August 2010 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Can you help me with the whole tipping thing?
Lovely to see all the girls coming back from vacation!!
Makes me even more excited about mine. 
We have just booked our flights into LA, and are staying there for a couple of nights, then on to San Fran, then Las Vegas and then Aspen.
I am pricing it up for a couple of friends as well, and as we are all on tight budgets, I was just wondering if you could help me with the whole tipping thing. We don't tip here, at all, so I was just wanting to know who I need to tip and how much, so I can leave money aside for it in the budget.
Thanks!!!
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Re: Can you help me with the whole tipping thing?
Here is what I generally tip:
Servers- 20%
Bar Tenders - $1/drink
Bellman- $2/bag
Taxi Drivers- $5/trip
Spa Services - 20%
Those are the biggies I can think of. I am sure others will chime in with more.
I also leave between $5 and $10 at the end of my stay for the cleaning service. This depends on how long I have been there. So for two nights it's $5 and for anything longer about $2 more each night.
I read this article explaining how in various states there are regulations that allow the hotels to pay super low ($15 per room) to their cleaning staff. I may have the wrong number, but I remember this one person in Oregon saying that sometimes, if her rooms were really dirty, she walks away from a day's work with $50. Since I read that article, I leave the tip.
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Holy Moly!!!
How come it isn't worked into peoples wages?
What happens if you are paying with your credit or debit card?
Oh my goodness....I hope I don't go around offending people by accident.
When you are using your credit card, they will bring you a receipt to sign. On the receipt there will be a space for the tip and total you want billed.
I am not sure how most of the places, but in NYC, servers salary is normally somewhere between $4 and $5 per hour. The employing restaurants actually tell them tips are considered their salary. That's why I normally give 20%, unless the service is really bad. Bellmen and most of the hotel staff make minimum wage as tips are also expected.
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Tips & food will definitely set you back. At minimum you should set aside $100 per day for food in the city. You do not need to tip if you go to Starbucks or order something "to go". Although it is nice to give them an extra $1 or $2 in the tip jar if you order a meal to go.
If you take a cab you should also tip the driver an extra $2 or $3 each trip.
An easy trick for some people is to double the tax on your final bill. (That's about a 10% tip here in the Bay Area, which it sounds like you're going to pay us a visit!) That being said, I agree with the 20% for salon services, because that's such a personal type of service, and also tipping your hotel cleaning staff for sure. But I only leave a one-time tip for them at the end of the stay, not a daily thing.
I also only don't tip bellman. Sorry, but putting my bags onto a cart that is then pushed to an elevator to my room doesn't merit a tip. I usually just carry them myself anyways. If the bellman carried them up a bunch of flights of stairs, he'd deserve something then, IMO.
Generally, a tip is expected at restaurants, and to leave nothing would be considered rude. That being said, don't over tip for bad service. Good, reputable restaurants here in San Fran are more than willing to be accommodating of any of your needs, and they do work for their tips, in my experience. Places like Greens, for example (MY FAV, because I'm a vegetarian) or Burma Superstar are excellent with their service, and certainly deserve their 20%+ tip.
Have fun, let me know if you want restaurant ideas for SF. :-)