Tipping of Housekeeping staff, tour guides, cabs, restaurants

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/tipping-in-italy
just read this.

Tipping is a peculiar US custom which people find strange. You have been quoted a price for something, you pay that price, why would you want to throw money away by paying more than the advertised price? The price advertised (for example on a menu) should be the price you pay, including all taxes, if not, that is fraudulent advertising.

If you want to give away your money, you can (and many US tourist do), but it is unecessary.

Thanks, unclegus. That linked cleared up some questions I had.

The link reiterated what we found. We ate at a nice Italian restaurant in Glasgow years ago. There was the Maitre d ', the sommelier and a different waiter for each course. I finally asked how in the world do I tip? They were almost insulted by the question. The answer was: "Unlike you Americans, we pay our employees a living wage! If you really feel the need, there's a jar at the bar you can use."

Tipping...well the post by Chris F will be challenged by some. His explanation makes sense to me. Given the tipping guilt factor with too many from North America, would wait staff in Europe reveal a slight bias to serve them more readily than locals?

Bruce, locals are repeat customers and are usually treated very well. Nothing is going to push ahead of a reliable clientele, in my opinion.

I do tip baristas, and cab drivers; I round up the bill at restaurants, unless they are family-staffed.

nothing like a thread on Tipping to get the juices flowing................ I will go and get the popcorn , anyone want butter with it?
All I can say in when in Rome do as the Romans do.
I just wonder what would happen if I am in the US and tip the way I do at home i.e. not at all.

@Unclegus: lightly salted, medium butter please. A nice brew would complement the popcorn if all around happy hour.

Tipping à l'Américaine is condescending. Taking all the change is miserly.
Just leave some small change when leaving the table or tell the rounded figure for which you want the change. I've never tipped in hotels.

We round up the bill at restaurants, maybe a little more depending on service. In Rome, we did leave the housekeeper a few Euros for a 7 night stay. She cheerfully provided extra towels and tp and did a great job overall. She was very appreciative. I don't think a little "something" is wasting money if you feel it is appropriate. I understand there is a difference in the concept of tips and fair wages between Europe and the U.S., but hard to leave nothing if service exceeded expectations. Got the buttered popcorn ready.

Bruce I have some American IPA in the fridge.
http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/beer/iconic

tipping is not an Italian custom.

I've never left a tip at a restaurant in Italy and especially not to a taxi driver. Taxi drivers are self employed entrepreneurs in Italy since the law prohibits awarding a taxi license to a company. Taxi licenses in Florence (where I'm from) costs 200,000 to 300,000 euro. Obviously you won't see Pakistani or Indian taxi drivers at the wheel in Italy (Italian citizenship is a legal prerequisite as well). To add insult to injury their lobby has even managed to ban Uber in Italy (only Uber Black limo service is allowed, since they are driven by licensed professionals). I have friends who are taxi drivers in Florence, and I can't afford their lifestyle. Leaving a tip to an Italian taxi driver would be like leaving a tip to my dentist after he charged me $200 for a simple cavity.

But the tipping practice is not a great customs anywhere, including in America, and every American should feel bad about leaving a tip.

Read this Washington Post article

Take your advise from who and where it is coming. I think it depends upon where you are visiting. Prices are so outrageously expensive in Switzerland, I typically would not tip while eating there, but when we once did at a restaurant because of extraordinary service and some freebies with our meal, the smile on the waiters face was priceless and he was very appreciative.

In other countries it is a different situation. I generously tipped for an all day tours while in Nice and then in Italy because the tour guides made our day extraordinary, and they were so grateful. I think it is arrogant to believe that low skilled workers make a "living wage" in other countries and are living the high life, and don't benefit from tips. I have heard stories, for example in Sorrento, how once the tourist season ends, many workers visit their relatives in the states to get work because their income decreases so much in Italy.

No one wants to be taken for granted, and I think Americans have a generous and giving spirit, and appreciate hard work and show their appreciation through tipping. Most Americans don't travel with the arrogance of a class system that they are entitled to fine service "just because", which is what I typically have seen when watching others in many countries and on various airlines when I traveled in first and business class. Also, I think the level of service in Europe has changed over the last few decades due to the proliferation of generous Americans abroad. Now, you can actually get a smile and a greeting from waiters in France (lol).

"...I will go and get the popcorn , anyone want butter with it?"

Actually, if it's not too much trouble, my wife makes it with butter, salt, and a bit of molasses, all shaken up in a brown paper bag. Can't beat it. Can you pull that off, Unclegus? The IPA would be fine...

no molasses but do have some black treacle, already one beer down and starting my second soon but it is evening here.

I usually follow the Rick Steves guidebooks' guidelines but I do go a little beyond if the service is really excellent. (Mostly his advice seems to be to round up.) When I was a waitress, I never remember being insulted by an unusually generous tip, just happy at my good fortune! (Of course that was in the US.) So many of the wait staff I've encountered in Europe are from poorer Eastern European countries, mostly Romanians...they are far from home working in countries richer than theirs...they may not be insulted at an unexpectedly generous tip.

"no molasses but do have some black treacle"

Sold!

Slow down Unclegus, I am almost there.

The only place we've ever been told outright by the waiter to leave a tip was in a restaurant in Murren that had a RS recommendation posted outside! Cheeky bugger but it must work on confused tourists or he wouldn't have done it.
In forty years of traveling, that's the only play anyone has ever made for a tip.

But in general paying by cc: no tip. Paying in cash, a little rounding up. Taxi, we always leave 2 euro or so, but some people don't tip. Group tour guides: some people tip.

Thanks all for your advice on this subject. We're here in Rome and tipping minimally - sometimes not at all.

We may be headed to a spa for massages. Didn't see anything in this link https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/tipping-in-italy about that.

Would the same rules apply? 10% if even?

OMG... You don't have to tip, never. You don't tip waiters, plumbers, lawyers, masseurs and cops. Zero, not little money. Never, not sometimes. Nobody, not some workers yes and others not.

If a quiz show asks "what people leave behind in American Restaurants" it means that tipping is something not part of our culture.

What's the real problem? Let's save money all together and let's get a better service for everybody!

I keep it simple, I just round up the bill at ristorante and taxis. I have tipped housekeeping staff, but stopped that practice and feel better about that. I always have a variety of paper and coin money on me. Otherwise, I found they don't know what to do with the extra tipping, or you may meet up with some particularly savvy waiters who use tipping against you, trying to get as much as they can out of you. I noticed this especially in places that handle high volume tour groups.

Rome taxi drivers like to build in their tip by overcharging on the fare. I stopped that practice by Googling world taxi meter and plugging in practice locations so I always have a sense of actual costs. I practice that here before I fly out and in Rome before I take the trip. I try various meters and the prices are so close, you'll know when you're being overcharged! You will know what the actual fare should be!