Road Trip '09 » advice http://roadtrip09.com This is our journey Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:22:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 More on tipping http://roadtrip09.com/2009/06/more-on-tipping/ http://roadtrip09.com/2009/06/more-on-tipping/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:17:04 +0000 Eivind http://roadtrip09.com/?p=399 As tipping is not limited to restaurants, I’ve also done some research on other common places: Bars, cabs and hair salons.

Bars
If you tip $1 per drink/beer you’ll generally be safe. If you ask for a more complicated drink like mojito, where the bartender has to put some effort in the making, you should tip a couple bucks more though.

Keep in mind that you tip in the bar to get fast service, one option can be to tip $20 at the start of the night to one bartender. That will gurantee you prompt service the rest of the night, but make sure to find out when their shift is ending!

Cabs
It’s not really necessary to tip the cab driver, but it’s customary to let him have the change, and maybe a dollar extra if he was OK. If he doesn’t turn on the meter, then you should not tip at all!

Hair Salons
Some of us will probably get our hair done when we’re in the states. A $5 tip is generally fine, depending on the total price.

]]> http://roadtrip09.com/2009/06/more-on-tipping/feed/ 1 How to tip properly in Restaurants http://roadtrip09.com/2009/06/how-to-tip-properly-in-restaurants/ http://roadtrip09.com/2009/06/how-to-tip-properly-in-restaurants/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:25:38 +0000 Eivind http://roadtrip09.com/?p=378 Tipping is a foreign concept for us Norwegians, so I decided to do a little research on behalf of the group so we won’t embarrass ourselves. Some of us don’t really like the concept of tipping, Martin often complains it should be included in the price. And frankly, that would’ve been the best option, but when we visit a foreign country, we should live by their customs to not offend anyone.

tipping

Why tip?

“Shouldn’t they live fine off their regular wage?” is a common question when it comes to tipping. The fact is that the servers earn less than the minimum wage, because they’re expected to earn tips. This means that the restaurants may pay them as little as $2.13, because they should make up the difference between the minimum wage in tips. If they do not meet the minimum wage, the restaurant has to cover the deficit. Now, in some states the waiters do get paid the minimum wage, but the minimum wage is not necessarily a living wage, so you still have to tip.

How much shall I tip?

If you search the web for how much you shall tip, you will find many different answers ranging from 10 to 25 %. 15 % pre-tax is the right number for normal service, but remember to adjust for poor and outstanding service. Never forget to leave a tip, even though the service is horrible. If you don’t leave a tip, they might just think you didn’t know about tipping, but a 5 % tip or less really stings.

Another point worth mentioning is that you shouldn’t punish the waitress if the food is not up to par. Make sure to give them notice, and then tip them according to how they try to remedy the situation.

The West Coast

On the west coast the servers earn the minimum wage, but you should still tip them the regular rate since the cost of living is higher. Now, you can be a bit more critical to the service quality, and don’t be too afraid to leave a 10 % tip.

Closing words

Since we are on a Road Trip, and probably won’t be in the same restaurant twice, we could have ditched the tipping altogether. But that would have been really lame, and attract a lot of angry comments if one of us wore the Road Trip ’09 t-shirt.  We don’t want that do we?

Did I get it right? Feel free to correct me in the comments!

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