Tipping Taxi drivers and others in London and Paris
 

We are leaving for London for a week at the end of March and I want to make sure I know what to do. Do we tip taxi drivers in London and if so what is the appropriate amount/percentage? We will also be going to Paris for a day, what percentage do we tip drivers in Paris?

What about housekeeping in the hotel? Do you tip daily or at the end of trip?

Concierge? They have helped me over the internet with dining reservations.

Restaurants? in both London and Paris

Can you tip on your credit card in restaurants?

Do taxis take credit cards? I will need to exchange GBP for Euros for our one day trip to Paris for taxi cabs when we arrive at train station and don't want to get too much. I would guess that most anything we plan on seeing/doing would accept AMEX, is this pretty much accurate? SIghtseeing buses, museums, Eiffel Tower, food, shopping, subway etc. Are there places that would not take AMEX? or VISA?

We are leaving for London for a week at the end of March and I want to make sure I know what to do. Do we tip taxi drivers in London and if so what is the appropriate amount/percentage? We will also be going to Paris for a day, what percentage do we tip drivers in Paris? >>>

You don’t have to tip cabbies unless they go far above and beyond the call of duty.

What about housekeeping in the hotel? Do you tip daily or at the end of trip?>>>>

At the end.

Concierge? They have helped me over the internet with dining reservations.>>>>

Ditto.

Restaurants? in both London and Paris>>> About 15% is normal.

Can you tip on your credit card in restaurants?>>>>

Yes – it’s very common.

Do taxis take credit cards? I will need to exchange GBP for Euros for our one day trip to Paris for taxi cabs when we arrive at train station and don't want to get too much. I would guess that most anything we plan on seeing/doing would accept AMEX, is this pretty much accurate? SIghtseeing buses, museums, Eiffel Tower, food, shopping, subway etc. Are there places that would not take AMEX? or VISA?>>>>>

Amex is not as common over here as it is in the USA. If you have a Visa use that – it’s universally accepted.

Welcome to the big debate ad the massive culture difference between UK/France and USA.

Taxi, you might round up to the pound or just get it right

Housekeeping, well £1, 2 if you really must but either because they do something special for it or after a longish stay £5 to £10 will go down well

Concierge, £5 unless its a great theatre or difficult to get restuarant in which case £10 is more than fair
Restuarants, read the chit carefully. Still some legal dsputes about this but make it cash of 5% or round up.

Tip on credit card in UK, don't advise it

France, if anything reduce these numbers

Seee even we don't agree

Taxis: nothing is perfectly acceptable, but I usually round up a bit, maybe 5% at most.

Housekeeping: at the end. Agree with bilboburger.

Restaurants: I'm not up to what is expected in London, but in Paris it's not expected at all. Again, round up a couple of euros or so if you were happy with the meal and service. Don't put the tip on your credit card in either place.

No, do not expect to be able to use AMEX everywhere.

And assuming you are originating in the USA, don't exchange GBP for euros for your day in Paris. Every time you do a currency conversion, you lose money. Either get some euros ahead of time for that leg of the trip, or wait until you get to Paris and withdraw euros from an ATM.

France - taxis : round it up. It is €18 leave €20 but if it is #21 don't leave €25 .... :-)

Housekeeping : Usually nothing.

Concierge : at the end of the trip if he did something special for you.

Restaurants : service is always included. Same as taxis, round it up.

"Can you tip on your credit card in restaurants"? NO, the money would go to the house and not to the waiter.

VISA is widely accepted in France but not all taxi drivers will take credit cards.

I tip around 10 pct to a taxi in Paris, if the job was really good (didn't come close to killing me, pleasant enough, got me there on time, made sure I was at the right terminal at the airport, etc.). I don't use concierges. I don't tip in restaurants in Paris unless the service is really exceptional, and then I only tip maybe 5 pct. Of course, this varies by the cost of what I ordered, I would be more likely to leave a euro tip in a cafe to a waiter who provided really good service on a 10 euro bill than I would normally tip 10 pct on a more expensive meal.

I haven't been in London in a few years, but as I recall, service was not included on the bill in the places where I ate/drank. The bill said so, as I recall.

There is a big difference between tipping in restaurants in France and Britain.

In France the service is usually included in the price – so there’s no need to tip.

In Britain it almost never is (but check the bill carefully). If it’s not anywhere between 10-15% is fine, and yes you can do this on your credit card. However as has been said this means that the money goes in the till and some unscrupulous restaurateurs use this as a way of making up staff wages. If you leave cash on the table it goes in the staff’s pockets.

I'd disagree about UK practice. Note, though, that tipping just isn't the thing it is in the US, and it really doesn't matter that much if you just don't bother. That's why you're getting different answers

Taxis: In London 5-10% for black cabs. Outside London, or cities that use London-style taxis, tipping is much rarer

Housekeeping: bilboburger's right: tipping is the exception, not the norm

Restaurants. Menus MUST, legally, specify whether a service charge will be added, and increasingly it is - but there's no simple norm here. If it is, it'll appear specifically on the bill.

If it's not specified, I think bilbo's being a mean bugger. 10%

What then can happens is that the "service" line on the slip - or obviously more often, the "service?" question on the credit card acceptor screen - will encourage you to pay service again. I'd say this is a lot rarer on screens than it used to be on paper slips. BUT it's absolutely not normal to pay a second tip, and it IS normal to get quite narky with the restaurant for pulling a fast one.

I am a mean bugger; I live in Yorkshire "Scotsmen with the generosity taken out".

You know, I think in this modern age especially in the UK and somewhat in France, you also need to be yourself. I am American living in England. I have waited tables on both sides of the pond. No matter what, if you give someone a little something extra because they have given you a good service, then no matter what the custom you will put a smile on your face. So have an idea in your head what is the custom but be yourself within that and make someone's day if they have helped make yours! Have a great trip and try to see some areas in both places that are 'real' and not just tourist traps. Check online and you should be able to find out loads, even if it is just one local street in Paris that gives you a feel for true Paris. Have fun.

Hey, there is no need to be rude because neyboreno has the imagination to put him/herself in the place of the server. I agree, do what makes you feel good.

The difference between the US and other countries is, if you haven't had good service (in a European restaurant for instance), you don't have to tip, unlike experiences I've had in the US where you feel obliged to tip even if the server is totally disinterested and couldn't give a toss. In these circumstances I don't tip, no matter what country I'm in (including the States) even if I'm followed out of the restaurant by the server, as happened in the US of A once.

My impression is that in London, if service is added, it's usually 12.5%. So that gives you some idea for how much tip to leave if it's not included.

If, in the USA, it makes me feel good to keep my money in my pocket rather than pay the server 15-20% on top of the bill, do you think that is the right thing to do?

My policy is to tip broadly in line with local custom. To do that, you need to ascertain what the local custom is, which is what the OP here is about. It's not always easy: I asked a local in Budapest what was appropriate in restaurants, and she told me that it used to be that service was deemed to be included but, because of the behaviour of tourists, servers were becoming accustomed to tips of about 10%, and even expecting it of locals.

I always find myself confused by these discussions. Tipping is never an issue for me in the US because I know what is expected, and there is unanimity of opinions. Everyone tips between 15 and 20 percent in restaurants. Period. But in Europe, whenever the question arises, there are many more opinions, and people who live there seem to have different opinions of what to tip even where they live.

Learning to respect the culture of the place you are visiting is what most of us are doing here on this message board. But at least as far as this one aspect of culture goes, and I believe I have read as much about it as anybody here, I am frequently confused and leave a restaurant feeling as if I might have offended somebody unknowingly.

I agree with you, Nikki, but I think that the confusion arises just because it's a case of "blind leading the blind." Most of the participants here are foreigners (I mean, if they are participating on the Europe forum, they are not Europeans and they are probably Americans) and not locals, so there's a plurality of opinions.

No tipping required for French restaurants...if you want, you can leave the coins after paying the bill, or, if service was above and beyond, OK for a little. But by law, service is included in the bill.

Many of the answers on this thread are being given by Europeans, and this is almost always the case in these discussions. I also ask people I know and meet when traveling in France and in the UK and have received answers ranging from "I never leave a tip" to "I always leave fifteen percent".

Then perhaps some of the people you asked were not truly locals, Nikki.

Plus how would I know who the Europeans are on this thread (I have some idea). Sometimes people are not what who they seem. :)

Also the tipping customs can vary for European countries, and European nationals from one country are giving advice about another country.

The US has 50 states and the tipping customs don't really vary state to state.

I think you can explain the plurality of opinions when you look into it, Nikki.

Who once said something like this? "It's really very simple." :)