Tipping in USA/Canada

You know the part of the question I fail to grasp on this one is where
are you coming from. The US dollar is in the tank. You have got to
be benfitting from the exchange rate alone.

On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:50:17 +0000, Martin D. Pay
wrote:


I have a sort-of-related question...

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

This is hard to answer because you don't know what of a credit card
tip the waiters will get, but, then, if you pay in cash you don't know
either because they may be being watched and have to fork over the
cash as well. In many place, tips are pooled and split on some ratio,
which you don't know either. No set rule for this question.

In message Martin D. Pay
wrote:

I have a sort-of-related question...

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

This will vary by restaurant and region. IIRC, where I live the owner
must treat cash tips the same as credit card tips, and can choose to
distribute them on a per-server basis, split them across the staff, or a
few other combinations.

Keeping the tips is not one of those combinations though (Although I
think if it's distributed evenly, the owner can take a fair share)

All of this is based on chatting up waitresses, no actual research, so
take it with a grain of salt. Your experience will vary.

Personally, I don't carry cash, so the decision to put it all on plastic
is fairly easy for me.

--
You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.

Martin D. Pay wrote:

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

The wait staff probably prefer the payment in cash at the table, since
there is no record of the amount, and they get the cash directly. They
certainly won't refuse the payment on a credit card, since they typically
take the cash out of the drawer and pocket it as part of the transaction.
In some cases, the owner will distribute the cash at the end of the day
when the till is being reconciled.

There are various ways that tips are handled in restaurants. In most
cases, the wait staff keeps the tip. In some cases, all the money is put
into a pool and then divided up evenly among the wait staff. In some
cases the tip revenue is shared with the bartenders and chefs, according
to some agreed-to ratio, with the wait staff getting the majority. There
is no set rule.

There are also some shady restaurant owners who demand a cut of the tip
revenue. Those are not common.

Qanset wrote:
The wife and I are planning at trip to USA/Canada in the near future.
Is it true that the Yanks are really hung up on tipping, and that
FORGETTING to tip someone is courting disaster???

Like most tourists we will be traveling on a limited budget,this means
that anybody expecting free money from us will be advised to look
elsewhere.

A colleague of mine who honeymooned in Hawaii was told by a tour bus
operator, that he EXPECTED gratuities for his efforts, because his job
was poorly paid. What more can I say.???

I'm going to cop a lot of flak on this subject, but never mind I have
and open mind on accepting advice on World Travel.

You could eat in restaurants where you had reason to expect bad service
so you probably won't have to feel bad about not tipping much.

I'm sure we all know places like that; just let us know where you're
headed.

Louis

On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:50:17 +0000, Martin D. Pay
wrote:

I have a sort-of-related question...

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

I have the same question and I, too, do it all three ways. I've
been assured that the tip goes to the right people when it's put
on the credit card

But in many establishments the tips all get pooled and split up
among the help, including the buspersons. This defeats the whole
purpose of tipping proportionate to the service received, and in
hope that the waiter will at least see the tip I tend to leave a
cash tip even if I pay with a credit card. Unfortunately, in many
restaurants the busperson sweeps up the tip while clearing the
table.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:42:24 -0700, DevilsPGD
wrote:

In message Martin D. Pay
wrote:

I have a sort-of-related question...

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

This will vary by restaurant and region. IIRC, where I live the owner
must treat cash tips the same as credit card tips, and can choose to
distribute them on a per-server basis, split them across the staff, or a
few other combinations.

Keeping the tips is not one of those combinations though (Although I
think if it's distributed evenly, the owner can take a fair share)

And report it on his/her income tax?

[...]

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:29:14 +1100, Qanset wrote:

The wife and I are planning at trip to USA/Canada in the near future.
Is it true that the Yanks are really hung up on tipping, and that
FORGETTING to tip someone is courting disaster???

Like most tourists we will be traveling on a limited budget,this means
that anybody expecting free money from us will be advised to look elsewhere.

A colleague of mine who honeymooned in Hawaii was told by a tour bus
operator, that he EXPECTED gratuities for his efforts, because his job
was poorly paid. What more can I say.???

I'm going to cop a lot of flak on this subject, but never mind I have
and open mind on accepting advice on World Travel.

If you expect foreign visitors to Australia to respect your customs and
standards of behaviour (whether you think they do or not), then you already
know the correct answer to this question.

DaveM

"Qanset" wrote in message
u...
The wife and I are planning at trip to USA/Canada in the near future.
Is it true that the Yanks are really hung up on tipping, and that
FORGETTING to tip someone is courting disaster???

Like most tourists we will be traveling on a limited budget,this means
that anybody expecting free money from us will be advised to look
elsewhere.

A colleague of mine who honeymooned in Hawaii was told by a tour bus
operator, that he EXPECTED gratuities for his efforts, because his job
was poorly paid. What more can I say.???

I'm going to cop a lot of flak on this subject, but never mind I have and
open mind on accepting advice on World Travel.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21346868/

On Nov 8, 5:22 pm, Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:42:24 -0700, DevilsPGD





wrote:
In message Martin D. Pay
wrote:

I have a sort-of-related question...

When I've traveled in the US, sometimes I've paid the whole bill
and tip in cash, sometimes paid the whole bill and tip on plastic
and sometimes paid the bill on plastic and left the tip on the
table in cash. Is there a preferred way (preferred, that is, by
the waiting staff)? I sometimes wonder how much the waitress sees
of a tip that goes on the plastic and so through the
establishment's books...

This will vary by restaurant and region. IIRC, where I live the owner
must treat cash tips the same as credit card tips, and can choose to
distribute them on a per-server basis, split them across the staff, or a
few other combinations.

Keeping the tips is not one of those combinations though (Although I
think if it's distributed evenly, the owner can take a fair share)

And report it on his/her income tax?

[...]

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

i suppose one
u.s. dollar per customer at a non-pretentious dinner or at a now
very common buffet restaurant is reasonable, or
in other words, two dollars per couple, et cetera--

you can certainly eventually get sick of 'em, but ryan's and the
other buffet restaurants convey unlimited and many varities of food,
and i bet few places in the world are this way, ten dollars or less
person, unlimited goood food

at the fancier class restaurants, tip at least ten percent of the
total bill, and of course many or rmost people leave 15 percent or
twenty percent or more

you'll feel ripped-off at yuppie places like ruby fridays, so wendy et
al fast food and those amazing buffet places are best for budget
traveller

for clothes and chotskies go to the tangar shopping outlet places
and several other factory outlet places is where the people genrally
seem to be especially on weekends



the u.s.a. is pndeed complex, so a guide book wouldn't hurt

if one is not affluent, one goes to wendy's etal