Tipping In The Philippines - A Complete Guide
Quick Guide
🍽️ Most Restaurants - Opt. ₱20-50 If No Serv. C.
🍽️ Luxury Restaurant - 10% If Good + No Serv. C.
🍹 Bar - Round Up By ₱10-50 If Upscale + No S.C.
☕️ Café - Round Up By ₱10-50 If Upscale + No S.C.
🚕 Taxi/Tricycle - Round Up (+ ₱20-50 If Excellent)
✈️ Airport Porter - ₱20-100 Total Expected
🛎️ Hotel Porter - ₱20-50 Total Customary
🛏️ Housekeeping - ₱20-50/Day Customary
📸 Tour Guide - ₱50-100 If Satisfied
🧖♀️ Spa - ₱20-100 Customary
🅿️ Parking Guard - ₱20-50 Expected
⛽️ Fuel Attendant - ₱20 If Extras Like Tire Check
Filipino tipping etiquette depends a lot on the scenario. Tipping is completely optional in some cases, in others it’s customary or even expected.
In any case, due to lower wages and lower cost of living, a small tip can go a long way. Have plenty of ₱20 and ₱50 bills on hand.
Calculate a culturally appropriate tip for The Philippines using the calculator below and read on for more detail on tipping in Restaurants, Cafés, Bars, Taxis, Hotels etc.
Philippines Tip Calculator
Good Tip For The Philippines
Tip
$0.00
Total With Tip
$0.00
Split Bill By
0 Each
Tipping in Restaurants
Service charges of around 10% are common so always check for that first (“GST” is tax). It’s very unusual to tip on top of a service charge.
On the rare occasion that an upscale city centre restaurant doesn’t include a service charge, it would be customary to tip around 10% in cash but only for good service.
When dining out anywhere else, there’s really no obligation. Staff won’t be offended as many locals don’t tip.
If you want to, leave them around ₱20-50 in cash no matter the size of the bill. Anything over ₱100 would be considered extremely generous.
Tipping Food Delivery Drivers
If you’re ordering via Grab Food, Food Panda or similar, it’s not that common to tip the delivery driver.
Since it’s rarer, that does mean that most will really appreciate a tip if you do offer them one.
Anything in the ₱20-50 range will be appreciated. You could tip on the higher end if the weather’s bad, if you’re up on a high floor, if it’s late or you’re ordering a lot of food.
Again, tipping anything over ₱100 would be considered extremely generous.
Tipping in Bars & Cafés
In any case, if there’s a service charge (typically 10%), it’s not customary to tip extra.
If there’s no service charge, tipping isn’t customary unless you’re in an upscale establishment, in which cash you could leave the change or simply round up the bill so the next ₱10-50.
Tipping Taxi, Tricycle & Grab Drivers
For taxi and tricycle drivers, most would just round up the fare when paying with cash (e.g. ₱185 would be rounded up to ₱200).
Be careful what you hand them as some will just assume you’re doing that and won’t offer change anyway.
If your taxi/tricycle driver has gone the extra mile, offering you local advice, managing bad traffic and/or loading/unloading your luggage, you could tip them around ₱20-50 but that’s not obligatory.
For Grab drivers, you’d typically hand them a cash tip of ₱20-50 since you’re usually paying the fare by card in the app.
Tipping Airport & Hotel Porters
Airport porters are those staff that offer to carry your luggage from the carousel to a taxi.
They will expect to be paid around ₱20-100 in cash, on the higher end of that range for lots of heavy luggage. More of a payment than a tip.
Hotel porters should be tipped ₱20-50 total. Tip on the higher end of that range if you’re feeling generous or if you’ve got a lot of luggage.
Tipping Housekeeping
It’s customary to tip housekeeping around ₱20-50 per day in cash. You could leave it with a note on the pillow.
Tipping Tour Guides
It’s customary to tip tour guides around ₱50-100 per person in cash depending on the length of the tour and how entertaining/informative your tour guide is.
Which Currency To Use
Always stick to the official currency when paying and tipping in the Philippines, the Philippine Peso (Symbol: ₱, Code: PHP).
Cards are accepted in major cities and tourist areas but having cash is always handy. You’ll always use cash when tipping so make sure you have plenty of ₱20, ₱50 and ₱100 bills.
Bear in mind that ATMs are less common outside cities so it’s best to get cash when you can.
"Tangkilikin ang Pilipinas" - Enjoy the Philippines! 🇵🇭🌴🥥
