I see where the OP was going (I think ). It wasn't so much intended to be another 10-page Travelbuzz thread about tipping cultures.

It's those little services where a real-time cash tip is expected. I do, indeed, avoid them because I hardly ever have cash on me. At least not in the U.S... So I have two options: let the guy carry my bag and then refuse to tip him or carry my own bag.

Since I am physically able, and since regardless of my philosophical view on the entire culture of tipping it would be uncomfortable to stiff the guy, I just carry my own bags. I also avoid valet parking whenever it's feasible. I don't fault the kid parking my car for expecting a tip, it's just that he doesn't take Amex.

I don't avoid tipping waiters and cab drivers...I add the normal custom to the bill and it gets charged to my credit card. (I'm talking U.S. here...not parts of the world where you negotiate for cash cabs on the street. There, I obviously carry cash for that purpose.)

It's really hotels...bellhops, valet guys, etc. I don't tip housekeeping at a regular hotel when it's just me staying there either. Once, after a villa stay with my family (where we were embarrassingly messy ), I sought out the housekeeper I'd seen most often during the week and handed her a cash tip directly.

I didn't do it because I felt the culture required it, or because I felt that the labor market for housekeepers was not functioning efficiently. I just did it because we were pigs and I felt a bit bad about it...