Tipping is
not customary in Switzerland. In its place, a service fee will often be charged
to your account. If you're at a café or restaurant, for instance, the service
fee will often be disclosed on the menu and is paid to the business rather than
a specific employee.
Not all
industries will automatically include a service fee, but you may check your
account to see whether one has been applied.
Even if
leaving a tip is not typical in Switzerland, it is always nice to say
"thank you" for very good service. Learn more about tipping in
Switzerland's various industries by reading on.
How much is considered a
proper tip in Switzerland?
Many Swiss
individuals round up to the closest CHF 1, CHF 5, or CHF 10, depending on the
service and the total amount, as opposed to other nations where it is customary
to tip a percentage of the bill.
If the bill
is CHF 66, for instance, you may add a CHF 4 tip, making the total CHF 70. If
the service is exceptional, you may round up higher restaurant expenditures,
like CHF 180, to CHF 200.
When is tipping in
Switzerland considered improper?
Some people
might find it strange, but leaving extremely little tips at Swiss restaurants
could be seen as rude. You should probably just skip the tip entirely if you
are unable to leave an amount that is at least 5% of the total expenditure. A
few centimes barely qualify as a gratuity.
In Switzerland, has tipping
ever become illegal?
Swiss
hospitality service firms have been compelled to pay their staff their full
salaries since 1974. This implies that firms must pay a regular minimum wage to
their employees and cannot rely on gratuities to supplement their revenue.
That is
frequently taken to suggest that tipping is no longer accepted. In actuality,
though, it only signifies that employees' primary sources of revenue are no
longer tips. Due in part to the rather low minimum wages in the hospitality
industry, tipping is nevertheless customary in many Swiss restaurants.
Depending on their age, non-specialized restaurant employees make a typical
monthly wage of between 3500 and 4400 francs.
Tipping at bars and
restaurants in Switzerland
Consider
leaving a gratuity of 10% to 15% in Swiss restaurants. However, the location,
event, and order quantity all affect how much you should tip while dining out
in Switzerland.
Given that
they are likely to split their tip with the kitchen workers, it is traditional
to tip your waiter or waitress a little bit more than you would a bartender.
You may
either leave a little tip each time you order a drink or round the bill up to
the next substantial amount at pubs and cafés in Switzerland.
If you are
at a classy establishment where mixing drinks is an art form or have your
cappuccino made by a really talented barista, you might want to shell out and
give a larger tip.
🔘 Related: Best Restaurants in Belgium
Gratuities in Swiss hotels
In
Switzerland, leaving a gratuity of between 10 and 20 percent is customary.
You'll probably wish to tip a variety of workers in high-end hotels with
excellent service, including maids, bellboys, valets, and front desk personnel.
It is
ultimately up to you to decide who and how much to tip, and it should be
determined by the quality of the service you receive. Check out our helpful
tipping in Swiss hotels cheat sheet to learn how to budget and handle hotel
tips.
Switzerland's Cab Drivers
Receive Tips
For longer
journeys and if you received assistance with your luggage, it's customary to
tip 10% in Switzerland.
The simplest
solution for quick trips is to round the bill up to the next substantial sum in
Swiss francs.
Remember
that you must negotiate the fare in advance of your trip if you want to take a
local cab rather than a ride-hailing service like Uber.
Gratuities for tour guides
in Switzerland
Your tour
guide may make or break your trip when you are on the road. In Switzerland, if
you discover a great guide, make sure to tip them the usual 10%. Tipping is
customarily accepted whether you're on a day trip, a multi-day tour, or a
private excursion.
Tipp
generously even if you go on a free tour in Switzerland. For these kinds of
trips, "pay what you like" principles are usually applied. The only
source of income for your tour guide may be gratuities.
Gratuities at a Swiss spa
It is okay
to give the massage therapist a modest gratuity if you feel the need for one to
relax after your travels in Switzerland. Budget between 10% and 15% of the
therapy cost.
To put it
another way, if you paid 100 Swiss francs for a massage, you may think about
leaving a tip of 10 francs if the service was satisfactory or as expected, or
15% if the therapist gave you an exceptional massage.
Bartender
The majority
of locals seldom leave tips while getting a drink at a pub. Consider leaving a
bigger tip, though, if you're out drinking in Switzerland and your tab is
higher or the bartender attentively listened to your issues.
Bellhop
You and your
special someone just checked into that posh hotel for a weekend getaway, right?
For each bag the bellhop assisted you with, feel free to leave them a gratuity
of CHF 1-2.
Housekeeping
Continue to
enjoy your luxurious weekend getaway. Feel free to offer the housekeeping staff
a tip of CHF 1-2 for each night of your stay if your hotel room is pristine.
Hairdresser
You can put
some money in the tip jar or leave a 5–15% tip if you're really happy with your
new look or the quality of care you receive from your go-to stylist.
🔘 Read More: Everything you need to know about tipping in Slovakia
What are my options for
tipping in Switzerland?
You have the
option of leaving gratuities whether using cash or a credit card. Typically,
tips may be paid for using the same payment options that are accepted for bill
payments.
If paying
with cash, you can merely give the individual the amount of your bill plus the
tip and state that you do not want any change.
It takes a
bit more preparation if you pay with a credit card. Tell the staff the exact
amount you wish to pay (for the bill and tip combined) when you receive your
bill. Before charging your card, they might input this sum into the POS
terminal.
You may
specify a different amount for the tip on some POS terminals. In this
situation, the terminal is handed to you, and you must either key in the tip
amount you wish to leave or bypass the tipping procedure if you don't want to.
Important: It
might be hard to see the tip-skipping option while paying with a credit card.
This may lead you to believe that you must provide a tip in order to pay your
bill, even if this is untrue. Do not just click "OK" if you do not
wish to tip. Find the option to omit the tipping procedure by carefully
examining the payment terminal's display.
Typically,
you may input a particular amount or select a tip percentage (for instance, 5,
10, or 15%).
Always look
more closely at what is shown on the POS terminal. This is especially true if
the payment requires a PIN. Giving a very generous, four-digit tip can happen
if you accidentally type your PIN into the tip box under the impression that it
is the PIN field.
When using a
cashless payment method at a restaurant, you might not be able to add a tip to
your bill. You may always pay the tip separately from the bill in this
situation. Generally speaking, leaving a gratuity in cash is simpler than
leaving one through a cashless payment option.
Small
establishments, such as bars and cafés, may include a jar or tip piggybank. By
dropping cash—such as the change you get when paying your bill—into this box,
you may tip the employees.
Where does the money I tip
go?
Most of the
time, tipping occurs together with paying the bills. However, this does not
imply that the person who served you or took your cash gets to keep the
gratuity. Many restaurants combine tip money and spread it among all staff
members, allowing kitchen personnel to share in the goodwill of patrons.
However, you
may make it very obvious if you want your tip money to go to a particular
staff. If you don't and the establishment has no formal system in place for tip
distribution, the tip money is the property of the person who collects it.
Employees
typically split tips that are put into tip jars or charged to cards among
themselves. Each type of business has a different method for dividing its
financial resources.
Conclusion
If you
frequently lack the resources to honor the waiter's hard work, don't worry.
Use our
electronic tipping app for servers for quick, cashless tipping and tip
monitoring. You will benefit from a contribution app's ease.
This
software, which accepts payment options other than cash, allows you to leave a
tip by phone. The good news is that this tip calculator app may be used on
mobile devices with either Android or iPhone operating systems.