Understanding how gratuities work in New York can be a bit chaotic, something that can be confusing and leaves you with a strange feeling every time you leave the tip, but so that this doesn’t happen anymore we are going to tell you all about tips in New York, how much money you should give, when to tip, who you should tip and how to leave the tip depending on where you are going.

So, for your absolute understanding of this topic below you will find a complete guide to how tips work in New York, a very useful guide that will serve you well on your next Big Apple vacation.

Let’s begin!

Why do tips exist in New York?

Many restaurants and other businesses in New York and the U.S. can pay workers a lower wage, but that must be offset by tips to receive the US minimum wage.

This is the reason why tips exist in New York, something that has become a custom to help most people who depend on tips to make a good living at the end of the month. Although it is not a law, it is a good gesture that you will be thanked a lot, since after providing usually excellent service each employee expects a fair tip in return.

When and how much do you tip in New York?

Here are some common tipping situations in New York City.

Tips in taxis

Taxis en Nueva York – Source iStock

You arrive in New York, you are at the airport and you take a taxi to your hotel, then arrive at the destination you indicated to the driver and it is time to pay… the usual thing is to leave a tip between 15% and 20% of the total import of the journey.

In case you are going to pay by card some taxis have a screen where you can see the calculated tip, the options that usually appear are 20%, 25% and 30%, in this case a tip of 20% is fine.

If your trip is made in Uber it is not necessary to leave a tip, but if you want you can, do it as it is usual.

Tips in Hotels

Hotels in New York – Source www.booking.com

are one of the places where you will tip several times, these are some of the most common situations in hotels.

Hotel concierges, bellhops and doormen: There is no clear amount of money for them, but if they carry your bags or receive any important help it is normal to tip them between $1 – $5.

Housekeeper: It is normal for staff who clean rooms to tip between $2-5 each day, why is the tip daily? Because every day it can be that a different person cleans the room. The tip should be left somewhere visible in the room.

 Tips in restaurants

Knowing how to tip in restaurants in the Big Apple is a very important fact that every tourist should know how to do.

The most common percentages in the city’s restaurants are 15%, 18% and 20%. It depends on the tip you give it will be understood that such was the service, if you leave a tip of 15% means that the service and food have been good, however if you give a tip of 20% will understand that everything was excellent, and you liked quite, 20% is a very good tip.

Restaurants in New York – Source www.timeout.com

Many times, tourists are wrong and give double tip, this is a very common mistake, if you don’t want it to happen to you, what you should do is calculate the tip before the Tax, if a breakfast costs you 10 dollars + $8 Tax, calculate the tip on the $10 not on the final $18 dollars.

If you are going to pay with card in the restaurant then you will have to give the card to the waiter, he will take the card, in the United States they do not take the dataphone to the table, but the collection is made in the box.

Read: Complete guide of New York’s boroughs

Then the waiter returns the card with two bills, one is for the restaurant and the other for you, in the restaurant bill there are two lines where you must note how much tip you want to leave and the other the final price with the tip added. When you finish you leave the invoice on the table and you can leave the restaurant, then you will see the amount reflected on your card.

If you are going to eat something in a fast food restaurant you don’t have to tip, as these are places where you usually order your food at a counter and where you pay before you eat, although if you want you can leave a $1 dollar bill in the tip jar, this also applies to coffee shops.

You should also know that some restaurants have suggested gratuity on their bills, three different amounts of tips you can give, so you don’t have to calculate how much money you should give.

Tips in a bar

Bars in New York – Source www.vinepair.com

You plan to go to a bar in New York you should know that there you will also have to tip, the correct way to tip is that if you order drinks at the bar you should leave $1 per drink.

Tips on gratuities in New York

  • Carry $1-dollar bills in your wallet so you can tip more easily.
  • Download an app to your cell phone to calculate the tip, we recommend two Tip$ and NYC Tip.
  • There are places where it is not necessary to tip, some of them are clothing and electronics stores.

With these situations, you will know what to do and how to give a gratuity in New York.

Cover photo: iStock