How much to tip in London

Need your help CC members. Should we tip for private transportation from LHR to hotel and from the hotel to Southamption? If so how much?

Do you tip at pub's, hotel, or anywhere else?

In the UK there is not the expectation that a tip will be given, unlike America. Tips for *good* service are appreciated though.

Taxis - nothing to 10%, but not more than £1 or £2.

Pubs - No, you would look mad

Hotel - £1 per bag if someone carries them to your room.

Restaurants - most London restaurants automatically add a 12.5% service charge, and if so, there is no expectation to tip over and above.

Thank you!

Restaurants - most London restaurants automatically add a 12.5% service charge, and if so, there is no expectation to tip over and above.

As the magnet's response, but adding a reply to your specific question:

For a private transfer London to Southampton or similar, most Brits would give the driver £5.

For the more personal service that visitors tend to get (pointing out places of interest on the way, helpful discussions & hints about England & the way of life) £10 would be more appropriate. That's for a couple. Mebbe up to £15 shared between four or more.

And zilch for simply doing his job - he does get paid a living wage. But try to disguise your American accents :D

The service charge in London restaurants is replicated in many establishments in tourist places across the country (but not Southampton, it's a working city & port). All price include tax, if there's no service charge the check will be for what the menu tells you and most folk tip around 10% for good service but zilch if that's what's deserved. Reduce that appropriately for part-service in places like pubs where you find your own table, order & pay at the bar, etc.

And if you didn't notice a separate cover charge or a charge for bread or for veg (typical tricks in some tourist places, by law has to be displayed on the menu but sometimes buried in small-print) then don't leave a tip & tell the management why.

But if you get it wrong, it's no big deal. No automatic expectation as in the States, and plenty of Brits don't tip at all as a matter of principle.

JB :)

This has been discussed time and time again, both on here and on Tripadvisor.

This has been discussed time and time again, both on here and on Tripadvisor.

How nice of you to point that out :rolleyes:

Still it never hurts to offer a response when someone asks a question. If this isn't something you care to do..no need to respond just move on.

Cheers ;)

I had an interesting tipping experience yesterday evening. I was in a large branch of Waitrose, which is one of our more upmarket supermarket chains and which is owned by John Lewis, a department store chain. This branch includes a steak and oyster bar. It's a sit-at-the-counter-and-watch-the-chef-at-work type of place, but you couldn't describe it as self-service.

When it was time to pay the bill, I discovered that the staff in Waitrose are not permitted to accept any tips, even at this bar. Our "waitress" acknowledged that many customers find it odd not to be able to leave something extra, and said that she thought it was nice that they were thinking of doing so. But the rules at Waitrose are absolutely strict.

I don't know if the same rule applies at catering points in John Lewis stores (most of which are actually self-service anyway, so you wouldn't expect to tip). But the underlying rationale is, I was told, that all the staff are "partners" and therefore no individual staff member should personally get paid extra by any customer. (I actually think that this explanation doesn't hold water because "partner" is a bit of corporate spin: the staff are employees like in any other shop, and the "partner" language is used only because the company is not owned by outside shareholders but by a trust for the benefit of all the staff.) Extrapolating that rationale would suggest that the same ought to apply at John Lewis.

we leave a small tip in the staff box if we have coffee in John Lewis in southsea :)

we leave a small tip in the staff box if we have coffee in John Lewis in southsea :)

I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to look for one in that Waitrose!

Tipping in a supermarket - to quote Victor Meldrew "I don't believe it!"

The only tip I would leave is for Tesco - send your accountants back to school and study the fundamental accounting concepts.:rolleyes:

I found this great web site the other day:

http://www.whototip.net/

I wish I'd found it before our trip to Australia and New Zealand - we spent way too much time watching other people to see if they tipped or not!

Here's a thread which covers most of the ground

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2047278

You'll see that there are minor differences of opinion. That's because tipping is subjective, there's not the same protocol as in the US.

So no need to get stressed over it, there's no "right" circumstances or amounts, ergo you can't really get it wrong ;)

JB :)

How nice of you to point that out :rolleyes:

 

Still it never hurts to offer a response when someone asks a question. If this isn't something you care to do..no need to respond just move on.

 

Cheers ;)

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I found this great web site the other day:

 

http://www.whototip.net/

 

I wish I'd found it before our trip to Australia and New Zealand - we spent way too much time watching other people to see if they tipped or not!

This site's advice is wrong for australia so I guess it's wrong for other cities. It says don't tip then in the fine print says tipping is appreciated. That is just plain wrong. It's subtly saying yes tip anyway.

We do not tip in Australia except in restaurants max 10% generally just rounding up. Taxis sometimes rounding up just to make getting change easier not tipping. Never tip for anything else. We don't want the tipping culture spread to Oz.

I have never ever ever heard of anyone tipping their hairdresser.

I would never tip a tour bus driver here.

In Italy I was told by our Italian host not to tip ever, even in restaurants because the Italians consider it rude. Sort of a master servant pride thing. I went on a your of the Vatican and there was an American family of four and us. It was 7hrs and excellent. The famy tipped the guide and walked away. I said to the guide oh sorry I didn't know you took tips and handed him some notes. He handed them back, looked me in the eye and said "we don't, don't be silly," and thanked ME for a lovely day.

This site's advice is wrong for australia so I guess it's wrong for other cities.