In late 2025, I wrote about how Marriott is rolling out a new feature in its mobile app, which is sure to draw mixed reactions. I can’t decide whether to be annoyed at the implications, or just accept that if I’m going to have to tip, making it easy is good.
At the time, I wasn’t entirely clear on how this system for tipping works, given the limited details. I finally had my first stay with Marriott that had this, and would like to report back with my experience.
In this post:
Marriott tries to make digital tipping easier… yay?
In late 2025, an update to the Marriott app included the following new feature:
Had a great stay? Show your appreciation by tipping hotel associates directly in the app with the new Digital Tipping feature.
This concept is live at most properties in the United States and Canada. This is being facilitated through Canary Technologies, a hospitality software company. So if you choose to tip, it doesn’t appear on your folio, doesn’t earn Bonvoy bonus points, etc.
So, how does this actually work in practice? Let me share my experience. I just had a stay where when I went into the Marriott app, there was a “Tip Staff” button.
You’ll then see the option of which department you’d like to tip, with options including front desk, housekeeping, food and beverage, valet, maintenance, bell, and breakfast.
When you select the department, you can then enter your room number plus the amount that you’d like to tip.
You have to pay for your tip on the spot, either via Apple Pay or a credit card. You’re also given the option as to whether or not you want to cover the processing fee of the tip. This came out to $0.46 on a $5 tip, $0.61 on a $10 tip, and $0.91 on a $20 tip.
I’m conflicted about making digital tipping easier
Of course the concern is that the easier you make it to tip, the more employers essentially pass on the cost of labor to customers, in order to pad their bottom lines. Will we eventually be pressured into tipping for interactions that previously wouldn’t have typically come with a tip expectation? I mean, we have seen tipping front desk staff become a thing, so…
At the same time, I think that in-app tipping is almost just a way to catch up with the times, and a logical development:
- Many hotels already have QR codes or envelopes in rooms so that you can tip housekeeping, so this is another way to facilitate that
- There are hotel employees in the United States who do generally expect tips, so making it easier to tip those people seems like a positive (again, for those who intend to tip)
- I’m also really frustrated nowadays when trying to tip in cash, by the lack of change at hotels; often the hotel front desk doesn’t have change for a $20, and the shuttle bus driver can’t break a $20 either
So I don’t mind the concept in general (as much as I wish more employees were paid decent wages), but I find the execution here to be really poor:
- If you want to go out of your way to tip someone, you typically want one specific person to be tipped, rather than an entire department; it’s a shame that this system can’t help facilitate that
- It would be nice if this were much more seamless; the Marriott app is basically just directing you to a third party, and then you have to enter credit card details immediately, so that’s not ideal
Bottom line
In recent times, Marriott has rolled out digital tipping in its app, and it’s live at most properties in the United States and Canada. I just had my first stay where I noticed this feature.
This is available in partnership with Canary Technologies, and if you choose to tip, you can indicate which department you’d like to do it for (though not which person), and you can specify the amount. You’ll then have to enter your payment details, since this will be processed completely separately from the folio.
I don’t love the precedent this sets, and the potential increase in the number of employees who will solicit tips. At the same time, it does seem there should be better options in place for facilitating tipping, in situations where guests want to. I’m just disappointed by the execution here, as this just doesn’t strike me as a great solution.
What do you make of Marriott’s in-app digital tipping concept?
Ben, you can tip individual employees. Just tap the “Search Staff” box at the top, and it brings up all the individual employees by name. At least it is doing that for me where I am staying right now.
I LOVE IT!!!
All of those idiots adding the tip is fantastic news as they subsidize Marriott's payroll, who will continue to pay the SAME MARKET RATES for employees, but now less of it will be coming as payroll as it used to!!
As a result room rates will be lower, and as someone who hates subsidizing large companies I will benefit from this (no, I am not subsidizing Marriott lol).
Thank you tippers! Not only Marriott will love you, but so will people like me.
I LOVE IT!!!
All of those idiots who thinks tip subsidize Marriott's payroll, while actual property OWNERS continue to pay the same for employees.
As a result some idiots believe room rates will be lower.
Thank you idiots! Not only Marriott doesn't care about you, but so will people like me.
Much like adding the tip to your credit card in a restaurant rather than paying the tip in cash, it is unknown if the person actually gets it or if it is split, etc. What would make it easier is if it would be applied to your bill and then it would earn a loyalty retrun as well. Further, Marriott is making something on this between the partnership and the transaction fees, otherwise they would just do it internally themselves.
crazy, no chance i will tip one cent more in USA get the business to pay its staff.
‘Plus you did get housekeeping services: you arrived to a clean room. That didn’t just happen by itself.’
Replying to the comment from @Jj
Why don’t you tip your employer? You did get a functioning office when you arrived to work. That didn’t just happen by itself.
‘Are you one of those people who doesn’t tip in restaurants?’
Yes @Jj, @justindev is correct. You make it seem like tipping is mandatory. Do you also...
‘Plus you did get housekeeping services: you arrived to a clean room. That didn’t just happen by itself.’
Replying to the comment from @Jj
Why don’t you tip your employer? You did get a functioning office when you arrived to work. That didn’t just happen by itself.
‘Are you one of those people who doesn’t tip in restaurants?’
Yes @Jj, @justindev is correct. You make it seem like tipping is mandatory. Do you also tip if the waiter forgets your drink or food? Do you still tip if the service is bad as well?
How it is possible that anywhere else in the world you can get great and friendly service without a need to tip at all but not in America? We have comments from those in Europe and Asia who live in expensive cities as well but it is not customary to tip for exceptional service because it should be reflected in their daily work as they are paid well by their bosses.
Never tip housekeeping and don’t ever go plan. If the richest country in the world can’t figure out how to pay hardworking people a decent living wage, that’s not really my problem.
LOL. Hard pass. If there is any justification for tipping, it is an immediate transaction - not after the fact.
The added fee is just like the bogus destination fees... more pain for something that should not be.
I dont see any harm to Marriott with this.
Idiots will continue tipping, that won't go away anytime soon.
Marriott gets to skim some of that money and gets to continue to pay workers poorly.
I m sure there is some other corporate tax loophole there that we dont know about too that benefits Marriott to have tips processed this way
All the select service hotels have been enshittified to basically be no-service hotels. You pay $150 for a night in an airport hotel (and two bottles of water), and corporate expects to tip every person who made eye contact with you on the way to your room.
“It’s our pleasure to serve you. If you’d like to leave a tip, please do so here.”
It’s kind a hard to convince myself to pay for their pleasures.
Does it really cost 46 cents to prccess $5 transaction?
Kinda like this actually. I'm not a tipper outside of bell services and F&B but at least now the jerks who tell bellmen "oh, sorry I don't have cash" can't get out of tipping so easily
It’s still pretty easy. Just tell them you’ll tip on the app later and then not do it.
I honestly don't have cash. It's full of germs, dirty, and useless.
If you've had good service from a member of staff you should be tipping that member. Whereas this method of tipping through an app may on the surface seem benign I have a feeling that your $10 tip may actually be only $5-7 by the time it reaches the member of staff you intended for it to reach.
"If you've had good service from a member of staff you should be tipping that member."
Should I also pay their medical insurance and 401k while I'm at it?
You’re being naive. That shuttle bus driver has change for a $10. He’d rather you just give him the $10. Further, what proof do you have that your pals at Marriott aren’t skimming?
No thanks. Hard no. If I want to tip the concierge or the maid or the shuttle driver or the bellman or the doorman, I’ll do that personally, with a smile and a thank you.
Cash is king. If you want to actually thank someone, do it in-person, directly, with a smile, cash in hand, and a verbal thank you. Gracias would also suffice.
If you want to actually thank someone, no cash is needed.
Grandma does not expect the grandkids (in their 30s with good jobs) to give her cash when she makes a meal for them or knits a sweater. Giving cash "as a thank you" is literally for corruption and/or to signal to the recipient that you are far superior than them.
Marriott no doubt is deducting swipe fees, if not more. And how is their assurance the employees got cash.
Maybe the billionaire owners of these hotel chains should pay employees sufficiently instead of dumping their low pay problems onto customers.
Sounds like a good reason not install their app and just use a website. There is LOW value to hotel apps vs airline apps.
There are many problems that governmental agencies can do little to improve. This issue, however, certainly is. Large, international corporations such as Marriott or Starbucks can easily afford to pay each staff member an excellent salary. The concerned citizens should push for their representatives to sponsor legislation ensuring service employees are paid well, and that, if they are so delighted with that $6 San Francisco cappuccino, they can tip, but also know that the employee...
There are many problems that governmental agencies can do little to improve. This issue, however, certainly is. Large, international corporations such as Marriott or Starbucks can easily afford to pay each staff member an excellent salary. The concerned citizens should push for their representatives to sponsor legislation ensuring service employees are paid well, and that, if they are so delighted with that $6 San Francisco cappuccino, they can tip, but also know that the employee is being taken care of by the (extremely pricey) sales item. On the occasional purchase where the price is completely acceptable, there is room to tip, but if a coffee and pastry is already $11, then it is truly difficult to fork out more money. Oh well, in many regions people could save considerable resources by installing good public transportation networks instead of needing an individual tank-sized diesel to go eat somewhere.
America is a meritocracy, tipping allows people who perform well to get paid more. An employers duty is to allow access to that instead of giving them financial freedom to just be lazy and jump ship whenever they want.
We elected a successful businessman for a reason, otherwise people like Bernie Sanders would've run the country to the ground giving money left and right away to the wrong people.
Define successful businessman
One who declares bankruptcy six times. And as for giving and taking money at his whim, you are describing the kleptocrat in charge.
I have a tip for you….seek help.
So, you define a successful businessman as someone who declares bankruptcy six times while running casinos.
I can only assume that this is satirical because if you actually believe this you must have suffered a recent traumatic brain injury and wouldn't be able to use a computer.
@JPlat. That's perfectly true. We certainly wouldn't want the unearned gifting of benefits. Mainly, I have problem with paying $6 for a coffee or $300 for a California Residence Inn by Marriott, and then still be pressured into tipping because there is concern they aren't getting a good wage without it. And, for the traditional restaurant gratuity, this is generally a personal experience, over which much interaction takes place. In contrast, when you go through...
@JPlat. That's perfectly true. We certainly wouldn't want the unearned gifting of benefits. Mainly, I have problem with paying $6 for a coffee or $300 for a California Residence Inn by Marriott, and then still be pressured into tipping because there is concern they aren't getting a good wage without it. And, for the traditional restaurant gratuity, this is generally a personal experience, over which much interaction takes place. In contrast, when you go through the Starbucks drive-through (yes, I definitely prefer walk-ins, but this is just an example) and you're asked to tip before you even get to taste the macchiato, how can you know if they have actually performed well or not?
Define "excellent salary".
For high-end coffee shops, we should be looking at $15 hour as a starting point.
I'm fine with the option. If you want to tip, it's easier. If you don't, you, like me, ignore it. I would tip in a hotel restaurant or bar, but the places I stay don't have them.
So can you just tip $0.01 and let them eat up the fees?
I'd gladly give more $$$$$ fees to the bank that gives me x5 rewards at the expense of a company that streamlined tipping.
I’m not conflicted about this. Marriott Ambassador here for the past few years. I’ll not tip, but I also won’t stay at a Marriott properties if I see this. I’ve not seen it yet but if it pops up once, I’m done with Marriott. They should pay their employees - I do tip housekeeping and front desk staff based on the experience but if you are going to put it in my face, I’m done.
I demand to see someone's most recent pay stub before tipping. How else can I determine how to tip if I can't verify how much they are paid?
Look, stop paying tips for hotels. I only keep status quo and pay tips pre tax on sit down restaurants. Also states where there are minimum wage for all workers eg WA pays $21 regardless of which worker you are, o don’t even bother tipping or tip like 5% or less.
Blogs like this should encourage less tipping and not more. Please kill this backwards culture.
(for hotels only):
- Can we first have some basic service please.
- Then some good service, please. I am paying for it.
- And if anything comes above that, we can discuss tipping.
As obnoxious as the lines above may sound to some, for me as a child growing up in Europe, this has always been common sense.
Ben— any idea how this works for the employee? Do they actually get the full amount without any hoops to jump through (“here’s a gift card with your monthly tips. There’s a fee to use it and a fee to not use it.”) Are taxes taken out? Etc.
Thought I would add - I am currently staying in Toronto, and the Marriott App does let you choose specific members of staff to tip, so at least in my experience it isn't just for a department in general.
Does the app automatically recalculate their wage as well? People are always paid market rates.
Disappointing that this is the app functionality they prioritized instead of matching the in-app room selection at check-in that Hilton figured out something like 10 years ago.
I recently stayed at an independent boutique hotel and was offered the opportunity to tip using Canary Technologies. Aside from having to eat the extra 46 cents on a five dollar housekeeping tip, it was a pleasant experience and I was glad I didn’t have to worry about having cash in my wallet. The system did allow me to tip particular housekeepers. The housekeeper who last cleaned the room would leave a small sign on...
I recently stayed at an independent boutique hotel and was offered the opportunity to tip using Canary Technologies. Aside from having to eat the extra 46 cents on a five dollar housekeeping tip, it was a pleasant experience and I was glad I didn’t have to worry about having cash in my wallet. The system did allow me to tip particular housekeepers. The housekeeper who last cleaned the room would leave a small sign on the table with her name and a QR code for the hotel’s Canary web page. When you go to the page, there’s a list of housekeepers you can tip. The signs with the name changed every day, do I’m reasonably confident that the tips are directed to the right person.
"So I don’t mind the concept in general (as much as I wish more employees were paid decent wages)"
I certainly mind. I'm a customer, not a payroll department. I refuse to pay $0.01 more than the listed price for any service.
Yes, hospitalilty industry workers are poorly paid. They deserve higher wages--paid by their employers, not their customers.
@otherSteve,
Agreed.
Are you one of those people who doesn’t tip in restaurants?
@JJ
You say that as though you are supposed to tip in restaurants. Tipping is not some divine granted right.
But, of course, if they pay them more, our room rates go up. Occasionally you hear the naive suggest restaurants should just pay more to servers and eliminate tipping. They neglect that virtually no restaurant could pay 15-20% of revenue as additional wages (as profit is maybe 5% of revenue on average for them). Thus, higher paid servers before tips means higher menu prices. I don't tip outside the bar/restaurant in a hotel, nonetheless.
After you pay the "Resort Fees", then you tip, and then you pay a 5% tip on the tip (the "tip processing fee").
To be honest, I like it, because I can always pretend that I will tip later. On the app. With processing fees.
Yeah, right.
I never tip anyone at a hotel, ⁸with the exception of the bar or restaurant in the same way I would if I ate elsewhere, 15%.
Simple. Don't tip. Every time you tip, it just encourages this tipping nonsense. The only time to tip is if someone goes above and beyond their job duties and if you truly appreciate that action. Carrying a plate thirty feet from a kitchen to a table or providing you a key card to your room are simple functions that are expected in the job. Tipping for things like that make people all too complicit in...
Simple. Don't tip. Every time you tip, it just encourages this tipping nonsense. The only time to tip is if someone goes above and beyond their job duties and if you truly appreciate that action. Carrying a plate thirty feet from a kitchen to a table or providing you a key card to your room are simple functions that are expected in the job. Tipping for things like that make people all too complicit in the whole tipping scheme and you really can't blame the big corporations for shifting the employee payroll to the consumers when the consumers are willing to accept that. If larger and larger parts of the population would grow spines and not provide non-genuine tips, employees would quickly speak up and demand a normal paycheck and/or quit, which would also have the same effect of making the big corps pony up for payroll costs.
The same app is right now telling me that I won't get any housekeeping services because of the length of my stay (2 nights, Fri-sun).
No chance in hell I tip anybody at the hotel.
The housekeeper was not responsible for that policy change. If anything, they likely had their hours/pay cut by the hotel.
Plus you did get housekeeping services: you arrived to a clean room. That didn’t just happen by itself.
JJ
His comment was already there, so you should tip him for the effort he made typing the comment. No more absurd than him being asked to tip for no offered housekeeping.
@Jj you expect nothing less than a clean room… that’s what you are paying for for the room each night…
@Davisson
100%
That's like tipping waitstaff for cleaning the table before I was seated. Is it 20% of the previous patrons' bill?