Tipping culture has gotten out of hand in some places of the world, America I’m looking at you. However, in the UK or Europe, it’s not really thought about unless you get exceptional service. Some places in the UK will include a tip on the bill and they’re more than happy for you to ask for it to be taken off. For example, some restaurants don’t give the entire tip to the staff so people prefer to tip with cash or if the service is bad, they don’t tip at all.
I wanted to talk about what is the custom when it comes to tipping in Amsterdam. Tipping is something that we never used to think about but now that we travel often it’s something that we budget whenever we decide to go out and eat because if the service and food are good, we’ll tip and if not, we don’t.
I have quite a few Amsterdam travel tips but one would be to always budget and make sure you have the money with you if you decide to tip, there’s nothing worse than having an incredible meal and then not having the money to leave a tip.
Tipping In Amsterdam
When it comes to if you should tip in Amsterdam, it’s pretty simple; it’s up to you. Amsterdam does not have a tipping culture and it is not automatically expected whenever a service is provided. That being said, if you are looking to tip excellent service then a standard 10% tip is a good place to start.
Do you tip hotel staff in Amsterdam? Hotel staff get paid a standard living wage in Amsterdam, which means there is no exception to tip hotel staff, you can if you want although some members of staff may be taken aback. Do you tip maid service in Amsterdam? Has the same answer, you don’t have to tip housekeeping staff unless you want to.
How much do you tip a taxi in Amsterdam? We have never tipped a taxi in Amsterdam, they are paid a standard fare. That being said, make sure you are using a legit taxi company so that you don’t get scammed as we have in the past!
Is it rude not to tip in Amsterdam? Nope, if you don’t want to tip or can’t afford to tip then you don’t tip. Staff members in Amsterdam are paid a living wage unlike in other parts of the world, this means they won’t get offended if you don’t tip but on the flip side if you did tip they’d appreciate it more as it isn’t expected.
I will say that I’ve seen articles that have said even if the service is bad you should round the bill up or leave some “change”, we don’t agree with this. In fact, we will point out that something has happened if asked because it’s the only way a company will know if there’s an issue and grow from this. I think a lot of people think that saying nothing is best in this world of cancel culture.
When it comes to letting a company know if there are issues you don’t have to be a “Karen” but you don’t have to sit silent.
How Can I Tip In Amsterdam?
Tipping in Amsterdam isn’t something that’s normally done, which means it can be a little tricky in some places to actually tip and sometimes you can be sat there feeling a bit embarrassed about even wanting to ask, don’t worry; we’ve been there!
Are tips included in the bill in Amsterdam? Not always. In fact everywhere that we went in Amsterdam the tip was never included on the bill and we left a tip (if we wanted) ourselves and in cash. There was only one place that asked if we wanted to include a 20% tip on the bill which we said no. The service wasn’t very good that day and we didn’t tip so it was funny that was the only occasion it was asked.
Can you pay tips in cash in Amsterdam? Yes, in fact, this is how we prefer to do so. You’ll find that most places will give tips to their staff but if it’s a chain, you’ll find most of the time the staff don’t see the tips and if they do it’ll only be a percentage of the tip. So in our opinion, tip in cash in Amsterdam.
Can you pay tips by card in Amsterdam? You can. In fact, Amsterdam is one of the first countries that is trying to become “cashless” in most areas. You can ask the restaurants to either include a tip on the bill or round up the bill. Tipping in Amsterdam has never been so easy, even if they don’t expect it!
When it comes to Amsterdam tipping, it’s easy to do. That being said, don’t be forced into tipping when you’re in a country that doesn’t really have a tipping culture. We always say great service should be rewarded though and it’s nice to make someone’s day. You could either leave tips in form of chocolates, flowers, songs, new shoes or maybe just a well written poem.
Amsterdam Currency
Does Amsterdam use Euros or pounds? I actually get asked this quite a lot when we tell people that we go to Amsterdam at least once a year. The currency in Amsterdam is the Euro. They were one of the founding members of the EU and started using the Euro in 1999.
So if you’re tipping in Amsterdam make sure that you use Euros when you do so. Of course, if you’re tipping on a card then this won’t be an issue. Just make sure you have a good currency card to use while you’re on holiday.
Have you ever had any issues tipping in Amsterdam or have you been fine with it? I’d love to know your thoughts on this topic so let us know in the comments.