I found this on the Internet:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Tipping
An addition of 10% is usually adequate. When there is a service charge added, however, an extra tip is not necessary and in some cases officially discouraged.
</font>
http://www.btonline.com/cityGuides.php?cityID=83

Is the tip included in the restaurant bill?
How much tip for the taxi?
Actually, I have no problems giving a nice tip, especially with this exchange rates and knowing that some troubled Portenos really need some $ or pesos. I just want to know what's the way to go.

I was tipping 15% whenever I went to restaurants. I didn't feel like 10% was much, considering the economic situation down there.

In BA all the restaurants I went to didnt include the tip in the bill. I'm not sure if there are rest. that include the tip ??
With taxis I was handing out 5 pesos and not expecting change for rides below 4 pesos (and quite honestly, most drivers were happy with the tip).

Anything above that I usually added 2 pesos. For trips from city to airport I always included a tip of 10 pesos, considering the low fare (27 pesos) and the long ride.

eperaltaotero:
Thanks - I will take your advise.
I guess you speak Spanish ... being a "Gringo", the Portenos may expect a little more from me..

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by eperaltaotero:
I was tipping 15% whenever I went to restaurants. I didn't feel like 10% was much, considering the economic situation down there.

In BA all the restaurants I went to didnt include the tip in the bill. I'm not sure if there are rest. that include the tip ??
With taxis I was handing out 5 pesos and not expecting change for rides below 4 pesos (and quite honestly, most drivers were happy with the tip).

Anything above that I usually added 2 pesos. For trips from city to airport I always included a tip of 10 pesos, considering the low fare (27 pesos) and the long ride.

</font>

Taxi cab driver's don't expect tips more than the rounding up to the nearest peso. However, I usually just give 5 pesos for any trip under 4 pesos (I have a lot of 2 peso taxi rides but paying 70 US cents is too cheap, so I end up leaving 5 pesos ($1.50 -- NYC subway fare equivalent), and tip 10 to 20 pesos (yes, nearly doubling) the city-airport taxi, remise, etc. fare on my return to the airport and 5 pesos on my way into the city. [Even as an obvious foreigner, I have yet to have a dishonest cabby there, despite all the horror stories my friends tell me.]

Nowadays, at restaurants there I just usually tip 15 to 20%, since everything is ridiculously cheap compared to what i was spending (in US dollar terms) down there in 2000 and 2001.

Interesting thing happened to me this past Sunday when I was in Buenos Aires. I was at a restaurant sitting outdoor in the Las Canitas section of the city, and a fellow in his early 30s came around with a basket full of wrapped pastries baked that morning. My friend and I offered to give him money but told him he can keep the pastries. The fellow sincerely refused and would sell us the pastries but not accept donations as this was now his work. That kind of self-help work ethos has to be rewarded and recognized. [The pastries were really good by the way.]

[This message has been edited by GUWonder (edited 11-27-2002).]

For what it's worth, we tipped 10% in restaurants and usually rounded up the cab fare. This was pretty much the normal practice we noticed locals doing (and suggesting).

I really appreciate that people feel that 10% is too little, but I believe that applying American standards of what's cheap and what things should really cost only paves the way for expectations for such tips for future travelers.

We got ripped off once. A 19 peso cab fare from the microcentro to the zoo. It was our first day, and after several 4-5 peso fares for the same distance later on, we realized what a ripoff it really was. I wonder how many people overtipped him over time to make him try the ripoff and succeed.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JimC:

I really appreciate that people feel that 10% is too little, but I believe that applying American standards of what's cheap and what things should really cost only paves the way for expectations for such tips for future travelers.

We got ripped off once. A 19 peso cab fare from the microcentro to the zoo. It was our first day, and after several 4-5 peso fares for the same distance later on, we realized what a ripoff it really was. I wonder how many people overtipped him over time to make him try the ripoff and succeed.</font>

JimC, I'm really sorry to hear you got ripped off like that but this incident doesn't relate to overtipping. You simply met a dishonest taxista ! If he decided to take other routes to get to the zoo, then he was being dishonest.

On my last trip, a taxista tried to rip me off. I got into a cab (pirate cab- I know, I know but I'm latino and I don't have a problem with taxistas) and this guy tried to take other routes, but since it was my last day there so I didn't bother to let him know that I knew my way around in BA.

Anyway, from the Hilton to the city(obelisque) is about 4 or 5 pesos, depending the route you take. I look at the meter, it's about 5 pesos and I still wasn't where I needed to be. He decided to enter a one way street where the traffic was horrible so I got pissed off, and he noticed this and started asking me where I'm from and how long I was going to be in BA.

At that moment I decided throw the money in pax seat and tell him that he was a an hambriento, cara de verga.. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif

I have a woderful story about a taxista in BA.

Well, after leaving Cabana Las Lilas a few friends(gringos) and I decided to take a cab to the floating casino. I got friendly with the guy and he offered himself to drive us anywhere we wanted after the casino.

I didn't think much about it, but after a few minutes in the casino I noticed the taxista approach us to say hello. I was puzzled - I didn't agree to use his services !!

Anyway, casino personnel got worried when they saw this guy following and looking over us (well, my friends the gringos) at the tables , but we weren't sweating it too much, because my friends in english were saying out loud (yes, they were drunk) that once outside they would kick his .... http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

Finally, after 3 hours he decided to leave and say goodbye. To be honest, he wasn't trying to rob us or anything, just wanted to make some money.