Monday, 24 August 2015

How Do You Tip?

The French tip worse than Brits but just 12% of UK travellers would use some of their unspent currency to tip hotel staff at the end of their holiday.



Direct Line Travel Insurance investigated tipping trends from holiday hotspots across the globe, such as Barcelona, Las Vegas, Paris, Phuket, Sao Paulo and Ibiza.

While Brits abroad are notoriously known for their poor tipping practices, the findings highlight that it is the French who take the inglorious title of the world's tightest tippers. One in three (30 per cent) of the bars and restaurants interviewed highlight Britain's closest continental neighbour as most tight-fisted. British travellers were placed second (21 per cent) with Italy (11 per cent) completing the bottom three.

World's best tippers

1

American

27%

2

German

21%

3

Russian

16%

World's worst tippers

1

French

30%

2

British

21%

3

Italian

11%

Tom Bishop, head of travel insurance at Direct Line, comments: "Tipping expectations vary hugely across the globe and reflect different cultures, attitudes and laws.”


 ICE – International Currency Exchange have offered advice to help you when abroad:

Europe

In restaurants, a 5% to 10% tip, in cash is best, when there is no service included. Give porters €1 to €2 per bag and the same per day for housekeeping staff. You don’t need to tip in taxis, but you can round up the fare.

Canada and USA

There is no service charge in North America, so a 15% to 20% tip is expected. In hotels, porters expect $1 to $2 per bag and housekeepers get $2 to $5, depending on the standard of the hotel. Add a 10% to 15% tip to your taxi bills.

South America

The standard tip, in South America, is 10% in restaurants, if service isn’t already included. Taxi drivers don’t generally get a tip, but hotel porters expect around $1 per bag, whilst housekeepers get $2 per day.

 Southeast Asia

In Japan and China tipping is a no-no, so there is never any need to do it. In Hong Kong service is already added at top end hotels at 10% to 20%, but if not you can tip porters 10 yuan. Apart from Japan and China, the rest of Asia is happy for you to round up taxi fares.

Australia and New Zealand

They may be on the same side of the world, but their tipping culture is quite different. Tipping is not expected in restaurants in New Zealand, but in Australia a 10% tip is expected in good restaurants. Whilst you don’t need to tip a taxi driver in Australia, in New Zealand people generally add 10% to their bill. In hotels, porters get $1 to $2 per bag and housekeepers get $1 to $5 per day.


Middle East

In restaurants, expect a service charge to be added, but if not, then just the standard 10% is acceptable. When it comes to hotel porters, £1 to £2 per bag is about right and £1 to £2 per day for housekeepers. However, tipping is not expected in taxis.

 Africa

If there is no service charge added, a 5% to 10% tip is a good amount or 5% in South Africa. In hotels, it’s a good idea to tip the concierge on arrival to get added services, such as arranging excursions. Porters only require £1 per bag and taxi drivers should get 10% on top of the final bill.


“Tipping etiquette varies from country to country” says Koko Sarkari, COO of ICE. “It really pays to do your research so that you can budget accordingly and tip appropriately.”

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