• Home
  • About
  • London Guide
    • Practical Tid-Bits
    • Beauty and Exercise
    • Eat and Drink
    • Shopping
    • Mummy and Me
    • Entertainment
    • Other Diddies
    • From my Mail Bag
  • My Style
    • Currently Coveting
    • Own it, Love it, Shop it
    • Fashion Friday
  • Travel
  • Press
  • My Little Pink Book
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

American Girl in Chelsea

A chic guide for American women who have relocated to London, England.

{Practical Tid-Bits} When, Where and What to Tip!

June 26, 2012 | 3 Comments

I’ve had several emails and tweets about tipping in London, so I thought I’d put a little post together for you lovely girls on how I usually add or don’t add to my bills… 

Tipping in Restaurants
Usually when you dine out gratuity is included in the bill. This is almost always the case with fancy-pants restaurants, so usually you don’t have to worry about it because they have already included between 12-15% to your bill. Pubs and other casual restaurants (i.e. Pizza Express) usually don’t have the service included so in that case add on depending on the service. I know, it can usually be awful, so sometimes its hard to be generous…. 

british pound

Tipping in Taxis 
There is no need to tip a taxi driver, unless he is especially nice and helps you with your pram, shopping bags, etc. However, I always just round up the fare to the closest pound. So if the cab is £5.70 I’ll give £6.00. I also generally give a little extra if it’s a long journey, i.e. Heathrow. 
british pound reverse
Tipping in Salons 
Here’s one I get a lot. Ok, so for nail salons, it’s the same as the States. Give a few extra pounds to whoever scrubbed your tootsies and filed your fingers. Same goes for the guy/gal that washes your hair when you’re getting a haircut. Give a couple extra pounds to the poor starving assistant that is usually being verbally assaulted by your stylist. As far as the stylist goes, I usually leave a little extra in an envelope depending on how great my bouncy blow-dry came out. 

Have any other tipping troubles? Feel free to comment! Have your own view? Always love those too. 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Practical Tid-Bits, Tipping in London, tipping in London Restaurants, Tipping in London salons, Tipping taxis

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    June 26, 2012 at 11:56 am

    What is the terminology used when you do wish to tip at a pub? I've heard people say something along the lines of “and one for yourself.”

    Reply
  2. An American Girl in Chelsea says

    June 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    Hi Anon,

    If you wish to tip a barman or barlady, you can offer a small tip, people will sometimes say “have one for yourself.” This tip is usually something small, say half the price of a beer…

    Reply
  3. Andrea says

    August 6, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    I’ve been trying to figure this out – so many different opinions! I’m going to a rather posh salon for the first time on Saturday for a haircut (£75) and don’t know if I should tip 10%, tip £5, or what!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured In

Sponsors

AG Loves

Subscribe by Email

Archives

Copyright © 2025 American Girl in Chelsea | Web Design by Viva la Violette