The nerve-wracking tipping culture...

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Giving tip isn't exactly a thing where I come from. Some people do it, sure, but it's not common and not expected, either. However, I know that when in Rome, it's polite to do as Romans do, so I too should leave tip for certain people while visiting certain places in certain countries.

The problem is that I can't find any proper tipping guides anywhere! Which countries do I need to tip in and in which countries people don't expect tip? Who do I tip? How much is a proper amount? And how do I give the freaking tip in the first place!?

So yeah, I'd like to hear about the tipping etiquette of different countries (preferably from locals) and if there are differences between different parts of the country. I'm especially interested in Britain, London to be more clear, since that's a place I definitely want to visit at some point and I'm pretty sure people leave tip there.

Here is a guide for tipping in Europe:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/ ... -in-europe

...and another in England only:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel ... in-england

This guide for the UK at whototip.net <link> pretty much matches my experience from living here.

A few other tips (pun intended! ) that I would add to that...

Tipping in the UK should always be done as discreetly as possible. Making a grand gesture of it is considered bad etiquette - it is often seen as an attempt to make other customers feel bad for being less generous, showing off how much spare cash you have, or that you are trying to get preferential treatment if you visit the same place again. If paying cash, you would simply give more than what is on the bill and ask them not to give you change, or if paying by card, to add a little extra to the card transaction.

Many places here discourage giving tips to a specific member of staff and may have a policy of pooling tips and then sharing them out later among all the staff or collecting them for a charity. If you have to go to a counter to pay, there's sometimes a "tips jar" or collection box there to make it obvious that tips are shared in this way, so keep your eye out for that. Other places discourage tipping entirely, so don't be offended if the offer of a tip is refused and don't insist upon it.

Even where tipping is the norm there are still so many variations in who to tip for what service and what amount.

I'm sure travel guides would cover this, no?

Also, I'd be sure to watch what other customers do and how they're perceived. ie If you see everyone tipping a service employee, you tip them too. If you see someone not tip someone and notice the employee seems irritated by that, you tip them. If no one else is tipping anyone and staff seem indifferent and service levels are fine, don't tip. If you're not sure, ask a local if possible. Heck, even a manager of the service employees you're being served by if you REALLY want to know what's appropriate there & then.

Having worked in the service industry here where tipping is the norm, it's not so cut and dry. Some service jobs never get tipped, others nearly always. So many service employees EXPECT a tip and I find that rude. I accepted tips as earned, and accepted that some people can't afford to tip and others don't want to etc and just went about providing service regardless. Most aren't like me, though, and will certainly provide better service to good tippers. But it's annoying if someone tips very high and expects you to be their personal service employee and not pay any attention to the rest of your guests, especially if the rest are regulars and the high roller is a one off deal. Don't be that guy.

As far as tipping in other cultures & currencies goes, I haven't done much of it personally.. but my take on it is to tip as I see fit. Some people will say "Oh, you only need to tip the equivalent of $0.50 CDN because money goes a long way here," kind of thing, but to me, if I'd have tipped several dollars for that service back home it means I can easily justify tipping that guy $2, or even $5, and totally making his entire day! That and if you're tipping someone who's going to be serving you for several days then if you're going to be generous do it in the beginning more so than the end as then they tend to be much better, friendly, service people to you in appreciation for the bit of money you boosted their pockets with.

I've also gone to local places where tips are expected & tipped exactly ZERO because the service was so poor. I've also spoken with managers and told them to remove the automatic 18% gratuity from the bill because it wasn't disclosed AND the service was horrible. Tips must be earned, not expected.

So, the answer is.. *shrug* it's a grey area. Everywhere. Try your best to fit in but don't stress too much about it, it's not a large part of your life & chances are your tip, or lack of, isn't a major impact on that service persons day or bottom line.

I can only speak for the UK. First, don't worry about it, you are not expected to tip at all, it is an extra as and if you feel the service was particularly good. It's much more important to be polite to anyone serving you and as Trogluddite put if you do tip it's important to be discreet about it. The last place I waitressed the owner kept all of the tips, which is not common, but it's also not rare. And if a tip is automatically added on to your bill, don't hesitate to demand it be removed, us natives wouldn't pay it.

Also, for the UK specifically:

A friend from Wales once told me that the most common tip, if any, in a UK pub is a pint paid for by a customer once in a while. People in pubs there work for a (low) wage and that's pretty much it. It's not like here in North America where bartenders and servers make significant tips. Cash tips in the UK seem to be a bit of a rarity, especially in pubs.

However, they might be more common in Night Clubs. A Canadian friend of mine worked the coat check for a gay night club in London for a while & made a decent amount in tips. Maybe there's more of a tipping culture in night clubs than any regular pubs there?

Also, UK Canadian connection here again.. pretty much whenever I heard a British accent while working at any bar here, I automatically assumed the tip amount would be Zero. This is because, in general, there isn't a tipping culture in the UK and so people don't tip. They're not being rude or necessarily dissatisfied with my service - they just don't tip and that's that and there's no reason for me to get annoyed by it or give any mental energy to it whatsoever.

You're still kinda back to square one with "When in Rome.." and I think the thing you're going to have to accept is that each and every establishment you visit in London might just be a different Rome. You'll have to just pay attention to those around you and see if they tip, if there's a tip jar etc and wing it as best you can, and even then, don't fret about it. So long as you're polite and well behaved no one's likely to notice if you do or don't tip, or care that much either way - especially since, in general, the UK doesn't have a tipping culture. Maaaaybe it's mainly tourists who tip anyone there? Maybe it's a little more prevalent in the gay community because gay guys tend to have a little more disposable income than those raising children? I really don't think you've got anything to worry about. Just go with the flow and do as those around you do or do not do as best you can.

I don't usually have one when I travel.

I read from somewhere that giving a very little tip is worse than not tipping at all, would you say this is true? If there is a tip jar is it okay to drop the small extra coins I have that are barely worth anything in to the jar or would that be rude, too? Is it okay (or common) to tell the cashier to keep the rest if the bill is, say, 8,70 and I pay with 10?

Depends on the situation.

A tiny tip on a large bill is considered a message to the server that you weren’t happy with their service. That’s why many perceive it as an insult whereas in some cases it should be received as criticism for the server to think about what they could have done better. But servers in tipping cultures are notoriously greedy and almost always take it as an insult. So, at least with no tip at all they may assume you simply do not tip or forgot and aren’t insulted like they are by a 38 cent tip on a $140 tab - because the 38 cents was intentional for sure.

Yeah, it’s fine to toss small coins in a tip jar. f**k them if they don’t think it’s enough - I’m of the mentality that every little bit counts & adds up. It’s fine and very normal where there are tip jars in coffee shops and bars etc. Even though they make more money already, since I’ve been behind a bar many times, I tend to tip bartenders far better than baristas. There are cultural reasons for it, like them sacrificing their night life/personal life to help bring us a party.

Yes, that’s common - the keep the change thing. It’s fine. If anyone ever has a problem with it they’re the one being rude or greedy.

Since I don’t go out often I tip well when I do - better than expected - and the result is the service staff are happier and provide me and everyone else with better service. I like to tip my barber well, too. I like the reaction I get from tipping well, too, like the reaction from some single mom cafe server when I pocket the loose change and leave her a $5 or $10 bill. Feels good to make people’s day for a mere few extra dollars the once in a while I bother dining out.

That would be a good tip plus saying keep the change is the best way to give a tip in money.
Really, don't worry about this, I've done all of these jobs, we don't expect it.

In the United States, it's strongly customary (meaning a pretty horrible thing to forgo) to tip wait staff at restaurants where your order is taken at the table 15% to 20% of the cost on the bill (which we call a check only in this instance for some reason). Tipping wait staff in these types of establishments goes back a while and has actually shaped the laws on wages for this type of work. In the U.S. there is a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, wait staff in sit down restaurants where they take your order at the table are except from this, and instead the law requires they be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour if their tips exceed more than $30 for that month. If tips do not exceed more than $30 for that month, then employers must pay them federal minimum wage. To trigger the lower minimum wage rate, a waiter or waitress need only receive $1.39 per week day in tips. If they received no tips after that...in other words, made $2.13 per hour, plus $30 and worked a 40 hour week, they would bring home $396.36 for that month. It's like this because the laws developed around the fact that we do customarily tip, and while a lot of people are irked by the idea that tipping is theoretically voluntary but socially not voluntary, the reality is, it allows restaurants to keep food prices low. At a restaurant that gets good regular business, they pay each waiter or waitress about $366.36 per month and the patrons pay the bulk of the wages in tips, depending on how satisfied they were with the service. Was it great? Maybe they pay as much as 30% out of gratitude. Was it standard? 20%. Was it ok but could have been better, or they just don't have much on them? 15% is fine. Does their wait person need a heads up that they can do better? 10%. Was it absolutely horrible and you intend to never go back? 0%.

It's also fairly customary to tip hair dressers.

The only time wait staff at sit down establishments where your order is taken at the table are not tipped is when they do a particularly horrible job and you don't intend to go back there again. Otherwise, while it's not a law that you must tip them, and you wouldn't be arrested for not doing so, you really ought to tip them as it's quite a bad thing not to.

It's considered polite to tip cab drivers, bell hops, pizza delivery people, and some of these new grocery delivery services allow for tips. The cab drivers because they have your life in their hands, the bell hops because it makes one look classy, the pizza delivery people because they have a full 10-30 minutes alone with your pizza in a non-tamper proof box, and the grocery deliver people...I'm not really sure why but there is a tip option on the app and my sister insists I'm supposed to use it.

I think people tip bartenders and possibly valets.

Baristas at places like Starbucks and some fast food places where you order at the counter and pick your food up at the counter often put out tip jars but it's far more socially optional to tip them than any of the above categories because they receiver higher base wages than wait staff, aren't independent contractors like hair dressers, don't have as much of an opportunity to spit in your drink or food next time as pizza delivery people do, and don't have your image or life in their hands. Most of the money in those tip jars are money the workers put in themselves to make people feel more inclined to tip.

We don't usually tip people who bag groceries or help us with our groceries to our car, and most supermarkets don't allow bag people to accept tips. We also don't tip wait staff who bring the food to the table but who don't take the order at the table. If you left a tip it would probably be taken by the bus person who clears the table. We also don't tip mail carriers, or UPS or FedEx delivery people...they typically drop the package and leave before you get to the door and the companies don't facilitate tipping anyway....they also make base pay wages.