Norms around tipping hotel staff can be confusing, controversial, and inconsistent (especially in the United States), whether we’re talking about housekeeping, the concierge, or club lounge staff. However, there’s a trend that seems to be slowly spreading as of late, regarding tipping hotel front desk staff. Is this where the line should be drawn?
Continue reading: Tipping Hotel Front Desk Staff: Are Things Getting Out Of Hand?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I will not tip FD staff. The only ones I consistently tip - housekeeping for tidying my room.
As Ben says, it's a culture. It differs from place to place and among different venue types. I'm just surprised that I've not encountered any entity in North America use "we'll never ask" as a marketing idea. If I'm told a hotel will ensure I'm never asked for a tip until after I've checked out, I'll notice that. Depending on how it's presented, it could influence my choices.
I'd also love to see a property openly disclose their internal gratuity policy. If I give $10 to the waiter, how much goes to others? Is it different if I use a card? If I charge it to the room? If I leave cash? What about the car valet? Housekeeping? A hotel that pulls back the veil and presents an offer to guests openly might be able to get some marketing traction.
I guess they all feel that when we tip we think we're giving a gift to a person and it's best we keep believing that, even when, most of the time, it's not true.
I absolutely resent and despise tipping culture especially her ein the US, where it is absolutely out of control. That being said, I've never quite understood why I would tip certain people at a hotel and not others? Like, why would I tip pretty much everyone at a hotel but not the front desk? Kind of odd.
Hard pass. Y'all can be a whore passing out all these additional dollars at hotels, but I ain't.
Next it will be flight attendants and gate agents.
I despise tipping culture, which is a uniquely American phenomenon, born out of an unrelenting resistance to paying people fair wages. I certainly won't tip a front desk person at a hotel. I don't tip for counter service, and I limit my tipping to 18% in most cases. 20% is for exceptional service, not the standard.
I worked the FD at a couple different full service hotels in NYC years back (late 2000s). There was never an expectation to tip the FD, nor did I ever witness my colleagues soliciting tips. Many (not all) hotels in NYC are union properties and I can assure you that the FD staff were compensated more than fairly and tipping was not needed. Even the non union properties tend to pay competitive wages or more, in an attempt to prevent the property from unionizing.
Before moving to the FD, I worked as a bellman for a few years and it was kind of refreshing to not have to “hustle” for tips once I moved to the FD and could just focus on the job at hand which was taking care of the guests without the expectation of getting something in return from them.
It was a great experience when I was young and I met people from all over the world, but it was not something I wanted to do forever. Haha
"I certainly won't tip a front desk person at a hotel. I don't tip for counter service, and I limit my tipping to 18% in most cases. 20% is for exceptional service, not the standard."
You're 100% doing it the right way. Tip creep is a thing, and it's a stupid, greedy thing. Are we actually to give money to a person for literally doing their job? Waitstaff, okay. Bartenders, okay. Taxi drivers and barbers, okay. Housekeeping, okay. Food delivery, fine. And that's plenty, it stops there. I saw a tip jar at a coffee counter at the EmQuartier in Bangkok recently. The USA is exporting its bad habits to the rest of the world; granted, it's been doing that for decades, but the tipping thing is out of control.
Just go to kiosks or mobile check in. Would be much faster and your phone is never going to ask you for a tip.
Perhaps I've lost the plot, but isn't being checked in, preferably in a pleasant manner, a requirement for a hotel stay? This is not an additional service. This is not an employee going out of their way to make my stay more special. There is a zero percent chance I'm tipping someone to check me into the room that I have paid for. Zero.
Perhaps I've lost the plot, but isn't being checked in, preferably in a pleasant manner, a requirement for a hotel stay? This is not an additional service. This is not an employee going out of their way to make my stay more special. There is a zero percent chance I'm tipping someone to check me into the room that I have paid for. Zero.
Ben - when you say 'US tipping culture is what it is'. isn't the point that it isn't? If it 'is what it is' (i.e. it's a known quantity) then people can accept it. The fact that it is constantly changing and growing is what makes it frustrating.
Could it be that when the concierge team are not available guests are going to the front desk and they are doing the work but not getting any compensation for doing so. Perhaps a few disgruntled employees have had a staff meeting and the hotel management thinks this is the solution.
Tipping is absurd. My 18 year old daughter is making $2,000+ working 2x5 hour shifts each week. That’s about x3 my hourly rate as a tech worker in the Bay Area.
Stop tipping culture. You are missing the forest for the trees.
By continuing to subsidize employee wages, you perpetuate the cycle of companies underpaying their staff because they know you will do so.
Would someone rather get an extra $5 sporadically everyday, or get a permanent raise from having proper wages.
You are hurting the very people you are trying to "help" with your tips.
This is a slippery slope. Tipped employees fall into a lower minimum wage class. In Manhattan it might be around $13 - $ 14 per hour. They may be paid $20 - $ 25 now but they are risking a challenge and I doubt that front desk gratuities could make up the difference. Unless the desk is covering concierge work i would be unlikely to tip.
I come from a country where tipping isn’t normalized, but have lived in America most my adult life. Where I have an issue is in America we have a tipping culture for SOME industries and not others and are okay with it. I work at a pediatric hospital and have people on my team who unfortunately make $21-$28. We also have EVS team members who clean rooms who also don’t make a lot of money. Many of them are putting themselves in consistently difficult situations, often where families start opening up and sharing with them what they’re going through. That is really difficult. And if you think about it, they’re doing the same work as housekeeping in a hotel with the added struggle of being face to face with really sick kids and families looking for support. But we don’t tip this service… and I don’t think we should. It could lead to bad situations. I also live in a state where all employees, including servers, have to make minimum wage PLUS tip and minimum wage for fast food is $20. So sometimes I have a hard time with how much tip is expected for often low service when there are other service industries that provided even more hospitality and care and we’re culturally okay not tipping them and they make less… every time a new job title expects a tip, such as a front desk, I struggle. If I had loads of money I might not be as bothered, but I don’t. And I think providing a welcoming environment and setting the tone for the stay is part of their job description so the only times I’ve tipped is something like when they let me leave my car out front for a little longer than they should so I can get settled in or something like that.
Bunch of total and complete cheapskates and losers in these comments, clinging to their paltry net worths.
As Ben wrote in the article, a Manhattan front desk employee might make $20/hour. The median rent in Manhattan is $5,000 a month. And while Brooklyn or Queens is still cheaper, the difference has really shrunk. Don’t forget NYC apartments have an added cost of brokers fees (another $5,000) and holiday tips ($1,000 and up).
The solution is clear. Make money. I’m sure the crowd in these comments don’t need to hear me reiterate Skadden’s average partner pay of $6 million a year? How about the co-CEOs of KKR whose offices are only one avenue away. $500 million a year.
When you make money, you won’t be taking such a “principled” stand on online blogs bragging about how little you can pay.
And yes by the way I vote democrat. Republicans who want lower taxes are also complete losers clinging to their paltry net worths. You raise their taxes and they’re poor. Well, that’s not happening at the equity partner level, I can tell you as much.
View from the Wing flags a Reddit post
That’s 90% of his blog these days.
Ben, good on you for still posting real posts and not just dialing it in.
You are subsidizing employees no matter how you pay
Would you rather pay $120 for your hotel, or $100 for the room and $20 for the person who checks you in?
“Proper wages” don’t exist in America unless you’re in those elite professions Arps mentioned.
Where I have an issue is in America we have a tipping culture for SOME industries and not others and are okay with it.
Lawyers and high financiers aren’t the only ones working 115 hours a week but they’re basically the only ones reliably reaching 7-8+ figures of annual income. The takeaway is, life’s not fair.
Tipped employees fall into a lower minimum wage class.
This is increasingly untrue, it’s already untrue in many urban areas
Surprised hotels haven't gone the direction yet like some restaurants by adding an automatic gratuity to the bill.
Oh yes it's true. Minimum tipped wage in Maryland under $4. Georgia it's under $3. This could allow employers to start paying a lesser wage, which is why I suspect they are quietly encourage it. It cuts their payroll burden.
I have a simple policy, I never tip anyone for any reason unless I visit a sit-down restaurant (not bar, not coffee shop) in the Americas where I tip 10% and maybe a bit more if it's in the USA and I have received amazing service. I also tend to refuse things like hotel staff helping me with luggage even if I know they're expecting little/nothing for their trouble. I have never seen the US as a particularly interesting place to visit and I keep my travels there to a minimum, so I am spared the most egregious bits, but I am sure that waiters in Thailand etc who are used to gringo tourism are a bit disappointed to see I've left no tip or just rounded the bill up.
Where does it end? When I visited Mozambique, renting a car with a driver was just €12 a day more than self-drive. Was it up to me to ensure that my chauffeur got the extra €50 he needs in order to live well? It's not about paying more or less, it's about the responsibility of employers to pay sustainable wages. The fact that I probably would have chosen self-drive instead of paying €50 means that the driver may have been left without a job instead of earning €10 or whatever they paid him. I'm just not going to worry about that sort of thing, particularly if I happen to be on holiday.
Mr. Fake lawyer is now commenting with two different accounts on the same article.
A lawyer and an equity partner has that much time to comment on a travel website to brag about this achievements, very convincing.
Very good point.
In Dallas, Reliant Air Conditioning's sole message on their radio ads is that their sales staff are not on commission.
Digital Check-in, Digital Key, Digital Check-out. Problem solved. Thank god for Hilton.
It's easy enough to select zero when the payment is after the service.
The challenge is places like Shake Shack and food delivery where they are going to bring the food, but the machine asks for the tip up front.
That really is extorting, with the implicit "Don't tip and we won't serve you well".
And let's give a shout-out to Chick-Fil-A who ban their employees from accepting tips, among other wholesome rules.
In fact most of the fast food chains seem to ban tips.
I like it... But it needs to be fair... Must include a way to deduct for non-good service...
Have to wait in line to check in... MINUS $20
Room not ready by 4pm... MINUS $20 per 5 minutes
Room has a problem with TV/AIR/Cleanliness... MINUS $20 each
Towels or Toiletries not correct... MINUS $20 each
Worn carpet. bedding... MINUS $20 each
Line for checkout, bill wrong... MINUS $20 each
So in the end, you could walk out with them owing you for the night!!!
No? Great... then let's just zero out tipping across the board.
NO MORE TIPS ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME!
Stop the madness. NO MORE TIPPING ANYWHERE for ANY THING.
Take pride in what you do.
But the kiosk won't throw shade at you if you hit "skip." Which is why many people will "give in" and simply tip.
I have never tipped a front desk person in my life. What the hell is wrong with Americans?
Some hotels are finally putting qr codes in the room to allow digital tips to be added to the bill. If the mgmt wants part of that to be shared with front desk, that’s up to them, but I don’t think I’d tip a clerk individually. I’ve always found tipping at hotels to be the worst tipping scenario. There are several people to tip, but hotels will rarely be willing make change for you. So you have to stick up on small bills before your trip. It’s absurd.
From European point of view "tipping culture" is sick. In America it became a grotesque. Many of my friends avoid travelling to USA because of tipping - wherever and whenever. Staying in expensive hotel and paying $2000/night everyone expects excellent service - by definition. Otherwise - what's the point? And the more expensive hotel - the higher tip is expected.
@IH8GARYLEFF, it's arguably less embarrassing than basing your online persona around your hate for another travel blogger.
You can be damn sure the employees aren't disclosing the tips on their tax returns.
No one has ever disclosed tips as received income, not when I was a lowly pizza boy for Papa Johns, not the bartenders in NYC who work harder and deal with more than 95% of the working world, not the hired help who get cash bonuses, from doormen to cleaning crews and so forth. That's just the way it works and the IRS knows it. It's the unspoken engine of the American service economy, along with undocumented, underage workers.
I tip like a madman but Jesus, tipping the front desk at a hotel is completely absurd.
At a few Hyatt Places I frequent, you can select the housekeeper's name from a list once you scan a QR code in the room or the elevators. They provide a little card in your room with the housekeeper's name. I found it hilarious that the front desk staff and even the manager were included in the list of the tip-able. (The QR-linked site provides job descriptions for each person.)
I don't carry cash. Haven't for years. Not about to start again. (When I try to get 10s at my local BofA ATM, it never even works.) So I love this. It gives those inclined the option and doesn't pressure those who won't.
Exactly! Everything is QR code, or the employee turns the screen around for you to select a tip. Why? You just rang up my order, so NO TIP. It's out of control, and we need not accommodate this so that companies can give bigger profits to their shareholders.
Enough is enough!
100% inappropriate and gross. Marriott should not allow its brand to be sullied in this way. I tip generously where it's customary but I absolutely will not participate in adding a new category of tipped workers.
Want something even less appropriate? I use the airport wheelchair service most of the time because of very bad eyesight. In the US, many people tip the wheelchair attendants, and I do because it's customary here, though justifiably unthinkable in much of the world. Recently at SFO, I saw a wheelchair with a big sticker on the backrest: "TIPS are never required but are greatly appreciated." It left me speechless.
Just tell me next time I travel there if I need to tip a customs officer and/or border control. And what about politicians? Cause that’s how all this finally ends up. BTW should I also tip sales staff of the company I am placing an order with?
No! Tip fatigue for me - I used to tip, but doing it less and less, and will probably stop tipping altogether anywhere. I don't care what anyone thinks about me. Enough! Tipping is optional - no one is going to force or guilt me into tipping any more.
Front desk people are NOT paid low wages: they are paid the clearing wage for what people of their skills (and no college) can earn.
They can quit anytime. And given the low unemployment rate they can get another job.
Tipping will only allow employers to pay them less (like restaurants do): your money simply goes to the owners, typically millionaires.
Government should really regulate the hospitality industry when it comes to salaries. I find it funny how restaurants always cry about low profit margins, yet they pop up left and right and they have no problem paying $2 an hour for wait staff. Hotels.....many of them pay $10-$15 an hour. The only hotels that should get away with that are your budget inns and econo lodges seeing that the marriotts and hiltons of the world are charging at least $175 a night. Internationally, hotels will have staff everywhere. In America, outside of the big city hotels, they staff one person at the desk lol. American hospitality businesses charge the most but are the cheapest.
Fairfield?! That's a pretty minimal front desk experience. Hard to imagine wanting to tip for exceptional service there- a concierge at a resort or somebody who does a little extra something for you would be different...
At some point expected tipping becomes a disincentive for the consumer to consume.
I, myself am actually starting to tip less! This has gotten completely out of control and it is actually just disgusting what it has turned into. The only other place where I have seen anything like this was Egypt, where they expect a tip for literally saying "Good morning" to you. Americans are creating a horrible habit that is spreading like cancer around the world! It just befuddles me when I see Americans tipping 40-50-60% in some foreign countries because "it's so cheap".
Nobody working that many hours every week is adding any kind of value to the business, or doing the best for their clients.
Like the vast majority of Americans, I don't give a cr@p how expensive NYC is. I'll never have to go there ever again, and I'm happy for it. I look forward to the day when their residents can escape and come to America.
1. The line should've been drawn way before this.
2. Of course the insane tipping culture can be reversed if people stop participating in it. Business in Europe have tried to increase tipping too, but customers mostly reject it, that's why it never got out of hand so much.
3. Arguing that the staff doesn't make much is exactly the way hotel owners want you to think, but in reality, the whole purpose of this exercise is to enable them to not pay their staff properly.
I'm tempted to have some cards printed up with a QR code to tip me. I see a sign encouraging me to tip the FD, I just hand them my card. Of course, the QR code will Rick roll them.
My recommendation: go to any other country than the US - no tipping needed and, more important, a way better service.
Please don’t get me wrong, I used to love the US, but it gets out of control… not only the political situation, but also the prices went up and service down, which I find a pity. Hopefully one day this will start to change….
I like countries where the price shown is the price I have to pay. No VAT added, no tips added, no hell whatever stupid argument we can possibly make up to make you pay extra added…
9.99 is 9.99 and not 12.50. Difference between the USA and the rest of the world
"Americans are creating a horrible habit that is spreading like cancer around the world"
Amen to this. Mexico now expects 20%. When I didn't tip a lazy airport waitress she tried to shame me by saying "was my service not good enough?". I pointed out to her that shaming me is not just poor service, it is poor manners.
employers essentially wanting guests to pay extra for service in order to improve margins.“
That’s exactly the point and nothing else. If the price was relatively lower, I’d be more than happy to make up for it by tipping staff. But it isn’t. Prices in US hotels and restaurants are already inflated, even compared to other upscale markets around the world where people need to make a decent salary for living too. So what am I paying extra for then? The second Lambo of the owner? Thanks but no! And if someone calls me cheap because of this opinion, they either don’t care about money or are just not the smartest - or both.
My guess is that, since there is a paper trail, it does get reported to the IRS.
Don't forget the pilot and crew of the airplane you flew in on. After all, they work really hard. If it's an American airline, you likely threw up on the slop they fed you, which helps you keep your weight in check. Surely that deserves a little honorarium?
@Arps. No. As a hotel or restaurant, it's on you to decide what your cost of doing business is, add your profit margin on, and charge the customer that. Not hit them with an endless number of tiresome nickel-and-diming gotchas - resort fee, sanitation fee, staff upliftment initiative fee, fee processing fee, and whatever other money-grabbing bollocks they're coming up with even as I write this.
Tipping in the US has turned into a "tax". Let's just get this over with this and add a VAT and be done with it. I believe all workers deserve way above the minimum wage you stated with proper benefits that at the least take care of the needs of workers like healthcare--this idiotic idea is being supported and possibly hatched by management to NOT pay their workers a proper livable wage. I understand that workers feel it but I will NOT be tipping any front desk workers unless, of course, like I've always done, they have gone above and beyond to provide extraordinary service. sorry not sorry.
If most people stop tipping (and that's increasingly becoming the case), then yes, we'll end the awful and ridiculous practice of tipping. So I don't know where Ben gets the idea that it's not realistic. Most other countries don't tip. I'm just finishing a trip in Japan, and the service has been phenomenal at the hotels, restaurants, public transportation, etc -- way above American service -- and there's no tipping whatsoever! The staff just do a perfect job every time. They will literally greet and bow to every guest walking through the hotel lobby, and go out of their way to accommodate any requests. They do not expect or get tips, and I've even seen wait staff refuse them. That's how it should be. Employers are responsible for paying the cost of their employees, not the customers. And prices for food etc here are really cheap compared to the US. Dinner for two at a good restaurant is usually under $20. It makes me never want to step foot in an American restaurant or hotel ever again!
When I was checking out of the Grand Hyatt in Berlin eight years ago the lady at the front desk asked me for a tip "for the team". I was very surprised because that was the first and only time I have ever been asked such a thing. I had very little contact with the front desk but I gave a tip because they seemed to be expecting it. I thought maybe it was a German custom or perhaps something guests do at swanky hotels, I am not used to such upscale places. In future I would not do it.
There are already taxes, some hotels I've stayed at have had 4-5! State tax, local tax, a tax because they are next to an event venue and so on. Hotel prices are already absurdly high compared to a few years ago and other countries, and those other countries don't expect tips (Japan, UK just 2 places I've been recently)
In that case everyone is a tax fraud and cheat. Just a quick reminder: you live in a society, not an individual kingdom, and your taxes pay for it.
If the plan to make tips not taxable goes through, I think the tipping culture is going to get worse. Employer will start pushing more and more positions to make larger share of their earnings from tips.
Soon we will be tiping whenever there is a transaction, or worse.
Stop tipping people for doing their job! The hotel should pay them more if they don’t get enough. Joy an union if needed but this needs to stop.
Meant to reply to this before but forgot, so:
> "Would you rather pay $120 for your hotel, or $100 for the room and $20 for the person who checks you in?"
Absolutely $120 for the hotel knowing that all staff are getting living wages. Up-front, transparent. Doesn't guilt you into giving more or shame you for giving less; just one price, all-in.
Same with concert tickets. I hate going to Ticketmaster and seeing a ticket for "$50" but it comes out to like $75 after the venue fee, convenience fee, order processing fee, and all the other made-up mandatory junk fees. Jim Gaffigan joked about those: "Convenience fee? Yeah, a convenient way to rip you off." I don't want to see hotels follow Ticketmaster's business model, to put it mildly. (And don't get me started on resort/destination fees...)
At least with airlines, the increasing fees are usually (at least technically) optional. You don't *have* to check a bag, check in with an agent, select a seat in advance, etc. (well, unless you do)... But tipping restaurant servers or other 'tipped' positions isn't considered optional since they depend on tips for almost 100% of their income after tax. I hope we never get to the point where tipping front desk, housekeeping, or other hotel staff becomes so common that these become classified as 'tipped' professions, able to be paid less than minimum wage, such that tipping is now regarded as required (not in the legal sense, but in the sense that you're a jerk if you don't).
totally agree, this horrendous american habit is making jobs very precarious worldwide, pay your employees and stop charging for everything! Eveywhere you go they charge for tips, it's insane.
this is becoming the norm in latin america, even though service employees are paid according to legislation, now you can't enter a place without being charged for tips, restaurant, bars, clubs, cafes and pubs they charge you tips, hotel workers also expect huge tips and give you faces if you don't tip them over 30 USD
0 - i tipp 0 in the US. Anywhere else, i give when service is great, leave some on the pillow ect. But when in the US, i do not anymore. Too tired of this BS.
I thought tipping at a Fast Food / Self Serve restaurant was already way out of control. This is indeed a new low. Tipping was supposed to be for a service well done not a requirement.
Tell me you're American without telling me you're American - harp on about tipping like it's a significant personality trait.
I'm a European not used to tipping culture, and even completely against tipping culture. Now I know that it does exist and I think I know what is expected from me at some hotels and restaurants. But when arriving with my European passport and credit card I find great joy in playing the naive European tourist who never heard about tipping. So I will never tip, and when screens are pushed in front of my eyes or suggestions are given, I tell in your most naive voice that I will pay or ,already paid for the room or the meal. Thus pushing the invitation away and tipping exactly zero percent and zero dollars.
Now in a more deprived area, in a diner with table service, when the tip is definitely NOT solicited, but of course expected, I might tip if I was happy with the service, which I usually am. But in fancy places, and in hotels, NEVER.
You get the benefits without paying the people who do the job a way to live decently (or at all) in the city they have to live in, while crowing about your European passport.
Yeah, maybe American working poor's better than some third world country you have in mind, though I think it's a banana republic at this point. Yeah, you sound like a rich entitled colonialist.
The people serving you are so proud that you're so principled, while they live on as little as $2.13/hr. Yeah, you're just as exploitative as the hotel owners.
Yeah, you not tipping is going to help them unionize. You know nothing about how hard it is to do that in this country, while exploiting the very people you claim should be treated better.
If you want people to get paid more, start the revolution.
Not tipping won't get people earning as little as $2.13/hr anything better. It's just an excuse for people to exploit the people serving them, while whining about how bad things are.
You see on this page most people faking moral outrage at low pay, while exploiting the people who serve them. They're traveling & enjoying life, not willing to start the revolution needed to overthrow the billionaire feudal lords, while oppressing the servant class they claim should be treated better. How about you paying them better while voting and fighting for legal changes? Anything less and you're just as morally bankrupt as the next hotel owner.