Beven12S

I would prefer to live in a completely tip-free world where we are charged on the bill/check to include certain "tippable" services (server, bellhop, taxi, maid, coat check person, yadda yadda).

However, in the US, with the exception of a few high-end restaurants, that is not happening. Those of you who refuse to tip on the basis of "principle" or because you think the employee should get a higher paying job are being subsidized by those of us who are decent enough to understand the system and augment the wages of those employees whose employers assume they are tipped. [Removed due to violation of FT Rules]

If there are sufficient people who would like the tips to be built into the bill by the proprietor having to pay higher wages, maybe in a decade, things will change. However, my read of Europe which has been historically tip-less, is that tips are increasingly expected. I make this statement from the statements of relatives currently living in Europe.