Confused by US tipping culture? You're not alone

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE: £1 FOR 3 MONTHS]( March 24, 2023 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( The US is full of wonders, great and small, as well as 330 million welcoming citizens. But British visitors can feel awkward trying to work out how to tip appropriately: the range of people expecting a reward, and the amount they anticipate, are far bigger than in Europe. Big truck, large coffee, poor tipper: beside Highway 441 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee   [Get inspired...]( How to be a savvy traveller]( Join travel correspondent Simon Calder and travel editor Helen Coffey as they tackle your questions during a free virtual event on Tuesday 28 March. [Sign up here]( [I'm an image]( [Bed down in Bath]( The [best hotels to book]( in one of the UK's most elegant cities, from Victorian townhouses to period properties with spas. [I'm an image]( Superior second cities]( Skip the headline act and opt for a more stimulating stay in one of these [underrated urban escapes](.   Simon’s dispatches “My US friends waiting tables in New York said their hearts used to sink if they heard a British accent,” reports reader Jenny Cooper. She was responding to my article on how to cope with America’s increasingly Byzantine tipping culture, a culture that can seem needlessly confusing to Europeans. My [traveller’s survival kit to tipping in the US]( may help. Key takeaways: at a bar, hand over $1 for every drink or you are in for a lousy evening. At a restaurant, forget the old notion that 15 per cent is an acceptable gratuity. If you leave less than 18 per cent you will be deemed to have awarded yourself a discount on the bill. In many states employers are allowed to pay waiting staff less than the minimum wage on the assumption that customers will make up the difference. So reckon on every dollar on the menu adding $1.25 (the tip plus sales tax, another American weirdness) to the final bill. The intercontinental divide on gratuities is vast. In China, hotels put up polite notices to support a zero-tipping policy. One property in Qingdao announces: “Your satisfaction is the greatest praise to us, please don't give tips to our staff.” But in America, “tipflation” is rampant. At the Café Four in Knoxville, Tennessee, I dined well on fried green tomatoes followed by meatloaf. The bill set out three tipping options: 20, 22 or 25 per cent. Across the state line in Asheville, North Carolina, the equally excellent Green Sage restaurant collects a 10 per cent “Service Fee” for kitchen staff – with diners invited to tip waiting staff as well. America is addicted to tipping, and the traveller has little choice but to join the cult. But there are limits. If you are in a takeaway setting, eg a coffee outlet, hold your nerve when the server flips around the computer touchscreen at the counter to present you with a range of options to tip 18, 20 or 25 per cent. I always choose “no tip”. My argument: the product I am buying requires someone to make it. The only additional service element is handing me the cup, which I don’t think warrants a dollar or two. So far I haven’t been beaten up. Nor has anyone spat in the coffee, as far as I know. I guess my reluctance to tip at Starbucks shows why British travellers are seen as the booby prize among US hospitality staff. “If you can afford the trip you can afford to tip,” writes Deborah Wylde. “I always had superb service when I lived in NYC for two years and was always happy to tip. Likewise in Italy. Service in many, but not all, UK restaurants and pubs is appalling. Attitudes towards and by service staff in UK need to drastically change.” Back in Knoxville, even the online hotel booking site I used demanded a tip. When I reached the payment page for the room I wanted, the price quoted had quietly risen by a couple of dollars. “Leave a $2 tip for saving you $20.73,” SuperTravel urged. Hardworking restaurant staff being paid below minimum wage deserve something extra (though how much better it would be to pay them properly in the first place). But giving a gratuity to an algorithm is an add-on too far for this traveller. [Read our ultimate travel guide to the United States](     Tip of the week: New free London attraction London’s latest artistic attraction will open on Saturday 1 April: [The Gilbert & George Centre](in a Victorian building in Spitalfields, close to Liverpool Street station. The venue, at 5a Heneage Street E1 5LJ, has three galleries over three levels. The renowned artists met at art school in 1967. Ahead of the opening, they say: “London is such a changing global population every day, and if somebody comes from Venezuela or from Wolverhampton, there will be a place in London where they can see our pictures, and for everyone to convene from across the world.” Initially the centre will open Friday-Sunday, 10am to 5pm, admission free. [Read more about The Gilbert & George Centre]( Deal of the week: Anywhere in Germany for £1.40 per day [Germany’s long-awaited unlimited monthly transport pass goes on sale on 3 April](, for travel from 1 May onwards. The [Deutschlandticket]( (“Germany ticket”) will provide unlimited travel by rail, tram and bus anywhere in the nation for €49 (£43) per month – equivalent to just £1.40 per day. Passengers will need to take out a monthly subscription, which British travellers can do online at [bahn.com]( or via the DB Navigator app. There is no minimum term for the deal, so people wanting just one month of travel can cancel after they have obtained the first ticket. The pass is a permanent replacement for the [€9 (£8) monthly ticket that was trialled last summer](. £99 £20 for 1 year ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   Question of the week: Italy or France by sea in August? Q I'm saddled with school summer holidays. Is there anywhere you would recommend by the sea in Italy or France that's still decent value in August? A Look no further than northern France: anywhere from the wide, flat beaches of the Pas de Calais (including Wimereux and Dunkerque) across to the crinkled coastline of the Breton peninsula. I am particularly fond of the cheap and cheerful crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe, which deposits you about halfway along the arc of coast from Boulogne to [Le Havre](. [Read more: An Art Deco tour of northern France]( Just 20 miles northeast is the resort of Le Tréport, a particular favourite. The town of Eu, just inland, is lovely too, and day trips Le Touquet, Amiens and Rouen are all reasonably accessible. Family-run hotels and campsites offer decent value, though strong domestic demand means some places fill up. [Why you should swap the South of France for the North]( If Italy appeals more, book a cheap flight to [Milan](; it is a business destination and therefore less susceptible to August price hikes than most Italian airports. Hop on a local train to [Genoa](, and another one east along the Ligurian coast to Camogli: a cheerful resort with some history attached, and well placed for excursions over the peninsula to Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo. Both resorts are more appealing than overcrowded Portofino. Again, lots of smaller properties run by families are available. [The north coast of France is one of the travel desk picks for 2023]( STAT OF THE WEEK 76% Proportion of RMT members working for Network Rail who [voted to accept an improved pay offer](; separately, [next week’s strikes have been suspended]( in the hope that a new deal with train operators can also be negotiated. What you might have missed... - Home Derby: [The HQ for Great British Railways will be located in Derby]( - Ferrari furore: Tourist fined for parking sports car in Florence square]( - Taking off: [Ryanair boss warns of 15% fare rise for flights this summer]( SIMON'S DIARY Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder]( I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder]( Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. 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