When we go on a trip abroad, whether for business or pleasure, we always plan essential expenses, such as the plane, lodging, meals, entertainment and shopping. But an expense that we usually ignore, but that we will often do is that of tips.
When we realize that we have to pay a tip, the big question arises: how much should I leave? And let’s not only think about restaurants, we also find ourselves in the dilemma of whether to tip the taxi driver or the hotel staff where we are staying.
Each country has its own culture and the amounts you should tip can vary. Even in some territories the tip is highly expected or even included in the service. On the contrary, in other nations workers do not expect a tip, and it can even be offensive.
So how do I know if I should leave a tip in the country I’m in, and how much should it be?
A study carried out by the hawaiianislands.com site collected information from more than 160 countries and on how much it is customary to tip in restaurants, hotels and taxis.
How much to tip in a restaurant?
According to the study, which was based on data from TripAdvisor and other sources, in a third of the countries studied, that is, in 66, leaving a 10% tip of your bill in a restaurant is the right thing to do. Most of these countries are in Europe.
While the waiters and restaurant staff in the United States they expect a MINIMUM of 20% tipThis makes it one of the countries with the highest tips in the world. This is because tips make up more than half of the income of a worker in a typical restaurant in the United States.
According to the hawaiianislands.com study, In Mexico, a 15% tip is usually left in restaurants, while in Canada diners give between 15 and 20%. This puts North America as the region with the highest restaurant tips.
However, there are other countries that include the tip in the service. This is the case of Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Chile in Latin America. While few European countries do it this way (Iceland, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco).
Some Asian countries also include the tip in the bill, such as Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Malaysia.
Nevertheless, Tipping is NOT the norm in most of Asia-Pacific. We are talking about China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In fact, in Japan if you offer a tip, it can be taken as an offense.
How much to tip in a hotel?
In 37 countries, you can choose to leave a $1 or $2 tip for hotel staff. Of this group, 11 countries are in America, but lThe exception is again the United States, where they usually leave between 2 and 5 dollars per gratuity. Likewise, in Canada this amount is expected, while in Mexico the range goes from 1 to 5 dollars.
In some European countries (Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium) it is not necessary to tip hotel staff.
Again, in most Asia Pacific countries you shouldn’t tip staff either.
READ: Is it mandatory to leave a tip in Mexico?
How much to tip the taxi driver?
According to TripAdvisor data, in 88 countries it is not necessary to tip the taxi driver at the end of your trip, while in 42 nations adding 10% or rounding up the bill is seen as a nice gesture.
But the exception is (guess what) the United States, where drivers want a 15% tip of the amount of the trip. Here you can be frowned upon if you don’t leave a tip, as it is highly expected by taxi drivers. While leaving 10% in Canada is fine.
We leave you the complete list of the countries that ask for tips for different services and the percentage, so that you can prepare your next trip and take these expenses into account.
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