Do you tip in Dubai? Or, should you tip staff and employees when visiting Dubai? What is the protocol and the standard procedure they follow? This is what we are going to discuss in this article.
For its excellent service levels, the famous city of Dubai can deliver all your needs right to the doorstep. In addition to mobile salon services coming directly home or hotel rooms. All these services make the overall experience of a visitor in Dubai quite convenient. They don’t have to wait at a single location to get the job done, instead they can directly call the services to their homes.
However, when it comes to paying a tip in Dubai, it’s more about personal preference whether one should offer gratuity, how much (or slight) amount will suffice, as well as the quality of service provided to each customer.
How do Westerners Tip in Dubai?
If you are wondering, do you tip in Dubai? You need to know how westerners tip Australians in Dubai for services they get. Yes, there are service providers that go above and beyond the call of duty or when people do an especially good job.
Americans on desert safaris appreciate guides that offer phenomenal performance and offer a complete peace of mind, so they often leave tips equivalent to 10% to 20%. Similarly, in restaurants across Dubai, people tip around 10% on an average.
But this is for westerners only, those from other cultures have their set ways about how much is appropriate: Filipinos prefer generous amounts while Egyptians largely believe it’s never too little (or indeed not enough).
Westerners living in Dubai have many different tipping cultures to bring with them. Tipping is not universal, but most often, it’s 12-15% for service at restaurants and 10%-15% on guided tours depending upon the quality of your experience.
Westerners Tip: 10% to 20%
Locals Tip: 5% to 10%
Locals living in Dubai usually do not tip anywhere near as much: 15% max when somebody does something exceptional like driving you home from dinner because they know how hard it’s been all day (or night).
For British travellers or people living in the UK, even if their English isn’t perfect, they tip the most at around 20% to 25% because they pay in pounds and the value of pound is the most in comparison with dollars or UAE dirhams.
Who Should You Tip in Dubai?
Waiters in Dubai: They are often paid low salaries, so, understandably, diners would want to tip. Service charges aren’t included on bills, and people who work hard deserve recognition for their efforts; 10%-15% is considered a good amount though more isn’t bad either when you pay waiters in Dubai.
Taxi drivers: They have an easy job with plenty of competition but still need tips to keep their engineers running. They are usually tipped by customers at around 5% to 10%. These ride services are affordable and available at all hours throughout the day.
Bellhops and valets: A service charge isn’t included, but it’s always good to give a tip of at least 10 pounds (or more) if you were impressed with their work. We suggest giving them something extra for doing all that carrying!
Delivery drivers: should never be asked for change if it’s minimal. But, the more thoughtful you are with your tip, then that is something worth rewarding!
Tour guides: often get an automatic gratuity of 10% when tourists book them through their agency, but this isn’t always the case. You can tip them more depending on the service they offer you. The usual tips for tour guides in Dubai can be around AED 50.
Spa/beauty specialists: They might enjoy AED 10 to AED 20 on each service they offer as a reward. However, the spa and beauty specialists don’t always require a tip. If you like their service, you can pay them more or even leave a positive review about their spa or service on review websites. This is enough for them because that will keep their business alive and running.
Tipping In Dubai: Should You or Shouldn’t You?
When visiting Dubai, tips are usually in local currency i.e. The UAE dirham or AED. You can bring some AED or get them from Dubai as they’ll be fairly priced. However, you can also pay in dollars or pounds if you don’t have AED with you. In Dubai, restaurants and other service providers readily accept dollars as a form of payment.
Although it may not seem like a good idea at first, do you tip in Dubai if you’re only in town for the night? Not really.
You don’t have to tip if you are only in the town for a day. Because you will not be carrying any AED or local currency.
It only makes sense to tip in Dubai when you are visiting other places in Dubai and other Emirates. This way, you will have the local currency available, and you can tip a lot more graciously.
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