GUIDE TO TIPPING IN NICARAGUA. (c) 2016 X Corp. S.A.
Many people visit Airport X Managua Hotel (www.airportxmanagua.com) or Art Hotel Managua (www.arthotelmanagua.com) as their first stop in Nicaragua. For this reason, Airport X Managua and Art Hotel Managua management provided this guide to tipping in Nicaragua.
Tips are known locally as a “propina.”
To put things in perspective, most service workers in Nicaragua receive a wage of a little more than US$1 per hour and work a minimum of 48 hours a week. To earn more than $200 a month, workers often put in 10 to 12 hour days, 6 days a week. Even with this overtime, this is not a living wage. Businesses are reluctant to pay more because of a complicated tax, wage law, and benefits system. Indeed, if an employer pays more than $320 a month, the employee's wage is reduced by 10% for taxes and complicated paperwork must be submitted to tax authorities. Therefore, for service workers, tips are important to the workers for basic living necessities.
RESTAURANTS: With the exception of our hotel and smaller locations, most restaurants automatically add a 10% tip to the bill listed as “propina voluntaria” “servicio,” or “propina sugerida”. Always check your bill to see if this tip is included. This amount is often, but not always, split among employees. Servers do not expect any additional tip. However, if the service was good and you want to reward the server himself, leave a small additional cash tip of 5% of the bill. If there is no tip already added to your bill, a recommended tip is between 10% for adequate service and 15% for good service.
TOUR DRIVERS AND HOTEL DRIVERS: These workers are usually on a salary with the vehicle owner making the profit from the ride. The drivers do not expect and should never ask for a tip. If a driver ever asks for a tip or even suggests a tip, do not reward this rude behavior and report it to the tour operator or hotel management. For short distances, where good service is received, a tip of $1 to $2 is appreciated. For long rides with good, friendly service, a tip of 5% to 10% of the fare is appreciated by the drivers, but even $1 or $2 helps the drivers make a living wage.
LICENSED TAXIS: A licensed taxi is a taxi you hail on the street. Their license plate number is ordinarily painted on the vehicle. These drivers set their own prices, subject to negotiation by you. If the price is too high, tell the driver “no” or offer what you think is a fair price. Always negotiate taxi prices in local currencies before you get in. Because of this, licensed taxis do not expect a “tip” or “propina.” However, sometimes you will receive exceptional service or you'll notice the taxi underestimated the length of the trip. In this type of situation, you might give the taxi a bit extra. If the taxi asks for tip or tells you the fare increased, do not pay more than you originally agreed to. This behavior is rude and should not be tolerated.
AIRPORT TAXIS: The airport taxis are ordinarily overpriced and do not deserve a tip. When negotiating a fare, always negotiate with the driver and not a taxi representative that is on the sidewalk. In case you negotiate with the sidewalk representative, the driver has to pay him a commission which means the price is higher for you. If the price of the ride was fair, and the driver provided excellent service, you can tip him. If the driver asks for a tip, do not encourage manipulative behavior by giving him anything.
AIRPORT LUGGAGE PORTERS: There are porters at the airport that help clients with their luggage. You'll run into them at the baggage claim and outside. These porters, although in uniform, work solely for tips. Some of the porters are helpful and kind and others are rude, demanding and manipulative. A porter who carries your bags from the baggage claim to the x-ray room, should get a tip of $1 to $3. A porter who manages to get your bags all the way outside should receive $2 to $5 depending on how long he spent with you. A porter who meets you on the street and merely places your bags in your vehicle should receive $1 or $2. Some of these porters, especially the ones on the street, ask for more. They should not receive anything more. We usually sternly state, “no mas” or “no more” to these porters. Do not feel you under-tipped or be manipulated by rude porters. As stated above, the wage in Nicaragua is $200 a month, so if a porter makes $20 per day working 10 hours, he's making double to triple a salaried worker.
HOTEL PORTERS: Hotel workers at many hotels will help you with your bags and introduce you to your room, some being more enthusiastic than others. Hotel staff should be trained not to expect a tip. Hotel staff at any hotel should never request or ask for a tip. If they do, never give a tip and report the incident to management. Of course, hotel workers who provide you with personalized service appreciate small tips of $1 to $2 which helps provide them a living wage.
HOTEL BREAKFAST STAFF: Many hotels offer free breakfast. Without a price, people wonder if they should leave a tip and how much. Normally, breakfast staff at these hotels do not expect a tip. When people leave a tip, it is appreciated. A fair tip is about $1 per person served.
HOTEL MAIDS: Many travel guides recommend a tip of about 10% of the room cost for the housekeeper. If people really tipped this amount, the housekeepers would make a great salary. The reality is that hardly anyone tips housekeeping staff in Central America and the workers do not expect tips. A fair tip for housekeeping staff is to leave between $1 and $3 in the room.
TOO MANY HOTEL EMPLOYEES TO TIP: Although this is not ideal for larger hotels with many employees because a $10 tip would become a 10 cent tip, at smaller hotels, sometimes you just want to leave a tip for everyone (except management, of course!). If you received good service, it's often easier just to leave a tip for everyone to share at the front desk or to ask a manager to distribute the tip. It's best to put the tip in an envelope with a note that it's for all staff. This normally means all workers, but not the drivers. If you want the drivers to share in the tip, advise it's for the workers and drivers.
HAIR SALONS AND MASSAGE SERVICES: Many hair salons and massage services are small operations where the owner attends you. You can figure this out pretty quickly. In that event, a tip is not required. In cases where a salon has multiple workers, in Nicaragua a tip is not ordinarily expected. However, certainly the service worker appreciates any tip you provide. A fair tip would be between 5% and 10% of what you paid for the service.
PIZZA AND FOOD DELIVERY DRIVERS: Pizza and food delivery drivers do not usually receive tips from clients and do not expect a tip. However, they certainly appreciate it. You can either round up your change, or give a tip of between 50 cents and $2 depending on the size of the order. No, 50 cents is not considered a cheap tip. Most people tip between 10 and 20 cordobas, with 10 being less than 50 cents.
GROCERY STORE BAGGERS: When you buy a large quantity of groceries, the workers usually carry the items to the car and load them for you. Most of these baggers are volunteers and do not actually work for the store, although they are sometimes provided with a uniform. This means they work for tips. Sometimes they are store employees, in which case they receive a salary. In either case, a fair tip is between 50 cents and $2 depending on the amount of groceries.
HARDWARE STORE SALESPEOPLE: Often, when you purchase hardware, tools, and construction materials, the sales person makes your invoice, takes you to the cashier, and even carries your items to your car. It is not ordinarily proper to tip them because they receive a commission on your purchase. Many of these employees hope when you return, you'll seek them out so they can raise their sales quota.
SECURITY GUARDS AND CAR WATCHER PEOPLE: There are two types of security guards that watch the parking lots at restaurants and other places. Paid guards, wearing uniforms of recognizable security companies, receive a salary and are expected to help you. It's up to you whether you want to give these guys a small tip for watching your car. The recommended tip is between 5 cordobas (20 cents) and 20 cordobas (75 cents). Volunteers are often guys who just grabbed the territory as their own and work exclusively for tips. In this case, a proper tip would be between 10 cordobas and $1 depending on how long you stayed. Most appreciate this and can make a living wage with their tips, but sometimes you will encounter one who tries to manipulate you because you are a foreigner or because they are greedy. In this case, never provide an additional tip and use the term, “no mas” in a stern voice.
CAR WINDOW WASHERS/SQUEEGEE GUYS: Throughout Nicaragua, you will run into Squeegee guys. Most are aggressive and rude and will spray your window with water even though you don't want it clean. The way to stop them is to shake your finger “no” and turn on your windshield wipers. Most immediately go away at this point, but some just cannot understand that you are angry and will still ask for money. Do not pay these guys. If you do pay them, the proper tip is 1 or 2 cordobas.
On the other hand, sometimes your window is dirty and you want it cleaned. We tip between c5 and c10 when we want or ask for the service, the service is good, and the squeegee guy uses clean water. If the squeegee guy uses clean, and soapy water, we usually give him c10. If the squeegee guy does a good job but has dirty water, we usually give c2 or c3. Also when choosing an amount, pay attention to the guy. If he's clearly a drug addict or drunk and rough, then we tip smaller. If a guy is clean and neat, he treats the squeegee as a business and should be given more. Most likely, he supports his family with the money and not just his habit. You'll be able to tell the difference after spending some time in the country.
PARKING LOT CAR WASHERS: There are companies at the mall that wash your car. These prices are set by the enterprise and are fairly pricey. On the other hand, there are guys with buckets at some parking lots and they offer to wash your car. If you do not want the service, say so. If you do, negotiate the price prior to them washing the car. They have a wide divergence as to what they think a fair price is. If the price is 50 to 70 cordobas ($1.75-$2.25), and the service was good, you can consider a tip. If the price is between c100 and c200 ($3.50 and $7), he's making a decent wage and you probably don't need to consider a tip.