Tippy

I am aware US is a tipping society. I’m a budget traveler from overseas (where tipping isn’t quite as common – or already included in the bill). How much would be a reasonable tip?

I’ve heard that we should tip wait staff 15-20%. But what about:
- wait staff that serves free drinks in Las Vegas?)
- bus driver (that drives the free hotel shuttle bus to and from Disneyland). Tip for the rides both ways?

Maybe you guys can share and tell me about tipping etiquette. I don’t want to offend at yet I need to be cost conscious. Thanks.

Donna

Actually, tipping is always optional. Note, however, that nearly everyone in the US working in a position where tipping is customary earns a very low (often below minimum wage) hourly rate and depends upon tips for a reasonable income. 15% is just fine for wait staff. 20% would be generous if you receive extra nice service. Less or nothing is just fine if the service is lacking or miserable. If you don't tip the wait staff when you're served free drinks in Vegas, they won't come back to you after that. There is no need to tip the bus driver that drives the free shuttle for the hotel at Disneyland. If the driver "announces" that gratuities are appreciated or something like that, it's entirely up to you. A free service provided by the hotel is, indeed "free".

Patrick

Regarding tipping the person who brings free drinks while you are gambling, I'd suggest always giving them a dollar. If you are winning or if you want to see them back quicker, give them two dollars. If you are winning big, give them a fifty!

Actually the standard for tipping in really nice restaurants in now 20% whether a lot of people want to admit it or not. For example in the fine restaurants in Bellagio, 15% would be considered pretty cheap, especially considering how many people that will need to be split among. In medium priced or budget restaurants 15% is fine, unless again you have some extra special service, then leave a little more.

xxx

I do not understand why anyone would think the waiter at an expensive place deserves more for his work, than the single Mom waiting tables at Shoneys. I tip a standard $5.00 no matter where I eat.

xxx

As for the shuttle driver, if he helps you with your bags, the standard is $1/bag or I usually just tip $5 if I have a few bags. If he doesn't help me on or off the bus or give me directions or anything other than simply driving the bus, I don't tip.

Patrick

to answer xxx:
#1: Because at Shoney's the waitress is not sharing her tip with four or five other helpers, wine steward, bartender, captain, busboys, runners, etc.
#2: Because there is a WHOLE lot more service involved at Prime or Picasso than there is at Shoney's.
#3: Because that's the way it is.
#4: I never said the waitress at Shoney's shouldn't get as high a percentage as a waiter at a more expensive place. If she is outstanding, then by all means she easily deserves 20% too. But if she is like MOST (please note I didn't say ALL) waitresses at Shoney's and similar places that I have encountered -- "outstanding service" and Shoney's waitress do not belong in the same sentence.

pnc

What about breakfast buffets (included in room price)? No money changes hands - it's not even clear what the breakfast costs. Should I tip the waitstaff that bring the coffee?

Patrick

I'm not much of buffet person, but had a stay at The Mirage that included breakfast buffet, so did it. I took small portions, returning several times to the buffet. Each time the waiter took my plate, and even replaced my silver I think. He brought coffee three or four times, and refilled water glasses a couple of times. He brought juice to the table, and later returned to refill those. Before we started, he went into great detail about the layout of the buffet and what was good and fresh and what wasn't. He brought our check. Overall, I think there was more service involved than an average served-at-the-table breakfast. I don't know what the buffet was supposed to cost, but I think the two of us gave him five dollars, which in retrospect seemed like maybe not as much as it should have been.

Patrick

In reviewing your last question, pnc, it seems that maybe you're talking more like a Hampton Inn little help-yourself breakfast, where all the staff does in bring you coffee (maybe) and might clear the table. I'd leave a dollar per person.

Deborah

Buffet service that clears your plates and refills drinks normally is a 10% tip.

Kelly

Patrick, I always think you give good advice. However, this time I disagree with your attitude. We went to Circo in Bellagio (and maybe it isn't one of their most expensive restaurants) but I thought our server was rude and the service was not any more special than ANY other restaurant. A 15% tip at a more expensive restaurant is going to be alot more money than 15% at Shoney's. I do not feel that I should have to tip 20% because of where I am but rather because I had good service. What if you had exceptional service - should you then tip 25-30%. Also, while I have never waitressed, I do assume that Shoney's shares their tips with their busboys also.

Patrick

I was afraid my post would be misinerpreted, and maybe I wasn't very clear. Of course, you may have really horrible service at the best restaurant and you may have really wonderful service at the cheapest. AND YES, YOU SHOULD TIP ACCORDINGLY. I just meant that as a basis overall (and virtually any major dining guide would agree with this) the base percentage should be higher at a more upscale restaurant where there is MORE service, meaning more people waiting on you, additional wine service, and more courses that require special presentation or preparation at the table. If you go to an upscale restaurant and have really horrible service, then yes don't tip 20% by all means. And if you go to Shoney's and have a super friendly waitress who bends over backwards to serve you, then by all means give her 20 or even 25%, even though she will still be getting an overall lesser amount that the lousy waiter at Circo. That's just the way it is.

I guess the bottom line or the general rule of thumb is that if you are eating in a more expensive restaurant you should also expect to tip more (starting with a higher percentage).
I know some people also feel that a $5 tip on a bottle of wine is fine rather than a percentage and would tip that amount on either a $30 bottle or a $300 bottle. That's fine if that's what you want to do, but it just isn't done in knowing circles. Never mind that one bottle was no harder to serve than the other, it's just a fact of dining out and doing things the proper way.

But again, if you have a rude and horrible server at a fine restaurant, there is no reason in the world to still tip him 20%, or even 15$. And if the server is really that terrible, you owe it to the management to explain to them why you "shorted" the waiter, and not to the waiter himself.

Bambi

That is just the way it is?? Sorry, but I don't go along with that. I do not think that the crumby waiter at the good place deserves more, just because you paid more for the food on the plate. I like the idea of a standard tip. No percentage, no price differance. Tip for service, and service only.

xxx

Patrick, you say that you KNOW that it does not take any more effort to serve a $300 bottle of wine that it takes to serve a $30, and yet in "KNOWING" circles, you tip more???? Wow. I stand in awe of 'knowing' cirles.

xxx

O.K., lets just say that I also stand in awe of people who can spell and type better than I......

x

from one x to another, I congratulate you on your sense of humor, and more importantly, your ability to laugh at yourself.

Patrick

xxx, where did you read a post where I said "I KNOW that it doesn't take any more effort to serve a $300 bottle of wine that a $30 one"? If you re-read my above post I never said that. I was refering to what some people think when they believe that it is ok to leave the same tip for two wines. And in some cases it really is no more effort. Not all expensive wines require decanting for example, while some $30 wines actually do, if that is your point. But there certainly are SOME $300 wines that take no more effort to serve than some $ 30 wines. And that is something I KNOW! It was an example.

Kathy

As the mother of 2 former paperboys, I wonder how many of you so happy to tip generous amounts to professional servers even tipped your paperboys at Christmas. I found the people who tipped the pizza delivery guy $3 for a pizza couldn't come up with $20 at Christmas for the poor kid who delivered to their door 365 days a year.

sheila

Agree, I also am a mother of a paperboy and have seen some of our neighbors who my son delivers to tip a coat check person two dollars for hanging up their coat. Then they can't give my kid a Christmas tip when he delivers to their house everyday. People don't realize how little paperboys make from the paper. They depend on the tips but they are the last people that are thought of .

nance

I agree that the paper delivery person should get a good tip. We also leave $10.00 each for the two guys who do our trash pick-up. These guys have to get out in all kinds of weather and do a job that nobody else wants.