An Italian holiday may be a priceless experience for those who have enjoyed all this country has to offer. But the summer of 2023 will go down as one of the priciest in history after a slew of price gouging scandals at cafes and restaurants that have affected foreign tourists and Italians alike.
“In August, high-end tourism continues to grow, unlike normal tourism,” Antonio Coviello, a researcher with Italy’s National Research Center wrote in a report on luxury travel issued this week, adding that the risk of over-tourism in the luxury sector is a concern because it could drive up prices in the mid-range travel sector to accommodate the bigger spenders.
Says a lot, doesn’t it? Specifically: The peasants can get fucked.
I’ve travelled to Italy quite a bit. In every case yes, prices on the main tourist thoroughfares are high. Sometimes eye-wateringly high.
But invariably you do not need to go very far to get off the beaten track and find much better deals. Explore and profit.
But invariably you do not need to go very far to get off the beaten track and find much better deals. Explore and profit.
Pro tip: that’s true absolutely everywhere in the world. It’s crazy how much cheaper and better the food is a mere three blocks on foot from tourist attractions. Can’t read the menu? Look at what people are eating, and point at what looks good.
Never failed me.
On a micro level for Americans… Never pay for gas nearest to a highway exit. Drive a mile and immediately it’s .50-$1.00 less per gallon.
What region is this? Here in the South you’re just as likely to pay more by going further out.
When I visited Florence last year, the food prices were insanely good (visiting as an American where food prices have gotten outrageous) when you get away from major tourist spots. And the food was better too.
When we visited Florence, it would have been maybe 10 years ago now though. We were staying right off the main square. I think the only thing we did in that square was breakfast. Otherwise, it was always places off the main roads. Great city, not sure I could climb the dome 10 years later though!
Lovely city to visit though, for anyone reading.
Many restaurants charge a “split plate fee”. If you order something and want to share it with your partner they’ll bring you an extra plate but charge a fee. Have a link: https://frugalreality.com/split-plate-charge/
This is a minor quibble, but I’ve never been charged a fee for an extra plate. They usually only charge when you request to “split the order”, meaning the kitchen splits the entree onto two plates for you.
At least you mustn’t give tips to have the waiter reach the minimum wage.
I took a date out the other night for a drink and some food. We split a turkey sandwich and each ordered one basic cocktail. $41 + $9 tip. Could’ve made all that at home for less than $10. The US restaurant system as a whole is mental. Not even 5 years ago I had dozens of options during lunch to get a lunch special which included a whole bunch of stuff for less than $10. None of those options exist anymore, they’re all gone.
If this is a jab at the US all servers make minimum wage. If they don’t make enough in tips, which is rare, they have to be paid at least minimum by their employer. If you’re gonna unnecessarily bring up the US and gripe about it randomly at least know your stuff. Or… Just take criticism instead of constantly allowing yourself to be distracted by another country. Just some food for thought but don’t worry it doesn’t cost extra
See how long you last as a server if you have to get paid up by the manager to make minimum wage.
I was a server for 10 years lmao. Yeah, you can have trouble if you’re not making tips but you’d be screwed in that situation either way. The point is that no server legally makes less than min. Fighting tips is such a small battle when we should be fighting to raise min for everyone. Hell, servers often make more than min with their tips so except for some edge cases any other normal minimum wage worker is worse off
it doesn’t cost extra
They still have to tip you 20% otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford rent
No, they don’t. If you don’t make min in tips at the end of the pay period your employer literally has to pay you up to min. There’s no arguing this because it’s a fact. If they can’t get by on that then the argument should be to raise minimum wage. Unless you’re pretending to care about servers because you hate tipping it doesn’t make sense to not fight for higher min wage first. That benefits everyone including servers at the end of the day. Once we’ve got a living wage we can start hammering restaurants to do better.
Minimum wage is $2.13/hour for a server in the US… You’re being disingenuous by implying they make federal minimum wage which is $7.25/hour.
That $2.13 is minimum wage if they make at least enough in tips to take it up to the state or federal min during the pay period. If they don’t, their min wage is boosted to state or federal min at the end of the pay period. Servers will always make the normal state or federal minimum wage unless their employer is pulling shady shit that’s illegal.
You’re being disingenuous by doing (presumably) a quick google search and speaking on a subject you’re clearly unfamiliar with. I am telling you right now that the tips are the only thing that makes that shit tier job tolerable. If it was just for minimum wage I wouldn’t have lasted a month. Minimum wage isn’t enough money to put up with being a server.
You’re technically correct, but most people, including workers, don’t know this. The companies often don’t pay then for the missed wages. This is called wage theft, which is the most common kind of theft, by far, in the US. Yes, it’s technically illegal, but it won’t matter unless they’re held accountable, and what service worker has the time or money to sue them over a little missed money?
You think those employers are suddenly going to get better if they have to give people more money? I don’t think that’s an argument for or against tips. I think that’s an argument for greater worker protections which we desperately need regardless. I also think it’s absurd that we don’t teach people about their rights in highschool but that’s yet another whole other issue. We kinda have to stop the assholes in charge from destroying education even more before we can get back to fixing it 🫠
I’m not a boot licker I just think we need to not worry about tips right now and raise the minimum wage for everyone. Servers are making min too it’ll benefit everyone more.
It’s too bad I would have hoped you angsty edgelords would stay on reddit tbh.
Yea, you’ll be fired if you aren’t making tips. It’s right to work too, remember. Think a little bit before your condescending to others for having thoughts.
You make minimum wage over the course of a whole pay period. Because tips vary, some nights you may work nearly for free as long as later in the pay period you make enough tips to get you to minimum wage for that whole week/two weeks. People have the impression that you get minimum wage as a baseline that you can’t fall below on a given day. It does actually work that way on the West Coast of the US and a few other states, but not the majority.
Coming from a country where we at least give servers minimum wages* and then they can keep their tip tax-free** on top; this still doesn’t sound right.
I at least know that all** of my tips go to the server on top of what he would’ve get in the first place. Otherwise I’m essentially not gifting money for good service but paying part of the wage for normal service as well. And that’s something that should be priced into the products, not tips.
*unless they were unemployed for years, then minimum wages don’t apply for the first six months, and i guess there are some other loopholes; but in general minimum wage is the minimum
**unless its a “throw everything in a pot and then share it at the end of the month” arrangement; or if the tips is required; it must be a voluntary gift from the customer directly towards the server to not count as income
Incorrect. Minimum wage applies immediately. It’s illegal to pay less than minimum wage in the US. It is never less than minimum. I’m not sure where you got that but it’s wrong info. If someone pulled that shit it was illegal and should have been reported to the department of labor. They don’t play. Unfortunately plenty of bad actors rely on ignorance and get away with it but those assholes would be pulling other shady things with wages if they’ll do that to tipped employees anyway.
A fact that a lot of you like to ignore is that putting servers at minimum wage would be a pay cut for a loooot of people. It’s rare to not make over minimum and if you have a good weekend you can easily triple (or more) your pay for the week. I know I would have immediately quit being a server if they went to just straight minimum wage because that job is horrific and I would never put up with it for minimum wage. With all of that said I still firmly believe we need to work together to get a living wage first. Hell, the tip situation might just work itself out at that point because people will leave if they can make more elsewhere and not have to beg for tips
I normally go off the beaten path when I visit a country. Tourist attractions are always, always more expensive. Whether it’s Marrakech, Venise or Rome.
