SURVEY- Despite the pinch in our collective pockets, we’re still tipping (even the Sayis): We need no further reminder of just how bad inflation has gotten beyond the daily trips to the supermarket, the gas station, the restaurant, etc. And with wages struggling to keep up for low income earners, tipping becomes an ever more important source of income. Many of us are happy to do what we can by tipping. But with the abrupt changes in the value of the EGP, and inflation at a five-and-a-half-year high, we were curious how our tipping habits have changed and conducted a poll to see how hard inflation has hit our better nature.

We’re tipping more, just less frequently: What we found is that there has definitely been a change in how we tip — and not all of it bad. Out of the 881 people who participated in our survey, almost half have increased the amount of money they offer per tip in recent years, though more than 70% of that group are tipping less frequently than before. We’ve gotten a clearer picture of whom people think should get tipped as well as how much people are tipping.

Who are the “must tip”: Poll takers almost universally agreed that service workers (both formal and informal) should be tipped, especially those who earn low wages, such as cleaning staff, or whose salaries factor tipping as part of their pay, such as servers.

Other unhesitatingly tipped workers are hairdressers, barbers, valets, and delivery people. Less cited but uncontested honorable mentions go to nail technicians, hotel staff, and gas station workers.

However, there are a few occupations that not everyone agrees should be mandatorily tipped, the leading ones being taxi and Uber drivers. While taxi drivers reportedly do not expect tips, it is common courtesy to round up the fare and let them keep the change.

This leads us to the poll’s least favorite baksheesh bully: The Sayis. Unsurprisingly, most poll-takers added Soyas to the list of mandatory tip receivers, but made it a point to complain about. While most survey-takers usually oblige, they are more tightfisted with how much they choose to tip, especially if they didn’t need help — which, let’s face it, is 99% of the time. While a few expressed a refusal to tip any Sayis at all on principle, those that tip gave between EGP 5 or EGP 10.

We’ve been tipping anything from EGP 5 to EGP 50 depending on the service. We break it down below, based on our poll:

  • Salaried service workers (think janitorial staff, indoor parking toll booth workers, nurses) receive EGP 10 to EGP 20in tips, but some particularly magnanimous patrons will tip EGP 50.
  • Wait staff at restaurants have the 10-15% rule, while the Wel3a guy gets a EGP 20-50 tip from shisha patrons, the amount sliding further down the scale the longer you’ve been there.
  • What about a tip jar? While this offers some discretion, poll takers say the usual is in the EGP 10-20 range.
  • Delivery people are most commonly tipped an average of EGP 10-20. Poll takers say they consider shelling out a bit more if the server has provided exceptional service.
  • At the supermarket: Most people tip workers at supermarkets an extra EGP 5 to EGP 10 if they help you carry your purchases to your car.

When in doubt, a twenty appears to do: While different situations call for different measures, it appears that the median amount of money to tip is EGP 20. So carry a few of those notes in your pocket, leave some in your car, or just set some aside in your wallet for your convenience for your routine trips and daily errands.

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