Tips on tipping – a shared international guide...

[LL_moderator_ah]

Share your insight about a cultural variation that confronts every global traveler.

Any international traveler is familiar with the idea of adjusting to various customs and manners in a foreign destination. However, sometimes an often overlooked or seemingly minor habit can tarnish your image as a visitor, a tourist and most especially an American. In addition to being conditioned to tack on a hefty 15-20% as a tip, we seem to suffer from an innate correlation between gratitude and money.

According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, you should leave those preconceived notions at the door. It is it not even considered polite to tip in many countries particularly in Asia and furthermore, overtipping is at times perceived as outright rude. The implication can be that the person you are tipping is not hospitable enough to provide a service without a bribe.

Luxury Links advice:
educate yourself before you take the trip, and try your best to act accordingly. A few minutes of internet browsing should be enough to provide you with the information you need. Note your destinations basic guidelines in terms of these 3 factors:

-when it is appropriate to tip (restaurants, porters, taxis)
-how much to tip
-special tipping practices

In some countries, for example, handing cash to a service person is considered to be disrespectful, and a small tray may typically be provided for this purpose. While the American cash-pushing influence is certainly spreading, the level of tolerance for tipping practices is widely varied. Generally speaking, respect is the key to a meaningful exchange, and learning the nuances of a particular culture is certainly the highest form of this.

Any advice on tipping from seasoned travelers?

Crazy tipping stories you remember (or try to forget)?

[jashermd]

Hello,

Going on safari is quite different from most other trips, in that almost everything is pre-paid before you arrive (accommodation, meals, and activities) so you don't necessarily tip for service at each meal, etc.

On my trips to Africa (Southern and East Africa), I generally tip as follows (though exceptional service is always rewarded!):

* Main guide/ranger: $10 per person per day ($20-$25 per day if I have booked a private vehicle)

* Trackers, polers, and assistant guides: $5 per person per day to each staff member

* Private butler/valet: $5 per person per day

* General staff tip box: $5 per person per day

Most people do all their tipping at the end of their stay rather than nightly. Many camps in South Africa and Botswana will provide envelopes for tips -- in East Africa you should probably bring your own.

Note that you can tip by credit card at many camps, which is a lot safer than carrying large amounts of cash -- many of my trips are 2-3 weeks long (which is not at all unusual for a safari), so you can imagine how much I'd have to bring. Some people feel that tipping by credit card is impersonal, but it doesn't have to be. I write a thank-you note to my guides and attach a little stick-pin of the Merton College crest (where I teach in Oxford) -- many guides have quite a collection of these pins from around the world, and my guides often say that they appreciate the note and pin more than the money (though no one minds money!). If I've tipped by credit card I'll include a line in the note about how much I tipped them (e.g. 'I've left $50 for you via credit card) so the guide can claim his money from the management. I also put a thank-you note in the staff tip box.

If I'm returning to a camp where I know the guide from previous trips, I'll sometimes bring gifts for him or his famiy -- current magazines are particularly appreciated in some of the more remote areas of the bush as they're very hard to come by. These gifts are in addition to the tip.

Yes, it does add up, but many of the staff perform minor miracles in making life comfortable and pleasant while in very remote locations!

Cheers,
Julian


Message Edited by jashermd on 05-31-200701:55 PM

[omegaet]

LL_moderator_kg....the article you mentioned http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-money20may20does tend to open eyes to this "guilt" tippingwe Americans have apparently succeeded in infecting much of the free world with recently.

[claassenam]

One problem I've found when following such guides is that service people at the high end, westernized hotels throughout Asia and India still seem to expect a tip - even when every written guidebook says that tipping is not customary! I find the same from cab drivers when they know that we are Americans. I always evaluate each tipping opportunity as it appears.

My favorite hotel tipping policy is at the Oberoi hotels. There, porters, waiters, maids, doormen, etc. are not allowed to accept tips throughout the daily activities. Instead, guests are encouraged to leave one lump-sum gratuity at checkout which is then divided amongst the staff. In this way, all of the behind-the-scenes people are properly rewarded and it really cuts down on all of that gray area that surrounds the act of tipping. Personally, I am always uncomfortable when tipping in other countries because it's difficult to be graceful about it when calculating exchange rates and remembering all of the other customs; I love the Oberoi policy!

[Mountie]

LL_moderator_kg, well maybe it is the places I travel to or the places I stay, but I don't how it would be possible for me to follow the suggestions in the LA Times article. I would be afraid NOT to tip, if I am a regular customer of visitor to the property or restaurant and I would ashamed NOT to tip, even if I never planned to return. Maybe this is a cultural thing with me! I have witnessed on more than one occasion, foreign travelers in the US who have failed to tip and the service provider is ready to kill them. Anyone else share these feelings or experiences? Thank you.

[kyshel]

I am tired of the "gross overtipping American" label. If I'm in Eu and pay a check w/20% already included, whether I get decent service or not, it aggrevates me. I don't have the right to chose what to tip. They just take my money, no matter what. That's just the way it is.

I agreee that doing homework before traveling is important, but if you make a mistake and tip soemone where it's inappropriate, what's the big deal? The recipient will either give it back (insulted or not) or keep it. It's my money. If I am intentionally insulting someone, that's different (but why would anyone?) Imposed tips are no less welcome than offered or accepted in most places. Doing so [as an American] is not gross and I don't believe it's created an international problem. It's my money.

Questions were asked here to gain info and learn proper tipping etiquette in different countries, not to be insulted. I just wanted to know what to do in the safari setting when the price is $3-400/pax/day but paying less than half of that.
I would have thought that there would be no additional gratuities, but obviously not.

I agree with your issues, Mountie, because I have waited tables and tended bar (in the old days), that I would never avoid tipping unless it was a certainty. I do not tip a hairdress or similar professional who has a set price, because it is a set price. I don't believe I need in adding 10-15% to professional charges. I don't tip my doctor or hygienist.

I worked hard for LOW hourly wages that were supplemented by tips when I was in the service industry. The comparable base wages in Eu are so far from those in the states, and I am sorry that when my niece worked in NYC she got stiffed all the time by Europeans. Who's ugly now?

I'm not sorry for getting my dander up. I've been reading these psots and I finally had to toss my 2 dollars into the fray.

Thanks for listening, y'all.

PS--I don't feel guilty, except for the typos!!
Message Edited by kyshel on 05-29-200710:54 AM

[moirasage]

Hi Kyshel! I know what you mean about the "service compris" checks in Europe. But you don't necessarily need to pay the service charge if you think you haven't gotten good service. It's actually a voluntary service charge and you can opt not to pay it.

Last year I was at a restaurant in Italy where the service was awful...really slow (even by Italian standards)...and just generally careless, like spilling wine over my sister's hand when she had her glass filled and plain ignoring us for long periods of time (I was beginning to wonder if we were going to die of thirst before we could get a glass of water). The waiter made it seem as if being asked to do anything was a huge imposition (apparently our meal was cutting into his precious time to chatter on his cell phone, as that's what he spent the entire time doing). So when the check came, with 20% service charge, I crossed the service charge out and wrote the amount of the bill only. The waiter came and picked it up with my Amex, and shortly the manager appeared (the fastest "service" we'd seen all evening) wanting to know what was wrong. He did try to give us the guilt trip, but both of us have waited tables (at much lower wages than are normal in Italy) and we stood firm. Bottom line: I didn't pay the service charge. And I don't feel in the least bit guilty.

Moira

[bonniejoy03]

My Additional two cents horror story. As previously posted, we had border problems going from Nicaragua to Costa Rica (no problems, our driver just didn't stop!!) He still believes that we didn't tip enough on our trip down from CR to Nic!!! Not sure if it is true but we sure had problems trying to fly home! \



Just back from Anguilla and we surveyed our friends with the 15% automatically added to our food bills. Most of them all gave ADDITIONAL to this added on tip. I was very surprised. Most of them seemed to even go over the 20% because they felt the individual should see some of the tip immediately as opposed to at the end of the evening/week when tips were divided.

[LL_moderator_ah]

The problems and situations your comments are refering to areundoubtedly what make this topic such a difficult one to decipher. Itis certainly granted that many of the luxury accomodations worldwideare accustomed to expecting a tip, and in these cases you may have tosimply trust your instincts and experience. It is always good to knowlocal customs to base your perceptions, and then you can be moreconfident that whatever you personally feel is appropriate isultimately the best way to go.