Americans tip as part of their lifestyle.It shouldn’t matter what the customs are in your home country, when on American soil your should respect the tipping culture. The following is a top 5 guide to tipping for anyone visiting this beautiful country.

1. Have some dollars ready. When you exchange your money into dollars, set aside a bit for tipping and make sure you always have around $10 in singles in your wallet at any given time.It makes it a lot easier to find the right value of tip you want without asking for change back. Although requesting change is quite commonplace also so dont be shy about asking if you need to.

2. Bars. Drinks bought at the bar should really be tipped at about a $1 each. If your round extends to more than 3 drinks then just reduce this ratio slightly. If you are seated and your drinks are served to you by a member of staff at your table then look to add $10 on to the total at the end of the night

3. Restaurants. This kind of depends which what type of restaurant you are eating at. Cheaper take-away style places only really should be tipped maybe 15% whilst more up market eateries should be tipped at a rate of around 20-25% of the bill.You should increase the tip amount for staff who put in the extra effort you or are particularly helpful.

4. Bags.The porter who brings the bags to the room will probably be expecting tip of one dollar per bag. This will be the same at most hotels, health spa resorts and serviced villas alike. You should really stick to this figure unless you want to give more as a result of exceptional service. Bag carriers at airports should be tipped between 2 to 4 dollars per bag

5. Poor service. If you dont feel that the service was up to standard then dont tip. You should ensure that you outline your reasoning though. Most service providers want to hear where they can improve and wont be offended. If you have poor meal or you dont like the beauty products used during a visit to a health spa for example, speak up and let them know where improvements can be made.