A few notes about tipping
How much – as a general guide, 10% or so is plenty in almost all circumstances.
Taxis – time was that, if you didn’t give a taxi driver a tip, or enough of a tip, you were in for abuse. Then lockdown came, and life was hard. After lockdown, drivers were noticeably more appreciative of tips, well, actually, of fares in general. We see it’s starting to go back the other way.
Some people say “round up the fare to the nearest pound, or five pounds”. That won’t do (probably). As an example, suppose your fare is £39.50. Rounding it up means a £40 payment and a 50p tip (1.3%).
We like to pay taxis in cash (it’s just us). We would look to add 10% or so and then round up (or maybe down a little) to an easy number. So, 10% more is roughly £4, making £43.50, so we would probably give £45, a little generous but not so much. That would be appreciated. Slightly less than 14%. You can give more if the driver is extra helpful, and they can be.
Restaurants – since COVID, nearly all restaurants prefer card payment. This is not necessarily contactless as you may be over the contactless limit, so make sure you know your PIN. Some places only accept cards, and will say on the website or booking confirmation or as you enter, or all three.
Look carefully at your bill, and check it is correct. At the bottom, is an optional service charge/gratuity/tip added? If so and you are happy with it, great. If you have had a problem, poor service, whatever, then you don’t have to pay it, but hopefully you have already mentioned this to the manager. When you get your bill is not the time to start complaining.
Some restaurants rather cheekily add a service charge then leave a space (on the bill) or a prompt (on the machine) for more tips. Don’t pay anything extra. Keep a copy of your bill and check it with your bank account later.
We prefer the French/Belgian system – it’s all included, staff get decent pay, there’s nothing to worry about, enjoy the meal.
On a related point, in American restaurants you are given the check when the server thinks you have finished. You may not have had all your items and may not get them. You can say “I did not get my XXX”, and good luck with that. In the UK you ask for a bill when you are ready. If you are having a wait for something, say “I did order an XXX” and you may have some luck. If not, double check you were not charged for it.
Paying by card – who gets the tip?
If you reward good service, you want it to go to the server. How do you ensure that?
You can’t.
Some restaurants operate a policy where all tips are collected and shared between all staff.
Some restaurants keep some or all of the tips to offset costs like electricity. The staff get little or nothing. This is not right, especially if they are not even paying a minimum wage.
Some have a note on the bill, or menu that says something like “All tips go to your waiter/waitress”, which is great (we assume it’s true).
One restaurant we visit, mentioned in a link above, does take card and cash payment. We pay for the meal by card and leave a cash tip (it helps to know roughly what your bill will be). After that, what they do is up to them, but we know many people who do similar.