The Art of Tipping - Geraldine Campbell

Strate
The Art of Tippirg.
How much to tip,
and when?What's
standardin America
might be taboo
inJapan.Find
the answerswith
T+L'l grrideto
gratuitiesaround
the world.
82 GERALDINECAMPBELL
Ilknratud b1tGIJY BILLOUT
O
strcrtegiesI travel solutions
IPPIN G C ON U N D R U M S
are everywhere.
Shouldyou tip the
valet when you drop
offyour car andwhen
you pick it up? If the
serviceis atrocious,is
ffi
#*ffi
dt
l rfi
ryw
ffi&
w;'
w
Whetherto glvedally depends
on the slzeof your hoteland
the country you're In (see
page146 for more).But
g.nerally speaklng,at a small
property where the same
person llk6ly servicesyour
room for your full stay, leavea
gratuity beforeyou check out.
"The standardls a thank-you
note,wlth a tlp for eachday of
your sta%" says Emma
Stroud, executlve housekeeperat 41,In London,which
has 28 roomsand whose
housekeepers
earnl5 to 20
percent of thelr Incomefrom
tlps. At largerpropertles,the
person maklng your bed on a
Wednesdaymlght not do it on
Thursday.Accordingto Scott
Geraghty,generalmanagerof
the 229-room St. ReglsIn
New York Clty, "You're better
off leavlnga daily tip." It you
aren't aroundwhenhousekeeplngarrives, placethe
approprlateamount(typically
53 to S5 a day in the U.s.) in I
clearly markedcnvelope.
-MARIO LOPEZ'COROERO
2008
| r nr y!Lr x
commodated special requests, give a bit
more. Tips are often slightly higher in
the U.K. and Eastern Europe, where it's
appropriate to leave between 10 and 15
included in a restaurant bill? Hotels
percent. The same is true for much of the
have started to add an iB to 20 percent
Middle East. In some Asian countries,
charge to room-service bills; do you
still need to tip the person who delivers
tipping the server is a no-no. InJapan,
where gratuities in general are rare, it's
your meal?
perceived as rude and in bad taste. And
it was illegal in China into the 1980's,
answers are relatively straightforward.
though the practice is becoming accept-
The rule for valet parking, regardless
able in the more Westernized tourist
of where you are, is to tip only when
you pick up your car (valet tips are
destinations, as well as in Hong Kong.
keen on getting white-glove treatment
for your vehicle, go ahead and tip
As for room service, that nonoptional
1B to 20 percent charge may or may not
go to the room-service attendant, depending on the hotel. Some establish-
up front.
ments divide the fee among the servers
Other gratuity issuesare cloudier.
In American restaurants, the majority
and the kitchen staff. Others funnel the
money straight to management-in par-
of customers are now tipping 20 percent versus the former standard of l5
ticular when it's labeled "service charge"
rather than "gratuity." If you want to be
a stickler, call the front desk to find out
the hotel's policy. An easier option is just
generally pooled, anyway). If you're
percent, according to Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute (and
great-grandsonof the famous etiquette
to ask the meal server-or
experQ and author of EssentialManners
over a bit ofcash.
for Men. He says the change is primarily
due to convenience: Doing the math
with 20 percent is easier, especially after that glass of dessert wine (most
sources suggest calculating on the pretax amount)- Post emphasizes that din-
simplv hand
And don't forget the porter. Some
sources suggest$5 as the minimum tip
for a bellman. This may come as a surprise to people used to doling out $1 per
bag, but gratuity inflation is a fact for
today's traveler. A little less money,
ers should always leave something, even
if the soup ended up in someone'slap,
dant who helps with your bags or a cab.
because tips typically make up the majority of a server's income. "There's a
Ultimately, says Post, "when a service
has been rendered that makes you feel
contract between you and the restau-
like someone has really made an effort,
rant" that implies you will subsidize the
it's worth rewarding their attentiveness."
waiters'earnings, he says."You could
also be penalizing the waiter when the
He aiso stressesabiding by the standards
of the country you're in, not the nationality of your hotel-so before you go any-
problem was with the busboy." Instead
of denying a tip, Post recommends asking to see the manager to express your
unhappiness.
fited from unwitting American largesse,
s g P T E IvIB E R
check, or leaving some pocket change on
the table, is the norm. If a server has ac-
countries is a gratuity automatically
Many European servers have bene-
144
vice is compris,einbegrffin, incluso,incluido.
No 20 percent here: rounding up the
it okay to stiff the waiter? In which
For some of these questions, the
SHO ULD
ITIP
HO U SE K E E P ING
EVERY
DAY?
because on much of the Continent, ser-
DL!r sur E.cor r
though, can be handed to a lobby atten-
where , do some research to figure out
your gratuity strategy ahead of time
(start with the chart on page 146). And
remember: Always have a bit of local
currency in your pocket. >>
strctegiesI travel solutions
S
T+1,
S TIPFII\GGI]IDELINE
W
w
15o/o-2Oo/o 1o0/o-150/o 10o/o
(often
of pre-tax in Mexico;
included
usually
bill.
included
inBrazil).
inthe
Caribbean
(if not,
1Oo/o-2Oo/o).
145
srp
f E MB E R
2008
I r r AvELANDLr r sunE.
lf service 51per
included, dri nk.
an extra
5% is
optional;
5o/o-1Oo/o
otherwise.
S1-S2per
drink,or
1O-15o/o
ol
tab,
1Oo/o-15o/oinSl per
Caribbean; d r i n k ;
100/o
looloin
often
included
Mexico.
in Brazil,
) 5-)ZU
dependi ng
on
c ompl exi ty
of servi ce
provi ded.
)Z-)5 In
Mexi co;
5o/o-1Oo/o
oI
bi l l i n the
C ari bbean.
2o/o-5o/o
ol
bi i l .
55, or
51-52 per
bag.
S 1-S 2per
bag.
51per
bag.
S2-53per
per
S1-52
S1-S2per
bag.
Tip not
expected.
q2-(?
Variesby
Sl-S2a
day.
a
S1-S2
Tipnot
r {a \/
aYnaafad
Tip not
expected.
WHENSH OULD
I TIP
TH ECO NCIE RGE ?
A conciergedoesn'texpect
you to slip him an Andrew
Jacksonjust for bookinga
dinnerreservationor performlngother routinetasksprintingyour boardingpass,
calllnga car to take you to the
airport."Thereare guests
who tip generouslyand those
who neveropentheir wallets,"
says OllvlerGemayel,a conciergeat H6tel Fouquet's
BarriAreIn Parls;he claims
neitherapproachhas any consequentlaleftect,"l've been
handed58OOfor holdlnga
door openand receiveda slmple smilefor arranglngprlvate
jet transportation,"he says.
"There'sno loglcto it." Still,
a tip is often warranted,dependingon the locale.A good
rule: lf you use the concierge
frequently,tip around$5 a
day at checkout,and glvethe
same55 amountfor a onetime service.And keepin mind
the relativedifficulty of a
request;offer S2O(or more)
if you seeka minor miraclelike
front-row tickets to Eguus
or a last-minutetableat the
FrenchLaundry.-u.r-.
for
5o/o-1Oo/o
10o/o-15o/o,N ot ip i n
Usually
Japan;
top-notch
included;
if if not
included. smalltips
not,
in partsof
otherwise,
5o/o-15o/o.
China;
1Oolo not
expecreo.
i n I nd i ai,f
n o to n b i l l .
)r-)5 a oay.
A
U pto 55,
depending or'l0o/oof
on
bi l l .
complexity
of service.
bag.
day.
day.
bag.
Variesby
region,
from
nothingto
s m al l
change.
Tip not
expected.
l n I nd i a ,
Ti pn o t
per
expected.
S1-S2
request;
at
l e a stS5a t
Iu x ury
h o t el si n
Southeast
A s i a.
from
nothingto
55 a day.
15o/o-2Oo/o In Mexico,
smal l
change;i n
C ari bbean,
1Oo/o-15o/o.
\oo/o-2oo/o
1oo/o-15o/o
1Oo/o-2Oo/o 1Oo/o-15o/o
R o u n du p
fare,
Roundup
fare.
Variesby
region,
from no tip
to 1Oo/o.
No tip or
roundup;
inJapan,
no tip.
1Oo/o-15o/o
lOo/o-15o/o
Not
common,
b u t1 0 %15o/o
at
upscale
sp a s .
lOo/o-15o/o Tip not
at upscale expected.
sp a s.
1Oo/o-15o/o Variesby
1Oo/o'15o/o lQo/o
region,
from
nothingto
<c
per
S1-SZ
Item .
51
S mal l
change.
52-53per
rtem.
S mal l
changeto
sl .
* Tiosareincluded
at all-inclusive
resorts.
c o!r
ahando
Tip not
' ex pec ted.
arncafcal