Tipping In The States – Key Advice

Tipping in America is simply the done thing.The custom of tipping for most services should be adopted when in America, despite what you are used to at home. The following is a top 5 guide to tipping for anyone visiting the beautiful country on American holidays

1.    Have some dollars ready. $10 worth of $1 dollar notes should be carried in your wallet at any one time so make sure you ask for a little extra at the currency exchange.  This will make it easy to give whatever value of tip you want without having to ask for change. Don’t be embarrassed if you have to ask for change though as it is quite common

2.    Bars. In general you should be looking to tip about a dollar a drink when bought at the bar. Of course if you are buying a big round then just tip $3-$4 dollars for the lot. 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. This depends mainly of the style and type of restaurant that you choose. The more formal eating places normally expect a tip of around 20-25% of the total, whilst take-aways and self service you should look to add around 15%.If the service goes beyond what you were expecting or the staff were particularly useful then do add a little on the tip to thank them for their efforts.

4.    Bags.The porter who brings the bags to the room will probably be expecting tip of one dollar per bag. You should really stick to this figure unless you want to give more as a result of exceptional service. Airport bag carriers should be tipped around $2-$4 per piece of luggage

5.    Poor service. If you are not happy with the standard of service then don’t feel you have to tip. But make sure you express your reasons. Constructive feedback is generally appreciate in the USA and the people you give it to are rarely offended. Florida holidays staff are particularly humble.