A Tourists Global Guide to Tipping

Since I was a kid my parents travel a lot and most of the time I get to tag along with them. One of the things I notice my parents do is giving tips to a staff who have helped us in certain stuff or leaving tips on the table after we eat at the restaurant.

With so many countries and different currency exchange rate, we always ask how much and should you give a tip.

Here's an infographic I found online that gives some tips on when and how much to give when you're in a travel or have a service from someone.

Do you really need to give a tip?

If you ask me, it depends if you're satisfied with their service or if you're a type of person who's generous enough to give a tip.

How much to tip?

One of the things that I do when my Mom leave a tip for the waiter on the table is that I leave last at the table and TRY to get the tip to keep it in my pocket, but Mom always know so I always get caught.

The infographic actually gives a percentage so there's no exact amount since this is applicable to different countries.

What my parents usually do is that their lowest tip is just enough for the person to treat himself to good lunch and if they've provided us with a really good service and we love them then usually they give an amount that is almost (or some more than) on their one day of work rate.

How much tip to give in the Philippines?

Before 20.00 Php is enough amount to treat yourself to a full tank tummy lunch but today it's somewhere 50.00 Php but then if you're generous and happy with the service you could really give more.

Why Filipinos love tips?

Most of the workers in jobs like waitress, buttler, hotel room cleaner and taxi drivers find it hard to have a high paying job due to their life status.

They may either came from a less furtunate family or never got a chance to get a higher education to be able to work and have a high paying job.

Most of these hard working Filipinos are also the bread winner in the family, so most of them do their best in satisfying their customers so that they will have a big tip and be able to feed their family and have at least some extra money or be able to pay any of their debts.

I actually met a taxi driver once who have been working as a taxi driver even before he got married, and now he has 3 kids all graduates in college. He did not stop working up to now because he don't want to be dependent to his children.

To warn you, some people get big tips by telling their whole life story. It's okay for me I guess because it's inspiring but some repeatedly talks or rather talk about their financial problem rather than sharing their life story. Obviously, the people who only talks about money is somewhat begging and letting you know they need a big tip (and I actually don't like this type of approach so I don't encourage this).

But then, if you're not satisfied with the service you can still give a tip (in my own opinion) but in a lesser amount. In this way, they'll strive to be good to their customers. If you leave and give a tip to a Filipino worker, surely they'll strive more in satisfying you and entertaining you right away since obviously you're being generous.

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