaii -- he'd never heard of being tipped for playing.

Thanks!

Only Americans seem to tip in Paris more than the usual few small coins as the Service is included - often 15% or more - in the bill as a mandatory tip

Americans nevertheless seem bent on tipping on top of the mandatory tip but none of my French relatives would ever dream of doing that daft thing.

As always for some exceptional service out of the ordinary you may express your gratuity but it is not required (though waiters may work Americans for tips, of course)

There are as many opinions on this as there are French people, but briefly:

a) Service compris means everything taken care of so give nothing.

b) The service charge is a back-handed way of the government taxing tips, the staff see nothing of it (true), so tip as usual.

c) The service charge is not a tip, but a charge for table service, so tip on top as usual.

Service charge is included. If you liked the service, you can leave the change that rounds the bill up. If you really liked the service, you can add a little more. Waiters over there don't work for tips.

And there used to be a time when waiters would be indignant with a tip - insulting their idea of being a professional

think those times are gone however

and when i, with my French inlaws, even try to round up and leave a few coins they laugh and say 'Oh you Americans throwing your money around'

Tip a French waiter 15-20% and they'll be thinking 'God what idiots'

What about for the hotel? Taxis? Bar service?

I don't understand the above statement about service compris being a way for the govt. to tax tips. I guess it is a govt tax (like VAT on goods), and I suppose it is to cover benefits employees receive from the govt, more or less, although I don't know its history. Regardless of how it works, it is wrong to say the employee doesn't see that if they have higher mandated wages, time off and holidays, etc. in France, which come from the employer.

You either think you are tipping for service or you don't. Because service is included, if you think you are tipping for service, you wouldn't tip. That's my opinion, that's the only reason I tip in countries like the US where service is not included -- I am tipping for the service.

The point which no one mentioned is that in countries like France, their are mandated benefits and higher wages than in the US, that the servers receive from their employer.

IN any case, the conventional tip is about 10 pct for good taxi service in Paris. I don't know what you mean about a hotel, I don't tip hotels. I don't stay in expensive hotels where I would use a concierge, though. If you use a concierge, that's another level of tipping you have to get into which I don't know about.

Because you like to tip a lot, you might tip your 5 pct in restaurants and cafes, rather than nothing. I am not a generous tipper, don't believe in the whole system and dislike it, so I equate tipping with service. I do tip a little sometimes even in France for extra special service or if I'm in a tipping mood for some reason. Both are rare, as I'm not that demanding.

Tips are not "expected" in Paris, you are right on that one, at least for restaurants.

Christina has i think wrapped up the tipping in restaurants at least very good

wait staff are paid a decent wage and benefits for their services and don't have to grovel for tips for their wages - so tip them much like you would any other person serving you - at a supermarket check-out, the person selling postcards, at the post office, etc.

One reason you often see the same people in service jobs like wait staff, etc. is because they are paid a decent wage and benefits, off-setting the American rationale for tipping - i.e. you are getting free service because the restaurant owner pays them nearly nothing and they depend on you for their wages.

I imagine the reference to tipping a hotel would refer to tipping the bellman and the housekeeper. Yes, you can tip for their services, no matter what class of hotel.

Housekeepers are usually paid low wages; so tips are a good thing to do.

How much does one tip flight attendants?

They have to work very odd hours against their biological clock, prepare food and drinks under extremely constrained circumstances, deal with often ill-humored customers, and save your life in case of an accident... and usually don't get paid much.

You'd also be amazed how little most (non senior) airline pilots get paid these days...

One of the nice things about Paris (and elsewhere in Europe, I suppose) is that "what you for meals. Unlike the USA, you don't need to add sales tax and tip. The "prix est compris" as printed on la carte.

As one who is very much aware of how the real cost to us in dollars is much higher than on our last month-long stay nine years ago (when the exchange rate was about $0.85 per euro) we take solace in knowing that a 25 euro prix fixe menu (about $38-39 now) is similar in cost to a $30 meal in the USA, to which CA sales tax (around 8%) and tip (around 15-20%) would be additional.

I don't know that wait staff are paid all that well in the average European eatery. There was a thread on this a while back on another web site where someone posted a link to international average incomes for various countries.

People were a bit surprised to see that wait staff in Germany and France averaged around $20,000 a year, about the same as in the USA. Average tip income was included.

Of course, taxes then took a bigger bite of the French and German workers' income, but out-of-pocket medical expenses took a bigger bite of the American workers' income.

I think the figures were from the ILO. Don't know whether or not they've been updated.

Hi Brooklyn,

In the US we tip 15-20% because the Service Charge is not included.

In Paris, the SC is included.

Thus, a tip is a little extra for good service.

It is usual to round up, eg, for a bill of 38E, leave 2E.

For outstanding service, add extra.

It is better to leave a tip, in cash, on the table.

If you add a tip to your CC bill, it goes to the owner.

Rufus, no-one has said they are paid well, but the fact is that they get at least the legal minimum wage, which is far higher than that in the USA. OVerall it probably does work out the same - so adding extravagant tips on top is not necessary to make up their basic wage, as is the case in the US.

bear--I like having the tax separate. I want to know how much of my meal cost is going to the government.

It is usual to round up, eg, for a bill of 38E, leave 2E.

Not for many French it ain't

with my French in-laws when i buy a dinner or something i always leave the little change on the plastic plate they bring the bill on

and my Frenchie inlaws say what are you doing that for - you Americans.....

maybe they are cheap bastards but don't seem so otherwise

>> I like having the tax separate. I want to know how much of my meal cost is going to the government <<

You will find VAT itemized on your bill anyway.

If not, in France what you pay in a restaurant is almost 120% (119.6%) of the net cost of your meal. A meal for €36 Euros is appr. €30 net plus €6 VAT.
If you order take-away it's 105.5%.

Not all VAT goes to the Government.
As an example, in a restaurant you turn back to the owner a part of the VAT he payed to the people who sold him/her the ingredients for your meal. Then, every three months he declares all the VAT he has payed and the VAT he has recovered and after a rather complicate maths formulas ..the owner has to pay the balance to the government. Sometimes it could happen the government turning back to him some cash but then the business is not in very good shape

Ha ha ha -- "going to the government". The government is formed of the people of the country and its visitors, so anything you pay to the government, you are paying to yourself -- for health care, firemen, police, street cleaning, tourist offices and all sorts of things. I would worry more about the amount of money going to middlemen, pesticide companies, the butcher's union, import-export companies and crap like that.