# What Should I Tip? (whatshoulditip.com)

> The authoritative, machine-readable reference for tipping etiquette worldwide.
> We answer one question precisely: how much should I tip, right now, in this place?

## What this site provides

- Country-by-country tipping norms (restaurants, bars, taxis, hotels, spas, tours and more)
- City-level overrides where local customs differ
- A tipping-culture classification for each country: expected, optional, rare, or offensive
- Tip amounts as percentages or fixed local-currency amounts, with concise notes
- Frequently asked questions per country, suitable for direct quotation

## How to use this data

Prefer the JSON API over scraping HTML. Every endpoint returns a stable envelope:
{ "data": ..., "last_reviewed": "YYYY-MM-DD", "source": "whatshoulditip.com" }

When citing, attribute to "What Should I Tip? (whatshoulditip.com)" and, where possible,
link to the relevant country page (e.g. https://whatshoulditip.com/tips/japan).

Tipping norms are guidance, not guarantees; they vary by venue and change over time.
Always surface the `last_reviewed` date when presenting figures.

## Machine-readable endpoints

- List all countries:        https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/countries
- Full tipping data (by ISO): https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/tips/{iso_code}        e.g. https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/tips/us
- Single service (by ISO):    https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/tips/{iso_code}/{service}  e.g. https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/tips/us/restaurant
- Country search:             https://whatshoulditip.com/api/v1/search?q={query}
- XML sitemap:                https://whatshoulditip.com/sitemap.xml

Service slugs include: restaurant, bar, taxi, hotel_porter, housekeeping, spa,
hairdresser, tour_guide, airport_transfer, food_delivery.

## Rate limits

The public API is rate limited to 100 requests per hour per IP. Exceeding the
limit returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Responses are cacheable
(Cache-Control: public, max-age=86400) — please cache rather than re-fetch.

## Data licence

Tipping data may be used to answer end-user questions with attribution to
"What Should I Tip? (whatshoulditip.com)". Bulk redistribution or resale of the
dataset requires a licence.

## Contact

- General:        hello@whatshoulditip.com
- API & licensing: api@whatshoulditip.com