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About this tool
Customary UAE tipping ranges for restaurants, taxis, hotels, valets and guides, with the 10% service charge and municipality fee stripped out.
This calculator applies customary UAE tipping ranges — around 10% in a restaurant, AED 5-10 for a porter or valet, rounding a taxi meter up to the next five dirhams — and works the percentage out on the menu price before the service charge, municipality fee and 5% VAT that UAE bills stack on top. It matters here more than in most countries because the 10% service charge printed on Dubai and Abu Dhabi bills normally goes to the venue rather than to the person who served you, so a separate cash tip is still expected.
Open Tipping Guide Calculator for UAE on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Enter the values you already know.
Fine-tune the options to match your scenario.
Read the result and use it in your planning or reporting.
Works the percentage out on the food and drink, not on the service charge, municipality fee and VAT.
Flags that the printed service charge usually goes to the venue, which is why cash on top is customary.
Valets, petrol attendants and desert safari drivers, not just restaurants.
Yes, usually a further 5% in cash. The 10% service charge on most Dubai bills goes to the venue rather than being distributed to the staff who served you, so it does not function as a tip. Cash in dirhams handed directly to the server or therapist is the reliable way to make sure it reaches them.
Typically a 10% service charge, a 7% Dubai municipality fee and 5% VAT, which together lift the menu price by roughly a fifth. VAT has applied across the UAE at 5% since 1 January 2018. Dubai hotels additionally charge a per-room, per-night Tourism Dirham fee, which is a government levy, not a service charge.
Round the meter up to the next five dirhams — on a AED 32 fare, hand over AED 35. A percentage tip is not expected on metered fares. Add AED 5-10 if the driver loaded heavy luggage or waited for you.
About AED 10 per night for housekeeping, AED 5-10 per bag for a porter and AED 10 for a valet when the car comes back. Leave housekeeping tips daily rather than as one lump at checkout, since a different person may clean the room each day.
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