Doc Savage

I've never heard that in Boulder. You must have gone to the wrong place. Most of the waitresses, etc., there seem to be college students anyway, and I empathize with them.

Any statement such as you report would likely have exactly the opposite of the intended effect on most people anyway.

Phil Level

At the UC, I always tip $1 per person in my party, with the first drink served, whether it's hard drink or a soft drink. Sometimes more if the service is exceptional.

I used to tip at the end, whether it was a bar, or a hotel, but then a close friend told me during his single days, he would go into a bar and place a $100 bill and tell the bartender whatever was left over was his/hers to keep. My buddy said he never waited more than 30 seconds for a refill. I soon found a $5 or $10 tip at a busy bar usually resulted in prompt service when I wanted a second (or subsequent) round.

Nowadays, when I check into a hotel, I tip at the start, whether it's the front desk, the bellman, and/or housekeeping the first night. Why tip at the end of the stay? At the start, I get more attentive service, extra towels, etc, without asking, and when I am a repeat customer at the hotel, I often get an upgraded room. The people at the front desk remember those tips, and they have as much (if not more) power as the airline GA to give upgrades, when space is available.

cbourl

Thats why we non-US citizens are used to AU Qanats Lounges/TLV/ATH/SKG/DE/DOH/SIN/BKK airport lounges and non US airlines lounge in the US all with pour your own booze _eg US IAD British Airways lounge,LH JFK, LX JFK,SQ SFO etc etc - we are not used to tipping and thats why if u can u do your flights via LAX/JFK/SFO so u can use the UA international First lounges with pour your own booze do so! Using a United Club its uncomfortable to ask for that glass of wine then get a flithy look after the second glass - and you have to leave a tip already!

LilAbner

NOBODY HAS TO LEAVE A TIP! ! The point being, imho, is this --- If I go to another country, I usually adhere to the customs of that country. I don't particularly care for some of the customs in Europe and Asia, but am I going to change how people live in two continents? If it were me, I'd just go along with what is customary, or don't leave anything on the bar when leaving, but if I were you I wouldn't be too tormented about perhaps being embarrassed about being separated from a buck. I would just feel as though perhaps I'd be better better off, and a dollar richer, staying home, in a much better country, where things are much more "Comfortable"!

You're not alone in these UC's, as apparently there are many more that feel as you do that the highlight of their journey is screwing the lowly bartender out of a measly tip!

JONEZY00

I try to observe the customs of the country I am traveling in. If I see a tip jar I am inclined to contribute, regardless of what my home country's custom is or the custom of the places I have traveleld (to quote above TLV ATH SKG DE DOH SIN BKK, ad nauseum)

AeroWesty

Yet in the early 1900s, it was the other way 'round, a European disease infecting America. Interesting history about it in the annals of the Waldorf-Astoria:

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles08...storia-5.shtml

"But his greatest problem probably had to do with that now highly recognized and accepted institution of tip-ping. For a time there was little tipping in American restaurants, although it long had been a custom in Europe. Even over there the matter was debated considerably in the newspapers. In 1908 the International Association of Hotel Keepers, meeting in Rome, Italy, finally voted that inasmuch as tipping could not be abolished altogether, it must be regulated, and that they were the people to fix the scale of prices. They therefore determined that thereafter, when travelers wished it, they would undertake to distribute the tips, charging 15 per cent of bills not exceeding four dollars and 10 per cent for larger bills ... "

LTBoston

Oh, goodie, another tipping thread!

Because we don't have enough of those already.

iluv2fly

Have to agree here. This had devolved into another thread on the merits of tipping, tipping in the US v other countries, etc. Feel free to start one in OMNI or TravelBuzz.

iluv2fly
Moderator, UA