MaureenB

We way over-tipped in Europe last summer--being ignorant is my only excuse! This summer I want to be informed. What is the appropriate tip percentage for restaurant wait service in London, Paris and Amsterdam? Thanks!

Robespierre

The Fodor's online guides spell this out in egregious detail:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/ind...stscope=europe

Intrepid1

All I can say is get ready for a food fight.With the greatest of respect for what you are trying to do I would aask the following:

You say that you "way over-tipped"???? does this mean the service wasn't worthy of the amount you gave?

Have you decided that you are being ripped off somehow if you tip more than "they" say is "appropriate"???

Do you think there will ever be a time when the service you receive might warrant tipping more than is "appropriate"???

Kate

I'll speak up for London...

Many restaurants now automatically add on a service charge (generally 12.5%, sometimes a cheeky 15%), in which case you do not need to add a tip. If you're unsure if service has been added, just ask 'is service included?' when you get the bill.

If service hasn't been added, then leaving 10% is standard (either cash on the table, or added to your CC slip - whichever you prefer).

However, service is NOT compulsory. If you're not happy with the service, then you are perfectly at liberty to ask them to remove the service charge from the bill.

Aside from restaurants, the only time we Londoners tip is
1) taxi drivers - either rounding up the money or adding about 10%. Again, not compulsory.
2) hairdressers. Again, not compulsory.

No need to ever tip bar tenders.

I can't speak for hotels or tour guides - as a local, I don't use these facilities.

MaureenB

Intrepid1, talk about misunderstanding my question (and under-estimating my intelligence)! I don't see the point in responding so vehemently to a simple post.

For those of you who are more interested in providing travel tips than picking a fight--
I am looking for general guidelines for tipping in restaurants in these three cities-- plain and simple.
Because on this forum, I read that a service charge is included in the total bill in many countries, like the ones we visited last summer. We didn't know that, so we left up to an additional 20 percent, which is what I mean by 'way over-tipping'.
So, I am wondering-- in London, Paris and Amsterdam, do you tip like we do in the States? Or is it included in the bill? Thanks for any helpful replies.

MaureenB

Kate, thank you so much. That's exactly what I need to know.

LuckyLuc

My London experience is to limited (only ten days) to really be of some help. But in Paris, it really depends of the type of restaurants. In a café or a bistro just round up in centimes the amount, since that the "service est compris". In a restaurant, it have more to do with the renommée of the place. In the really famous (Taillevent, Grand Véfour, Lucas Carton etc..)it would not be elegant to leave less than 40euros. In regular restaurants or brasseries between 5 and 10 euros depending on how much you appreciate the service. Hope this help. Bon appétit.

suze

If overtipping is the worst problem encountered traveling on a trip to Europe... well I don't see the gravity of the situation really. And as mentioned above there are guidelines for tipping offered on any travel website or decent guidebook.

Just sign me, an ex-waitress

Travelnut

Here's a nice long discourse, alllll about tipping in France..
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34577945

MaureenB

Thanks, LuckyLuc, for your helpful information about Paris. Again, that's just what I'm asking for.
But Suze, my post certainly doesn't say I thought that "overtipping is the worst problem encountered traveling on a trip to Europe" (jeez!) and didn't say it was a "grave situation" either. And, yes, there "are guidelines for tipping offered on any travel website or decent guidebook", but the idea of Travel Talk is to condense that information and get real-life, up-to-the-minute suggestions from fellow travelers, isn't it? Otherwise, every single question asked here could be answered in a book somewhere.
Really, folks, lighten up, or don't bother to respond. My question really has to do with subtle cultural differences, not financial distress, for Pete's sake.
Travelnut, I'll check the thread you posted. I know there are threads here to check, but I doubt if there's one that covers all three cities I'm interested in.
At this point, I'm sorry I asked.

Kate

Ignore them Maureen, everyone seems a bit cranky today. Your question was perfectly valid.

suze

I guess my post was coming from the point of view that know I over-tip when I travel, but that's OK with me. I tip by instinct rather than by what someone else says... be it here on a travel forum, or written in a guidebook.

Neil_Oz

But your "instinct", suze, is a result of your cultural conditioning, not your genes, and this I take to be the point of Maureen's question. If you are American, and especially if you are an ex-waitress, you will have been conditioned by an employment culture in which most of the burden of remunerating certain service staff is laid on the customer rather than on the employer. This is not the case in most other countries. In some it is hardly practiced at all, in others only occasionally and/or in smaller amounts. If you over-tip, you are importing an aspect of your culture that in all probability is at odds with the local culture. To do so in ignorance of local remuneration practices may be understandable, if not entirely excusable, but to do so deliberately may be another matter.

What part of "when in Rome..." is hard to understand?

suze

Neil, tip however you want. As will I continue to do. While I understand your well laid out argument, I have a difficult time believe that I will be seriously upsetting 'local culture' with my wild ways.

LoveItaly

Hi suze, no you will not by yourself be upsetting "local culture" by your "wild ways" but if every traveller thinks like you do, then that will be the end result.

I truly believe when we travel to another country we should respect their culture and ways of doing things.

And BTW, I do know that when travellers do overtip (for the country they are in) they are laughed at behind their back.

Something to think about IMHO.

Walter_Walltotti

MaureenB,

For London I would agree that for a full service restaurant where service has not already been included 10% is the norm, however if service doesn't come up to scratch then you can cut the tip accordingly. Self service or budget cafes, pubs and bars it is not normal or expected to tip in. Taxis - 10% is a norm, perhaps a bit more if they've been helpful with the luggage.
Porters at airports or the large railway stations usually work for a fixed fee and don't need tipping. If you ask for a voluntary service at an airport (i.e. mobility assistance) then a tip of up to £5 (depending how much assistance they give you) might be appropriate but it is certainly not compulsory. Hotel porters usually get tipped about £1-£2 per piece (but no more than £5 total).

Generally in London, like the rest of the UK, we don't really tip that much. For those who think it's ok to travel here and tip way more than what's expected - because that's what's they would be expected to tip in their own country in I assume they have no objection to the same applying when I travel to their country

Neil_Oz

suze, as usual I'll try to follow the do-in-Rome principle wherever I am, short of eating a goat's eyeball stew perhaps, and no, I don't think you'll single-handedly overturn the EU's industrial relations system - although LoveItaly's point is completely valid.

I still don't understand why you seem committed to transplanting old habits to places where they're just not appropriate, although I can understand your bond with waitresses (as can my wife and two daughters).

To take up Walter_Waltotti's point, how about if next time I visit the USA I follow my "instincts" and don't tip? Good idea? The principle is exactly the same, so why not?

Look at it this way: you come to my country, where tipping is traditionally the exception, not the rule. You eat at a restaurant, you're served by a waitress who's being paid say AU$20/hr, and you tip her. Why? She's doing the job she's being paid to do, like most of us, and her pay is appropriate to her skills and experience. Next day in a department store you're served by a shop assistant (sales clerk, I think you'd say?) who's being paid AU$20/hr, but you don't tip her (presumably). Why not? You buy a ticket at the railway station, same story (pesumably). Why not?

As we all know, in America there's a very good reason "why not" - and I've had to explain that to several of my compatriots who objected to tipping in the US because they just didn't realise that the people serving them needed their tips to live.

That reason simply doesn't apply, or at least applies to a much lesser extent, in most other places. That's the point, I think, but I don't seem to be doing a very good job of getting it across.

MaureenB

Kate, Neil, LoveItaly and Walter-- thank you for your insights! I, too, waited/hosted/bussed, even bartended, at more than my share of restaurants in the U.S. throughout my high school and college years. As a result, I tip to excess in this country. However, I am also a student of cultural anthropology-- so I want to understand a culture I am visiting and honor the traditions of any country which I am visiting. Thank you all for understanding my question and providing helpful answers.

BetsyG

MaureenB - keep asking your questions! There are others of us who are interested in these answers also. Did you find out anything on Amsterdam? We hope to be going there late summer.

suze

I have taken to heart the arguments against my haphazard approach to tipping, but am still curious to the original question's answer.

I see 10% for London is generally appropriate. Is it the same for both Paris and Amsterdam as well?

While we're on the subject, I am wondering as to people's view of tipping housecleaning (i.e.,the room maids) at hotels?

I promise I won't argue, I really do want to know.