If you come from somewhere without a tipping culture, the hard part isn't the arithmetic. It's the ten seconds around the transaction — what you say, whether you say anything, and whether handing someone money is going to be awkward.
Guides cover the percentages and stop there. This one covers the sentences.
The rates, briefly
- US restaurants (table service): 18–20% is now standard, 15% reads as dissatisfied. Servers are often paid below minimum wage on the assumption tips make it up.
- US bars: $1–2 per drink, or 20% on a tab.
- Taxis / rideshare: 10–15%, or round up.
- Hotel housekeeping: $2–5 per night, left in the room. Bellhop: $1–2 per bag.
- Coffee counters: entirely optional. The tablet that spins around asking for 20% on a $4 coffee is new, widely resented by Americans too, and zero is a normal answer.
- UK: 10–12.5% at restaurants, often already added as "service charge". Not expected in pubs or taxis.
- Japan, South Korea, much of Europe: don't tip. In Japan it can cause genuine confusion or be refused.
The one rule that survives everywhere: check the bill for "service charge" or "gratuity included" before adding anything. Double-tipping is the most common traveller mistake.
What to say: 8 phrases
- ✗ No need change. → ✓ Keep the change. —— The fixed phrase, and the most useful one on this list.
- ✗ This is your tip. → ✓ (hand it over) Thanks so much. / This is for you. —— Naming the tip makes it a transaction and makes both of you awkward. Nobody announces a tip. You just hand it over with thanks.
- ✗ Thank you for your service. → ✓ Thanks, that was great. —— *Thank you for your service* is said to military veterans in the US. Say it to a waiter and the table will go quiet.
- ✗ Is the tip included? → ✓ Is service included? / Has gratuity been added? —— The words on a bill are *service charge* and *gratuity*, not *tip*.
- ✗ (paying by card) How to tip? → ✓ Can I add the tip on the card? —— Usually yes: either a tip line on the printed slip, or a prompt on the terminal.
- ✗ Give me small money. → ✓ Could I get some smaller bills? —— For tipping in cash, ask for smaller bills when you're getting change earlier in the day.
- ✗ Separate the bill. → ✓ Could we split the bill? / Separate checks, please. —— Say it *before* ordering if you can; after the fact it's a bigger ask.
- ✗ Bill, please. (waving) → ✓ Could we get the check when you have a moment? —— *Check* in the US, *bill* in the UK. Catching the server's eye and mouthing it works too.
The card machine moment
The situation people find most stressful is the handheld terminal, turned toward you, with the server standing right there.
Two things worth knowing. First, they are not watching your screen — it's a script they run fifty times a shift, and they've trained themselves not to look. Second, "Custom" and "No tip" are normal buttons, not accusations. Tapping either is unremarkable.
If you want a single line for the whole moment: "Thanks, that was great" while you tap. It covers you regardless of what you select.
When you're tipping and they're refusing
In Japan, and occasionally in parts of Europe, someone may hand the money back. The graceful exit is:
Oh, sorry — thank you, really.
Take it back, say thanks again, and move on. Insisting is the actual rude move, not the initial offer.
How to practise
This is a two-sentence situation, but it happens fast and in public, which is exactly when rehearsed language pays off. Pick the two you'll need — almost certainly Keep the change and Could we get the check? — and say each out loud three times before the trip.
MirrorSay lets you rehearse those with your own wording: you say it, it shows the natural version and reads it aloud, you shadow it, and it compares your rhythm word by word.
Same trip, other situations: Hotel English, Travel English Phrases, English at the Doctor.
*MirrorSay is a free AI speaking-practice app: say a sentence, see how a native would say it, then shadow it. No sign-up, and your voice stays on your phone.*