Question for US citizens

[icf75]

Not specifically cruise related, but there is a current discussion on a British Disney forum r.e tipping.  I'm interested to know what US citizens generally tip in restaurant's, as it seems there is a growing expectation that 20% is the going rate for decent service? (or sometimes just avg service).

I do feel a sense of pressure to tip when I probably shouldn't.

[OCSC Mike]

24 minutes ago, icf75 said:

I'm interested to know what US citizens generally tip in restaurant's, as it seems there is a growing expectation that 20% is the going rate for decent service?

That's more or less a common base line to tip here in restaurants... and yes, it's not really based on receiving excellent service, it's just kind of standard here as part of our tipping culture.

NOTE: I'm just trying to give you factual answers with no opinions involved.

[ScottD]

28 minutes ago, icf75 said:

Not specifically cruise related, but there is a current discussion on a British Disney forum r.e tipping.  I'm interested to know what US citizens generally tip in restaurant's, as it seems there is a growing expectation that 20% is the going rate for decent service? (or sometimes just avg service).

I do feel a sense of pressure to tip when I probably shouldn't.

Like Mike said, 20% tends to be a the starting point\standard base line... then can go up for exceptional service, or sometimes goes down if you find service to be really bad.  I WILL throw a small opinion in... I think unless your server disappeared or was plain out nasty to you, it should very rarely go down.  When tipping,  don't forget your server has nothing  to do with food quality, as well.  

[smokeybandit]

I would say 15% is still the baseline. 

Unfortunately so many job roles expect tips now.

[cruisellama]

1 hour ago, icf75 said:

Not specifically cruise related, but there is a current discussion on a British Disney forum r.e tipping.  I'm interested to know what US citizens generally tip in restaurant's, as it seems there is a growing expectation that 20% is the going rate for decent service? (or sometimes just avg service).

I do feel a sense of pressure to tip when I probably shouldn't.

In some of our local restaurants, I've seen a tiered tip rate - from 15% to 25%.  In other regions, I've seen a rule of thumb of 2x the sales tax.   I've been in the 18-20% level since Covid shutdown.

[Ryan79]

Almost everyone will agree the baseline is somewhere between 15-20%. 15% was closer to the norm many years ago, but it’s closer to 20% today. It has inched up for sure during COVID and post-COVID

[Zacharius]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Unfortunately so many job roles expect tips now.

Because so many base pay's don't cover the bills in 2023

[BrianB]

I agree with the above comments. 

But, there are also some who tip on the food price only...and not the alcohol. Sometimes a meal's bill can be significantly increased due to diners who drink like fish! Sorry, but it's an accurate description!

It's not really applicable onboard when many have the drinks package or loyalty coupons...but on land, the price can shoot up because of cocktails pre- and post-dinner.

 

[Momof4crazytocruise]

So I would say in a restaurant the baseline is 18-20%. Personally I start at 20% or minimum $3 - whichever is higher (i.e if my lunch is $10, I will tip a minimum of $3 - since very likely the server needs that $1 more than I do). If my service received is excellent, I will tip 25%. This is for sit down service restaurants. Where it gets me is what do I tip on, say, a Subway sandwich? I pretty much keep dollar bills in my purse and will toss a buck in their jar if they were pleasant and polite and did a good job. Again, they will appreciate that $1 more than I need it. However I do NOT feel obligated to tip at fast food or anywhere else that has a jar. Or for like a pizza I pick up myself. If I do the work, I don't feel obligated to tip. If my to-go order is a bunch of stuff and I know they had to put it together, I will tip on that.  Also, there seems to be a trend where the restaurant adds a 'Service Fee' on to your order around 20% (not generally a fan of this approach), or in other cases if your party is large they will add 10% gratuity to the bill. If that is the case I generally do not feel obligated to tip more (unless we were extra high maintenance). Having been a server myself throughout college, I found that if I left the automatic gratuity off the bill, people generally tipped more than 18%, but if I added it, that's what they left. I made way more money leaving it off because then people don't feel obligated. 

[Jolly Ogre]

If I am paying 18% on a cruise then on land they need to give me the same service for anything above that.

[smokeybandit]

38 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

Because so many base pay's don't cover the bills in 2023

It goes beyond that though.

[Ray]

5 hours ago, icf75 said:

Not specifically cruise related, but there is a current discussion on a British Disney forum r.e tipping.  I'm interested to know what US citizens generally tip in restaurant's, as it seems there is a growing expectation that 20% is the going rate for decent service? (or sometimes just avg service).

I do feel a sense of pressure to tip when I probably shouldn't.

There is Definitely pressure to tip! 

Most restaurants will write on back of receipt 16, 18 or 20% tip totals because thats what they expect no matter what. 

However don't feel pressurised into tipping if things are not what you expected!

At the end of the day if a place is no good you're not going to go back there so why tip

In saying that i have only ever dropped tip below the 20% once and that was at a massage parlour. 

Fast food joints like BK or Mcd's i would usually just throw the shrapnel into the jar. 

Also all the shrapnel i have at the of each night gets dumped on table at the end of stay i gather it up and give it the some random homeless person. ( saves having a pocketfull of coins to empty at customs ) 

 

 

 

[ChessE4]

For good service, not average, I tip 18% of pretax total. However, I impute beverage cost even if we just drink water. Takeout gets 10 to 15% depending on service I receive at pickup.  I round up to next dollar as I don't carry change.

[Jolly Ogre]

4 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

For good service, not average, I tip 18% of pretax total. However, I impute beverage cost even if we just drink water. Takeout gets 10 to 15% depending on service I receive at pickup.  I round up to next dollar as I don't carry change.

Take out gets nothing. I am not tipping Taco Bell, Wendy's or the like.

[ChessE4]

6 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Take out gets nothing. I am not tipping Taco Bell, Wendy's or the like.

I meant restaurant take out, not drive thru. Thanks for pointing this out. During covid our local family restaurants just did takeout. So we call ahead now.

[jbrinkm]

3 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

Almost everyone will agree the baseline is somewhere between 15-20%. 15% was closer to the norm many years ago, but it’s closer to 20% today. It has inched up for sure during COVID and post-COVID

This is what I was going to say. The recommendations used to be 15% baseline - everything was fine, 20% exceptional service and 10% for subpar service. Post covid, the baseline seems to have shifted to 20%. 20% is much easier to calculate than 15%.

[Zacharius]

1 minute ago, jbrinkm said:

This is what I was going to say. The recommendations used to be 15% baseline - everything was fine, 20% exceptional service and 10% for subpar service. Post covid, the baseline seems to have shifted to 20%. 20% is much easier to calculate than 15%.

I feel like 20% became the standard at least a decade ago, if not more. 

[jbrinkm]

4 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

I feel like 20% became the standard at least a decade ago, if not more. 

Could be! We didn't eat out much when my kids were younger so it might have easily shifter earlier than I realized. It might also depend on where you live.

[Jolly Ogre]

22 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

 20% is much easier to calculate than 15%.

Your education system has failed you.

[PL8SWPR]

 

We start at 20%, but usually round up.  Some restaurants we eat at the bar, bartenders know us by name and we get certain benefits from that relationship so I've gone 30% or so.

Also, if you are in a situation where a portion of the meal is free (buy 1 get one free, food taken off because it wasn't right, etc) tip based on what the cost should have been.  The server is working just as hard regardless of bill adjustments.

[Xaa]

2 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Your education system has failed you.

Quality education doesn't preclude one thing from being easier than another.

[Zacharius]

15 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Your education system has failed you.

This makes absolutely zero sense. I have a PhD in engineering, I know my math fairly well, and I agree that 20% is easier to calculate in a split second than 15%...neither are hard, but 20% is easier. 

[Momof4crazytocruise]

1 hour ago, PL8SWPR said:

Also, if you are in a situation where a portion of the meal is free (buy 1 get one free, food taken off because it wasn't right, etc) tip based on what the cost should have been.  The server is working just as hard regardless of bill adjustments.

^^This - always tip on the pre-comp total - your server still had to serve that food to you and wait on you regardless if the meal was free or not. 

[PatsFanBrian]

For me, it's almost always 20% with some rounding involved. If it's exceptional service, we'll add some more, not necessarily percentage base, but increase the actual dollar amount.  We also usually give cash, most servers prefer cash for a few reasons.

Where it's become crazy is with takeout.  Tipping for takeout was not usually expected, but most credit card machine are setup to display a variety of tip options now and the pressure is on to select one.  For that, I won't do anything close to 20% and usually just leave a few dollars in the tip can instead.

[craftycruiselady]

I start at 20%, on occasion I give more. If the restaurant automatically charges 18 or 20% I leave it at that. If it is a quick service I might give a tiny bit but it has gotten way out of hand with takeout or counter service. At steak n shake you have to order yourself on a  mobile tablet and put my own card in, bus your own table, grab your own meal from the counter and fill your own drinks and the stupid tablet asks me if I want to tip 20%. For what? Cooks get regular wage and the floor is sticky so no one is cleaning. I did all the work! So I decline there. I refuse to tip at crumble where I order myself on a tablet and they just hand it to me over the counter. At the local bagel place I put a few bucks in the jar, they actually cook my food, take my order and hand it to me and that few dollars ends up more than 20% anyway (cheap order). On counter service/take out it depends on the level I have to serve myself. On door dash/uber eats I tip 20% but if the weather is bad or the restaurant is far I tip much more.

My son said at the airport recently he used a kiosk to get a bottle of water and it asked for a tip. I mean come on. I have zero problem tipping and tipping well for actual service but it has gotten out of hand.

I always tip my cat groomer, hair people etc too 20% or more.