I loved New York last time I went, but it took me a little while to get used to the whole tipping thing. I hope this post will help some people out:
Tipping in America is simply the done thing.The American way of
offering tips to those who help you should be practiced by all who
visit, regardless of what the policies are in your own country. The
following is a top 5 guide to tipping for anyone visiting the beautiful
country on American holidays like me
1. Have some dollars ready.
When you are in the currency exchange, make sure to ask for a certain
amount extra to allow for tipping. You should really carry an extra in
dollar notes at all times.This means you won't have to ask for change
and you can tip whatever value you want easily. Don't be embarrassed if
you have to ask for change though as it is quite common
2. Bars.
It is common to tip around a dollar a drink at the bar but if you are
ordering three or more drinks then you don’t have to keep to the 'per
drink' rule, just give a reasonable amount. If you’re drinks are brought
over to you by a bar man or lady all night, expect to leave around a
10% tip when you leave
3. Restaurants.
The really is dependent on the restaurant in question. Cheaper
take-away style places only really should be tipped maybe 15% whilst
more up market eateries should be tipped at a rate of around 20-25% of
the bill.If the staff go the extra mile for you then you should really
thank them by tipping a little extra for their work.
4. Bags.The
porter who brings the bags to the room will probably be expecting tip
of one dollar per bag. This quite a strong rule of thumb, but you can
always tip more if the service was great or there was a lot of effort
involved for the porter. Bag carriers at airports should be tipped
between $1 to $2 per bag
5.
Poor service. If
you don’t feel that the service was up to standard then don’t tip. Your
reasons should be clearly explained though. Most service providers want
to hear where they can improve and won’t be offended.
