Guide for Aussies on tipping while overseas

For Aussies tipping outside the restaurant or giving a few bucks to the pizza guy is uncommon.   As such we have developed a reputation abroad as terrible tippers, tightarses even.    For us it’s probably our generally egalitarian nature that leaves us uncomfortable casting largess to those below you.   For workers aboard it just means they miss out on an essential part of their income. 

The USA is probably the most problematic on this front: you will be expected to tip almost all service staff for their deeds.  This may seem silly but the wages for service staff, or ‘servers’ as their called in the States, are low.  Tipping is the way your waiter or porter makes a living and is a big part of why customer service in the States leaves ours in the dust.   It will make for a more comfortable holiday the quicker you get your head around what’ expected on the tipping front. 

The general rule in the US is 15% of the bill.  In Europe that same 15% will probably be included into the bill when it arrives (with the service often removed from your dining experience). 

Rather than not tipping if the service or food is crap then bringing this to the attention of the manager will avoid you looking stingy, and gives the manager a chance to fix the problem.  With the economy so dire abroad people will be doing everything they can to get you back and spending in their establishment (except in France perhaps, where they seem non plused at the best of times). 

If you don’t want to tip draw a line through the ‘Tip’ part of the credit card slip to avoid this being filled in later. 

A good resource for information on tipping is The Original tipping Page (http://www.tipping.org/). 

Lousy Tippers (http://www.lousytippers.com/). A US site that names and shames bad tippers; make sure you don’t end up on the list. 

Tramex Travel Tip (http://www.tramex.com/tips/tipping.htm). This site gives a list of 28 countires and their tipping rates and ettiqute. 

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