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As for the $30 point, that may be where a lot of flat fares go - airport for $30, for instance, is probably a common data point. As for the rest, if we're look

As for the $30 point, that may be where a lot of flat fares go - airport for $30, for instance, is probably a common data point. As for the rest, if we're looking at cash fares, doesn't it seem necessary to examine the most common makeups of bills that would get you to that amount? If someone has all 20s, it's easy to tip $10 on a $50 fare. Boom, done. But if it ticks over to $60, perhaps people don't want to break that fourth bill, or maybe they don't carry more than 3 20s, so rather than pull out the card they just leave no tip, like a jerk. But I don't get why cash versus card was not broken out here. Surely tipping habits differ greatly, or at least significantly, between the two methods. Why a card user doesn't tip at $60 is likely to be different to why a cash user doesn't.

bane 12y ago
You answered that a lot more succinctly than I would have. Credit vs. cash really is different. It doesn't hurt that most of the time I'm in NYC, the taxi drivers "have broken credit card machines" or ask me if I can use cash to save them from the processing fees. Usually the currency in play is $20s and it's easier to just round up then calculate and fumble around for change and small bills. For big fares, credit is just easier to deal with than a wad of money. The cabs all have touch screens for selecting the tip, I suspect there's some kind of psychology on that tip selection screen which explains the ending 5 and 0 fare tip dips. And as for anything, as the price goes up, the tip goes down. If I go to Olive Garden with my wife and spent $30, I give them a $6 tip, because the waiter was nice, asked me how everything was and my water stayed topped off. When I go to Per Se's or Le Bernardin's and drop $300 on a prix-fixe dinner, do I really want to tip them $60 because I got near enough the same service (but it involved 4 people) but they kept my wine glass topped off all night? No, but I might give them $50 because that's a nice number, is more than 15% (so I can make sure I can come back).
- devindotcom 12y ago
  Yeah it's funny how much I overthink these things myself. I would really rather everyone was earning a good wage and tipping was an actual gratuity rather than a requirement to let the barista make rent. Leaving 15p in change at the bar in the UK, as I understand it, is a totally normal and friendly thing to do, but no one will think ill of you if you take it, either.

bane 12y ago

You answered that a lot more succinctly than I would have. Credit vs. cash really is different. It doesn't hurt that most of the time I'm in NYC, the taxi drivers "have broken credit card machines" or ask me if I can use cash to save them from the processing fees. Usually the currency in play is $20s and it's easier to just round up then calculate and fumble around for change and small bills. For big fares, credit is just easier to deal with than a wad of money. The cabs all have touch screens for selecting the tip, I suspect there's some kind of psychology on that tip selection screen which explains the ending 5 and 0 fare tip dips. And as for anything, as the price goes up, the tip goes down. If I go to Olive Garden with my wife and spent $30, I give them a $6 tip, because the waiter was nice, asked me how everything was and my water stayed topped off. When I go to Per Se's or Le Bernardin's and drop $300 on a prix-fixe dinner, do I really want to tip them $60 because I got near enough the same service (but it involved 4 people) but they kept my wine glass topped off all night? No, but I might give them $50 because that's a nice number, is more than 15% (so I can make sure I can come back).

devindotcom 12y ago
Yeah it's funny how much I overthink these things myself. I would really rather everyone was earning a good wage and tipping was an actual gratuity rather than a requirement to let the barista make rent. Leaving 15p in change at the bar in the UK, as I understand it, is a totally normal and friendly thing to do, but no one will think ill of you if you take it, either.