Tips on tipping in Poland

Sorry Chaps, I posted before I'd read the whole thread.

Being from Britain is a problem, as many Brits have a habit of saying "thank you" (and "sorry") as punctuation for every action they do.

I recall the event which hardened me to it was when a gang of us had a meal for about 70 zlots. I gave the girl 100 and she never returned. I twigged what I'd done and went to ask for my change "But you said 'dziękuję'", she snarled snottily.

Yeah, baby, and we eat here regularly and it's obvious I'm a głupi foreigner.And who the hell gives 50% tips!!!!!?

Another time a taxi driver jumped when I said 'dziękuję' He looked at me amazed, "DZIĘkujĘ?" At least he was decent enough to check I hadn't made a mistake. He DID get a decent tip for that.

You should have given that waitress a tip. Don't feckin do that again, beeyatch ;)

I did give her a tip... don't try and rip off your regulars again if you want more tips.

Och, for good measure. Tell her to eat her greens, LOL.

Merged: Tipping in Poland

I'm going to Poland next week for the first time. What are the customs concerning tipping in Poland? My guidebook says I should tip waiters/waitresses 10%. What about hotels, taxis, or anything else? Thanks!

I'd say typically it's 10% in restaurants. Taxis - no tip usually but I do let them round the amount. Hotels? No prevailing rule. If you stay for a longer period of time you could leave some money for the cleaning lady - use your own judgment here.

Restaurants - i leave 15 percent but only for good service. If its a place where i eat often i will try and make sure server gets at least 10 zloty.

Taxis - about 3 zloty for a short trip. 5 or 10 for a longer trip

Hotels - 2 zloty for a bellboy, 5 zlots if its heavy. Leave your small change for the cleaner. I never tip people that are just opening doors.

Poles dont always tip, but its mainly because they are hard up rather than being mean. If you can afford it, spread a few zloty to your servers - most of them work 40 hours a week for 100 dollars take home

will be in Krakow and doing the trip to Aushwitz - We have paid for this as part of the holiday and are being driven there in a private car

What is a reasonable tip to give the driver?

50 pln to 100 pln

When did Europeans ever start tipping?

Or is it, they don't tip when the come to the USA?

I know restaurants in Florida had to implement a 10% gratuity on German tourists because they are notorious for not tipping!

Ive talked to these Germans tourists as well. They are explained on the flight that tipping is customary in the USA, but somehow they get amnesia once they leave the airport.

I know Poles like to tip in the bars in Chicago, no problem there:)

I have flown many times from Germany to the US without a lecture on tipping taking place. Most people are able to read a guidebook !

I agree that in this case 50 zloty is fine, 100 would be generous.

You can't compare with the US where tipping supports a broken system of low wage inequality and workers put up with it because they have little choice - whenever I am in the US I feel obliged to tip even when service is poor,

Regarding Germany, in restaurants I've always left at least a modest gratuity, protests by the grateful wait staff notwithstanding:-)
Once here in the States, a waitress actually followed me to the door of the establishment, almost demanding to know why I left the amount I did.

Such a thing NEVER happened to me in Europe once, even if I wasn't able to cobble together much of a tip.

In Poland, albeit quite some time back, I left something for the waiter. He looked at it curiously, but pleased, and took it with what I suppose over there passes for a smile.

I really do not understand why they do not fix the broken american system. I am usually very generous with tipping (not only in restaurants but also other services), but tipping is in my mind supposed to reward someone for good service. I would not like being pressured into giving purely because my waitress could not live from their wages.

Same. I've worked as a waiter bartender nd delivery driver in high school and college so I appreciate people that do give good service. I generally tip proportional to the service. In Poland though tipping is different than us. For one people tip much smaller amounts. Some don't tip at all. Waiters also to my understanding tend to make a higher salary and are less dependent on tips than say the us, proportionate to cost of living g of course.


Unfortunately most restaurants pay below minimum wage to their waigets If waiters earned atleast the us min wage there wouldn't be this issue. Delivery drivers earn min wage or more but male smaller tips in general. Overall though even with having a wage of 3 4 5 6 bucks waiters make more than hosts drivers with some making not too far off or the same as a restaurant manager (some experienced waiters have that dual role).

I actually miss working as a waiter and bartender. When I worked as a waiter id make around 200 plus cash a day and usually atleast 50 to 100 from a lil side hustle I ran at the restaurant. Not bad for a guy in his late teens early 20s. When I bartended on certain weekends or if there was a big dj I could easily clear 500 to a grand. The nicest part was working 1 day a week and 3 day weekend. Plus back then I had the energy to work a 10 hour shift till 10.pm on fridats or saturdays hen go out and party till morning and go back to work at 11 am work 10 hours go out again and then spend Monday to Thursday recuperating, going to a few classes and studying. It was a nice life but thanks to the cost of education most of my earnings went to tuition. If I were to do it all over again I would've saved the money and never went to school in all honesty or gone to a far cheap community college or state school..

In certain countries, however, Japan for instance, tipping is literally not allowed.