Brother, can you spare a tip?

You knew the moment would come; it always does. The transaction’s over, and you have a crucial decision to make:

Do you tip the hotel doorman who swung the portal open for you? What about the pool guy who brought you a towel? Or the room-service waiter who handed you a bill that includes a service fee? Or anyone who assisted you in Japan?

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Global guide to tipping

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The science of gratuity-giving is inexact, the art of tipping often messy. So many potential tippees inhabit a single vacation that there’s nowhere to hide — except perhaps in a cave, assuming that you don’t get a sherpa or a cab to take you there. To make it even more confusing, practices vary from country to country.

In an effort to determine how to preserve our wallets (and our pride) while still conveying our gratitude for services rendered, we turned to a team of travel and tipping experts for insights into this (nearly) ubiquitous custom and a pocketful of advice for use in any setting or destination.

Participating in our online round-table discussion were Pamela Eyring, president of the Protocol School of Washington; Adrian Phillips, publishing director of Bradt Travel Guides (and an Englishman, to boot); Steve Dublanica, a former waiter and author of “Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper’s Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity”; Jeff Yeager, budget world traveler and author of “The Cheapskate Next Door”; Michael McCall, professor of marketing at Ithaca College in New York; and Douglas Stallings, senior editor at Fodor’s.

Excerpts:

What’s the back story on tipping?

Pamela: The word “tip” is derived from an innkeeper’s sign, “To Insure Promptness.”

Steve: Actually, Pamela, that’s not true. It’s an etymological urban legend. There’s mention of tips as far back as the 1500s.

Michael: When wealthy nobles traveled the countryside and stayed with people, in recognition of the additional work and effort, they would provide gifts for the servants and staff.

Steve: The practice of nobles tipping servants was called vails. Then the practice mutated over to other areas.

What are we tipping for?

Pamela: A tip is supposed to be a reward for services performed. Note the word “performed,” not “expected.”

Jeff: To me, a “gratuity” is a monetary reward that’s expected according to local customs for services provided. So what (and how much) is/isn’t expected varies by culture, and then there’s always the question: What if the services provided really [stink]; is it appropriate to lessen the gratuity or skip it all together?

Steve: One of the most interesting things Mike Lynn [professor of consumer behavior and marketing at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration] found in his research is that service quality has almost no effect on the tip received. So it ain’t about service. Though people will say they reward service with their tips until they are blue in the face.

Jeff: If it’s clear that the person you’re directly tipping (e.g., the waiter, housekeeper, etc.) isn’t doing a good job, then I think it’s appropriate to decrease the tip or skip it altogether. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to know in a restaurant, for example, if the poor service is the result of the waiter, or the kitchen staff, or whoever.