France, Italy, England tipping

Since service charge is often include, the standard is to round up an Euro/pound or two. Leave the change. In the range of 5%.

In France and Italy at restaurants and cafes, locals do not tip; watch them if you don't believe me (I didn't believe it until I saw it). However, I often leave the small change (so if a bill comes to €5.70, I may leave €6) and sometimes more (it's very hard, as an American, to leave nothing). You certainly don't need to leave anything, and certainly not the 15-20% standard in the US.

Taxis in those two countries are similiar; people usually let the driver keep the change, but that's it.

I don't know the situation in England.

You don't see people tip because they don't leave tips on the table, they are tipping when the server makes change. If you don't understand French, etc. you wouldn't know this. That is why so many people think "the locals don't tip". Yes, they do.
A service charge is a charge going to the owner of the restaurant and not to the server. It is not a tip. VAT is also not a tip, it is a tax and has already been added into the price of your meal on the menu, it is not added on afterwards though it may be shown separated out on the bill.

Rounding up is fine, if service was good make it around 5-10%. If service was bad, give nothing.

2 euro per day left on the pillow so that it is obvious, is good for the housekeepers. If you have a big family, you might increase it.

If a server says that there is a service charge on the bill but not a tip, it isn't a facetious comment - it may well be the truth. It may all go to the management although in the UK this is rare - but so is it all going to the specific server. Most likely after a administrative deduction it is divided up in some way amongst the staff working, but this can include the kitchen. Cash tips in general go either to the server or to a tronc, not controlled by the management. As a guide tip a pound or two in a casual restaurant, up to 10% maybe in a more formal establishment. Don't feel any obligation to do more unless it was exceptional.

Tipping in taxis averages out at 10% but is much less common outside of London than in it.

No tipping at all for drinks in pubs.

Hotel - don't tip the front desk, pound or two for carrying a bag, same to housekeeping per day. All of this is really at your discretion.

Tipping in general I think is going out of fashion in the UK.

A BBC article dated August 14, 2014, describes the best tippers in France were Germans, Americans and English folks.

If in doubt, don't tip. If you aren't in doubt, think again.
Tipping is never needed. Some people never tip, some only in exceptional circumstances, like a taxi driver helping you with the luggage.

I can speak only for France because that's where one of us was born and raised and we've lived on and off for forty years: we always tip a euro or two in a taxi; in the old days it was a franc or two but that's inflation!

Nowadays in restaurants and cafes people have taken to leaving all or part of the small change. This started about ten years ago. You don't have to but people have started doing this as a courtesy.

We leave a euro or two for the hotel maids after another poster on this forum who lives in Europe sensitized us to the difficult, underpaid jobs they perform. If in doubt, be generous.

I have a friend who tends bar in a pub in northern England. She said she would prefer to not get tipped at all then to get 20 or 30p. She said it's insulting and doesn't expect a tip for normal servicde.

She told me she has one customer who makes a big deal out of giving her 30p when he drinks. She takes it and, in front of him, drops it into a charity collection box.

Occassionally, for private events, or large groups, she'll get a pound or two as a thank you.
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From reading this forum I have the impression that the Swiss are the cheapest people in Europe.

Richard, "Swiss are the cheapest people in Europe". Switzerland has the highest prices in Europe!
Or are you saying no tipping is cheap. I am prepared to pay a high price if it is the price indicated before I enter an establishment. Trying to intimidate me to pay more than the marked price after the deal has been sealed is extortion.

P.S. I am English, where you never tip in pubs as it is an insult (see previous post).

it is not about being cheap ,servers in Europe generally get paid at least the minimum wage and do not have to rely on 15-20% tips to make up their wages.
I seldom tip certainly never in a pub and usually round tips up to the nearest £. I would never add on an additional tip if a service charge has been added to a bill ,no bloody way ,in fact I have asked for a service charge to be removed because the service has been poor.

OK Chris I stand corrected.....you are English.

I am English. I tip very little and infrequently.

I work very hard all day, often 10,11 or 12 EDIT hours a week, often 13 days in 14, and am with the public almost all the time.

Nobody tips me.

Except Jo. She always tips me - over.

Frantically looking up planets where the weeks are up to 14 days long. I want to go there.

Compensating working staff may be coming to America although slowly. Aunt Mary's Cafe in Oakland, California USA adds a 15% service surcharge divided between serverrs and kitchen staff. Apparently California law does not permit voluntary tips to be shared with the kitchen staff. Added tips are appreciated.
http://auntmaryscafe.com/whatnot.php

Now that said, why not just price in living easgrs into all jobs? But that's a new discussion now that the American SCOTUS settled some other national debate topics.

Have you looked at "Travel Tips" > "Money" > "Tipping in Europe" elsewhere on this RS web site? You could also use the "Search" feature at the top of most pages.