As thousands of international football supporters descend across the United States for the World Cup, a long-debated feature of American life has emerged as a top point of friction: the mandatory culture of tipping. Many visitors from countries where gratuity is either baked into menu prices or only offered for exceptional service have reported widespread tipping fatigue, with sticker shock and confusion straining their travel budgets.
Geoff Pryor, an England fan from Norwich who is traveling across the U.S. to attend matches, acknowledged that tipping makes sense for quality table service at restaurants. Still, he described being asked to tip for even the most basic transactions – including buying a pre-packaged bottle of water – as “weird.” “They try to get a tip for doing nothing,” Pryor told the BBC, noting that while he recognizes U.S. hospitality workers earn lower base wages than staff in the UK, constant requests for gratuity add unnecessary strain to a trip.
For Australian supporters Chris O’Flynn and Robert McNamara, the combination of already inflated World Cup match tickets and unexpected tipping costs has stretched their travel budgets thin. Unlike Australia, where service fees are included in listed prices, the pair said the constant expectation of gratuity in the U.S. has proven a major culture shock, even as they try to respect local customs. “I still find it a bit confusing why it exists… Sometimes you don’t know how much you’re supposed to tip,” O’Flynn explained. McNamara added that being asked for a tip after every individual drink purchase sends costs skyrocketing quickly: “They’re expecting a tip after every drink so it gets expensive very quick. You’re buying a drink and adding $5 on. It’s difficult to comprehend.” The core sentiment among Australian fans, O’Flynn said, is that employers should cover living wages for staff directly, rather than shifting that responsibility to customers.
Japanese visitors echoed that frustration. Maiko Asahi, who traveled from Tokyo with her family to watch Japan play in Dallas, said tipping is not a cultural practice back home, and that U.S. prices are already exorbitant even before adding gratuity. “The prices without the tips are already very expensive, with tipping it is way too much,” Asahi said. Another Japanese fan, Akihiro, who is attending the tournament with his son, pointed out that even budget restaurant meals can end up costing far more than expected after tipping. “Even the cheapest meal at a restaurant still costs around $30, and when you add on a tip of say, 13-20% you end up thinking – Oh dear, I could have had another portion for that,” he said.
But hospitality business owners across the country say the friction cuts both ways, with many reporting that international World Cup fans have a reputation for leaving little to no gratuity, putting already low-paid staff in a tight spot. Chris Keller, owner of Banter, a popular football-focused bar in Brooklyn that draws crowds of British and European fans during the tournament, told the BBC that under-tipping is a consistent issue. “It’s always the case. There’s no getting around it. There’s always a lack of tipping or playing ignorant like they don’t know,” he said. To protect his employees, Keller has adjusted his venue’s policy to require pre-payment for drinks – including an automatic service charge – for customers with reservations.
Ann Calimano, co-owner of Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar in New York City, said the World Cup has brought an unexpected surge in foot traffic during what is typically a slow season, but many first-time international customers are unfamiliar with American tipping norms. “Europeans don’t tip like the American people. That’s the culture,” she explained. When large groups order hundreds of dollars’ worth of food and drink and leave no gratuity, Calimano said staff have to step in to clarify the unwritten rule: “The bartenders will graciously ask, ‘was the service okay?’ and they’ll say ‘yes, of course,’ And then they’ll explain that the service is not included, whereas in Europe, the service is included in the price of everything.”
Tipping norms and base wages for hospitality workers vary widely across U.S. states. In Los Angeles, for example, the base minimum wage for tipped employees is $16.20 per hour, one of the highest rates in the country. Joseph Pitruzelli, owner of Downtown LA’s German-themed restaurant Wurstküche, said his venue has not seen a major shift in tipping habits during the World Cup, and keeps its suggested tip rates between 10% and 20%. He added that he has noticed other local venues pushing suggested tips as high as 25% to 30%, a range he calls unreasonable. At his restaurant, all tips are pooled and split among the entire front-of-house and back-of-house team, from dishwashers to chefs, to ensure all staff benefit.
Rosa Thurnher, owner of El Ponce restaurant and a board member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, explained that the expectation of 20% tips across the U.S. hospitality industry is rooted in the country’s unique wage structure. While some states set higher base wages for tipped workers, others like Atlanta set the minimum cash wage for tipped staff as low as $2.13 per hour. Federal law requires employers to make up the difference if an employee’s base wage plus tips do not add up to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, but without tips, Thurnher said it is nearly impossible for hospitality workers to cover living costs in most U.S. cities. “If they don’t receive any tips, it’s impossible to survive in the service industry,” she said. While individual states can set higher mandatory wages for tipped workers, tipping remains codified as a core expected component of hospitality employee income under U.S. regulation.