We’ve all experienced tipflation: an expectation that we tip more, and more often, than ever before. When you walk up to an iPad to pay for a purchase you know what’s coming next. You’re literally standing in line to pay for something you picked up from a shelf yourself, and you’re about to be asked to tip for it. How does this make sense?
And then you’re presented with choices, maybe 20%, 22% and 25%. When did tipping expectations go so high?
- In the 1950s you might tip 10% in a restaurant
- By the 1970s it had gone to 15%. But this was usually on the pre-tax amount. Or maybe you’d “double the tax” in the 80s.
- Now 20% – 25% on the bill total, including tax?
While we may express frustration in general with tipping, there are few individual situations where we’re willing to admit – in the moment – that it’s gone too far. You’re standing in front of someone who is going to know you opted out of tipping, so there’s pressure to go along.
Back in January at the Austin airport, where I picked up a bottle of water, the machine was programmed not even to accept a $0 tip at the register.
Maybe nothing represents the contradiction of tipping out of control and an unwillingness to speak out against it than the practice of tipping housekeepers which doesn’t even make housekeepers in general better off, it reduces the wages that hotels have to pay to attract staff. The CEO of one hotel ownership group is explicit on this, wanting to get guests to tip more to avoid having to raise wages.
In 2019 Hilton’s CEO admitted he doesn’t tip housekeeping and he got roasted for it. We’re so ingrained in the U.S. that tipping is expected of us that one hotel booking website even solicits tips when you’ve made a reservation and no human was even involved.
Sam Bankman-Fried admitted it after getting caught to engaging in “this dumb game we woke westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and so everyone likes us.” He gave away a lot of money, influenced a lot of politicians, and gained favorable coverage by ‘saying the right things.’ And we all have to pay lip service to struggling workers, especially those who clean up after us. Those thoughts may even be genuine.
And yet 79% of hotel guests say you should tip while only 30% actually do so. This is framed as a problem that people are confused about the etiquette so you need to give them a list of whom to tip, how much, and when.
Plan on tipping $3 to $5 per day, or, if you have a bigger crew, $1 per person. But don’t tally it up and leave a big tip at the end..To indicate that the bills you’re leaving out are, in fact, a tip, put the money on a side table or on the bed along with a note indicating who it’s for… Luggage attendants: Tip $1 to $2 per bag carried up to your room. If you only have a bag or two, tip a minimum of $5 to make it worth the trip..Valet parkers: Give $2 to $5 when they pull up with your car.
The problem isn’t that people ‘don’t know what they’re supposed to do’ and it isn’t that hotels just need to make it easier to tip with QR codes so that they can lower wages. It’s that the tipping has gotten out of control.
People say that they should tip because you’re supposed to express concern for those whom you’re tipping. It’s the shibboleth. But deep down, when nobody is looking – you’re leaving the room at the end of a stay and not coming back – you feel like you paid a room rate, it’s supposed to include a clean room, and it’s the hotel’s responsibility to pay their employees. And you aren’t even getting full housekeeping during your stay anymore, anyway! Why have tipping expectations gone up?
Hotels cut back on housekeeping services but are pushing that you should pay more even as you get less. And that doesn’t sit well.
Never in my life I tipped a housekeeper, never ever, in the last 30 years, not even once
Airport vendors, very small percentage and only in select cases
problem solved
A clean room should be, and is, included in my room rate. Enough is enough.
Should I also make sure to tip the guy who fixed the elevator? The pool technician? The snow plow driver? What about the guy who painted the lines I parked my car between, for a job well done?
Simple way to solve this. Require people receiving tips to pay sales tax or VAT on the gross tip. After all, it is part of the purchase price.
I never tip hotel housekeeping nor do I tip airport vendors, unless it is for a sit down meal. Tipping was out of control long before the pandemic in America and it has gotten even more aggressive. Pay people a decent wage.
As the article briefly notes, the irony with tipping – anywhere, not just housekeeping staff – is that it benefits employers who are able to pay lower wages and still attract staff.
Thanks Gary for another interesting post on an important topic.
Personally, I don’t understand the posts over the last several years that seem to act as if tipping housekeeping is a recent event or somehow has dramatically increased in the amount expected.
I have traveled heavily since the late 70’s and tipping housekeepers has ways been expected and in my opinion has been greatly appreciated. Yes, the expected amount has gone up with inflation, but, not dramatically more than inflation.
I fully agree that instead of tipping, the hotel owners and management should pay a living wage. However, this has been debated by customers since my travels starting in the 70’s. I had friends who in the 70’s &. 80’s that left cards at restaurants and hotel rooms stating they were part of a movement called something like “non-tippers anonymous”. The card stated they did not believe in tipping for the sake of workers. The card went on to state that instead their employer should paid them more money and that the worker should hand that card to their manager. This of course went nowhere.
There have been numerous other movements and debates over the decades that tipping is a bad concept and instead owners/management should pay better. None of those movements or debates ever created better pay. Instead, the worker just got “shortchanged” (pun intended) when customers did not leave a tip.
I also agree that tipping is totally up to the individual customer.
Always enjoy your posts!
Safe Journeys!
If housekeeping staff does something directly for me, I’ll tip them directly.
I had a pricey suite on the Red Sea and day 1 the housekeeper for my area asked if I needed anything specific. I mentioned I’d like my minibar stocked with a particular soft drink. He came back with an arm load and brought me more every few days. He got a nice tip.
I love the “I won’t tip because capitalism is evil” line of argument. Well, done, punishing the minimum wage people of color who are surely the ones setting the rules.
Leave a tip for people who’ve worked in your behalf. House keeping yes, cashiers no. Leave it in cash, so the companies don’t know, and [redacted -gl]
I agree with your very valid points Gary. But the brazen proud comments about never, EVER tipping housekeeping…proud as is they’re going selfless. When the opposite is much more likely. Sad.
Not afraid to admit that I don’t tip housekeeping. Especially that you’re getting less with these exorbitant hotel rates.
@ned
Only in usa and canada there is an expectation to tip housekeepers
I travel around the world for leisure and work, been doing that for 30 years and outside usa I am never expected a tip
You can mock me all you want but that tells you the problem lies not with me or other travelers but rather with the system, and I refuse to participate in that game
@douh
Good job! When I go to a different country and refuse to follow the cultural rules there, I’ll be sure to point to your example.
Never, ever tip on the full amount of the bill, which includes tax. Have decided that 18% on the pre-tax amount is what I will leave. Sad that in the U.S. servers get paid so little.
I’m with Total. Yes, we can almost all agree that tipping is ridiculous, but the people who don’t tip don’t really do it as some statement against the culture or because it hurts the working man.
They don’t tip because they’re cheapskates. Simple as that. All the post-hoc justifications don’t cover up the selfishness.
@total So why housekeepers and not cashiers? They both provide a service to you? Is that where YOU draw the line? Why not front desk receptionists? What about grocery shelf stocking staff?
Curious as to your reason that makes you [redacted -gl]
@total
Tipping is not a “cultural” phenomenon, it’s an economic factor
@missmarirose
You can think I am cheap but I am actually very generous, and I do corporate dinners in many countries like spain and portugal where tip is not expected and yet I leave 100 euros for the staff
Is not about money it is about me as a customer contributing to the owner who pays low wage to the employee
How is it any different with restaurants? Aren’t they encouraging ever higher tipping to cut their own costs, just like the hotels?
@ Gary — Honestly, until I read it on a blog maybe 10 years ago, the thought of tipping housekeeping never even crossed my mind. Housekeeping is a basic service included in the price and I will NEVER tip for it. End of discussion.
Used to generously tip housekeeping daily by leaving cash on the table. But now with not getting daily housekeeping, zero reason to tip.
I tip housekeeping. I directly hand a tip to housekeeping that goes above and beyond. Miss Faye at Hollywood Beach Marriott is a gem! She is my fave housekeeper of all time. Yes, I’m paying for a room wherever I go, but I recognize how good it feels to be appreciated.
I don’t carry cash ever and I’m certainly not going to start just so that hotel owners can move more of their wage bill off their balance sheet and onto mine.
Jill, servers in the U.S. are automatically taxed on the assumption that their earnings include tips, and the government calculates how much they should be getting. I don’t know about other fields, but it is entirely possible this is done to bartenders, maids, etc. And fortunately we don’t have a VAT here.
Where I live restaurants in the city often add a “tip” to their bills, about 5% as a “living wage”. That seems to be becoming more common too. Whether it’s better to raise prices by that amount and pass the gross on to the workers or do it this way is a question for the accountants.
I tip in restaurants and for rides. Once in a while I will tip for something else. I prefer to tip with cash. I’ve already paid taxes on the money. Why should the government get another bite? I really do not like adding a tip to a credit card transaction.
@ Gary — Oh, and same goes for uber. NO TIPPING. EVER. PERIOD. From uber.com, courtesy of waybackmachine,circa 2012 (see the last sentence below):
Sign UpLearn MoreBlogSign In
Everyone’s Private Driver
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or Learn More
Request from Anywhere
Request a car from any mobile phone—text message, iPhone and Android apps.
Ride with Style & Convenience
Within minutes, a professional driver in a sleek black car will arrive curbside.
Hassle Free Payment
Automatically charged to your credit card on file, tip included.
It is very disappointing and a discouraging sign of societal incivility when instead of civil discourse individuals quickly jump to crude, rude and highly pejorative insults directed to those with whom they disagree. In my view, the one who calls another “an idiot” or “a jerk” or worse terms, is really describing themselves.
Regarding “tipping,” I consider this to be a personal, situation by situation matter. No one should be shamed into following some “herd mentality.” Let everyone decide for themselves, just as they decide what airline to use, what hotel to stay at, and what restaurant to dine at, etc.
@Total.just WOW! Do you not see YOUR internalised racism?! WTH is this POC crap. What people with dark skin are the only ones that buss tables or serve as wait staff. Or is it just that, in YOUR mind, those are the only jobs that people of color can do. Which is it coz YOUR words imply both tbh.
As for the whole ” Good job! When I go to a different country and refuse to follow the cultural rules there, I’ll be sure to point to your example.” – Actually that would be YOU being guilty of doing so. It is NOT the world’s culture to tip. In fact in many places it is considered outright rude & insulting to do so.
FACT: it IS the culture of the vast majority of countries around the world to pay such staff a wage that can be survived on AND not to allow a broken system where employers are allowed to under pay staff to such an extent that they have to, literally, rely on tips to survive. That is a broken, corrupt and immoral system reserved,principally, for the US.
FUN FACT TWO: That applies to staff of ALL skin colors coz it’s not the only job POCs can do and people with lighter skin also do those jobs.
Check your own racism before you go lecturing the rest of us eh.
A friend of mine left a note for housekeeping offering “just the tip” and came back in the evening to find his belongings packed and at the front desk with an invitation to leave.
I will tip a $10 breakfast at a small town diner 50%. However, I’ll only tip 10 to 15% max at anyplace were a dinner is over $100 per person. And I also get better and more friendly service at the family run diner type places.
“Housekeeping is a basic service included in the price and I will NEVER tip for it. End of discussion.”
Couldn’t you says the same thing about the meal you purchased at your favorite restaurant? Obviously having the meal prepared and brought to you is a basic service and included in the price. What’s the difference again? Tipping is a charade, pay living wages!!!
Tip percentages should never go up. They already get an automatic pay adjustment for inflation because core prices have risen – why should percentages ever go up? I tip 18% pre-tax at a sit down restaurant, more if the service is truly good which these days is rare. I pay 10% tip if I order at the counter and sit down to eat, and 0% if I just pick something up.
California in particular has become outrageous – many restaurants add 5% “living wage surchage”, then almost 10% tax and then on top they come and suggest anywhere from 25 to 35% tip ON TOP of the tax and surcharges. And that comes after raising your menu prices by 30%. Yeah, we all know food prices have gone up but not 30% and ingredients are only a part of the cost of my meal. So sorry, this is nothing but our greed.
Have you ever wondered- do we know that the tip you put into that machine actually truly goes to the employee? How do we know?
For housekeeping – I tip in cheap hotels because I feel sorry for the workers. I don’t tip them when the hotel is asking $1k a night plus tax and resort fee. If you don’t pay your employees from that money then you deserve that your staff quits and you go out of business.
In the end, employees have a choice too – they can go work somewhere else. After all, we all know there is a shortages of workers.
I never tip (except in US restaurants) because that would make me complicit with employers who want to pay employees sub-living wages, as they do in US restaurants, which is incredibly morally wrong.
At least in a US restaurant, the primary server is “taxed” a certain percent of the tab which is meant to be redistributed to bus/kitchen/bar. While I abhor the policy of charging misleading prices (offloading wage costs directly onto customers), at least this method helps to ensure that all staff share in this customer-subsidized wage boost. I hasten to add that restaurants do not, as yet, charge extra destination fees and energy surcharges, nor do they offer “a greener choice” of reusing the same plates and cutlery. After having de-constructed hotel prices into absurdity, demanding an extra fee to subsidize nonexistent housekeeping is just one straw too far.
‘At least in a US restaurant, the primary server is “taxed” a certain percent of the tab which is meant to be redistributed to bus/kitchen/bar.”
I don’t believe this is true in most cases. Maybe it is if the tip or gratuity is automatically added in. The servers work for a substandard wage as allowed by law. The others do not. The bar should be independent and any tips retained by who got them. The same with the waiters and waitresses. Notice I did not say servers because the job is more than just serving the food such as might happen at a cafeteria style restaurant. It is making the table presentable after being bussed. It is taking orders. It is serving drinks, appetizers and entrees in the right order and at the right timing. It is refilling drinks as per the restaurant standards. It is providing the accurate check at the right time along with any after dinner things like mints. If anyone feels that they need to tip everyone working there and the owner, they should do it separately. When I leave a tip at the restaurant it is for the waiter or waitress who waited on me for their service. It is sad that some people think that they deserve some of the tips given the waiters and waitresses.
The whining in this thread & article is impressive/pathetic.
1) Tipping on post-tax amount: If you are tipping on the post tax amount, that’s YOUR fault/choice. Read the receipt, do your own math. You have a calculator in your pocket. Just because the receipt or tablet has suggested amounts, doesn’t mean you have to use them. (Also observed on a restaurant receipt at breakfast just now: “tip percentages are based on the check price before taxes”)
2) Self-check out machines at airport (and other vendors): Again, obvious coding errors aside Gary, just because the machine presents a tip line doesn’t mean you have to use it. Put a zero in.
3) Hotel housekeeping: Easy – if housekeeping isn’t provided on a day…don’t tip for that day.
I will happily tip a couple buck a day for housekeeping. What truly annoys me is the bell service – when someone shows up to carry my bag from the desk to my room (the bag which I’ve successfully managed to navigate with up unto this point), turns on the room light for me, and then expects a tip. Nope, don’t need that service, don’t want it, and it’s actually an inconvenience.
Yes – we should pay a living wage. But the way to change that is at the ballot box, not by punishing the service workers.
“st WOW! Do you not see YOUR internalised racism?! WTH is this POC crap. “
It’s a recognition that the people you’re not tipping are most likely from marginalized communities. Good job punishing them!
I did like the way you foam at the mouth though — highly entertaining.
“As for the whole ” Good job! When I go to a different country and refuse to follow the cultural rules there, I’ll be sure to point to your example.” – Actually that would be YOU being guilty of doing so. It is NOT the world’s culture to tip”
Oh, I’ll choose another cultural habit to avoid, since I’ve now been told that’s fine. Drive on the right on UK roads, walk in the bike paths in the Netherlands, or not invade small neighboring countries while in Russia.
“ 1 Check your own racism before you go lecturing the rest of us eh.”
Nothing more impressive than a racist projecting. You’ll always find a way to make sure you don’t tip, and you’ll always have a really good reason for it.
There is no expectation to tip housekeeping in Canada to whoever said that.
Stop spreading the American disease of tipping up here!
@ann
just STFU if you dont know what you are talking about
I live in Vancouver and the tipping at starbuks, time hortons etc etc is out of control with suggestions to tip at 30%
I am in the tourism industry and yes, hotels in Canada also ask for tips for housekeepers
go back to your hole in some obscure Canadian city in sask or NB and let the adults talk
I have tipped housekeeping when my brood has been extremely messy – sometimes traveling with 4 kids means places look like a hurricane ripped through them, and so there’s more work than normal. I tip then. When it’s me on solo business travel, I never tip the housekeeping. I don’t get tips for doing my daily work; sometimes I get bonuses when I do more or outperform. Same logic.
As a way of fighting inflation in general, I now have a personal policy I will tip 20% but only on pre-tax, pre-service charge, pre-kitchen staff healthcare-type totals. This is NOT how almost all terminals are programmed but I refuse to add a tip on taxes and mandatory fees. And yes, this means I will hold up the line to see an itemized bill. If I am asked to tip at a terminal before any service has been performed at all, I will only tip 15%.
At the end of the day, if we can’t stand up to this non sense then we deserve it. We are letting “peer pressure” force us collectively to do something that is silly and doesn’t make sense. I would rather pay $50 more on my hotel bill than carry a wad of cash to tip the cleaner, bag handler etc. These days the service isn’t even that great because a tip is expected. It is no longer for going above and beyond, so let’s just train our staff to be polite, treat everyone with respect and stop having to over think tips
” I don’t get tips for doing my daily work; sometimes I get bonuses when I do more or outperform. Same logic.”
Do your daily work include cleaning toilets? No, then shut up and leave a tip.
@total
you realize that everybody thinks you are a moron or did that fly over your head?
you can not virtue signal your way out of an inferiority complex
“u realize that everybody thinks you are a moron or did that fly over your head?”
Oh, eek! Was it hard to type that with your lower lip trembling? Don’t worry, I’m sure Mommy will give you a cookie.
If you don’t want to tip keep your cheap azz at home.
Yeah, I never tip for counter service, take-out, or (especially) grab-and-go. That should not be a thing and I’m not going to help make it a thing. I have no problem admitting that.
I do tip well for table service restaurants. I always have (except when in a place where it’s not the culture to do so) and will continue to do so. Tipping makes sense in that context as it provides an incentive for good service (and, conversely, a disincentive for poor service, which is common in many places where tipping is not the culture.) But this does not make any sense for counter service, take-out, or self service where there isn’t someone waiting on you. I have no problem entering zero in such situations. The question should not even be asked.
NEVER EVER tip, period.
Also, know your local laws.
For Example in WA, tips are used by employers to meet the minimum wage requirements.
That means, no matter how much tip you give, the employer has to pay the $18.69 minimum wage as it is in Seattle, so your tip goes entirely into the pocket of the employer!!
in WA, you do not have to tip, even in restaurants.
Tips are for tipped wage employees who provide a service to me. Housekeeping is not a tipped wage employee, the cost which is rolled into the room rate, and I decline their services anyways.
All the pro-tipping arguments assume that (1) workers are underpaid, and (2a) we know this fact, and (2b) by how much.
That’s an absurd thing to expect of a diner, traveler, or everyday Joe. Is the housekeeping lady at a Holiday Inn Express paid as little as the one at a Conrad? If your tip is a function of the room rate, it would imply that Conrad pays its staff less than HIE to perform a near-identical job. Also, how is it that a Chinese restaurant server pouring you a cup of tea deserves $0, while a steakhouse server pouring you a glass bottle of water deserves $2?
I believe in fair pay and want to do the right things, but it’s ridiculous to think that I should know the actual wage or fair market value of the job for every worker I ever come in contact with.
There is no logical reason for a standard tip at a restaurant to have risen to 20-25%. Industry-standard expected tip for casual dining (think Carrabba’s, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse) is 15%. You should not be raising tip amounts because of things going up – your total bill has gone up, so obviously the tip is more because the bill is higher. I worked as a server for many years. Servers in good restaurants, who give good service, can make a decent living. I leave 20% if service was better than expected and may leave 25% occasionally. However, 15% is sufficient.
@total “Do your daily work include cleaning toilets? No, then shut up and leave a tip.”
I’ll do neither, thanks.
@Bob can’t believe you think voting would change any of this nonsense. Those idiots can’t agree on anything. And they don’t care to