Who changed it to 20%

[Texas Proud]

We are eating out the other day and I was asking my daughter what I should tip as I am trying to teach her to do simple math in her head (she seems to not be able to do so).... she said 20%...


WHAT? No, it is 15%.... well, I was told in no uncertain terms that it was 20% and has been 'forever'....



SOOO, who decided that 15% was not enough and when?


BTW, my tax is 8.25% and I usually double it and round up so it is at least 16.5% so I do not feel bad at all...

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

For at least as long as I've been tipping (a little over 20 years), it's been 20%. 15% is only if you were not happy about something, and 25% if you were thrilled.

 

[HadEnuff]

ever since my offspring worked as waitstaff. that is when it became 20%...

Also, it's easier math than 15%. Not a lot easier, but worth the extra 5%.

 

[Dtail]

I do believe that in the last 10 or so years, the choices for tips on the bill when applicable now give a choice of 18/20/22, while it use to provide 15/18/20.
I do now give 20% for very good service.

In fact, I just started seeing that the suggested tip calculation sometimes now includes the tax.

 

[davebarnes]

I have become angry about this.
15% of pre tax is my default.
If you travel to Western Europe, then tip+sales tax in the USA is really annoying.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I think it went to 20% when math skills declined. I tend to tip about 20% before tax and adjustments. I vary depending on the place.. very good service at a cheap place will likely get 30% or more from me. Adequate service at an expensive place 15%. Poor service 10% ish so they know I was thinking of them. Tip more if I hog the table or drink water/soda as it's just as much, if not more work to refill my glass than to bring a beer.


I've been moonlighting serving at a friends taphouse and seem to average between 20-25% and have had a few surprises around at 40-50%. Have had a couple bad nights (tips, not my service) where it was close to 15% and it kind of sucked.

 

[SecondCor521]

When I was a kid (35-40 years ago), 10% was "typical" and 15-20% was "generous".

 

[USGrant1962]

Yea, it has just been the last 10 or 15 years. Hardly forever. I usually do something between 15 and 20%.

Oh, and if we are going to start talking about tipping around here, we can add it to the "when to take SS" and "pay off the mortgage" list.

 

[CardsFan]

I think it went to 20% when math skills declined. I tend to tip about 20% before tax and adjustments. I vary depending on the place.. very good service at a cheap place will likely get 30% or more from me. Adequate service at an expensive place 15%. Poor service 10% ish so they know I was thinking of them. Tip more if I hog the table or drink water/soda as it's just as much, if not more work to refill my glass than to bring a beer.


I've been moonlighting serving at a friends taphouse and seem to average between 20-25% and have had a few surprises around at 40-50%. Have had a couple bad nights (tips, not my service) where it was close to 15% and it kind of sucked.

I pretty much follow the bold above. I go out to lunch alone sometimes when DW has an activity. I drink water. My bill, before tax, is $7. Minimum tip on this is $2.

At some places, they will automatically add 18%. Then that is what they get. I might have tipped more, but if you put it on the bill, that's what you get.

Just me.

 

[NW-Bound]

We usually tipped 15%. After my daughter and son started working in their teenage years as hosts in restaurants, they exhorted us to do 20%.

I do something in between, depending on how we perceive the service level.

 

[badatmath]

I have done 20% for years.

 

[Gumby]

At some places, they will automatically add 18%. Then that is what they get. I might have tipped more, but if you put it on the bill, that's what you get.

Just me.

My usual practice is to round the bill (including tax) up to the nearest $10, double that and move the decimal point, which always exceeds 20% for the tip. It is particularly generous when you consider that we almost always get a bottle of good wine with dinner, so the server gets a ten spot or so just to bring the bottle over and pour one glass for me.

Last week, we ate in a restaurant down in Miami Beach. They automatically added 18% to the pre-tax amount, so that's all they got.

 

[pb4uski]

I usually do 20% then round the total bill down.... it the bill is $24.64, 20% would be $4.92 but I'll tip $4.36 so the total bill is $29.00. While it looks like that is "only" a 17.7% tip it is really more since the $24.64 includes rooms and meals tax so the meals alone is more like $23 so the tip is really 18.9%.

I prefer that the slip I sign be even dollars.... sometimes the server gets a bit more and sometimes a bit less.

 

[CardsFan]

I usually do 20% then round the total bill down.... it the bill is $24.64, 20% would be $4.92 but I'll tip $4.36 so the total bill is $29.00. While it looks like that is "only" a 17.7% tip it is really more since the $24.64 includes rooms and meals tax so the meals alone is more like $23 so the tip is really 18.9%.

I prefer that the slip I sign be even dollars.... sometimes the server gets a bit more and sometimes a bit less.

I am just opposite. On a CC my tip is in even dollars, so the math is easy. If I am paying cash, then usually I just pay in even dollars, so the change exchange is easy.

Either way, I tend to over tip.

 

[Dtail]

I usually do 20% then round the total bill down.... it the bill is $24.64, 20% would be $4.92 but I'll tip $4.36 so the total bill is $29.00. While it looks like that is "only" a 17.7% tip it is really more since the $24.64 includes rooms and meals tax so the meals alone is more like $23 so the tip is really 18.9%.

I prefer that the slip I sign be even dollars.... sometimes the server gets a bit more and sometimes a bit less.

Same here. Even dollars.

 

[RobbieB]

I always overtip. I always get great service from people who are really happy to see me.

 

[Amethyst]

C'mon, 15% is easy math, and I'm no math whiz. Just figure 10%, double it for 20%, split the difference and add to the 10%. Came up with that one when I first started going on dates...my young man wasn't sure how much to leave for our pizza.

But that was some time ago, and the perception of a proper tip has inflated. 15% is now "considered" stingy. (I put the verb in quotes because no one is quite sure who's doing the "considering." If it's society, how does society know how much you left? And if it's servers doing the inflating, then that seems a bit....self-serving).

 

[Philliefan33]

When I was growing up, my parents taught me that a tip on a restaurant meal was 18%. About ten years ago when DD worked as a server she informed us that 20% is standard. I usually tip at least 20% now, if for no other reason than lazy math. But when we go to the local dive bar for cheesesteak night and the bill is only $8, we leave the waitress $4 or $5.

 

[travelover]

Tip on pretax or post tax amount?

 

[Dtail]

Tip on pretax or post tax amount?

Pre tax for me.

 

[CaptTom]

I remember when it went from 15% to 20%. Heck, I'm old enough to remember when it went from 10%-15%!

So, yeah, I tip at least 20%. I used to work in restaurants, and I have friends and relatives who still do. So I sort of have to.

That said, food prices and especially restaurant food prices, seem to have gone up far faster than the rate of inflation. Add the ever-inflating tip rate, and it seems servers have gotten much better annual raises than the rest of us. Now some of them are making noise about expecting 25%. I think I'm going to have to draw the line there.

I do know one person who has a degree in a fairly lucrative field, but works as a waitress because the money is better.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Watch out for suggested tips when you split the check. DH accidentally gave someone a 40 percent tip last month. We were out with another couple and the total check for $200 (for ease of explaining) had the tip suggestions: "15 percent, $30; 20 percent, $40; 25 percent, $50". The waiter then split that check into separate checks for $100 each. Lo and behold those separate checks each had the suggested tip amount for the entire check printed on them. DH was so busy talking as he signed the credit card slip that he just copied the $40 amount to his share of the bill.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

20% since DS worked as a bartender and DDIL was a waitress. And try to give the tip in cash (for tax purposes).

 

[pb4uski]

Pre tax for me.

+1 really somewhat neither since it is based on post tax but then rounded down, but if but were not for the way I do it it would be on pre-tax.

 

[HarveyS]

I usually over tip, leaving 25% or so. More at a diner or breakfast place. But, if you google "standard tip in USA" you'll get "15% is standard". This is dated 12/3/2018.