When we arrived in Uruguay, one of the first things we started asking about was tipping etiquette. We consider ourselves to be good tippers, but we wanted to make sure that we were following what is acceptable for Uruguay culture.
Here are some of the basics of tipping etiquette in Uruguay:
- Restaurants. Tip a flat 10% of your bill. No need to tip more.
- Baggage handlers (airport). If you have the baggage handlers help you with your luggage at the airport, tip U$S 1-2 per bag.
- Taxi drivers. Depending upon the distance of your cab ride, UY$ 5-10 pesos is fine for a cab ride within Montevideo.
- Delivery people. We’ve mentioned before that pretty much everywhere in Montevideo delivers. If we have something delivered, we typically tip UY$ 20.
- Street parking attendants. These are the guys in the orange vests that help people park their cars and watch then while they’re dining or shopping. Tip them UY$5-10 pesos and they’re happy.
- Porters. A lot of the buildings in Montevideo have porters. It’s common courtesy to tip them monthly. Depending upon the building, UY$50-100 pesos is acceptable.
We'd love to have some feedback from our readers. Are we tipping too much? Too little? Right on? Are there any other place you tip in Uruguay?
Elaine says
UY$1000 to your portero a month?! That’s crazy! Many apartment buildings have 20, 30, 40+ apartments, can you imagine porteros getting an extra 40,000 pesos a month?! Did you mean to write at Christmas?
I’m not so sure about the delivery or taxi tip either, then again I think tipping in most countries (except the US) is a very personal thing and there really aren’t rules, you choose to give whatever you feel is appropriate.
However as far as I am aware most people give max 5/10 pesos to delivery people and only tip taxi drivers if they’re rounding up a few pesos to make change easier.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with giving more to any of these people, that’s always your own personal choice and depends on how much you have to give, but I think most of these suggestions are a good deal higher than what any Uruguayan would give.
Brian and Chrystal says
Hi Elaine,
LOL – the portero thing was a typo. Should have said UY$50-100 per month.
As far as everything else goes, we believe in rewarding people for good service. By no means do we tip when we receive poor service, but giving a taxi driver an extra 5-10 pesos in no way hurts us financially, but we know it makes a difference to them on their income.
If a taxi driver gets us somewhere safe without us having 20 heart attacks on the way or without clipping another vehicle; we feel they deserve and little extra something (not to mention when they help load and unload our stuff from their car)… We don’t tip the kamikaze cab drivers or ones who try to take us for a ride…
But, when the guy we buy our produce from at the feria puts a box on his shoulder and walks it with us back to our apartment (taking away from the time he could be selling other people his produce), I have no problem tipping 20 pesos… On the other hand, if we order food from a restaurant and it takes over an hour and a half to be delivered from a block away, very little to any tip should be expected.
Of course it’s a personal choice; but we feel tipping is a sign of common courtesy and respect… It’s more of a “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” thing…
Franco says
Brian and Chrystal,
I am a 33-year-old uruguayan, I’ve lived most of my life in apartaments, and it’s the first time I hear about tipping a porter in UY!
The usual thing is to give them a present on their birthday and for Christmas, and (of course) offer to pay any service they give you that isn’t within his/her obligations, but isn’t usual to tip them.
Maybe you can ask your neighbours if they do this.
I agree with the rest of your tips.
Brian and Chrystal says
Thanks Franco. One of the inmobilarias we were working with told us that tipping the porter was expected, so it’s great to hear another perspective. Thank you!