teddybear99

I used to work in restaurants as well; as a manager. Each server was responsible for collecting their checks whether it was paid in cash or by card. At the end of the day, we collected the receipts, compared it to the amounts listed on the computer, deducted the card receipts and collected the remaining checks at one time, so the restaurant's till would be 100% accurate, as the server paid what was owed in cash and kept the rest as their tips. So the server could make out like a bandit if (s)he was shortchanging the customer and receiving extra money for tips.

lost_perspicacity

I only round if it's close to a $10 increment.

Zeebrock

When using a credit card I always make the total a round $$ amount. I do this for 2 reasons.
1. It helps prevent fraudulent use of my card, if I see a charge that is not a round number I know its a mistake or fraud.
2. As most others have said it gives the server that little extra as a tip. I tend to calculate the tip on a dollar amount then round up with the change to make a total bill round number.

dgoedken

I use to look at the tax amt and double for a standard tip. Where I'm at, the tax is now a shade under 11% now, so forced-math. Also, when in "large" groups (sometimes only 6 qualifies) they auto-add a gratuity of 18-21% (pending restaurant). Which caught a few by surprise, as we had split bills and still put it on all the checks as well.

Work's limit on tips is 18%, as it seems employees are "more generous" with someone else's money

MKE-MR

I used to do the opposite: I would make every credit card transaction at any restaurant a specific final digit, like 8. That way I could quickly scan all the restaurant purchases and ensure that they had been charged correctly.
Of course, that didn't really work since they could have added an extra dollar, but I did find more than once they completely forgot to adjust for the tip, charging me only the original amount. Hard to believe the servers didn't notice that...

GRALISTAIR

I am extremely good at math - can sometimes even do integral calculus in my head so never a problem. However, for the record , here is my practice.

Say I am at a bar with food etc and the bill comes to 47.34 - if I am paying by credit card I will round up to 50$ in my head and add 20% to come to 10.00$ tip so the total bill would be $ 57.34. If I were paying cash I would almost certainly give 3 x 20$ bills i.e. 60$ and say - no change needed. That would be a tip of $12.66 . I consider that reasonably generous and not rude and if a waiter(ess) thought it rude and I came to here of it I would not dine in that establishment again and probably even write a slightly negative review on TA.

scriminal

In this thread we find out that the Venn diagram of "readers of flyertalk" and "those who work for tips" has zero overlaps.

RockyRobin

I'm going to the USA for the first time next Thursday and the thought of all this makes me want to cry. Not only is it really expensive and a real mind set to get around but there could be complaints to boot!!!

tmiw

As others have mentioned, no one's going to complain if you tip an amount that isn't a round number. Just tip 15-20% of the amount on the check and you should be fine.

haa

I too hate coins. The best feature of the USA is the 1 USD bill, it is the best monetary invention ever. I wish we had a 1 EUR banknote in Europe. Enough reason to always pay by card in Europe, just to avoid coins. The worst is the UK, with the 1 GBP coin which is very thick and weighs a ton.

Thread relevant response: Unfortunately, when paying by card, it is easier to freely choose the tip amount, no need to round up just to avoid coins. So probably waiters lose this way, and they should lobby for a 1 monetary unit banknote in their country to get better tips ;-)

Dutchman Flying

As an U.S. American having lived many years in Germany, Netherlands, and now Belgium, my experience is that servers appreciate tips very much regardless of whether it's a rounded number or not. Here's why:

• If paying a bill for, say, EUR 27,19, with two EUR 20 bills, I'll tell the server to give me 10 back. So = 2,81 tip.
• If paying same bill but I've received exceptional service, I'll tell the server to give me 8 back. So, 4,81 tip.
• If paying same bill with VISA, I might tell the server to make it 30 (before s/he enters the amount in the card machine). So = 2,81 tip.
• If paying same bill with VISA, I might tell the server to make it 30,19. So = 3,00 tip.

NOTE: I would never pay a server with two 20s on a 27,19 bill and tell her to give me 9,81 back so that s/he could have a round number, 3,00 tip. The server would in fact wonder why I didn't ask for 10 back, since s/he would not have had the hassle of making and counting out change. True, I could tell the server, "Give me the change but keep 3,00 for yourself," but then s/he's still in the counting-out-change mode. Why not round up to the nearest round number to take the burden of making and counting change off of the server? If everyone does this then, at the end of the day, she'll count up her loose change but once and, voila, keep it!

NOTE: If paying with VISA on a 27,19 bill, I MIGHT tell the server to make it 32,19, so that s/he can have a round number, 5,00 tip. That would be an almost 20% tip, and a round number, and s/he would be very happy with it. But, I dare say, even if I told her to charge 33,00 to the VISA card, resulting in an uneven number tip of 5,81, s/he'd still be quite happy.

ANECDOTE: I was eating lunch with a younger colleague--a native Belgian--this past Monday and he took the bill. It came to 21,30. He gave the server a 20 and a 5 and told her he did not need any change in return. So - 3,70 tip. She did not look displeased in the least.

As you can see, there's a lot of nuance. As a result, there is no need to feel an allegiance to any imagined protocol, including any protocol based on the server's (imagined) preferences. One of the things I like about tipping in Europe is that so many servers show genuine appreciation and offer genuine thanks for a tip that's "merely" 10-15 percent of the bill.

HidyHo

I round up regardless whether it's cash (don't like to carry coins) or credit card. It's not rude, IMHO. And pooling./splitting is typically done at the end of the shift.

RockyRobin

tmiw

Eh, I think the total price for food with tip in the US is comparable to what's charged in Europe (or at least in the UK, anyway) without tip. Why there's tipping at all, though, is a discussion for a different thread.

picturegal

I like to round up to a whole number for the total, but my husband things it's silly, as we are paying by CC so it doesn't matter. I think it's a matter of style. Some people like whole, round numbers. But there are instances when a tip can be rude. I recall one time when a bartender at a fancy hotel was very rude. We tipped him a dime. As we were being seated for dinner, the dime was returned on a silver platter.