On vacations and day trips, I tip the bellmen, porters, drivers, tour guides, etc. I don't do it because I have to, I do it because I want to....because they've done things that have made my trip more enjoyable and more relaxed......I didn't have to lug our suitcases down hallways and up elevators.....I didn't have to try to drive and find a place in an unfamiliar locale, and then once I found the place, I didn't have to hunt for a parking place (in a safe area). I figure they've tried to make me happy, so I do something (tip) to try to make them happy.
IMHO, the day that I can no longer find it in my budget...or my heart....to tip, is the day I can no longer afford to travel or dine out!
Then again, if these people were paid a decent wage in the first place for doing what you expect of them at the establishment in which they work, wouldn't you rather avoid the confusion and pressure of trying to calculate what they should be tipped.... and wouldn't they rather avoid the patronised feeling that they get from accepting tips? Doesn't pride in one's work and self respect count for something?
Something that I don't understand also is that when people say that they tip 15% does that mean that they actually calculate the actual amount. eg a tip of 15% on a bill of say, $155, would be $23.25. Surely people don't hand over and exact extra $23.25 when they pay the bill or expect change to that tune
??
Likewise, something that I have long noticed is how Americans seem to carry big wads of notes which I guess is always to have notes for tipping. What a nuisance. I worked with an American colleague here in Australia who could never understand how I travelled in airlines, taxis and dined at restaurants and stayed at hotels with porters etc every single week of my working life and on most times never carried a cent in money but always just used my corporate credit card on which, in accordance with Aussie culture, tips would never be recompensed. By comparison, my American friend always had a big roll of currency in his pocket held together with a rubber band. Give me a credit card and no tipping expectations any day.
There was a extraordinary concierge who worked in a hotel in Adelaide where I was a frequent guest who gave exceptional service to every guest and who would not accept tips. The general manager of the hotel told me once that this guy was such a feature of the hotel that the hotel paid him accordingly. He worked there for many years that I travelled to Adelaide and maybe is still there.
BTW, nowhere in any hotel of any class in Australia (my business trip stays were always at five star establishments) have I ever tipped porters for carrying my luggage from the reception desk (or front door) to my room. They get paid well enough to not have to hold their hand out.
If they were paid well enough, what becomes more important is that they are treated like equals and with courtesy. Service ≠ servile in my view.
Likewise, it seems to me that if you expect to have to hand over an extra 15 - 20% to the person who is the last little piece of the service delivery chain, it is grossly unfair to the people behind the scenes.
However, that is not the theme of this thread. Rather it is the confusion that tipping introduces into people's lives.
Worse - far worse - it mans that you will have to factor in an extra 15 - 20% into your retirement savings program before you can retire. So on a 40 year career, you would have to extend your working life by up to eight years to accommodate your tipping largesse. Where is the sense in that!
