Tipping serving staff at the Oktoberfest

The service people basically get 10% of anything that they sell. So it's quite a lucrative earner. The actual wage they get is pretty low though. However most of these people actually take 2 weeks out of their holidays from whatever job they normally do to work at the Wiesn, so it must be well worthwhile.

As regards tipping, if you tip well, at least at the start, then you will get decent service for the rest of the evening. They do remember. If you don't tip then you might find that your assigned waitress is suddenly very busy whenever you're looking for another beer. It's well worth dropping the extra bit of cash to be sure of getting looked after.

Thanks for that Keydeck. I've read that some people pull down over 5000 Euro for a 2 week stint working at the Fest which seems like a lot until you consider how hard they work for it.

I will definitely tip for the first few rounds if it results in good service.

some tents dont even pay a wage to the waitresses, I dont know in which ones it is but all they get is the % and tips.

There's a mildly interesting reminiscence by an expat Oktoberfest waitress here.

Second year at the festival this year cant wait. Just reading the forum and I see all the talk of Tips. Last year myself and the lads that were with me tipped generously ie for a round of four beers we always gave around five euros sometimes a little less and as the day wore on lots more. Men generally become more generous when drunk. Im not sure we got any special treatment from it apart from good efficient beer serving. A group of polite (as opposed to louts) english lads near us gave over fifty euro for an extra hour at a reserved table. It seemed to work for a while but in the end they got kicked out like everyone else. Is there certain ethics regarding tips that outsiders might not be aware of?. Is it a waste of money?. Are some tents more appreciative of a few extra euros than others. What are the views of regulars to Oktoberfest. Most of the waitreses were very pleasant but some were just money sharks.

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I've found that generous tipping always gets results. ALL the waitresses/waiters are just doing it for the money so you'll get nice ones and not-so-nice ones. I would definitely say that in general tipping does make a difference. As you said, "Im not sure we got any special treatment from it apart from good efficient beer serving". That's pretty much all I want as a result of tipping. One could argue that you should expect that anyway, but it never hurts to grease the wheels.

tipping helps early on when there is a rush for beer as you are more likely to get your second served quickly. I've found as the evening goes on the less you have to struggle to get served and the waitresses come round with beers looking to sell them, rather than taking orders.

Well keydeck when offered only fools will refuse handy money. But are we idiots if we overtip and can the waitreses do anything for you if do tip apart from noticing you ahead of others when putting in an order.

What else do you want her to do other than bring you beer? give you a handjob?

Perhaps a little head from time to time.

no head in my Maß please!

A Maß should always come with a good head.

This is probably the limit of tipping possibility - once the next reservation turns up then you've got to go, the tent is probably full and there's not much the waitress can do to help, although I did once have the waitress get security to throw out a group of unruly drunks who were giving her grief at another table so we could carry on. It's just luck...

And as my local parish priest used to say, "A Mass should always finish with...". Nevermind.

Steady on there Sleepless. If I want a handjob Im perfectly capable of giving myself an good old five knuckle schuffle. My question is directed more at getting or retaining seats when there are none etc and the amounts one needs to give to avail of these favours. Or if its busy should you save yourself the wasted notes. Are you always this cynical or doid you bang your head recently

From a woman used to carrying up to 12 Mass? It would be walk like a pirate day after that.

I'm reminded of one of my favourite Toytown threads ever: Just back from Oktoberfest

Feckin hell keydeck "getting good head at mass". Brings back good memories of my young days in the sarcristy.

Its totally up to each individual waitress what she will or can do for you. There is no magic amount of dosh that will secure you a seat if they are all reserved and full.

If you get to be friends with some of them then maybe it is different. I ended up living here and having 2 kids with my first waitress at the Oktoberfest and all because I tipped her 20 quid.

Note to self, keep tips below €20.

T'was an Irish 20 quid back in 1999! Worth a lot in those day

God be with the days sleepless when a woman would have to pay you twenty auld pound, three cows, 2 Asses and a bank of turf just for the privilage of doing your cooking, cleaning and rearing as many replacement sons for you as she was able to bear and mass on Sundays. Those women didnt have time for the menopause it didnt exist

[quote name='SleeplessInMunich' date='Sep 18 2008, 4:19 pm' post='1401396']
Its totally up to each individual waitress what she will or can do for you. There is no magic amount of dosh that will secure you a seat if they are all reserved and full.

But are they really reserved and full? We were told to put up reserved sign's every hour that way its easier to tell people to leave...Off course the

big tippers got to stay longer,with the really nice people of course! Was shocked thou that the waitress's tips on vouchers, we didn't get the

company got....

Is this true, that the waitresses don't get the Bedienungsgeld you pay in advance with the vouchers? Should I have got the vouchers without the tip included and paid the tips at the event itself?

Is this true, that the waitresses don't get the Bedienungsgeld you pay in advance with the vouchers? Should I have got the vouchers without the tip included and paid the tips at the event itself?

Yes would have been better...But i would ask the waitress if she gets the money or not... I know we didn't. By the way i was in the Hammer tent. Maybe other tents have different rules thou. If not you have just been ripped off!

Well, to be specific, our waitress has just been ripped off. Does anyone else know about this?

All great advice about tipping - thanks for that.

Whenever I've been to the Oktoberfest before I've always tipped when handing over the cash, but this year I've actually got a reservation and will be paying for the first two beers in vouchers... What's the score here? Do we hand over the voucher with a few extra euro individually? Club together between our two tables and just hand over twenty or thirty? Or not bother with tips for the first couple?

Did you not read what people wrote? If you're tipping then it's the first couple that really matter. Previously when I've had vouchers I'll pass them a couple of Euro at the same time. Remember, you are not trying to reward them for a job well done or compensate them for low pay, you are trying to ensure good service. Having a steady and reliable flow of beer to your table is all that matters and you must do whatever it takes to ensure that this is the case.

Cheers for the advice, Keydeck - appreciated.

You are in the Schottenhamel, the so-called Bedienungsgeld should be part of each beer voucher. Always tip in addtion to that. Generously (see all the above posts).

Cheers!

I'll stop asking stupid questions now. :-)

I don't think anyone needs to worry about tipping, these cheeky monkeys are just doing it themselves. My friend paid her maß with a tenner (tener?) right next to me and the waitress nodded as she was flipping through her wallet and said, "passt!" and walked away. Most likely my friend would have given that to her anyways, but after dropping her mouth in shock (and way too late for the waitress to hear), she said, "I'll be the one to say 'passt'!"

The rest of the night she was just giving back 1 euro.

Sheesh!

Therein lies your friends problem. Should have spoken up there and then if it was an issue.

Last night I handed over a ticket, and a 5 euro note, and said I wanted 4 euros back, 1 euro tip for her. Took what shae gave me, put it in my pocket, pulled it out again. she kep 4 Euros and gave me 1 back. Corrected her mistakewhen I pointed it out to her.

She was too quick to leave for us to get over our shock and chime in. I wouldn't say it was an "issue", but certainly cheeky.