Good manners: Tips for tipping

Some rules for tipping are engrained: tip 15-20 percent of the pre-tax total when dining out. A dollar or two per bag to the airport valet.

Others are common though not everyone is aware of them: leave $2-$5 per night for hotel housekeeping staff, for example. (Some say higher, particularly if you’re staying somewhere swankier).

But some situations are trickier. How about when you order takeout and use a debit card, only to see a line on the receipt for a tip? Are you expected to fill that in?

It depends. There are no hard-and-fast tipping rules, more like unwritten societal expectations. No pressure.

Cab drivers as well as Uber and Lyft drivers typically get 10 to 18 percent of the fare, while a barber or hairdresser receives 15 to 20 percent of the bill.

A massage therapist customarily gets 20 percent, while you are not expected to tip a personal trainer; the caveat there is that a gift at the holidays is considered a nice touch.

And here are few you might not have thought of: the furniture delivery people customarily get $5-$10 per person and tow truck drivers often get tipped $3-$5 even if insurance is paying for the tow. And your personal house cleaning service doesn’t require tipping, though it is another entity in which a holiday gift is commonplace.

(And as for the takeout slip, there is no obligation to tip for takeout orders, although the staff would certainly appreciate a little something.)