Holiday Tipping Guide: How Much Should I Give?

The holidays are a time of generosity, human kindness and mutual respect. So when it comes time to tip a well-deserving worker at Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s, how much should you give?

See tipping advice below for the following situations: restaurants, bars, transportation, hotels and gas stations.

RESTAURANTS/FOOD DELIVERY

According to a CNN Money report, your waiter should be tipped 15% for “adequate service” and 20% for “very good service.” But even if you think your waiter was crummy, you still need to pony up at least 10% for “poor service.”

Ordering out instead? Make sure to tip the driver 10% of the bill, and shell out 15 to 20% if making the delivery is “difficult,” CNN Money suggests.

Also, tip when you pick up carryout. About 10% for “exceptional service” should do it, especially if your order is delivered curbside, complicated or large, dealnews.com says.

BARTENDERS

According to etiquette gurus at the Emily Post Institute, your bartender should be tipped at least $1 to $2 per drink, or 15 to 20% of the total tab.

“If you're waiting for a table, it's also polite to close your tab at the bar and then start fresh with your server for your meal,” the AARP suggests.

TRANSPORTATION

CNN Money says that 15% is usually enough to tip a taxi driver… but shell out an extra $1 or $2 if they help with your bags.

Taking an Uber or Lyft instead? Tip the driver at least 10%, but double that to 20% for exceptional service.

“Tip at the end of the ride, and tip extra for traffic, construction, distance, inconveniences, and if the driver helps with luggage or packages,” Business Insider suggests.

HOTEL HOUSEKEEPERS

Yes, it IS considered a necessary courtesy to tip certain hotel employees, especially the person cleaning up after your mess.

According to the AARP, hotel housekeepers should be tipped $2 to $3 per night; $5 if you have more than three people in a room/suite. Leave the money in an envelope with a "Thank You" on it, so they know the money is for them, the group suggests.

“Tip daily since different people could be cleaning the room every day,” Business Insider states.

GAS STATIONS

Do you tip the gas station attendant? It’s a common question for those visiting New Jersey, the last state in the U.S. that won’t let you pump your own gas.

There is no tipping required at the gas pump, according to immihelp.com, a stance that CNN Money also supports. But many New Jersey residents have no problem with kicking in a buck or three to a well-meaning worker, according to this 2017 Reddit thread:

• “I tip sometimes during the winter. Poor guys out in the cold.”
• “If they clean the windows I'll give them a dollar.”
• “I worked as a gas station attendant for a busy Wawa over the summer and never expected it from anybody. That being said, on average I walked away with about $15 in tips (half from out of state cars, half from NJ cars) on average each shift.”
• “You should tip if they clean your windows or perform another optional service (checking your oil or other fluids). For just pumping gas? No.”

WORKING FOR TIPS... FOR THE BIRDS?

Who is a “tipped employee?” Here’s the U.S. Department of Labor definition:

“A tipped employee engages in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee’s tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.”

In the Garden State, every employee must make the state minimum wage of $8.60 an hour. However, some labor advocates and elected officials have recently argued that New Jersey should get rid of tipped workers altogether. Their reasoning? Tipping leaves employees vulnerable to sexual harassment, abuse and wage violations.

Last month, Assembly Majority Conference Leader Shavonda Sumter (Bergen and Passaic Counties) announced that she’s amending a bill introduced earlier this year, A1972, so that it raises the tipped minimum wage until it’s completely eliminated.

The effort to raise the bar for tipped workers also got a big boost from actor and activist Jane Fonda during a rally for a $15 minimum wage at Rutgers University-Newark earlier this month.

"There’s no way that you can count on a steady income, know what’s coming in, and budget accordingly,"Fonda said of working for tips. "Being an actor, I tend to try to put myself in the situation of a person that's facing this problem, and I just don't know how more than 13 million people in the United States survive with that kind of stress."

There are about 193,000 tipped workers in New Jersey, including roughly 78,000 waiters and bar staff, New Jersey Policy Perspective reported in October.

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