subject: Should I Tip When Eating At The Airport [print this page] When eating at the airport, you're always in a rush. But should you leave time to tip?
While waiting for those flights from Boston to Syracuse and having a little bit to eat to keep hunger at bay until you get on the plane, should you leave a tip? Restaurants at airport have in recent years become a far cry from the old canteens and take-away joints, now providing a much more high class dining experience. These are often geared towards businessmen, but it's always unclear if you should tip at such places.
McDonalds does not allow it's staff anywhere to accept tips, but there is no reason to think that if anyone is waiting on you, that they would not accept a tip. I'm sure that they'd accept a tip in any currency in fact, especially if it's all paid for on an expense account. But be warned: some places not only expect a tip, but they add it onto the bill as a tax without you even realizing. So before you even think about tipping the waitress or waiter, you might want to ask if service is included, and find out the equivalent in whatever language your departure airport is. Of course on domestic flights from Memphis to Miami this is unlikely to be a problem
Drinking at an airport bar is another thing all together, at least when drinking in bars that are located in the United States. At these bars it's expected that the customer should tip either each time, or leave a big fat tip when paying a tap. Beware though if you're take a connecting flight to another country after your flights from Tampa to Detroit because in some places it's actually rude to tip, so find out before you go to avoid any potential embarrassment.
