Tipping in London

Do a search on “tipping in england” and a number of URLs show up. There will be some variations, but should provide you a good idea. The RS guide for England should have a section on tipping.

You will find that many restaurants in London add a 12.5% discretionary service charge to the bill, so always take a close look art the bill.
Technically, it is discretionary and you could ask for the charge to be removed, but I'm too polite to ever do that.

Just back from London this weekend. You will absolutely love the Lion King. I tipped 10% where the restaurant didn't add a service charge and a left a couple of pounds for the hotel housekeepers, nothing for public transport or AirBnB. Taxis are up to you, I think our friends just round up the fare. I figure, even if it's not really the custom, I can afford to leave a tip and those folks certainly can us a bit more.

If you go into a pub for a drink you do not tip the barman. If you order food at the bar and then they bring it to you, you do not tip. If there is waiter service where they take your order at the table, then it is like a restaurant. Look for that 12.5% charge. It is becoming more and more common. No need to tip above that.

For taxis, round up to the nearest pound or two if the driver was especially helpful or friendly.

Tipping is nowhere near as much in the UK as in the USA.

This is a good guide:

Tipping in the UK

A few other things....escalator courtesy in the tube......stand on the right, walk on the left. If you are standing still, stay to the right and leave the left side open for people walking. Let people off the tube before getting on.

And......Mind the gap.

You will find that many restaurants in London add a 12.5% discretionary service charge to the bill, so always take a close look art the bill.
Technically, it is discretionary and you could ask for the charge to be removed, but I'm too polite to ever do that.

Yes, this insidious practice really irks me. I always request for it to be removed, nothing impolite about doing so. The service is covered in the cost of the meal, it's one of the reasons it costs more to eat out so why should we be charged an additional fee?

Wait staff earn at least the minimum wage, it's not the greatest paid job in the world but it never has been so there is no requirement to supplement their wages with more of yours. However, if you feel that you have received excellent service then feel free to leave a tip, 10% is the average.

Service charges in restaurants are generally separated out and made discretionary in the UK so that the customer avoids paying VAT on them.

If they are incorporated into the price or made compulsory then they become subject to 20% VAT.

Service charges may or may not go to the person who actually 'serves' you, in full or part.

Tipping is very much a personal choice in the UK. In some places it may be more customary than others, but what an individual does varies. However, it is in general at what I would call the 'friendly gesture' level not excessive percent.

Thank you all for the responses!

Just noticed you specifically mentioned the theatre. Even if someone helps you to your seat - a rarity these days - tipping is not expected.

So, who should I tip and how much?

Trip details: We will be staying at an Airbnb. We will arrive on the
Eurostar from Paris and will take taxi from train station to
apartment, and will use a combination of public transportation and
taxis. We will be eating at a variety of places, but nothing super
fancy. We will be going to see the Lion King at the theater.

I don't know the protocol for Airbnb. For a taxi or car service, I round up and tip a few £s. The drivers seem very appreciative. Some restaurants already add a service charge which covers the tip. If I order a meal from the bartender at a pub, I don't leave a tip. I've never tipped anyone at the theatre in New York let alone London.

Tipping is always a fun topic. In general, don't. Never tip at a pub. If you order food at the bar, no tip. If the pub has a separate area for table service and has servers, then you'll usually see a service charge added. No additional tip is necessary.

Service charges of 12.5% are almost added at most restaurants. Look for a notation on the menu where it mentions that the service charge is given to the restaurant staff. If you don't see that, then ask. Otherwise, don't eat there. You can ask for the service charge to be removed, but only do that if the service has been awful.

Taxis, round up to the nearest pound, more for convenience.

You can ask for the service charge to be removed, but only do that if the service has been awful.

Why? This addition of a service charge is a relatively recent phenomenon, hence why it's currently regarded as optional. The cost of a meal in a restaurant includes the cost of service amongst other things, that's why they can justify £13 for a burger and chips. Feeling obliged to pay extra for something you've already paid for is morally unjust and rarely is any service so exceptional that it warrants such a significant reward.

Nothing that new about discretionary service charges although they seem to have tumbled down the price scale from luxury places down towards standard.

This also means the menu prices do not include service. So if the service charge goes directly to the waiting staff they are the ones stiffed if the diner chooses not to pay it (or a replacement tip). Otherwise the management takes the hit.

Of course the establishment now does have to still pay the appropriate minimum wage to staff and they can choose to make the prices all-in.

I think the growth of this another function of the unbundling of leisure and travel products to make the headline comparison figure less.

This also means the menu prices do not include service. So if the service charge goes directly to the waiting staff they are the ones stiffed if the diner chooses not to pay it (or a replacement tip). Otherwise the management takes the hit

I disagree. I've noticed some restaurants introduce the optional 'service charge' yet their prices have not been reduced to reflect this. Therefore the service was included in the price (as it should be, that's why it costs more to eat out) or they would reduce the cost of the meal if they are separating the service charge from it. Plus we all know that a significant number of restaurants retain the service charge and do not distribute it amongst their staff. If I wish to leave a tip then I typically leave a fiver or tenner on the table.

If you want my personal view I would prefer a clear single service inclusive price, even if I have to pay the additional VAT. The tip then is clearly down to me.

But I have no doubts about it; the price is separated out in this way to make it seem cheaper, knowing that the number of people that won't pay the additional "service" charge marked as discretionary is small. It is similar in some respects to the wheeze that was used in the 70s quoting restaurant prices ex VAT until that was stamped on, and cover charges. Restaurateurs come up with all kinds of things that the "service" charge pays for apart from the table waiting, even laundering the tablecloths.

Also the service charge in my view is not really the same as a tip unless it is stated to go to entirely the server. At least now the minimum wage which could still be as low as £4.20 an hour can't be made up from including tips.

As a Brit, I do the following:

Pubs - no tips needed if buying only drinks. If buying a meal with drinks and you get served by a waiter/waitress then tip as if you are in a restaurant.
Taxis - 10% or slightly more (round up a bit)
Meals - 10% or slightly more (round up a bit). BTW - I and everyone I know ignores any previously added service charge. Just tip 10% or so on top. Staff on minimum wage, and that really isn't that great. The only time you would study a bill for any added service charge would be if you didn't like the meal or the service. To study the bill like this if you did like the meal/service would be considered rude.
Haircuts (if you're staying that long!) - 10% or so.
Doormen, porters, etc. Keep some pound coins in your pocket and hand one over when appropriate. £2 coins if you're feeling generous. Our smallest note is a £5 now, and you'd be considered a crazy American if you started handing those out willy nilly.

Anyone working in service / hospitality sector can do with the extra cash!

Enjoy!

Us North Americans have exported plenty of offensive things, the culture of tipping being one of them. Fix the price of your menu and pay your staff accordingly. For restaurant owners, tipping is like a subsidy which they do not have to pay back.

Taxis - 10% or slightly more (round up a bit)

Why tip taxi drivers? They've simply transported you from A to B for a fee. Would you tip a bus driver or train driver? This tipping nonsense is becoming absurd, giving people extra money on top of what you've paid them just for doing their job. No-one ever gave me any tips as a police officer, not even those whose lives I saved! (Although I did once receive a tin of Quality Street one Christmas to share out in the office from an elderly burglary victim) and of course I would never expect one. The question is, how do you determine who should receive a tip and who shouldn't? Do you tip the bin men? The supermarket checkout operator? The staff at the chip shop? The postman? Do you tip housekeeping at a hotel? If so what about the front desk or the maintenance staff working to keep the hotel running?

The only time I tip in the UK is if I'm eating out with my wife who insists that we should tip only because she feels awkward if we don't. I simply acquiesce as it's not worth the inevitable argument that would ensue if I stood my ground.

I don't get the tipping thing either.

Somebody does their job and takes the order for the plates of food I will eat instead of eating at home. At the end of the meal they come around again and try to sell me extra food like dessert or coffee that I may or may not want, and I am supposed to tip them.

The person who was in the vicinity of the kitchen when my food went onto the pass delivers those plates of food (and often clears them away again at the end) and makes sure that I have everything and it is up to spec and brings special things for my disabled wife, and I am not supposed to tip them.

Why?

In a completely different line of work from JC I keep 1000s of passengers safe every day, deal with suicides, unwell people and drunks and druggies, have been assaulted countless times, make sure that elderly and vulnerable people are cared for, work unsociable hours and risk my life getting to the train in blizzard conditions, and nobody ever tips me - and it is extremely rare to thank me.

Why?

What is it that is so magical about writing down what food I want to eat?

I have many times tried to tip the drivers of my tube trains to thank them for getting to my destination safely but by the time I get to the front of the train it's pulled away.

Then there's the guy who is concerned for my safety and continues to remind me to "mind the gap". I've never been able to find him.

Well, Nigel, here’s a tip of the hat for you for a job well done. When next I go to England, if you give me your work schedule, I will seek you out and press a one pound coin into your palm. I am nothing if not generous.

You miserable sods! I am very happy to tip when I have had a really nice meal out and the waiters / waitresses have given great service and the food was excellent. Especially when I know that the few quid I gave will make a big difference to the wage they're earning.

I once tried to tip a copper who stopped me in my car and was promptly arrested for bribery. They're miserable sods too then.

I once tried to tip a copper who stopped me in my car and was promptly arrested for bribery. They're miserable sods too then.

Don't try to bribe us, our gold plated pension flashes before our eyes!

Captfarg, I thank you for your kind words, I am one of the 'miserable sods' you so eloquently heaped praise upon. We share the good fortune of having eaten very good food and received exceptional service in restaurants but in my case, in certain western and central European countries, the wait staff do not expect an exorbitant tip for doing their jobs in a courteous and respectful manner. Small places which have been around for years, some seating no more than twenty five people. Britain used to be like that, I lived there for a while as a young man. What is wrong with my suggestion of fully transparent, fixed menu prices coupled with a decent wage for restaurant staff? - please explain, you may convince me. Or should restaurant staff who are paid a decent wage also be given a handsome tip above and beyond what their jobs entail?

You joined this forum when the topic of tipping in London was raised. Per chance are you a restaurant owner or waiter in Bury St Edmunds? And you might have more luck with the police accepting your tips in New York or Boston, I've seen a few Martin Scorsese films.

Put it this way, when I walk into a restaurant in Bury St Edmunds, the staffs' eyes light up! I reckon it's my sparkling wit.