Don’t you hate that feeling when you don’t know whether you should tip or not? I do! And the more I travel and write about travel, the more I realize how many families are confused how much to tip. Hotel rates aside, when should we tip? Who should we tip, and how much? There’s no ‘correct’ way to tip, and opinions vary. However, after years of tipping during travel and talking with travel industry professionals across the US and Canada, I’ve compiled the following vacation tipping guidelines for family trips.
Table of Contents
Tipping in hotels:
Everyone knows to tip their waiter (though more on that in a minute) and their cab driver, but the majority of tipping confusion happens once parents reach their hotel. In three-to-five star hotels, tipping is expected, and how many hotel staff members earn their living. Here’s what we do:
Valet:
I love valet parking, mostly because I hate finding parking spaces in cities. When I chose to valet park, I know I need to add the cost of tipping into my budget. There’s wisdom in the advice to tip at the onset of any interaction for best service, but we tip a valet whenever we receive our car. Since we go in and out of valet several times during any hotel stay, we spread our tip among several valets this way.
How much to tip: we tip a valet $3-$5 whenever our car is brought to us.
Front desk:
Ok. While tipping hotel housekeeping is a given for me, I do not tip the front desk staff member when I check into hotels. However: this man or woman does hold the most power to assist you during your stay. He or she has the ability to upgrade you in numerous ways, and I do know travelers who routinely tip their front desk agent in hopes of getting a better room.
How much to tip: If you decide to tip your front desk agent, you need to start with at least a $20. If he or she takes the time to help you with an extra service, such as sending something up to your room, finding that item you left behind, or acting as a concierge, tip in this case as well.
Doormen and bellmen:
Tip these guys! These men (or women, despite the antiquated job titles) rely heavily on tips. When they ask if I’d like help with my bags, I say ‘yes’ unless I truly only have one to roll behind me. Once upon a time, I thought the polite answer was, ‘No, I got it, thanks,’ while dragging half a dozen bags behind me. Not so! This is their job, and they get paid when they do it.
How much to tip: we tip $1 per bag, every time they’re touched. On average, when our family of five checks into a hotel and the bellman brings up our five bags, I tip $5. If we have extra items, such as shopping bags, backpacks, etc, I up it to $10.
Room service and poolside service:
We absolutely always tip for room service, and tip pool-side or other resort-grounds service when applicable. Sometimes a charge will be placed on your hotel tab: in this case, it’s very easy to tip when you sign for the item. This works best at the pool, where you won’t want to fiddle with cash.
How much to tip: we tip $3-5 for a standard room service delivery.
Housekeeping:
Another hardworking group that’s often overlooked. I worked in housekeeping two full summers as a teen, and will never take their work for granted! Some families prefer to tip housekeeping one time at the end of their stay, but since staff often rotates, and to ensure goodwill exists during our stay, not just after we’re gone, we tip daily.
How much to tip: we tip $1 per day per person in the room. If you tip daily, be sure to leave the tip under the little card or note usually left by your housekeeper, so they don’t mistake it with cash you’ve simply left out.
Spa staff:
If you visit the spa during your hotel stay, it customary to add a tip to your total at checkout. This is perhaps the easiest tip to leave at a hotel: simply add the amount to your total when paying at the desk. If you put your spa service on your room charge, leave a cash tip at the counter for your spa staff member.
How much to tip: I tip 10% of the cost of my service.
Tipping for tours and experiences:
Tip your guide! But tipping tour guides can be tricky: it’s hard to know when it’s appropriate. In general, I’ve found that any tour guide working for a private company (such as a concessionaire within a national park or a city or nature tour business) accepts tips. Tip at the end of your interaction together, when you’re thanking him or her for your day. If you’re in doubt as to whether to tip, ask! I always say, “This was great! We had such a nice day. Are you able to accept tips?”
Note regarding all-inclusive, multi-day tour experiences: if you’re with a travel company for multiple days, such as a tour through Europe or a guided rafting trip, tip at the end of the vacation. Budget this tip into your vacation cost: we’ve tipped as much as the cost of one person’s airfare for very high-end multi-day tour experiences. Keep in mind that some local experts during your trip (such as a guide while on an African safari) do not work directly for your tour company and may expect a separate tip. Your tour company can advise you on this.
How much to tip: we tip 10% of the total cost of the tour (single day or multi-day). If our day snowshoe tour is $50 per person and we spent $250, we tip $25. If our (hypothetical) safari is $10,000, we’d tip $1000.
Tipping drivers:
I tip all drivers, from cab drivers to airport shuttle drivers to tour bus drivers. How much to tip: $1 per person for shorter drives or shuttle drivers helping with luggage. For drivers taking us around all day, we tip at least $20.
Tipping on cruises:
Like tipping for multi-day tours or all-inclusive experiences, tipping on cruises should be considered part of your cruise cost. If necessary, budget accordingly. Many cruise lines make tipping easy by offering a standard tip percentage to be added to your onboard charge at the end of a cruise, but you can also tip independently. When servers, housekeeping, and bartenders remain constant on cruise ships, we tip once at the end of the cruise. No need to mess with cash every day. More details on tipping on a Disney cruise.
How much to tip: we use this cruise tipping chart. It’s designed for Disney cruises, but will work as a guideline for any cruise experience.
Tipping in restaurants:
I think we all know what to do here. I tip 20% if service is good, and more if I’m dining with a baby or toddler who spills half his or her food on the ground (I also try to pick up what I can). I don’t know if I’ve ever not tipped, but I definitely leave closer to 10% if service is bad. While in restaurants, don’t forget about the bartender: if you start your meal at the bar and migrate to a table, leave a tip on the bar. This advice may not be applicable often if traveling with kids, as you’re not likely to be in the bar area.
As noted above, these tipping guidelines are not meant to be absolutes. The tip amounts listed are what our family uses as a guideline; when we can, we tip more. We are almost always on a tight budget when we travel. Your family’s budget may vary. No matter what your budget, I believe it’s better to tip what you can rather than tip nothing at all.
I invite you to share your own tipping standards in the comments, whether you’re a traveler, work in the travel industry, or both! If I’ve missed a main category of travel industry personnel to tip, please let me know.
Photo credit: Roosevelt New Orleans, Flickr/LightCollector
