Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the time-honored tradition of tipping for all kinds of services has become somewhat skewed, as many U.S. patrons feel the practice has become more of an obligation than a choice.
But if the spirit of the 2024 Christmas season is any indication, the “tipping by choice” tradition is not only going to be really hard to replace in the foreseeable future, but it also might end up becoming stronger than it has ever been, just overnight.
“We’ve seen a steady decline in the prevalence of tipping for year-round services in recent years (dining, haircuts, taxis/rideshares, etc.),” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst with Bankrate.com, told The Epoch Times via email. “Yet holiday tipping has remained stable and even increased a bit by some measures.”
“I suspect this is mostly due to the holiday spirit,” Rossman said. “The rest of the year, a lot of the time, people tip because it’s expected—or maybe it would be more accurate to say they often don’t tip even though it’s expected.”
Bankrate’s findings showed that despite the positive view of tipping at the holidays, nearly three in five U.S. adults (59 percent) now have at least one negative view regarding tipping in general.
More than one-third of those surveyed (34 percent) are annoyed about pre-entered tip screens, such as those used at coffee shops and food trucks, and about one in 10 (11 percent) are confused about whom to tip and how much they should be tipping.
The findings also claim that while many people grumble over a sense of obligation, it hasn’t really kept them from tipping.
“Tip prompts may be annoying, but they work,” Rossman said. “Starbucks says about half of its customers who pay with credit and debit cards leave a tip.”
On the other hand, Bankrate credit cards expert Katie Kelton pointed out in two recent company articles that despite ongoing concerns since the COVID-19 pandemic, more U.S. adults plan to tip by choice during this holiday season than in any since polling began in 2021.
“Holiday tipping has remained stable and even increased a bit by some measures,” Rossman said.
“This is because of the holiday spirit and also because we tend to have more of an ongoing relationship with the service providers who receive holiday tips. The fact that they may be in our homes and/or interacting with our kids makes us more likely to want to tip them around the holidays.”
However, this time-honored and still-preferred way has come somewhat under fire in recent years because servers want a guarantee and customers are firmly sticking to their freedom to tip or not to tip.
But Susan Cohen, president and CEO of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, said the tipping situation is no different now than it was when she worked as a server in the mid-1970s—except for the “tipflation” factor.
“You now see tip prompts pop up on payment screens,” Cohen told The Epoch Times via email. “I truly believe that is where you see and hear pushback.”
Rossman said some businesses now seem to be relying on tipping to hide higher food and service costs.
“Tipping has become a hidden tax,” he said. “Many companies are hesitant to raise prices further, given all of the increases we’ve seen in recent years, but asking for tips can essentially be a way for them to raise prices without acting like they’re raising prices.”
What it all means now is the same thing that has been true since the 1920s: Until a better and perhaps more standardized way of tipping is put in place, the practice will remain firmly in the hands of the consumer.
It’s just like the Christmas season itself.
“We tip for different reasons—to be nice, to say thank you, because it’s expected, to get better service next time, and so on,” Rossman said.
“Different motivations are more powerful at different times, and to different people. It’s a bit of glass half-full/glass half-empty. Holiday tipping has held up better than year-round tipping, but it’s treading water rather than surging ahead.”
