honeymayspirit

Well we come to Florida twice a year for the past 8 years from the UK. It infuriates my husband that he is expected to tip!
He says, why should he pay their wages!! He has a point!
We do 15%.....that's enough! Why should you have a menu price, room price...then add tax then add tip. You put another 25/30% on top of the original price.
We stopped cruising because of that.

happytrailstoyou

If that thought distresses you, try not to think about it.

Thanks for the advice. I'll work on it. I'm curious what it feels like to be a mindless twit.

Since waiters are expert at sizing people up, they should be in demand by blue chip corporations to evaluate potential employees and service providers, but instead they seem to be working in company cafeterias. What a waste of talent.

HTtY

travelgourmet

As someone mentioned above some places do that if they think you are from another country!!!

In Miami, they do it to everyone. It is the only place I've actually seen it for small parties, but every restaurant I went to there did it.

Since waiters are expert at sizing people up, they should be in demand by blue chip corporations to evaluate potential employees and service providers, but instead they seem to be working in company cafeterias.

Which company cafeterias have waitstaff? I mean, what are you talking about?

As an aside, you are an exceedingly unpleasant person. Have you ever considered that, if you don't get good service, you may be the problem? You should work on that.

He says, why should he pay their wages!! He has a point!

What, exactly, is that point?

We do 15%.....that's enough!

Not really, but okay.

Why should you have a menu price, room price...then add tax then add tip. You put another 25/30% on top of the original price.

For the same reason American tourists in the UK pay 30% more for pretty much everything? The world is a big place and not everything is like home.

We stopped cruising because of that.

I'm sure your loss is felt.

Kymjon

Hmmm... hot topic!

NewbE

<and that he is expected to tip!
He says, why should he pay their wages!! He has a point!>
No, he doesn't.

<We do 15%.....that's enough! >
No, it's not.

You two are being cheap.

IMDonehere

Over 51 million visitors will come to NYC this year, 10 million from other countries. 20% of the apartments in Manhattan are owned by people who live elsewhere, including Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan, and South America. There are 475 different languages spoken here by people who live here. Add to that visitors from other parts of the US, who may not know the tipping customs in NYC.

So the hostesses and wait staff must possess some extraordinary linguistic and telepathic abilities to ascertain the tipping proclivities of diners by their accents. Do people from Yorkshire tip differently than Belgravia? And all this is ascertained by the monosyllabic response "Yes," to the question, "Table for Two?" Happytrails, is wrong that they should be working for corporations, they should be working for the CIA and for the FBI as profilers.

thursdaysd

"He says, why should he pay their wages!! He has a point!"

I entirely agree that the US system is stupid. Unfortunately, the system is what it is, and unless it is ever changed (don't hold your breath), you need to tip.

"<We do 15%.....that's enough! >
No, it's not.

You two are being cheap."

When I moved to the US in 1975, the standard percentage was 10%. I understand prices rising, but not percentages. I think 15% is fine, although I do tip 20% in NYC.

travelgourmet

And all this is ascertained by the monosyllabic response "Yes," to the question, "Table for Two?"

Maybe at Applebee's. Many restaurants do take reservations you know.

thursdaysd

"Maybe at Applebee's. Many restaurants do take reservations you know."

Via Open Table and the equivalent. Not by voice.

IMDonehere

Maybe at Applebee's. Many restaurants do take reservations you know.
_______________________
Yes, and how extensive are those conversation? And when making reservations on-line, which accents do they detect? And when they do discern an accent do they make a notation in the computer with a big "A" like in the Scarlet Letter?

IMDonehere

"Hello, my name is Tiffany and I'll be your linguist tonight."

travelgourmet

Via Open Table and the equivalent. Not by voice.

Even better. Since you usually have to give a phone number when booking online, it is even easier to tell where they are coming from. But it is more than just accents. Names can be a giveaway - someone named Henri is unlikely to be an American. Ditto for Dieter. Same for Sita. Dress (in terms of brands) can tell you a lot too.

Regardless, I wasn't the one that recommended consciously advertising yourself as a foreigner, that was HTtY. If they followed her advice, then they self-identify.

thursdaysd

"Since you usually have to give a phone number when booking online, it is even easier to tell where they are coming from. "

Never heard of SIMs for cell phones?

And maybe you haven't noticed, but much of America is multi-cultural these days, Sita may be second or third generation local.

NewbE

< I think 15% is fine, although I do tip 20% in NYC.>

I have lived in a lot of places in the US, and 15% has not been fine anywhere for many, many years. It is the bare minimum, and sends the message that the service was barely acceptable.

Furthermore, the difference to you is negligible. Observe that a 15% tip on a $60 tab is $9; 20% is $12. $3, when you've spent over $70 once the tax is added, is what you're quibbling about. Whereas to the server, $3 multiplied by the number of tables s/he serves over the course of a month, say, adds up to real money.

And lastly, if you're going to quibble over $3, it seems really mean to do so at home, in places you regularly patronize, but then up your game only in NYC. We tip well everywhere, but especially generously at home.

travelgourmet

Never heard of SIMs for cell phones?

I've heard of them. I don't think most people have the number when they are making reservations, but I've heard of them.

And maybe you haven't noticed, but much of America is multi-cultural these days

I'm fully aware of that.

Sita may be second or third generation local.

There appear to be no more than 1,500 people with the name Sita in the US. Even that seems to be based upon the fact that data is missing, so the number could be lower or even zero.

Regardless, you make it seem like the goal is 100% precision. It isn't. The goal is to maximize your share of the demographics that will tip you more. If you whiff every once in a while, it isn't the end of the world.

FWIW, foreigners are not the only demographics that a waiter may want to punt to the rookies.

Kymjon

I think I have a handle on the tipping question now, thanks all.
BIG thanks especially to DebitNM, you answered my intial query perfectly well.
Meryy christmas to you all.

DebitNM

You're most welcome, enjoy!

happytrailstoyou

Welcome to the U.S.A. Don't take any wooden nickels.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...5144642AAuxAt0

HTtY

nytraveler

10% has not been an acceptable tip in my adult lifetime - about 40 years. I worked as a waitress while in college - in the suburbs - and we got 15% at least - often 25% to 30% from guys wanting to take you out after work.

nytraveler

sorry - as for identifying foreigners we were in a casuale restaurant on Dam in Amsterdam for lunch one day. they had menus in multiple languages and the hostess handed you one upon entering. when I asked her how she could tell which to give to who - she said a combination of accents and shoes. and she was right about 80% of the time.

IN NYC I see a lot of foreign tourists who are very obvious (many be many that are not) but it is partly clothes, partly how they walk, and partly how confused most look. So restaurant hosts and waiters can identify many tourists.