Tips, gratitude, Trinkgeld, bakshish – all languages in the world have a name for that bit of money that you pay to a waiter in a restaurant, a crew member on a fishing boat, and people in similar occupations above the listed price of the service. But the way people pay and expect tips differs from country to country – which sometimes causes confusion and misunderstanding.
To help you make the right decision on this complicated and delicate topic, we asked the fishing guides, charter captains, and lodge managers who post their offers on our online marketplace, BaitYourHook.com, on how they feel about tipping. And here’s what we learned:
Tips are important, but probably less than you think
Tips play a role in the budget of most of the operators we surveyed. Less than 15% of operators that we surveyed chose the answer “Tips don’t matter to me at all”, the answer closely tied to living in an area where tipping is described as “is not something that’s common here”. On the other hand, only 12.8% of operators describe the role of tips as “essential”.
For 29.6% of our respondents tips are important, but as an extra, as a way to measure the quality of service, or simply a “nice to have”. And the most popular answer here is “Tips are important for my staff but not for me as the owner/manager”, something that can be explain with the way the service industry operates in the USA and several other countries.
The United States: Tip, tip, and tip again
The United States of America stands alone when it comes to tipping, and spreads its influence far beyond its borders: American tipping practices apply also in Mexico and the Caribbean. 80% of surveyed American outfitters always expect to receive tips, which is almost twice as high as the average. The amount of tips the staff expects is also higher than anywhere else – up to 20%, and sometimes above that. And Americans have a reputation for being the most generous tippers worldwide.
It is customary in the service industry such as restaurants to pay only a minimal wage to the waiters, etc., and make tips the core of their income. This may be cultural: in the United States, service is often seen as a direct reflection of individual effort, with tipping as a reward for high quality. It may also be a marketing schtick: a dish that is $30 on the menu (w/o tips) is perceived as cheaper than one at $35 (which it would be if the cost of labor were included), even though rationally you realize that with tips you’ll be paying the same. Just like writing the price $29,99 makes it appear even more affordable.
“Is common to tip at the end of the trip and is an important amount. Is the majority of the captain’s and the sailors’ salary.” – says a chapter captain from Mexico.
This system is natural to Americans, and it may come as a surprise that most tourists simply aren’t aware of it. Well, now you are. If you come as a tourist to the USA, and book a fishing trip, don’t forget that the crew of the boat or staff of a lodge will often see very little of the money you pay to the operator. The labor is not included in the price, you are expected to pay for it directly, in the form of tips. Make a mental habit of adding a fifth to the list price, and take comfort in that if anything goes wrong, you won’t have to ask for a discount, you may take a bit of price yourself by reducing the tip.
- When to leave a tip: Pretty much always.
- When not to tip: If the staff did something very wrong and needs a lesson.
- How much to tip: 16-20%.
Europe: All included!
It’s safe to say Europe and the United States are worlds apart when it comes to tipping, and the service industry in general. For one thing, people in most European countries expect to pay what it says on the price list, and aren’t too keen on the idea to mentally add some ten to twenty per cent to the price to calculate the ultimate cost of the service. The American shops that list the prices without sales tax or VAT wouldn’t have a chance here.
Different social systems also play a part. In Germany, for example, the employer must cover 50% of the employee’s medical insurance (which is obligatory and tied to income). If a German waiter were to receive the bulk of their wages directly from the clients, and declare it as independently obtained income, that would really hurt their budget. So, the employees themselves are motivated to receive their money through the business that employs them.
American tourists should realize that in most cases both the labor of the personnel and the gratitudes are already included in the price. Of course, job well done should always be rewarded, and if you are accustomed to giving tips, you may not feel at ease if you don’t. But remember it’s absolutely normal if you don’t, and if you do, you don’t have to go over and beyond. Most European staff would be more than happy with 5% of the trip.
- When to leave a tip: If you’re happy and/or can’t not tip.
- When not to tip: Whenever you don’t feel like it.
- How much to tip: 5% – 10%.
Canada: Tip in moderation.
When most people think about the hunting, fishing, and outdoor market, they often tend to throw the USA and Canada into one “North American” category. While this may well be true for other aspects, as far as tipping practices go, our survey paints a different picture. Canadian operators appear to be closer to Europe than to the USA.
While most surveyed operators list tipping as something essential for their staff (but not them as the owner) – which seem to follow the American practice – about half say not receiving any tips after the trip is quite normal. Over two thirds – 78% – link tipping with exceeding the client’s expectations, and/or doing something out of the ordinary that the client especially liked.
The amount of tips they expect is a bit smaller. Only 10% of our respondents expect the American level of tips (15-20%), while for 55% a tip of 10-15% sounds right. The remaining 35 % could live with 5-10%.
- When to leave a tip: Pretty much always.
- When not to tip: If you don’t think the staff deserved it.
- How much to tip: 10-15%.
Africa, Asia, South America: Please tip, personnel need motivation.
BaitYourHook.com has fishing operators pretty much all over the world – from the jungles of the Amazon in Brazil to South Africa to Egypt’s Red Sea coast to the United Arab Emirates to Bali and Thailand. With such a variety, it’s hard to define any particular trends, or give specific recommendations for each location. But it does seem that tips are essential. Some outfitters note that tips make up a large part of their crew’s income, while others point out the importance of tips as motivation for the staff to do their best.
The sums that operators expect are lower than in the USA, but that may have to do with the lower cost of labor: A ten dollar bill has a different value in Florida and in KwaZulu-Natal. If you care what others think about you, always tip in Africa: our survey suggests the captains and crews on that continent are more likely to take it personally than anywhere else. However, responses from South Africa differ from the rest of the continent, suggesting that more of a European approach is prevalent among the local operators.
- When to leave a tip: When the crew did their job.
- When not to tip: When the crew failed to do their job.
- How much to tip: 5-15%.
When in doubt – ask!
If you are in a new country, and aren’t sure how things work here, it’s a good idea to ask. Only a third of the operators we surveyed provide information on their tipping policy, either in their printed brochures or on their websites. But most if not all will tell you if you ask, so don’t hesitate to do so whenever you have any doubts. BaitYourHook.com makes it convenient with the built-in chat system.
All a matter of luck?
Here’s one interesting aspect that showed up when we tried to explain why some customers tip more than others. Of course, some play the cultural card (10.8% of responses), but many more explain it by luck (17.4%), while the absolute winner is the operator’s own achievement: “I did something out of the ordinary that the client especially liked” and variations on the same theme. Unsurprisingly, most operators who are thinking about their own labor and commitment come from the so-called Western world, while luck seems to be playing a greater part in the East and the South.
A few broad generalizations can be made about tipping: first, Americans tip more, and second, most operators tie tipping to success and customer satisfaction than other factors. But overall, answers to the questions about trends in tipping seem to be contradictory, and don’t present a clear picture. As an American charter captain put it:
“Tipping amounts are super random. One will have a trip where a ton of great fish were caught and get along well with the clients and get an average tip. Next day fishing will be OK, and so-so with the clients, and get a huge tip”.
What if I don’t tip?
That depends on location, but overall it’s all right not to tip if you for any reason don’t feel like it. Only a handful of outfitters will think you’re “the opposite of a nice, well-behaved person” (10% of responses) or too poor to tip (another 10%). You are more likely to experience a negative reaction from operators from Africa (other than South Africa), the US, and Mexico. Many more (20%) will think it’s something they’ve failed at, while about half will write it down to “it’s cultural”. And 18% of operators won’t even look for reasons, not tipping being part of the norm for them.
Remember also that operators, just as clients, are people, too. They may have their own reaction to what’s going on with tipping, that may be against the general trend for the locality. For example, while for most American operators tipping is a matter of course, one wrote:
“Expectations around tipping are out of hand. I charge a premium price for charters and hold myself accountable to providing a premium experience – tip or no tip. Tips should be earned and never be expected – it defeats the entire purpose of tipping. I believe there will be an eventual backlash from customers to operators that demand tips. Boats with signs like “If you don’t tip, skip the trip” are arrogant & disrespectful to guests in my opinion.”
Some final tips about tipping
When asked “Why do you think clients tip”, none of the operators we surveyed attributed tipping to the egoistic desire of the client to appear rich and generous. 10% believe clients realize that tips are a major part of the income in the industry, 25% of operators see tipping as a tradition, while 36.2% think the size of the tips is a way of telling whether they did a good job or not. But the majority – almost ¾ or 72.3% – selected the answer “They appreciate the service and the hard work you’ve done”.
This is how we recommend you treat tipping – as a way to show if you appreciate the work of the team or not.
Here’s a general formula for calculating the tip:
- Find out if tipping where you fish makes a bulk of the staff or crew’s income.
- If yes, what’s the minimum tip they expect to receive? Use that as the default tip.
- If no, i.e., labor is included in the trip price, the default tip is zero.
- Ask yourself, how much do you appreciate the service and work of the crew.
- Use the scale from -10 (couldn’t be more unsatisfied) through 0 (neither good nor bad) to +10 (best crew of my life)
- Take the default tip as per cent of the trip price, and deduct or add as many percent as you’ve got points in the appreciation rating (Example: default tip 5%, satisfaction level -5, actual tip 0).
- If the result sounds about right, that’s how you tip.
- If not, feel free to increase or decrease it; it’s your choice.
One last tipping tip that works well for the author: ask yourself: “If I come again next year, would I want to use this operator again?” Obviously, a strong “Yes!” speaks for a big tip, a “No way!” – well, no tip, or a bare minimum.
How about you?
And what do you think about tipping? Are you more in favor of the American or the European system? Should we make “Tipping Expectations” a required field on the operator pages, and/or add the information on the tipping practices to locations descriptions? Tell us in the comments!
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