Tipping on Amtrak

[DC3]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

Are you living at In-N-Out Burger or Maccas?

 

[DC3]

You are assigning far too much knowledge of the outside world to the LOTFAP inhabitants. They don't know one accent from another!

Yes, my Ozzie accent was sometimes thought to be English or South African, or they thought that I was from Boston (not sure if Boston was some sort of joke that went over my head).

 

[dajop]

or they thought that I was from Boston (not sure if Boston was some sort of joke that went over my head).

Bostonians are famous for not pronouncing their r's - like us Australians and many English. Cah instead of Car. Pahk instead of Park. Google Boston accent for info and many parodies.

 

[DC3]

Bostonians are famous for not pronouncing their r's - like us Australians and many English ....

OK. Thanks for that.

 

[ellen10]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

As uncomfortable as it is for us to tip, it is a way of life for many of the underpaid workers in the US.
I have an American friend who works in the tourism and hospitality sector. She said that most of the house maids, waiters etc, are paid the minimum wage of $2 per hour. They rely on tips.

We did a 3 week tour from NYC to New Orleans. Our coach driver, is paid $15 an hour. He will only be paid a maximum of 11 hours per day, regardless of the time he is on duty.. Often we would see him packing the suitcases at 6.30am in the morning and many a night he would be picking the group up from some venue at 10.30pm. He kept an esky underneath the coach always stocked with bottled water and ice. He would clean the coach out at the end of the day. Often we would see him washing the coach down and blackening the tyres, he kept it pristine.
He was an excellent driver, always friendly and courteous. The tour was 21 days long and he only got one day off in the middle of the tour. $165 maximum per day is not a big wage, but never once did he mention tips or gratuities.

Yellow taxi drivers in NYC have to rent the taxi for $120 per shift and pay for their own petrol use. Whilst in Charlotte we had a bite to eat in in a pizza place. We got talking to our server/waiter who was a young African American young man who had been on a football scholarship but due to an injury his football career was over. He was waiting on tables for free to get some experience to put on his resume to gain work, so he was only working for tips. (He did not tell us this, a policeman eating at the pizza place told us).

So yes you may feel that you are not offending anyone, but you may be affecting them.

 

[DC3]

There are a few other threads here on tipping in the USA.

Some people seem totally oblivious to low paid hospitality workers receiving a wage of not much more than $7-$10 per hour in the USA. Others almost gloat over making a point of never tipping in the USA. I'd like to know how they would survive on that, unless taking on 2-3 jobs, or working for 80+ hours per week. And, I'm not referring to anyone on this thread.

 

[Virgin Bart]

There are a few other threads here on tipping in the USA.

Some people seem totally oblivious to low paid hospitality workers receiving a wage of not much more than $7-$10 per hour in the USA. Others almost gloat over making a point of never tipping in the USA. I'd like to know how they would survive on that, unless taking on 2-3 jobs, or working for 80+ hours per week. And, I'm not referring to anyone on this thread.

I guess the point is, is it up to us to make up for the ridiculous system? By the way I'm not advocating one way or another.

 

[amaroo]

We used the Red Caps for a trip from Boston to NYC.
Well worth it as the train was completely full and we had early access to our choice of seats and didn't have to haul our luggage.
There were 4 of us we tipped him $20.

Having just spent 7 weeks in the USA, the tipping was awkward, but we decided to just tip 20% for all restaurant meals. Made our life easier.

Carbon copy of our experience and value ... our trip was NYC-DC.

20% is good. Not so good when ordering a nice bottle of something :shock:

 

[codash1099]

I guess the point is, is it up to us to make up for the ridiculous system? By the way I'm not advocating one way or another.

It's a "user pays" system at it's purest. Yes, we put up with it (even if we dislike it) just as we do with strange practices in many other countries.

 

[Melburnian1]

Went and bought a beer at the kiosk (which was difficult as the attendant initially refused to accept anything that wasn't "from this country") and took my $5 change without even thinking and the smartarse remarked "Thanks... not!" I'm guessing a tip was expected. Surprised me given it was a fast food style kiosk.

N860CR, what do you mean by 'the attendant initially refused to accept anything that wasn't 'from this country?''

Did you try to pay with an Australian credit card?