Tipping Las Vegas
Tipping Casino Dealers Shouldn’t Be a Lost Art in Las Vegas By Michael Stevens in Tips & Advice on October 18, 2019 One of my favorite movie scenes is the scene where Mr. Pink talks about how he’s not going to tip the waitress. Guide to Tipping in LAS VEGAS Tipping, toking, greasing: all synonymous for sliding money to an employee for a job well done or to insure that a pending job becomes a job well done. Some claim that “tip” is an acronym for “To Insure Prompt Service” or “To. Tipping the Odds. We have been going to Las Vegas for over 20 years and have accumulated a lot of pictures, stories and adventures that we discuss on. Tipping In Las Vegas When it comes to tipping, there’s pretty much no place else in the world where tipping is so engrained in the culture of everything you’ll do. This is a city that lives and dies on tips, and because of this you can and should expect a very high level of service no matter what you’re doing while in town.
- Las Vegas Tipping At Hotels
- Tipping The Odds Las Vegas
- Appropriate Tipping In Las Vegas
- Tipping Las Vegas Limo Driver
One of my readers, Tracey from New Zealand, will be visiting Las Vegas soon and contacted me to express a little nervousness about our tipping practices in the U.S. I totally feel your pain, Tracey—and I live here. Figuring out tipping in the U.S. is complicated enough; figuring out tipping in Las Vegas feels like cramming for an exam. No wonder so many people prefer all-inclusive vacations.
Las Vegas Tipping At Hotels
But don’t worry, even if you screw up, the world won’t end. I have accidentally stiffed a waiter because I was in a hurry to get to a show, and a valet because I neglected to have any small bills on me. I have double-tipped at times when I didn’t realize the gratuity was already included in the bill. These things happen. You just don’t want them to happen consistently.
So who do you need to tip and how much should you tip? I’ve listed my (loose) guidelines for tipping in Las Vegas below. I don’t claim my tipping practices are perfect—sometimes I’m probably a bit too frugal, and sometimes, I’m probably a bit too generous. I’ve never gotten attitude from anyone about my tips, though, so either they’re all remarkably polite or I’m at least in the ballpark.
Tipping Guidelines for Las Vegas
| Taxi Driver | 20%* (*Edited.) (Tip less if the “service” aspect really isn’t there and zero if they longhaul you.) |
| Valet | $1-2 |
| Bellman | $1-2 per bag |
| Housekeeper | $2 per person per day (extra if you’re a slob and a LOT extra if you left biohazards or bodily fluids for them to clean up) |
| Table Restaurant Waiter/Waitress | 20% (Unless service was poor, then I’d tip less. If service is appallingly bad, send a message and don’t tip at all. But if it’s the food that’s bad–not the service–talk to the manager, don’t take it out on the server.) |
| Buffet Waiter/Waitress | $2-5, depending on the price of the buffet |
| Cocktail Waitress (inc. poolside) | $1-2 per drink (Even though the drinks themselves are free when you’re gambling, you still need to tip the waitress.) |
| Bartender | $1-2 per drink |
| Room Service Delivery Person | 20% |
| Concierge | Depends on how complicated whatever they did for me was (dinner or show reservations). $5 minimum. I might give them more if they really went out of their way to arrange something. (Honestly, I rarely use a concierge. I’d rather make my own arrangements.) |
| Pool Attendant | I’d only tip if they did something for me that was over and above handing me a towel, like setting me up with a chair in the shade or something. I’d think anywhere from $2-5 would be fine. |
| Limo Driver | 20% |
| Tour Guide | 20% |
| Masseur/Masseuse | 20% |
| Salon Staff | 20% |
| Buskers | Only tip if you enjoy what they’re doing. If you take a picture with or of impersonators or costumed characters, be prepared to pay them something, lest they harrass you. |
| Front desk staff/check-in | Legally, they’re not supposed to accept tips. However, some people tip them anyway. See note below under “The $20 Trick”. |
| Dueling Piano Players | Only tip if you make a request. The bigger you tip, the more likely they’ll play your song. How much to tip really depends on how much competition gets going amongst the crowd. I’ve seen people tip all the way up to $100. Personally, I wouldn’t tip more than $5. I just don’t care enough to hear a particular song. |
When it comes to gambling-related tips, I’m a babe in the woods, because honestly, I’ve almost never been in a situation where I would need to tip someone while gambling. I don’t play table games, I’ve never won enough money on a slot machine to warrant a hand pay (sob!), and I always cash my slot machine tickets in the Bill Breaker machines. So I’ll ask my readers: How would you tip these service workers?
Tipping The Odds Las Vegas
- Dealer
- Slot attendant at a hand payout
- Cage cashier
- Casino host/slot host
- Are there any I’ve missed? Like the person you place a sports book bet with, or a keno runner?
How much do you tip your dealer?
As you can see from the chart above, my default position is usually 20%. I figure when in doubt, you can’t go wrong with 20%. You might overtip, but no one on the receiving end is going to complain about that. I’ll also cop to being a bit more generous at higher-end properties (like Venetian/Palazzo, Wynn/Encore, Bellagio, etc.) than at lower-end properties, like Excalibur, Flamingo, Harrahs, etc.) just because I don’t want to look cheap. I’m always aware that I’m out of my social class at the high-end resorts, and I don’t want to draw any more attention to the fact than I probably already do.
Two final notes:
Appropriate Tipping In Las Vegas
Comps
Even if your meal, drinks, limo ride, tour–or whatever–was comped (read: free), you still need to tip the waiter/waitress, bartender, driver, or tour guide. They should not be penalized because you got a comp.
The $20 “Trick”
The $20 “trick” is legendary among Vegas visitors who don’t want to pay by the night for a room upgrade. It goes like this: You fold a $20 bill and sandwich it between your ID and credit card to hand to the desk clerk checking you in while at the same time asking if they have any “complimentary upgrades.” Wink, wink; nudge, nudge. They get to pretend they never got that tip they’re not supposed to accept (because it was hidden from their supervisor’s view) and sometimes they’ll find an upgrade for you, and sometimes they won’t.
Tipping Las Vegas Limo Driver
Personally, I don’t believe in the $20 trick. No matter how many people tell me it works, I’ll never believe it, because the simple truth is, I’ve gotten upgrades for free just by smiling and being nice to the desk agent. So I honestly believe that in many instances when people think they got the free upgrade because of the tip, they actually could have gotten the same upgrade simply by being nice. We’ll never know.
So what do the rest of you think? Are my tipping practices horribly cheap or horribly lavish, or am I sort of on the mark? Is there any service worker I’ve forgotten to list above? Help Tracey out! Tell her how you’d tip!