I was just going to say! After a couple of weeks in Japan my opinion on these things changed aswell. On my first day in Tokyo I left some change on the table and the waiter ran after me “you forgot” …
Later I got to know a young guy who has a cafe and we talked about it. “Why would you pay more, after you have already paid?” … was what he said.
I did not think I would but i quickly fell in love with Japan and its culture … and so did the family, including the kids. For many reasons.
Cobalt wrote:
I prefer the Japanese approach. Tipping is insulting. If you ever leave coins or notes behind, the waiter will follow you outside to give you the money you forgot.
I rest my case.
Alexis wrote:
ater I got to know a young guy who has a cafe and we talked about it. “Why would you pay more, after you have already paid?” … was what he said.
I did not think I would but i quickly fell in love with Japan and its culture
I again rest my case.
Should have been a lawyer.
Dont tell me the Europeans that visit the US are ignorant of the culture of tipping wait staff because they basically have their income dependent on the tips they get for the service they provide.
Hey just out of curiosity how many of you tipped a lineman for gassing up your plane when it is subzero with a minus 20 chill factor? I know the guy is being paid a living wage here in Europe and the damn gas is expensive enough as it is due to govt price fixing, but still how many have tipped?
I would even tip you if you decided to stop repeating stuff that is not true ;-)
There are no “linemen” in Germany, at least not that i know. Maybe there are, somewhere. If it’s a truck delivering the fuel, like in France, Croatia, i do tip.
Worked as a dispatcher for several years during my studies, in all conditions from sweltering heat to pouring rain to snow to b@lls-freezing cold and never once did I receive a tip for doing my job from them dang stingy airline crews. Nor have I ever seen the poor buggers breaking their backs all day long loading baggage ever get something from the thankful airline passengers – and they are paid borderline living wages.
Why should a private pilot pay one? Part of the Christian self-flagellation culture? Just because ‘Murica has a policy of exploiting menial staff doesn’t make it right. Stop paying tips, and people will stop accepting underpaid jobs in the hope that masquerading an eternal appreciation for a tunnel-and-bridge yob from the Hamptons will get him 10$ to feed himself.
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
Nor have I ever seen the poor buggers breaking their backs all day long loading baggage ever get something from the thankful airline passengers – and they are paid borderline living wages.
I have tipped them with 2 laptops. In both instances, I didn’t even have to do anything, they came up with the idea on their own.
How should I imagine tipping a baggage worker? Jump on the belt, run through the draped door and try to find one?
achimha wrote:
How should I imagine tipping a baggage worker? Jump on the belt, run through the draped door and try to find one?
I think Achim, you may have missed the point of Shorrick’s sarcasm…..
I think you rather missed mine 
Actually it’s quite easy. Go to any of the ground / air staff, hand them a tenner, or a cool bottle of soda and say “it’s for the poor buggers down there”
Did you ever consider doing it – or indeed consider tipping anyone rendering a service to you in a B2B relationship?
Do we only remunerate misery and flattery only when we are not hermetically insulated from it?
Given that I have a business and spend a lot of time in Egypt, I am intimately familiar with a vastly different tipping culture. There you also tip government workers and I say tipping because it is a tip although we would consider it a bribe. Bribes also exist but they are not the same as tips. In regards to aviation, I always tip everybody involved in Egypt and in different ways. For some people a bit of money is OK for others money is not acceptable and I use the universal currency of my home town — Ritter Sport chocolate. I carry an electric freezer in my aircraft which is ideal for chocolate and cold soda in Africa.
Personally I prefer the Japanese way. Efficient, straight, based on self pride. Germany is not too far off, you only tip in specific situations and mostly it’s rounding up (the 10% in restaurants mentioned is by far not a generally accepted concept in German! Some people may do it but it is definitely wrong to say that it is normal or expected). Influenced by the US, before the war there wasn’t really much tipping at all. I hate the business savvy US way of tipping but it is just one more cultural thing that one can figure out and respect when there (like Chinese are told to not fart audibly in public when in the US).
Shorrick got a very good point — only some people with direct exposure and enjoy tipping which makes it a very unjust system. Business savvy as Americans are, they take advantage of it by not paying people with chances of tipping any decent salaries. My favorite tipping is again in Egypt at public toilets such as airports. The cleaning staff take all the paper rolls and hand them out on a per sheet basis in return for an upfront tip. That is a highly successful strategy and most of the time they stand next to a sign “no tipping” in 5 languages 
Alexis wrote:
There are no “linemen” in Germany,
Have you been to EDMA?
Alexis wrote:
I would even tip you if you decided to stop repeating stuff that is not true ;-)
In the US we have grown accustomed to fake news. You can tune it in as well here in Europe since some terminals have CNN playing on the TV.
achimha wrote:
Germany is not too far off, you only tip in specific situations and mostly it’s rounding up (the 10% in restaurants mentioned is by far not a generally accepted concept in German! Some people may do it but it is definitely wrong to say that it is normal or expected
Alexis so there.
