Tipping in the UK

You'll certainly look generous.
Tipping is not such a big deal here. Check first that there isn't a service charge added, which might or might not be voluntary. If not, tip about 10% if you think the service was worth it. 20% is too much.

Don't tip in pubs.

You will appear as very generous.

Tipping is a very personal thing in the UK, as there is no obligation, even some kind of a a moral one, which there seems to be at the very least in the USA. Some will never give anything. Others don't feel right without leaving one even if the service was fair to poor. It is up to you really.

A service charge is not a tip. If you want to make sure your largesse goes to your server and not the management ask for any voluntary service charge to be removed and make your own choice. Tip in cash too.

The rule of thumb I go by is to leave 5% less than I would in the US. That is, if the service would warrant a 15% tip in the US, I'd leave 10%, and so on.

On the topic of service charges added to the bill, there's a particularly slippery practice I've occasionally seen in the UK but never (that I can recall) in the US. When they first bring you the bill, it will include the usual itemized list of what you ordered, plus the added service charge, if any. Then, if you pay by card, they might take your card away to process the payment and return with the credit card slip for you to sign, but they won't bring back the original bill. All that's printed on the slip is the total amount, plus a space for you to add a tip if you want. They're counting on you to have forgotten (or not noticed in the first place) that the bill already includes a service charge, so that you'll add another tip on top of what they already charged you.

Not all places do this (thankfully), but it's happened to me enough times that I always look carefully at the bill before I hand over my card.

Emma has summed it up quite well.

I'm one of those who request that the service charge is removed. Not sure about the passive/aggressive suggestion, I do it politely and it's entirely discretional. A tip, in my opinion, is for exceptional service. Automatically adding on a 'service charge' (tip in normal language) simply ignores this premise. I've experienced poor service in restaurants where this automatic tip has been applied so why should I reward such service?

If I do tip then typically it would be around the %10 mark unless there have been one or two expensive bottles of wine consumed in which case this distorts the value of the tip so typically case a tenner would normally be left.

No tips for taxi drivers but usually round up just to avoid the change as with Emma. Don't leave Uber drivers tips especially the one last Tuesday who couldn't even get me to Waterloo without taking the same one way streets over and over again. I don't expect Uber drivers to have 'The Knowledge' but I expect them to know how to get to one of the most popular destinations in London.

Apart from restaurants and some pubs that served food I have never tipped anywhere else in the UK.

I think it is pretty rare these days for cards to be taken away from the customer to be processed in the UK, as it is the norm for a portable machine to be brought to the table to facilitate PIN entry.

As for the “slippery practice” in the UK that hkbuzzard mentioned, in all my trips to the UK that has never ever happened to me. I asked a friend who travels there a lot, and she has never seen that either.

Not once has my card ever been taken away from me when I've eaten out in the UK either so I can't imagine where this shady practice is taking place.

I've been to the UK five times and never had the card taken away as is the standard in the USA, although the portable card machines are very slowly making their way into the USA.

At many places, especially major cities, the 12.5% service charge is added. The menu will mention this, and it also should tell you that the service charge goes completely to the staff. There is no need to leave a tip in addition.

For pubs, if you order at the bar, there's no need to tip. Same if you order via app, such as a Wetherspoons. There are some pubs with a separate dining area and that have table service, so you can tip there, but many of them will have a service charge, similar to a restaurant, although it may be 10%.

If ordering just drinks in a pub, never tip. Ignore the, "and one for yourself' advice. That's fine if you're a regular at your local pub, but should never be done as a tourist.

Tipping 20% would be beyond excessive. i'd never do it, to me, it would be as bad as a European dogmatically insisting on not tipping in the United States because they don't agree with it.

"Then, if you pay by card, they might take your card away to process the payment and return with the credit card slip for you to sign, but they won't bring back the original bill. All that's printed on the slip is the total amount, plus a space for you to add a tip if you want."

Maybe ten years ago, restaurants have been using wireless card readers at the table for years.

It seems in terms of tipping nothing's really changed since we were last there in 2012. I can't speak to US norms but in Canada the norm has been shifting (in large cities at least) from 15% to 20% . The obligation is very real and it's hard to get out of that mindset!

Thank you so much for the input and information.:)

If there is any general trend over time, it is for tipping to reduce, both in percentage terms, and in range of circumstances.