The TRUTH About Tipping in Mexico: Here’s What to Know

you might say tipping is getting a little out of hand these days so is it any different in Mexico if you're traveling to Mexico I'm going to share everything you need to know about tipping everyone's favorite Topic in this video I'm covering who you should tip how much and in what currency as well as a few things to consider and certain scenarios where there are exceptions to the rules so to speak also I'm covering information for both all-inclusive resorts and if you're just doing your own independent travel first how much should you tip well the answer is it depends 10% is your Baseline standard tip and I would say 12 to 15% if you feel like you received great service of course you're welcome to tip more at your discretion it also depends what type of service you're tipping on so to make it easier let's go over some scenarios of where it's courteous to provide a tip for servers at a sitdown restaurant 10 to 15% is pretty common since it's a cash economy if you're paying with a credit card that's fine but if I'm using a credit card to pay for a meal I always use cash to tip the servers instead of adding it on to the bill also make sure to check your receipt if you see that a tip or gratuiti has already been added to your bill before you pay this is actually illegal in Mexico and it violates a federal law so you can ask to have this removed sometimes it's hidden or labeled as a service fee this doesn't happen very often but if you're in a really touristy area of Mexico I would keep an eye out for this if you're eating street food or at a taco stand they usually have a tip jar so it's courteous to throw in a dollar or two per order moving on to taxis now I usually don't tip taxis because the price is agreed upon before getting into the vehicle and for tourists it's usually an already inflated price however if you feel like they went above and beyond like helping you with your BS or maybe they provided helpful tips and information of course you're welcome to tip if you feel inclined I do tip my Uber drivers however as they usually get paid much less than what the actual Uber Fair costs housekeeping and cleaning staff definitely tip these people I usually leave 50 pesos per day but 30 to 40 pesos would also be acceptable I would say this number also depends on how tidy or messy your room is if it's a disaster please tip a lot more than that some people also choose to leave a little extra on the last day I wouldn't recommend saving your tip until the very last day though because it might be a different cleaner than the previous days if you're staying in a hotel that has turn down service usually a small tip is appreciated for that a note on mini bars if you're staying at an all-inclusive resort that comes with a mini fridge with some stocked items like soft drinks a few beers maybe some snacks these are actually usually stocked by a different staff member not the housekeeping staff so if I utilize the items from the mini bar usually I leave a tip somewhere between 20 and 30 pesos tour guides how much to tip your tour guide depends on the tour I tip on everything from a free walking tour to a full 10-hour day trip Tour on average for something like that you could tip about about 10% of the tour cost for something like a free walking tour it really depends how long the tour was and I would say how much value you think you received from it I also wanted to touch on grocery stores so if you're staying at an Airbnb type of accommodation or somewhere with a kitchen and plan to buy groceries at most major supermarkets the people who beg the groceries are not paid by the store they rely on tips so I usually keep a few Paces around for these people now let's go into a little more detail about tipping at an all-inclusive resort many all inclusive resort packages include gratuities if this is the case I still usually tip individual staff while a percentage of that gratuiti you're being charged does go into the employees hands you never really know how much of it they actually see and chances are it's a lot lower than you would think wages at all-inclusive resorts are shockingly low and therefore many of the staff do rely on tips to make a decent living while you're not required to tip at all-inclusive resorts in my experience you get much better service when you do at most places you'll see higher quality service and the staff will go out of their way to make sure you have everything you need plus they always work so hard and they're so friendly so it's a really nice way to thank them generally speaking there aren't really any prices listed anywhere at all inclusive resorts so here are some guidelines to follow as far as how much to tip for sit down meals at all-inclusives breakfast is usually a buffet style so plan to tip around 50 pesos lunch can be about the same or maybe slightly higher and as for dinner at a sitdown or ala cart restaurant 100 to 200 pesos is customary for bartenders at the pool and pool servers usually a dollar or two per round of drinks is acceptable unless they're complex drinks maybe a little more what I do and what I see a lot of people do is tip the server or bartender at the beginning of the day maybe 100 to 200 pesos and that should last for the day or at least a few rounds of drinks if you're at a larger Resort sometimes they'll have small shuttles or golf carts to help get you around generally about 20 pesos is good for this and for Bell service or luggage staff if you get help with your bags to your room about 20 to 50 pesos maybe a little more if you're a larger family or group with a lot of bags now what currency the biggest question I always see is what currency should you tip in well if you're traveling to Mexico the answer is pesos but there are some considerations first pesos are more appreciated since it's just easier for the staff to use their local currency however if you're from the US and you're traveling to an all-inclusive resort and you have no plans to leave the resort you're likely fine just bringing dollars just make sure you have lots of small bills like ones fives some and maybe a few 20s if you're planning to stay more within a city check into an Airbnb or a hotel and visit local restaurants I would recommend getting pesos to use for tipping I recently posted a video that covers everything about using pesos in Mexico for more details I have heard some people bring a bit of both and ask which currency each staff member would prefer to be tipped in so that could be an option to consider as well another small thing to think about is that the newer peso bells are waterproof so if you're hanging in or around the pool all day you don't need to worry about your bills getting soggy and you can keep them in your swimsuit if you have pockets and you don't have to worry about stashing your pesos away on the lounger if you're not watching it another thing to think about is the exchange rate which is always changing if you last traveled to Mexico say 10 years ago many staff probably did prefer tips and USD because the exchange rate was much more favorable now with the peso being stronger the US dollar doesn't go quite as far a final note on this is that someone will always be appreciative of a tip so even if you do provide it in USD there certain not going to refuse it whether you think they prefer it over pesos I'll leave that up to you to decide at the end of the day tipping is a personal decision and an expression of gratitude you decide how much to tip with whatever you're comfortable with I hope this video helped clear a few things up thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Aly Smalls

Views: 13,250

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Id: _MX3d6QNv7w

Length: 6min 50sec (410 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024