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In this context, I’m not sure how speculating about a system that could be but hasn’t been implemented adds to the discussion.
Well that’s friendly and not at all snarky 
My problem with tipping - and I’m a good tipper - is that you couldn’t justify inventing if it didn’t exist.
The concept of restaurant owners making the customers pay part of the waiters’ salary directly is preposterous. Tippng more for bringing a 100-dollar bottle of wine than for a 20-dollar one is illogical. Tipping cabbies makes no sense and also the list of tippalbe occupations is haphazard.
I think BeaMyra’s post sums up tipping in America for visitors better than any other guide I’ve ever seen, very comprehensive.
Per bed, but generally nothing for a one nite stay, in other words you are rewarding/bribing them for how well they made up your room for your second nites stay.
15% is standard, 20% only are very upscale restaurants. In what are glorified fast food restaurants, there’s a tip jar, dump your change or a $1 there. Same with coffee places.
Right- bad service or food needs to be taken up with the manager. What should “come off the tip” is no refills, getting the order wrong, or letting the order sit until it gets cold, etc.
I would invent a tipping system if it didn’t exist! We tend to patronize the same establishments on a regular basis, and I tip well/over-tip. It is gratifying to see servers rushing over, happy to get your business. Over the holidays we stopped at a bar and it was very crowded. The bartender ignored others and brought over our “usuals”. New Years Eve I had neglected to make reservations anywhere, assuming my gf did it. A phone call and we were promised a table.
I don’t really have a problem with the core concept of tipping based on service. I have some problems with the implementation, such as tipping based on the menu price versus the server’s actual efforts. The aforementioned bottles of wine being a good example. Similarly the dichotomy between tipping on the menu price without accounting for some sort of promotional pricing (buy one get one, kids eat free, etc.). Either the tip should be tied to the price of the meal, which I find dubious, or it should be tied to the effort of the server, which is more defensible IMHO. The rules tend to vary based on which outcome produces the most income for the server.
Still, that doesn’t bother me that much, it’s society’s reaction to the institution of tipping that bothers me more. The laws changing the way minimum wage can be calculated, allowing waitstaff to be underpaid and the practice of “tipping out” to convert non-tip based positions into tip-based positions. The growth of the tipping culture to include things like maid service in hotels, tip jars on the counters of fast-food resturants, etc. Different tax rates for tipped positions versus non-tipped positions which encourage tax evasion by pocketing cash tips and under reporting them. These types of things I think are harmful to society at large.
The people who defend the tipping practice most vociferously tend to be those who work, or have worked, in tipped positions. There are well-studied psychological principles which come into play when people get windfalls of cash instead of a steady rate. They’re much more likely to remember the windfalls, and discount the times when they had bad nights, than they are to remember times when they worked a steady job for a steady rate. A lot of it stems from game theory and how much people are willing to risk to play certain games with different payoffs. Games with high payoffs, but low odds, like the lottery, are much more likely to get people to part with their money to play than games with low payoffs but high odds, like pick 3 games. Smaller payoffs are seen as less attractive, even though they may have mathematically higher expected values for their returns. Given the strong support of the tipping system by the owners of businesses as a way to subsidize their labor costs, it’s pretty clear it’s probably not a good thing for the laborers overall. Especially with the advent of “tipping out,” “tip pooling,” and other tip-sharing methods. These directly reduce the ability of a hard worker to benefit from their tips, and place the burden of making up shortages in a poor server’s wages on the other servers instead of on management.
It’s like the current health insurance structure in the US. We pay far more, insure far less people, and don’t get better outcomes, but for good or ill, it’s ours and we’re not willing to give it up.
Enjoy,
Steven
But your “invented” tipping would be absolutely at your discretion and not an expectation. Also, the “tippable” professions are not in any real logical list.
Would/Do you tip your kid’s teacher because she made an excellent job with him?
Would/Do you tip the very nice teller at your bank? The cashier at Wal-Mart?
Were you tipping or bribing the bartender?
What is worse, and **Mtgman **says a lot about that, is that tipping helps the owner to pay waiters less than minimum wage and it encourages tax evasion.
In New York, it’s even easier: double the amount of the sales tax. Sales tax is 8.875%, so that means you’ll automatically tip 17.75%. Round up and you’re done.
Wealthy people are perfectly able to get service staff to fawn over them by splashing more money around than others, even in countries that don’t have a thoroughly entrenched tipping system.
I liked your post so I’m quoting a few portions (and disagreeing just slightly). For tips like bags, I agree that $1 was standard. But, that was also standard when I was doing this sort of stuff 15 years ago. All of my used-to-be $1 tips have ratcheted up to $2.
Agreed with “every day,” again I’d go with $2/day.
That’s a nice idea. It ties in with the recent move toward “throw your towels on the floor if you want them replaced,” which also makes life easier for them (and, those jobs must suck).
If a hotel concierge got me into a tough show or a hot restaurant I couldn’t otherwise get into, I’d probably slip him . . . $10-$15. If he arranged a car service, spa session for the Mrs. – $10.
As before I’d argue for $2 for all.
Are we talking the sommelier? I’ve never seen a separate place to tip him. I assume he’d be tipped out on a pool basis when I tip the waiter. At a really fancy restaurant (rarer now), there may be a separate line for “Captain’s tip” for the maitre’d. That kind of chafes me so I’ll usually take my usual 20% to the waiter and cut it down to 15% for the waiter and 5% for the Captain.
Yep.
If they are talking on the cellphone, ask them to stop (it’s illegal or against taxi commission policy many places in the U.S. for cabbies), if they give you lip, no tip. If they’re blaring rap or bhangra, no tip. If they’re driving unsafely, no tip. If they pretend their credit card machine doesn’t work when you ask to pay by credit card (a common problem in cities that have introduced credit card cabs, and they seem to single out obvious tourists for this scam), no tip and report them to the taxi board.
Yep though take into account most of the cabbies you’ll run across are not owner operated. General grubbiness could well be the fault of any of the ten guys who had a shift in the cab that week, and should be addressed by the cab company, but you’re right, trash is an obvious fixable problem. B.O. too, I deduct lots for the eau de goat.
Yep.
Yeah, if you offer the chef or restaurant owner to buy him a drink he’s likely to laugh at you. I compensate by ordering something that I know has a high profit margin for him (single malt, etc.). Bartenders, waiters, sommeliers, are a different matter. Policies vary, but some don’t have extensive latitude to partake of the house’s stock in trade. Offering to buy a bartender a drink will usually be understood and appreciated. If the sommelier picks a really good or good value wine for you, it’s a gracious thing to do to insist that he have a glass along with you. Well, not insist, but you know what I mean.
Oh, this may not pertain to the OP, but in big cities (maybe anywhere) there’s an unspoken policy that certain holidays merit super-erogatory gratuities. This mainly takes the form of tipping paperboys, maids, lawn guys, around Christmas. But if you’re in the U.S. around Christmas/New Year’s and get good service from a waiter, barman, etc., especially one who’s served you before or who engaged in conversation, went out of their way, etc., it’s not unusual to give a way out of proportion tip (30%-50%), especially as most of these folk are sacrificing part of their holiday season in order to serve you (yes, of course it’s their job, it’s just a nice gesture).
I have stayed in many hotels with this policy over the past few years, and have always hung up my towels. Either they have almost been changed, or the housekeepers have some magical tool which makes the towels look like new.
I think, however, that the sheets stay on for the most part.
Thanks again, all. Very helpful and informative. As for towels and sheets being changed or not changed, I can say that in places that offer you the option of “saving the environment” by using them for another day or two, we’ve usually seen some sort of card in a conspicuous place in the room informing you of what to do, such as placing them a certain way in the bathroom.
A little on tipping in Thailand. Nicer restaurants will add a service charge to the bill, which is construed as an automatic tip and so many people won’t give an additional tip. However, restaurant owners here are notorious for keeping it all for themselves, every single baht (the local currency), and the wait staff won’t see any of it. Same with if you place a little extra in the leather folder your bill and change come in. So I always like to hand the small tips we do give straight into the waitperson’s hand.
I’d say that barring a high-end bar, $1 is fine for almost all drinks, and in fact, $1 is fine for up to two beers (but only two beers…beer and a mixed drink or two mixed drinks will be $2.) You won’t be getting super-special service for $1 for every two beers, buy neither will you get dirty looks or anything.
Something like a margarita or a Long Island iced tea (which are more annoying to do in a straight-up “bar” setting as opposed to a bar at a restaurant) should get $2. And if it’s pretty busy in the bar, your best off not ordering something complicated like a margarita, even if you tip well for it.
Why’d you leave off the massive steamer that would be the first reply?
Well, so far I’ve never encountered an “excellent” teacher. My kids have done well in school despite this. Tellers, cashiers and the like are not “serving” me in the same way a barber/waitress/bartender is. However, I do see your point.
I like bartenders. Something flawed in my psyche leads me to like someone who brings me alcohol. My bartender tips are shows of extreme appreciation. We are friends on a certain level and tips/gifts/nice words come naturally.
Great idea! Tomorrow I’m installing a tip jar on my lectern. 
The very short time I spent tending bar, in a small local pub I would probably have served 30 - 40 beers per hour on a quiet night. On a busy night, it could easily have hit 80-100 - at $1 per beer, or even one for every two beers that’s a pretty hefty income
I believe this is a silly question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. I understand that besides the audio tours that are available at Ellis Island in NYC, park rangers conduct tours. You don’t tip them, do you?
I’ve also heard of a group called the Alliance for Downtown New York that conducts free Wall Street walking tours every Thursday and Saturday at noon. Is it customary to make a small donation?