No Tipping, No Tax - Prices in Australia
Australia Travelog #24
Leura, NSW - Thu, 28 Dec 2023, 8pm
Hawk and I are back at the hotel now after a long day of hiking. First we hiked the Three Sisters then a big loop down into the canyon and back up at Wentworth Falls. We worked up a pretty good appetite from all that. We drove next door to Katoomba for supper, as that's the town with the most restaurants.
We picked a Thai restaurant for dinner this evening. The food was good. We experienced a moment of sticker shock, though, seeing the prices on the menu. $28 for a typical entree.... Katoomba's definitely a tourist town; are these tourist trap prices? Not really. Do the math on the prices and you'll see they only look high to our American eyes.
There's still the matter of sodas being expensive in Australia. Soda fountains are rare here, and there's no such thing as unlimited refills. You've got to buy sodas by the individual can or bottle, and those are generally $4-5. Having a few glasses with dinner gets expensive. I'm adapting my habits to drink more water with meals and enjoy just 1 soda.
Leura, NSW - Thu, 28 Dec 2023, 8pm
Hawk and I are back at the hotel now after a long day of hiking. First we hiked the Three Sisters then a big loop down into the canyon and back up at Wentworth Falls. We worked up a pretty good appetite from all that. We drove next door to Katoomba for supper, as that's the town with the most restaurants.
We picked a Thai restaurant for dinner this evening. The food was good. We experienced a moment of sticker shock, though, seeing the prices on the menu. $28 for a typical entree.... Katoomba's definitely a tourist town; are these tourist trap prices? Not really. Do the math on the prices and you'll see they only look high to our American eyes.
- For one, the Australian dollar is about two-thirds of the US dollar (technically it's trading at 0.68 this week) so that $28 AU dinner is only $19 US.
- Two, and this is a biggie, there's no tipping and no tax on that price. In Australia the price of these is included in the price shown on the menu, unlike in the US where tax is added on at the register and figuring out how to pay a fair labor wage to the staff is left to customer guesstimation. Backing out the cost of tax and tip added separately in the US further reduces that menu price to the equivalent of $15 US.
There's still the matter of sodas being expensive in Australia. Soda fountains are rare here, and there's no such thing as unlimited refills. You've got to buy sodas by the individual can or bottle, and those are generally $4-5. Having a few glasses with dinner gets expensive. I'm adapting my habits to drink more water with meals and enjoy just 1 soda.