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What to Know Before You Tip

Posted on July 26, 2023   |   Updated on September 30, 2025
Scott Dickensheets

Scott Dickensheets

Photo of a tip jar

We’re being asked to tip in more and more places. (SDI Productions/Getty)

From today’s City Cast Las Vegas episode about tipping, featuring Las Vegas writer Brittany Bronson — a longtime hospitality worker — here are a couple of practical observations:

Three Things to Consider When Tipping

Time: “How much time did you spend with this worker, or how much of their time did they have to spend on you? If you're taking up the worker’s time, they're not giving their time to someone else. The more time you take, the more reliant they are on you to make or break their night.”

Attitude: “How obnoxious was I? Did I ask for ketchup, and then they come back and I asked for ranch, and then they come back and I asked for honey mustard?”

Tip Sharing: “Just because you give a tip to a particular worker doesn't mean that they're getting the entirety of that tip — in most service industry positions I’ve had, I’m sharing my tip in some way.”

Her Tipping Suggestions

Valet Parking: “I think $2-$5 is a good tip for valet.”

Dealer: “What's my minimum bet? What am I betting every time? I think that's a good number. I would like to tip this person at least one minimum bet.”

Housekeeping: “It would depend on your room rate, right? I try to leave, like for a weekend, a $10-$20 tip for my housekeeper.”

Comps: “What I think workers are expecting with a comp is that you will be tipping on what the price of the service would have been had it not been a comp.”

Listen to the Whole Episode

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