CitizenWorld

Not a fan of buses and don't use them often but people are very polite to Sydney bus drivers in my experience. I very much approve although the courtesy wave when driving seems to have disappeared in the same period which is disappointing.

WHBM

The courtesy wave (or two blips of the 4-way flashers) from bus drivers when you let them ahead out of the bus stop or elsewhere is still alive and well in London, whose drivers, contrary to some uninformed comment, are particularly up to this, and in fact it is covered in training and assessed on the road by their management. Give them a headlight flash when they are trying to pull out and you are pretty assured of a hand from their window. The little sliding part of this is still called, technically, the "signalling window" from the days before indicators.

As bus driver pay in London has advanced significantly in recent years we are getting back to the days where it was seen as a good lifelong job, and the little shoulder flashes for "25 years accident free driving" (presented by the general manager and which the recipients are always proud of) make a reappearance.

And you don't even need to tip them .........

hacigo

In Russia outside Moscow 5-10% or 100-200 RUR

telabadmanwot

In Ireland Tips are common in restaurants, 10% is typical and usually paid, although NOBODY will chase after you if you don't tip. It is genuinely appreciated as a thank you, rather than being expected. I always tip.

In pubs if there is a local band playing, people buy them a drink, as they get paid next to nothing. And bar staff SOMETIMES are also told to 'buy yourself one' they will put the price of a drink through the till and you pay towards some of their afternoon beer fuel. If you chat to them, they might come to join you after their shift is over and drink it with you, just to be friendly.

Tour guides welcome tips (a few euro in a group or a note if your tipping on your own) but they NEVER expect tips. If you take a photo with them, its nice to give them some $.

There are often tip jars in small cafes, coffee shops and other low paying work places, usually change is placed in to these and split between the staff.

Maids are often left change in hotel rooms on check out as a tip. Bell boys should be tipped a couple of quid for lugging your bag upstairs. Taxi drivers get 'tips' from people telling them to 'keep the change' (you filthy animal hahaha) rounding up. Government run bus companies are never tipped, they get paid way too much. Private coach tours accept tips if they have gone above and beyond just driving the bus.

The minimum wage in Ireland is around 11 dollars an hour, the average wage is around 28 USD... Something to keep in mind when tipping and who you are tipping.

Above all, Irish people are friendly and relaxed and if you cant afford to tip, that's ok. Being overly friendly back and writing great reviews on tripadvisor would be just as appreciated, just don't be a tight arse and maybe bring some of your well off cousins next time

kamel123

Germany needs to be corrected. It would be very uncommon not to tip waiters/waitresses. They do earn a salary, so it's not like in the US where a tip is absolutely obligatory. Still, a 5-10% tip is the norm. Sometimes more for smaller bills (e.g., an 8,60 EUR bill most people would round up to 10,00 EUR, as tipping 0,40 EUR would be considered offensive). Sometimes less for larger bills (e.g., most people would not tip 80 EUR on an 800 EUR bill at a high end restaurant). Zero tip only in case you have reasons to be unhappy with the service.

Leaving coins is acceptable but less and less common as people pay by credit card or debit card. In case you pay by debit card you need to indicate the amount you want to tip (e.g., "make that 10,00") as it's typically not possible to write it on the bill afterwards (as you would do with a credit card bill). In case you pay cash you would also indicated the amount immediately to save the waiter the effort to search for change.

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but could not go through the entire thread.

jackal

It's a wiki; you're welcome to make the edit yourself.

Although I don't live in Germany, I recently spent three weeks there and visited local friends, and since I can corroborate your statement, I've gone ahead and made an edit. Feel free to fix if I didn't capture it accurately.

LarkSFO

How many posts do you need before you can edit a wiki?

466SHH

90 posts and a FT account at least 90 days old.

NLNO

What is written about the Netherlands is wrong. Prices for a restaurant meal here includes everything, including any gratitude. 5%-10% tips are unheard of. Waiters will get very happy if you give them €1 after your meal (depending on the size of party and duration of the meal of course).

I have also never heard anyone tipping cleaning staff in hotels or anywhere else here in the Netherlands.

User Name

You're right. There are quite a few European countries over-stated in a similar way. Rounding up is very common in most of Europe of course, and on a smaller bill that sometimes can lead to it constituting 5% of more, which has been used as an argument to support writing "5-10%" next to some countries in the Wiki, which I think is very misleading to the newcomer.

mmff

+1 and same goes for France.

Lefly

Basically the same thing for Italy.
Service charge has nothing to do with gratuity, and the personnel wage is not related to it. Tipping is not common, or even a rarity (always welcomed when it happens, of course) out of big touristic cities.

Reindeerflame

The problem with tipping advice posts on U.S.-oriented websites is that they tend to reflect the U.S. way of life, which has a hard time adjusting to the concept that a server in a restaurant may not need to be tipped.

Add to that occasional "highjacking" by people in the hospitality business, either current or former, with obvious sympathies on the subject, and posts can be quite misleading in favor of unnecessary tipping.

I continue to believe that "rounding up" or no tip at all is common in much of Europe, and that U.S.-style tipping is an outlier.

User Name

This seems to be very much the consensus recently on the thread, and completely matches my own experience. I live in the States so am used to the tipping culture here, but I lived in Europe for many years and even after moving to the US spend months each year traveling around Europe on business. I am married to a German (so we spend a lot of time there) and most of my family lives in Italy. I'm quite aware of the differences in tipping culture having spent recent years in the States, so do tend to notice what other diners on neighboring tables are doing when it comes to tipping in Europe (it's more obvious there of course when it's predominately cash-at-the-table). My recent experiences in Germany, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands and the Czech Republic are that probably more than 50% of people do tip but that rounding up a Euro or two is entirely normal and any more is unusual. It's also entirely fine not to tip, and no-one chases you out of the restaurant.

I have edited the Wiki in a way that I hope reflects the recently-expressed views on this. Feel free to carry on for other countries if needed.

JDiver

In Mexico, and I have years of living and visiting my family, relatives and friends there, taxi drivers are not tipped; they do not expect it.