For as long as Ive been going to Vegas comped drinks at the VP bar or from a cocktail waitress were greeted with $1. Is that still the general rule or should it be $2 given inflation?
For as long as Ive been going to Vegas comped drinks at the VP bar or from a cocktail waitress were greeted with $1. Is that still the general rule or should it be $2 given inflation?
Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
For as long as Ive been going to Vegas comped drinks at the VP bar or from a cocktail waitress were greeted with $1. Is that still the general rule or should it be $2 given inflation?
I do the math. The drink girl comes around about twice an hour, most places where I play. Her tray, if loaded, will have 6 to 8 drinks on it. Let's assume that with some people not tipping at all and others tipping more than $1, the average tip she gets is $1. So, call it an average of $14/hr in tips.
So her hourly earnings are her wage plus tips. The average Vegas cocktail waitress wage is about $12. That would work out to $26 an hour, or call it about $200 a day. Of course, there might be slower or faster periods when her tip income is greater or less than $14/hr.
And...unlike in the past, when cocktail waitresses were paid the subminimum "service wage" of $2.13/hr, and that was basically forever, their base wage is decent and they can actually advance and make a better base wage--and presumably, they'll be put into positions where they can make better tip income as well.
And Vegas being Vegas, several friends who are/were cocktail waitresses have told me that with a little expected baksheesh, a waitress can be assigned to the $100 minimum tables or the high-limit slots, where tips are $5 at least and often, much, much more. One long-time friend told me that her boss charged her $25,000 to be assigned to serve the high rollers, and she was glad to pay it; she made that back in increased tip income in six weeks.
So to answer your question, $1 is plenty. I make it $2 on occasion.
Oh, and if you're curious, the expected juice one has to pay to get the best tipped job in Vegas, valet parking, is around $75,000. And of COURSE, the HR manager in turn remits that to his boss :)
Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis
I do the math. The drink girl comes around about twice an hour, most places where I play. Her tray, if loaded, will have 6 to 8 drinks on it. Let's assume that with some people not tipping at all and others tipping more than $1, the average tip she gets is $1. So, call it an average of $14/hr in tips.
So her hourly earnings are her wage plus tips. The average Vegas cocktail waitress wage is about $12. That would work out to $26 an hour, or call it about $200 a day. Of course, there might be slower or faster periods when her tip income is greater or less than $14/hr.
And...unlike in the past, when cocktail waitresses were paid the subminimum "service wage" of $2.13/hr, and that was basically forever, their base wage is decent and they can actually advance and make a better base wage--and presumably, they'll be put into positions where they can make better tip income as well.
And Vegas being Vegas, several friends who are/were cocktail waitresses have told me that with a little expected baksheesh, a waitress can be assigned to the $100 minimum tables or the high-limit slots, where tips are $5 at least and often, much, much more. One long-time friend told me that her boss charged her $25,000 to be assigned to serve the high rollers, and she was glad to pay it; she made that back in increased tip income in six weeks.
So to answer your question, $1 is plenty. I make it $2 on occasion.
Oh, and if you're curious, the expected juice one has to pay to get the best tipped job in Vegas, valet parking, is around $75,000. And of COURSE, the HR manager in turn remits that to his boss :)
Aren't there many places that pool tips? At least some of that goes back to the bartender at minimum.
Originally posted by: Aaron
Aren't there many places that pool tips? At least some of that goes back to the bartender at minimum.
Not necessarily--I've seen it work both ways. And bartenders do get tipped by the people they serve, but their base wage is much higher than that of the servers. They don't count on tips as much as the servers do. Being forced to cut the bartender in functionally raises the bartender's wage and depresses that of the servers.
I definitely tip at least a buck for each drink and will even tip $5 extra when I leave the casino if the service was pretty fast during the time I was playing.
I tip a dollar, no complaints. On occasion $2 (extra friendly CW, special order, just because, etc.) but never have I noticed an 'upgrade' in service for tipping more than a dollar. I think $1 is still a 'standard' tip.
Confession: When at a table and the lowest chip I have when the drink comes is a red chip ($5) (just because I forgot to get some whites) ready, I give em a red chip. But, if I'm thinking ahead I'll take a dollar bill from my purse and have it ready when the drink comes. I know the CWs serving BJ or other tables probably more often get red or higher tips, but I don't consider it a requirement.
Candy
I take plenty of $2 bills to Las Vegas for drink tips. Servers seem to be happy with that. They do work very hard and have to put up with some real assholes, so they deserve to make a decent living...
Not sure how many people tip on the floor for water, but those girls are just going through the motions. Early in the day i need to hydrate and if those girls would just slow down they could double the tips
My norm is now $2.
This thread made me think about what I should tip. I go to the casino most Sunday mornings, so I use the self-serve soda machine most of the time. However, if there is a reason to be there later in the day, I will have a beer, so I think I'll start tipping $2 from now on. Then, I will decide what I want to tip in Vegas on my next trip in December.
