How Much to Tip When Travelling in Different Countries

Tipping Etiquette Around The World

In the United States and in other parts of the world, employees receive a minimum wage. If you provide direct hospitality services to customers such as in hotels, restaurants, taxis, hair and nail salons, and spas, and minimum wage is set. Wages are set to a minimum because employers take into account the fact that your hourly rate will be offset by tips received for services rendered. For example, minimum wage for hospitality staff in Massachusetts is $2.63, Connecticut is $5, and California is $8 per hour. Since many employees in the service industry make their livelihood off of tips, tips are expected in the United States.

Why Tip

The provision of tips often referred to gratuity is deemed a way to demonstrate your satisfaction with the quality of services received. Although tipping is not mandatory, it is a reflection of the services received and employees in those work sectors should be compensated appropriately. After determining whether to tip or not, the next question lies in how much is appropriate for a tip? Some people stick with the 15-20% rule which means that customers should tip at minimum 15-20% of their actual bill amount.

In a restaurant, the size of your tip is dependent on the service you received, whether your order was correct, if the server was attentive and refilled drinks prior to drinks being completely empty, and if the server occasionally checked on you after receiving your food.

Tipping Based on Location

Even if customers know how much to tip their service workers in the United States, once a customer becomes a tourist the strategy that worked in the United States may be completely irrelevant elsewhere. Tourist travel to and stay in various locations of the world for either leisure or business purposes. Tourism is a vital component of many countries as it brings in economic relief for the country.

Tipping is therefore dependent on your location in the world. Not every country views tipping in the same way as service workers in the United States. In fact, tipping in some countries particularly in Asia is viewed as a rather offensive and insulting gesture. Employees have been fired as a result of accepting tips in China, which is why tourist should be aware of where and how much to tip at all times. There’s no need to tempt a worker who is making minimum wage by flashing a tip in front of them.

Due to these stipulations in various sectors of the world, tipping can be viewed as being overwhelming. This tends to deter some customers away from leaving a tip.

However, just having a little bit of knowledge as a customer and especially as a tourist will have you feeling a sense of relief when the bill comes or when you receive satisfactory services from hotel concierges and other hospitality staff members.