Tipping, New York City

We are going to NYC for our 2nd trip in just under 2 wks, I was looking for info on tipping to remind myself, and came across this. I think it's awful that these people have to rely on tipping to make a decent wage. For us personally, we have just put everything on our credit card for this holiday! We don't make a lot ourselves, so it will be difficult enough to afford the bills when we get home, we will tip the expected amount of course, but I just feel it's a lot to add onto our bills also - we are visiting for a week and will have to eat out most of the time - we will have to allow for these extra costs, perhaps the waiting staff could remember this also, I am not a miserable person by any means, but just to appear grateful - even if you are not!!!

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Here are some assorted tipping tips in manhattan:

Delivery people: variable, depending on the size of the delivery and the quality of the service. For small packages $2.00 is fine, but if there are several packages, the tip should be $4 - $5 dollars.

Doorman: variable, depending upon the service provided. For getting a cab or opening a door, $1.00 is fine, but if he/she carries packages up to your apartment, the tip should be $3 - $5 dollars. Remember, a good doorman is a great asset.

Hairdressers/barbers: between 15% and 20%. This also applies to manicurists, pedicurists, and masseuses.

Hotel Staff: between $2.00-$3.00 for each time they clean your room. Usually, this tip is paid at the end of your stay.

Parking garage attendants: between $1.00-$2.00 each time they deliver your car.
Skycaps: they should get at least a dollar for each bag you check. You may want to tip more, remember, your luggage is in their hands.

Taxi drivers: between 10% and 15%. If the service is excellent you can tip more, but if its poor, tip less, or not at all if the driver is downright awful.

Waiters/Waitresses, Bartenders: between 15% and 20%. If you are with a party of 6 or more, you should tip 20%. Again, the quality of service is a factor. In restaurants and some other places, tips are shared by the "bus boy", "bar tender" and others.In most cases, tips are given directly to the service person, however, at restaurants, clubs and bars, tips can be added to your bill if you pay by credit card or if you are dining at the restaurant of the hotel you are staying in, you may include a tip on the house charge slip. In either case, you must write the amount of the tip on either the charge card slip or the house charge slip and enter a "total" amount at the bottom.

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We are very good tippers, always giving more than the local accepted tarrif.

New York is the first place we have ever visited where we have felt bombarded to pay a tip (as if it's assumed we would not be going to...), and we were even told on one occasion how much to give to the cent!!! Which we of course thought was a bally cheek!

The two most irritating times were on the open top tour bus, and a local cafe across the road from our hotel. It put us off eating there again!

In one of our bus trips (it was a hop and off type bus), there was this very loud and brash guy (OK, we are in New York haha), and he would be telling us about the history or significance of a place as we drove by, but at each and every stop he would go on about how he earns minimum wage and relies on tips, and then he goes and stands right by the front exit door, so you have to go past him to get out, talk about pressure!

After a few times we were getting off thankfully, and he was the ONLY person, on principal, that we never gave a tip to. We did not like his aggressive behaviour, or the sarcastic comments he would trail behind those who got off and did not give him a tip.

We pay a lot of money for the tickets themselves, and tips are not obligatory... so we really didn't appreciate his forcefulness and attitude!!!

Then at the cafe we had a light-ish meal, and before we had finished eating we asked for the bill as per usual. I had popped to the loo, and the waitress gave my husband the bill and said at the sam time, 'and your tip is $x.xx'... down to the cents!

My husband was taken aback.. we have travelled to many countries and never before have we been told what tip we should give!!! Plus she had added on a 20% tip, and sorry, but this was a cafe, a 15% tip would be the max we would give her. A 20% tip is for a proper restaurant. We are not fools.

'What a cheek' I thought when hubby told me what she had said... she is lucky that I wasn't there when she said it as I would have let her know that what she was saying was out of order to customers.

The food was good, the cafe quite sweet, but this left a bad taste in our mouth and we did not return there, which is a shame, as it was a handy little place across the road from our hotel.

See, the thing is...if you refuse to tip, it might not affect you...although you will get extremely dirty looks at the very least. But tipping is really a legal requirement, cuz here, waiters only get paid about $2 per hour usually. This is way under the legal minimum wage of almost $7. If everyone were to stop tipping, resteraunts would eventually be legally required to pay thier staff a minimum wage of $7...which would drive prices way way up(and thier already sky high)
So again, tipping is important to our economy...if you don't tip, everything gets screwed up.
Also, its jsutr the decent thing to do. There's nothing worse than a tourist who knowingly breaks the social laws. When your here, you have to do your best to act like us.
And for everyone who complains about being on a budget, at least you have a budget in which you can travel, waiters do not.

There has been much written about tipping in New York - just do it, it's the norm, however much you object. But I am commenting specifically on tipping the tour guides on the Grayline (and other) tour buses. On each trip, the guide gives a speil about how they are in the service industry, and rely on tips. I'll accept this, but one guide suggested that the proper amount was $5 per person! For a bus that holds over 50 people, that's $250 for a 1 1/2 hour trip. That's just too extreme.

Ok, this is an outsiders view on tipping, hey correct me if I am wrong but isn't tipping based on the service given rather than feeling obliged to do the 'local thing' ?

Ok prime example, you go to a restaurant, the service is great, your waiter/waitress is just fab..tip time...double the tax and round up, maybe a few more dollars on top as you leave there happy and content !

The otherside of the coin now..the service is mediocre but hey you have been told that these guys and gals work on a minimum wage and rely on tips.....well hello, the service industry isn't there to deliver miserable non attentive service and expect tips at the end of the day ! Work for your money if that is your chosen job...ok we all have a sob story but that is life, charity is for the real charity cases !!

The worst senario...OMG..is that person for real, am I dreaming or is this the worst service ever??? Did I order that??? Where is my food? Why is this service staff being so rude???? Rule of thumb...don't leave a tip....... what are they going to do???? Say a few words to you....big deal...you are out of there and probably never going to return..

Ok, so not leaving a tip is a bad thing? It isn't the worst thing that can happen! Why should any consumer pay for something they are not happy about? Just because it is a custom or 'what the locals do' does not mean that you have to do it. It might also make the bad members of the service industry sit up and say to themselves.... 'Well, I have to do better' , rather than just expect to be tipped !

I have not left tips in restaurants on numerous occasions in NY....because I feel that they don't deserve it for shoddy bad rude service. You should not have to ! The waiter or waitress are not going to use physical violence to extract money off you as that is a criminal offence!
On the other hand, good service deserves it's rewards, don't be bullied or think you have to tip ! Remember, you earned your holiday cash, why give it away for the sake of things!

Enjoy your stay in the Big Apple !

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Brooke Astor, 105, First Lady of Philanthropy, Dies
from NY Times "Remembering Brooke Astor" . . .
Mayor Bloomberg calls he "a quintessential New Yorker
and one of the greatest philanthropist of our time."
Mr. Rockefeller says " . ."a leading lady of New York"
"she never let it go to her head."
"Most endearing of all, she ewas great fun. . .

Brooke Astor 1902 - 2007 ". . . She was known as New York City’s unofficial first lady, establishing her presence in both the luxury apartments of Fifth Avenue and the tenements of East Harlem, using her inherited millions to help the less fortunate. . . . "

and she quoted The Matchmaker's leading player
“Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.”

does that not sum up a unique socialite !

The current culture of tipping may be too entrenched to abolish, but one can dream. Tipping is obviously in the best interest of those in the restaurant industry. I have no problem promoting self interest, except that in this case, it’s at the expense and frustration of their customers. Simplify it and include the cost in the price of the meal. (By the way - If tipping is truly at the discretion of the customer, and not required the law, how can the government justify taxing tips ? )

Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University's hotel school, has calculated that over $26 billion a year is spent on gratuities in the United States alone. Despite occasionally being under tipped, the majority of servers make more money under the current tipping system than they would as low-skilled salaried employees. Servers in good restaurants can pull down $150 in tips a day (& much more in better restaurants). That’s $40,000 (and up) a year. That’s ridiculous for that skill level.

Tipping creates unnecessary complications for the customer (as well as some for server, restaurant manager/owner, and rest of the staff). Tipping can promote an antagonistic division between the customer (who might perceive the service as mediocre), and the server (who assumes the tip is a given). Why are the customers put this position and why are we expected to participate as a financial planner for the server ? Why is it the customer’s job to provide the restaurant’s employees an incentive to perform? Isn’t that the job of the restaurant manager/owner ? The customer’s only involvement should be assessing the quality of the food, service, and atmosphere, and determining if it’s worth a future visit. What if this insanity was the norm for every industry out there ?

It’s about time that the restaurant industry stop biting the hand it feeds. Why shouldn’t it be simplified ? (something we should also ask the IRS).

It seems Brits share at least one trait with many Americans...when they travel abroad, they expect that things ought to be the way they are at home. I don't particularly enjoy paying double what everything is worth in London, but I do. If you think tipping is tough in New York, try Milan - they won't even seat you at some restaurants without adding an extra charge, called a coperto, just for sitting down at a table, and then there is a 15% gratuity added to the bill, upon which you are expected to tip an additional amount.

Like it or not, different countries and cities have different customs and ways of life. Being a visitor to New York does not exempt you from them. Wages for service personnel in the US are quite low, and these people really do depend on tipping for their livelihood - besides which, as someone else pointed out, most of them don't get health benefits as people do automatically in other countries, including Britain. If that's inconvenient or incomprehensible for you, stay home by all means. It's true that tipping is commensurate with the level of service, but even for indifferent service I have never, NEVER left less than10 percent at a restaurant; I will, however, mention the server's inattentiveness ot the management on my way out.

Bottom line: realise that things are different in various places, accept it, be polite, and know that what you put out into the world comes back to you multiplied.

In USA, services and taxes are not included on the price.
Whatever you buy, you have to add the tax.
But if you are in a restaurant, you have to pay a tip to the waiter.
Usually, you give 10 to 15 % but in NYC, in the non franchised restaurants, waiters expect at least 20%.
On many bills, they already calculate the tip for you, so that they are sure you don't made a mistake in the low side.