Tipping at a restaurant or spa
Restaurants/bars
Nights out on the town can be expensive, but if you skip the tip at your favourite restaurant, you might notice you’re not getting adequate service. At a bar you should leave either a loonie or toonie for each drink if you want good service, says Fox.
CNNMoney.com advises 15 to 20 per cent of the tab at the bar with a minimum of 50 cents per soft drink, and one dollar per alcoholic drink. If debit/credit machines are available, you can select the 10 to 15 per cent preprogrammed options.
Fox notes that restaurant and bar servers rely heavily on tips -- so much that it’s factored into their income tax. “If they aren’t being tipped, they are literally paying for the difference,” she says. As a general rule, tip at least 10 to 15 per cent for restaurant bills. For buffet-style restaurants, 10 per cent should suffice.
There really isn’t a good time to not tip, Fox surmises. Even if the service is poor, leave a smaller tip and report your experience to management.
Spa (massage therapist, manicurist)
While roles at a spa can be diverse, not all services are on equal footing. Start with the 10 per cent rule, Time Out New York admonishes, then factor in the difficulty of the service. If the manicurist spends 30 minutes on your hands and the massage therapist, 60 minutes, the latter might be deserving of a larger gratuity.
And offer 15 to 20 per cent to make-up artists since, like hair stylists, they attend to high demands under pressure.
Seasonal tipping depends on your relationship with your service provider. “It’s very situational. Some people have more of a relationship with their hair stylist than they do with their own spouse,” says Fox.
If money is tight, Fox suggests doing something in lieu of a tip, such as leaving a card or a box of homemade cookies.
