Just as the title says, tipping in USD or lire ?

No, of course not.

Whereas a lot of folks in other countries still view our "hard" currency as valuable I never tip in dollars because I do not wish to force the person being tipped to go find a place to exchange the money and deal with exchange rates or commissions, etc.
Somehow I doubt anyone in the US would appreciate being tipped in Turkish currency for the same reason.
Tipping IN the foreign currency also gives you the flexibility to leave small change as well as bank notes since both can be spent by the receiver.

However, there are countries where people prefer dollars (and maybe euros these days) due to the instability of their own currency or a desire to have a foreign currency nestegg just in case. Don't know whether or not Turkey is one of those countries.

Carrying small amount of us Dollars is fine in Turkey.
Especially the people will enjoy more receiving the tips in Us dollars.
regards
Nejat

No, I don't believe in tipping people in foreign currency.
However, for the first time in years I did take some traveler's checques in US dollars, for two hotels that offered 10 or 15% discounts if I paid in US dollars, including the TCs.

Get euro notes, small ones, and tip in those in some of those nations with unstable currencies. The dollar is not exactly the world's most sought after currency these days. Just get a look at the exchange rate. There is a surplus of dollars on the market and the value of it is losing ground daily it seems.

Most Americans like to think the greenback is the Alpha and the Omega of currency. To paraphrase the pugnacious and alienating D. Rumsfeld, that's Old America. The new fact is that many banks have dumped their dollars for something else.

By the way, did Rumsy ever find any poisonous gas?

Turkey was the only place I have ever used dollars. I had vendors give me discounts if I would pay in Dollars. I had Lire, but I can understand why they wanted Dollars. Our tour guide indicated that he wanted his tip in Dollars.

My impression is that the Turks I gave the dollars to never change it... They either stuff it under the mattress or spend it.

Also, Turkey was the first place I had been where getting a traveler's check cashed was next to impossible (and the bank ate my ATM card!) Luckily I was able to use my Diner's club to get a cash advance!

You could, but they'd prefer Euro.

When we have been in Turkey we have had no problem tipping in either $ or Lire (don't know about this year since the $ devaluation). One point, there was one taxi driver who absolutely refused to take anything BUT lire. Most of the others asked our party.. don't you have dollars? So, I guess it depends on the person. We did find that in shopping in the Grand Bazaar and elsewhere that we received better prices for $. When we were in Spain (Sept 03) the merchants were very upset about the Euro since all prices had gone up but their salaries had stayed the same.

Wide ranging opinions, very interesting. I get the feeling a few small bundles of both USD and Euro might be the go.

I strongly suspect that one reason some locals may say they prefer the dollars is because I suspect a lot of Americans tip more when it is in dollars. They'll give them a couple of dollars rounding up, but when figuring out a tip in those thousands of lira, they usually end up leaving a lesser than equal amount.

I just picked up my bundle of US notes, it is a funny nondescript looking note isn't it, quite hard on intial quick look to tell the difference between 1, 5, 20 's. Still I am sure whoever receives them from me will be quite happy !

My impression was that the Turkish people I dealt with wanted Dollars since it was a more stable currency then the lire. We spent a long time talking with a few young people about the cost of living etc. and they said they tried to get dollars to "store" for the future since they felt very "uncertain" about thier currency.

It is more of a matter of following the local customs, to tip the customary amount and in the local currency. Also, it seems condescending to tip in a foreign currency, carrying a wad of $1 to give out like candy to children. Third thing is that it is more convenient to just handle the one currency. And I can do the math in my head.

If I came to America and tipped in GBP, I'm sure it would not be appreciated, even with the rapid decline in the power of the USD.

Use local currency, have some courtesy when abroad, America doesn't rule the world, as I'm sure most people are aware.

I don't recall needing to tip in dollars, BUT there were numerous times when we were asked to pay in dollars instead of TL. I knew beforehand that the hotel in Cappadocia wanted to be paid in dollars, and we also were asked to pay in dollars when we bought a kilim in a store in Konya. It's the only time in recent years that we actually used all of our traveller's checks.

Now that I think about it, the Cagologlu hamam in Istanbul asked for the fee and tip in dollars-- but I also noticed (after I paid) that they charged in the patron's currency. Not surprisingly, the fee in TL was definitely less expensive. There are times when you know, as a tourist, that you're being somewhat taken advantage of, and this was one of them. Still, it was inexpensive enough that you just don't worry about it.
Still, I didn't tip in dollars other than the experience mentioned.
Paule

I spent 2 weeks in Turkey and have travelled extensively all over the world. My personal policy is not to use US currency anywhere except in an emergency.From an international banking standpoint, there is such a thing as hard currency and it is in our own best interest to use the currency of the country to pay for anything.

picky,
I generally agree with you about using the currency of the country you're in; however, when we were in Turkey, some of the vendors did not want to deal in lire. For instance, the cost for the hotel in Cappadocia was given in dollars when I booked it, and we were told before we left that they wanted payment in dollars. The cost was very reasonable and we had no problem with doing so. And when we bought our kilim, the price was negotiated in dollars; again, that's how we paid. Neither wanted to be paid by charge card, but travellers checks were acceptable.
When travelling, I've learned, that there are no hard and fast rules!
Paule

I have traveled widely in europe and middle east and almost always people have much prefered to be tipped in $. if you want to be sure what the individual prefers just ask them.