Tips aren't expected in Spain. About the only ones over here who leave a tip for every drink or meal are American tourists:

http://gospain.about.com/od/spanishl...inginspain.htm

I never do. Ever.

I remember when restaurant owners in my home state of California were required to pay their workers the minimum wage, and any tips they made were "gravy", but then regressive laws were passed that allowed for payment of lower wages due to the fact that those workers were receiving tips. I've never agreed with that, and now that I live in a country where tipping is not the custom and employers are responsible for paying their employees a decent wage, I have come to dislike the whole idea of tipping. I do, however, leave tips when travelling in the U.S.A.

Bingo.

And that leads into a few reasons to perhaps tip a bit MORE than ususal, assuming of course you are in an establishment where tipping is customary:

There is a good chance your are dressed at or perhaps even below the normal minimum for the establishment. If they have bent the rules or come close to it for you, yuo should be nice.

In a way you are representing all cyclists. The next cyclist may well be treated better or worse depending on how you act.

Finally Bicycle touring involves really meeting the people and seeing the places you are going, in a way even car camping does not match. That can include actually talking to servers and often they turn out to be great sources of local information. Tipping those who depend on it for their livelyhood is the flip side of the coin.

i disagree with this completely. the only person i represent is myself, and myself alone. it's not my responsibility to make you or anyone else look good. i will act as i deem fit.

My thoughts exactly. I always enjoy your posts replying to stupid questions like "Can I cycle across the Rockies in October?" :lol:

But if you misbehave, the locals take it out on the next cycle tourist. For some reason, a recalcitrant motorist doesn't wreck it in the same way for future motorists. I guess the locals don't take the time to distinguish between the strictly self-centered cycle tourists and those who prefer to be good ambassadors for the sport.

I tip the same as I would when not touring. I am not sure why it would even occur to anyone that they would do differently when on tour.

Here's one from a different subforum that's even dumber. Breathtakingly dumb. And unlike this one, I don't think it was a troll.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=563241

Qu'est ce qu'on peut dire?

Whenever I see any cows, of course.

Well, I can be a horse's arse at times, but - -
As for the Rockies in October, this October turned out to be one of the coldest in history.
Here in Wyoming it didn't get above 20 and went below zero - in the flatlands.
My guess was that there were many nights with 30+ below wind chill in the mountains.

but if the locals are too stupid to distinguish between the actions of one person and a group of people with shared interest then i could care less. it's not my job to be ambassador. i don't care how i make the sport of cycling look.

best answer.

/thread.

I don't see anything wrong with his post/question. The key word in his post is "annoying", which _only_ implies personal preference, and nothing more. I find it annoying that there isn't one language for the entire world. I don't think anything should be done about it, but that doesn't not making it annoying.



On tipping, I just tip what I normally would.

Even the OP later blamed it on too many beers!

Then I disagree with him too :P

people almost always tip in the nicer restaurants in England. however, no one tips waiters/waitresses at larger corporations like McDonalds and KFC, where the workers are paid minimum wage.

Let me give you a tip, stop being a dumb a$$.

Heh I was going to complain that the idea of tipping in order that the next bike tourist be treated well is a form of bribery. Not to worry, you've clarified that what's going on is not bribery, it's blackmail.

I don't tip either, on tour or not. It seems America is about the only country where this is important, and I've never toured there. While it seems to be starting to creep in at times here in Australia, I'm not about to jump on that particular band wagon. Besides, I've heard restaurant staff complain that their employer always wants the tips given back to the restaurant anyway.

Oh yeah? Do you have any actual proof of that? Personally, I've never seen any indication of that happening anywhere, either from restaurant staff or motorists. That theory is just an extension of the same old "blame the victim" bull***** that people trot out if ever someone from a minority group is on the receiving end of anti-social behaviour.

Besides, I always thought "misbehaving" involved refusing to pay the stated bill, or drunkenly abusing someone or making a nuisance of yourself in some other way. If I opt out of paying something that is not explicitly stated as being mandatory, or even requested, it hardly constitutes "misbehaving".

I suppose it depends on what type of mental image you want to leave behind. If you stiff the wait staff of their tip, I imagine their image of a bicycle tourist won't be very favorable.

Hi,

from Germany I'm used to round up my bill to the next EUR or max 2 EURs. I really have to force me to tip 15% in the States. I hate this system of tips and sales tax on top of the announced prices. If I have 20 bucks in my wallet and I have to choose something for about 15 bucks because of the hidden price increase. I like non tipping countries like Japan.

Thomas

I agree, Thomas. Why is it that only employees in restaurants and a few other industries are to be tipped? It should be up to the employers to pay their employees a decent wage, not the customers.

Perhaps it should be, but here in the US that isn't the case. Tipping is considered common courtesy here.