Find Your Tipping Point Abroad

Knowing the appropriate level of gratuity can be tricky, and it gets even more difficult abroad, where tipping practices widely vary. Forbes offers some help, noting, for instance, that for a cab ride in South America, rounding up the fare to the next dollar is an acceptable tip, while in Europe or an African city 10% is expected.

Add 5-10% in Europe even when a service charge is added, the magazine urges. In Japan, tipping is seen as rude in any situation, where in China it’s customary to add 3% to the bill at restaurants; in Hong Kong, 15% is expected. And world-round, $2-$5 is an acceptable amount to tip a concierge for a simple request.