Rise Sir Axl Rose

Or more specifically, LA.
I've not visited the US before and the reports I've read are so unbalanced. We're staying in a nice hotel. -- Who and how much, do we tip?

Either people who have experience of the US (or preferably, Americans), I would be extremely interested -- let alone grateful -- to hear from.

Mods, move if appropriate?

wbl-mn-flyer

Rule of thumb is to tip anyone who has it in their power to do something helpful for you.

If you arrive by taxi or limo, that driver will expect some sort of tip. The amount varies widely but can go as high as 15% or more. Your hotel can often recommend a "car service" that may not cost much more than a taxi, and will be a much better experience. Ask them ahead of time and find the set price for the price from and back to the airport.

A $20 tip at to the front desk, at check-in (discretely) has amazing power to produce an upgrade, for example.

The hotel's concierge will expect a tip for booking you a dinner or show reservation, and should be providing some sort of value - getting you into place that is usually sold out, getting you a good table, etc..

The bellman will expect something on a per-bag basis if he takes your bags from the car to your room.

Tipping at a restaurant is typically 15% of the bill (before or after tax) +/- unless it is explicitly included on your bill already.

Tipping for drinks at a bar can be the same 15% but is often much less. More for making a complicated cocktail compared to opening a beer, for example.

Any room service for meals or massage etc will typically have a gratuity built into the charge and will typically be described as such - nothing extra is required.

If you are having Tennis lessons or something like this at the hotel, some sort of tip is expected.

Tipping your maids daily or at the end of the stay is done by some people but is not really customary nor is it expected. $5 per day unless it is a huge suite is fine for something like this. Leaving money out on a table may be mis-interpreted as a tip so be aware...

Tips in cash are always preferred to a room charge. If your travel is reimbursed or your access to currency is limited, however, go the room charge method.

KenJohn

Speaking as a tourist
Restaurant: 15-20% depending on service
Barman: dollar a drink
Car valet (since its LA) - a couple of dollars if you have to pay for parking anyway. Fiver if valet with free parking
Taxi (New York): a couple of dollars within Manhattan; 5-10 dollar for Midtown to JFK depending if they help with the bags
Bell-hop - depending on hotel and type of room I have. fiver for a couple of bags, tenner for about 5-6 bags (normally of us), twenty if I have a massive suite in Las Vegas.

terminalfive

Great summarisation^

Teefaf

Visited the US recently for the first time too, and was a bit confused by all this. I ended up doing the following - whether it's 'cheap' of me or not, this is what I felt was reasonable from what I'd read:

Restaurants: 20% tip was a starting point, but I marked it down for flaws in the service more easily than I would in the UK.

Hotels: Always took my own bags (wasn't staying anywhere fancy), so no worries there. Room service gratuity was as wbl-mn-flyer says above, included in charge - but I sometimes gave the guy a couple of dollars anyway. I always left two dollars on the bed for the maids before heading out for the day. Don't know if it 'maid' (aha) any difference to the service I received, but sometimes my towels were folded nicely(!).

Taxis: Always rounded up to the nearest dollar, minimum one dollar on low fares, sometimes an extra dollar thrown in.

I disliked having to tip the hotel staff that handled the buffet breakfast, but that's just me. I don't think they do enough to earn the tip, but at the same time I'd personally feel too cheap just leaving one dollar so I always left two.

(OT: I got handed a lot of empty taxi receipts, which I'm never sure how to handle for expenses. Am I supposed to try to mimmick a real taxi driver or just use my own handwriting?! I ended up doing a bit of both...)

[sarcasm]PS: In LA, you get the added bonus of a feel good factor for supporting all them out-of-work actors and actresses with your tips[/sarcasm]

gtownguy

Tipping at a restaurant is typically 15% of the bill (before or after tax) +/- unless it is explicitly included on your bill already.

Just to further complicate matters...

It is pretty rare to have a service charge added to your restaurant bill - as they do in many parts of Europe. The one general exception is for a large party. Many restaurants will add a 15% tip to the bill for large parties - usually 8 people or more. So...if you're in a large group make sure you don't tip twice.

Restaurants: 20% tip was a starting point, but I marked it down for flaws in the service more easily than I would in the UK.

Maybe I'm cheap but my friends and I always disagree on this point. My rule of thumb is at least 15% for good service and 20% for very good service.

Another one I just thought of is rental car shuttles. If the driver handles your bags, $1 or $2 per bag is a proper tip.

wbl-mn-flyer

Yeah taxi drivers always give you extra receipts, they seem to think they're giving you a favor so you can cheat your employer - plus they save the time of actually writing you a receipt.

Typically just write these in your own hand, no need to obfuscate your handwriting. Taxi receipts like this can be a good way for you to recover extra out of pocket items you may not have a receipt for such as your chamber maid tips and so forth.

Teefaf

Indeed - this is what I ended up doing. Try asking a street food vendor in NYC for a receipt!

In Hong Kong they hand out printed receipts from the machine which are great unless you forget to ask for one, in which case it becomes a case of finding creative ways to claim for the cost through subsequent purchases!

David-A

If this hotel was run by BAE we'd be demanding a public enquiry! Seriously, that to me just looks like corruption and/or fraud.

If there is a better room, and it attracts a higher rate or is used to reward loyal customers etc, shouldn't this be at the hotels gift? Not down to whether an individual member of staff has pocketed some money on the side?

- That can not be officially endorsed or tolerated by the hotels can it? Can it?

I'd think I'd just seen someone put their hand in the till...

wbl-mn-flyer

Feel free to ignore this information, and enjoy your street level view of the garbage cans, while someone who knows about the trick enjoys the big room on a high floor facing the thing you'd like to see out your window. I was just trying to be helpful.

This is a well known phenomenon, especially in places like Las Vegas. You may have seen something similar in movies, where a bill handed to the Maître d' at a nice restaurant gets you a good table?

Teefaf

Just asking nicely can also work. I wasn't aware of this tactic until now, but recent experience shows it's not always necessary if you're not comfortable with it.

On our recent stay in New York, my wife arrived the day before me and so checked in for us. She was given a room on the third floor, which being my lovely wife she accepted without saying a word. I got there the next day and upon learning of this asked if they had any rooms available higher up the building. The lovely girl at the front desk noticed we were staying for 8 nights and said she'd make sure we were sorted out - the next day we were moved up to the 22nd floor by her colleague (where the rooms are supposed to cost more) at no charge and for no tip. All we did was ask nicely, and thank them graciously afterwards.

So sometimes, even in America, those providing a service will be nice just to be nice!

David-A

Thankfully I live in a country where corruption is not tolerated.

Where do you morally draw the line? Would you try to slip a policeman some money if you are stopped for speeding?

If I found an employee doing that, I'd sack them.

That's why I'm curious to know if it is officially tolerated etc? I'd be amazed if it was. If it isn't, I don't go around participating in bribery and fraud.

wbl-mn-flyer

I have no insight as to what is officially tolerated. Feel free to ignore the existence of the many web sites and discussions here on flyertalk that detail the phenomenon here in the USA and elsewhere.

Some companies have tried to capture this revenue by offering you an upgrade at time of booking and perhaps at the front desk as well - Hilton Hotels has something called NOR1 for example. Presumably, a suite upgrade when regular rooms were available would be followed up with a "why did you do that?" were the fee not collected for the company's benefit rather than the clerk.

triptastic101

Having recently moved to the US tipping is one thing that really irritates me. I don't mind tipping when someone has provided excellent service or gone out of their way but the mentality here seems to be tip regardless in many situations.


There becomes an expectation that a tip will always be forthcoming, and some people actually ask for it (either directly or indirectly).

PTravel

I'm in my 6th decade of being an American living in the U.S. The only place where I've ever heard of tipping front desk personnel is Las Vegas, where a $20 bill will, indeed, get you a better room. Of course, in Las Vegas, everything is for sale, and a well-placed tip can get you in to a sold-out show, a table in a fully-booked restaurant, etc.

Here's how I tip (and I've lived in Southern California for 25 years):

Restaurants - between 15 and 20%, depending on the service. The tip is usually NOT included in the bill, unless it is a large party (more than 6) that are dining.

Bars - the same, unless the bartender or cocktail waitress is particularly friendly, in which case I might tip more. The only exception is airline club rooms, at which I tip $1/drink.

Bellmen - $2 / bag, more if a bag is particularly heavy or awkward.

Taxis - 10% of the meter, more if the driver distinguishes himself, e.g. we get into an interesting conversation, he goes out of his way by helping with bags, etc.

Valet parkers - Dependent on the charge, if any. At least $2, frequently $3.

Concierge - It depends on how hard they work for me. Normally, I would not tip merely for making a reservation, unless a specific reservation was difficult to obtain and the concierge had to apply personal leverage to obtain it. I do tip for show tickets as these almost always required the aforementioned personal leverage. I do not tip for directions, recommendations or being given a hotel map -- these are all part of the job of a concierge.

Self-serve establishments, take-out food, etc. - As a rule, I do not tip, whether or not there are tip jars.

Lounge singers and musicians - I'll tip if I think they're really good. I've tipped between $1 and $20, depending on the establishment and how much I like them (this is true around the world). I do not tip entertainers who approach my table to perform without asking.