How much to tip

[mwebs]

Not to derail but not tipping restaurant servers is ridiculous. They are paid as low as 2.13 an hour, if you don’t appreciate being waited on then don’t go to restaurants. They are paid that low because they are expected to receive tips, it’s written into wage and hour laws at a federal level. So your personal feelings about it don’t really matter.

Never been on a guided anything besides Snow Cat skiing, and I tipped because they showed me an awesome time. My guide buddies get paid ok, but ultimately rely on tips to make a living. There tips usually depend on how rich their client is, are they a returning client and how many or how big of fish they caught.

 

[gibby97]

This whole discussion is a joke. Why should anyone, anywhere, in any profession EXPECT a tip?

When you buy an alternator for your truck do you give the guy behind the counter 10%? Of course not. If anyone in any line of employment can't survive without tips, get a better job, period.

Tips are just another example of welfare and people feeling entitled. I don't tip, ever, for anything. I pay the advertised price and expect to receive the service commensurate with the price.

Bet you also demand way more than other customers they have and most likely aren’t very well liked. Some professions make their living on tips. If you cant afford to tip appropriatley when it’s warranted you shouldn’t be there to start with.

I understand not tipping all professions but some it’s just plain a$$ common sense.

 

[AKBorn]

Not to derail but not tipping restaurant servers is ridiculous. They are paid as low as 2.13 an hour, if you don’t appreciate being waited on then don’t go to restaurants. They are paid that low because they are expected to receive tips, it’s written into wage and hour laws at a federal level. So your personal feelings about it don’t really matter.

Say what? I get your point about wages and law, but someone's personal feeling don't matter? If a tip is a REQUIRED part of a restaurant meal, it should be printed on the menus and automatically added to the bill.

You are correct about the law and the current state of things - however, it is still each's person's choice. So for them, their feelings do matter.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Bet you also demand way more than other customers they have and most likely aren’t very well liked. Some professions make their living on tips. If you cant afford to tip appropriatley when it’s warranted you shouldn’t be there to start with.

I understand not tipping all professions but some it’s just plain a$$ common sense.

It's common sense to give people more money than agreed upon?

 

[mwebs]

Say what? I get your point about wages and law, but someone's personal feeling don't matter? If a tip is a REQUIRED part of a restaurant meal, it should be printed on the menus and automatically added to the bill.

You are correct about the law and the current state of things - however, it is still each's person's choice. So for them, their feelings do matter.

That’s called a gratuity, basically an agreed upon tip ahead of time for a service provided. So you would rather be forced to pay 15 to 20 percent more for your meal as a gratuity than have the option to tip based on service. Knowing that if a base level of service was provided you should tip the waiter making $2.13 an hour? Seems like most of you guys hate being told or forced to do things, doesn’t seem like you would agree to that.

 

[AKBorn]

That’s called a gratuity, basically an agreed upon tip ahead of time for a service provided. So you would rather be forced to pay 15 to 20 percent more for your meal as a gratuity than have the option to tip based on service. Knowing that if a base level of service was provided you should tip the waiter making $2.13 an hour? Seems like most of you guys hate being told or forced to do things, doesn’t seem like you would agree to that.

I probably wasn't very clear earlier - was meaning to say that I got what you were saying about restaurant workers; however, each person's feelings do matter to themselves, and in the end it is up to them. Sorry for the vague response lol.

 

[WeiserBucks]

That’s called a gratuity, basically an agreed upon tip ahead of time for a service provided. So you would rather be forced to pay 15 to 20 percent more for your meal as a gratuity than have the option to tip based on service. Knowing that if a base level of service was provided you should tip the waiter making $2.13 an hour? Seems like most of you guys hate being told or forced to do things, doesn’t seem like you would agree to that.

I'm not rewarding anyone who makes $2.13 per hr. Why should I reward them for their poor life choices? I'm already paying for their welfare, their stimulus check and their $10k tax return.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Say what? I get your point about wages and law, but someone's personal feeling don't matter? If a tip is a REQUIRED part of a restaurant meal, it should be printed on the menus and automatically added to the bill.

You are correct about the law and the current state of things - however, it is still each's person's choice. So for them, their feelings do matter.

In lots of restaurants, an 18% gratuity is automatically added for parties of 6 or more. And it is clearly printed on their menus.

 

[Crowmangler]

First, just call the owner of the guide service & ask him what's "customary". They will gladly give you their opinion & they're probably gonna appreciate that you did ask.

Talk to your guide up front & give him an idea of what you would like to see / do, how hard you can push, etc. Set some expectations so he can help you meet them & have a great experience. Then apply the golden rule & tip the guide how you would want to be tipped.

 

[AKBorn]

In lots of restaurants, an 18% gratuity is automatically added for parties of 6 or more. And it is clearly printed on their menus.

Yup, knew that. But rarely have 6 people in the party when visiting a restaurant, not sure about everyone else.

 

[Poser]

I'm not rewarding anyone who makes $2.13 per hr. Why should I reward them for their poor life choices? I'm already paying for their welfare, their stimulus check and their $10k tax return.

There’s a different way you could frame this and it looks like this:

Since almost everyone else tips, those servers who earn enough money waiting tables to provide for themselves, pay their rent, have a car, buy groceries, put their kids through school and do whatever else it is that they do, are still providing their service to you at a loss. Framed that way, you are actually the one relying on the welfare of everyone else who does tip, otherwise there would be no service or your check would be 20% higher anyway. Also, those same servers are paying for your stimulus check, too.

 

[WeiserBucks]

You assume I got a stimulus check! This whole discussion is a major contributing factor in my decision not to do business with any company or person that EXPECTS a tip.

 

[Poser]

You assume I got a stimulus check! This whole discussion is a major contributing factor in my decision not to do business with any company or person that EXPECTS a tip.

You assumed the all servers got stimulus checks. I personally know bartenders who made too much money in 2019 for the stimulus checks.

 

[WeiserBucks]

You assumed the all servers got stimulus checks. I personally know bartenders who made too much money in 2019 for the stimulus checks.

Then why should we tip those people? Who do we generally tip:

Waitresses/waiters
Bartenders
Strippers
Guides/outfitters

Who we generally don't tip:

Everyone else.

Why the discrepancy? Wage based?

 

[Justin Crossley]

You assume I got a stimulus check! This whole discussion is a major contributing factor in my decision not to do business with any company or person that EXPECTS a tip.

You stated that you can't afford a guided hunt and apparently you're too poor to tip your waitress. So it's probably fair to assume you got a stimulus check.

I employ people in an industry where it is normal to tip. Any time we have customers like you, I ask them to shop somewhere else. Our employees don't "expect" a tip and won't treat you poorly if you don't. But, I don't want my employees to have to deal with people who think they are somehow better than someone else.

In an earlier post, you stated that someone working a job where they count on tips made poor life choices. Seems like an incredibly ignorant thing to say IMO.

 

[Trial153]

Then why should we tip those people? Who do we generally tip:

Waitresses/waiters
Bartenders
Strippers
Guides/outfitters

Who we generally don't tip:

Everyone else.

Why the discrepancy? Wage based?

We got you dont tip, on your merry way instead of being insulting to people. And do us all a favor and lay off the douchbaggy.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Back to the OP's question, a lot of good advice posted in this thread. Talking to your outfitter about what is customary is a really good place to start. I tip based on my experience and the effort level of the guide.

 

[Scottyboy]

I’ve tipped anywhere from 10% to 50%, for me...personally, it’s all about the experience vs the “trophy”. I’ve learned/gained more on unsuccessful trips than I have on successful trips. I will continue to do guided hunts as I enjoy the relationships, time, stories, camp fires etc more than anything. Matter of fact, looking forward to my first guided trip this year in a few short weeks in Nebraska, if I pull my bow back or not is a back seat to the time I get to enjoy. The tip I leave will not depend if I make P&Y or not...the invite back every year is good enough for me!

 

[Poser]

Then why should we tip those people? Who do we generally tip:

Waitresses/waiters
Bartenders
Strippers
Guides/outfitters

Who we generally don't tip:

Everyone else.

Why the discrepancy? Wage based?

We ain’t tipping them because they are poor necessarily, though some of them are. We are tipping them because that’s the way those job evolved in American culture. Like it or not, try to attach logic to it, in America, we tip for certain types of work and an economy has formed around it. In Italy, you kiss people on the cheeks, in America you tip waiters.

You’re being purposefully obtuse and trying to pretend that tipping is about welfare and that people who receive tips have made poor life decisions to have a job that relies on tips. Fact is, in American culture, tipping is a legitimate economy and refusing to acknowledge that as an individual changes absolutely nothing. If anything, on the economic scale in America, choosing to take a career with a capped hourly wage with no performance based incentives is a poor life decision.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Figure out what your requirements are and also any additional goals.
1) If your minimum requirements were met, then start with 10% (or whatever value you choose).
2) If your minimum requirements were not met and the guide could have done something, then decrease your tip.
3) If your minimum requirements were not met and beyond your guide's control, then tip your minimum (ex: 10%).
4) For each additional goal met, bump up your tip over your minimum (ex: addition 2% per goal met).
5) Always tip the cooks and the packers.

My all time favorite example of folks being stingy. Stone sheep hunter who tipped $200 after a successful hunt.