Auto gratuity + dining plan

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MickeyWaffles

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We will be a party of 9 for most meals on our next trip. We are all staying together in a grand villa and and are on the dining plan.

I know they will apply the auto gratuity.

We are 3 groups in one villa - my parents, my sister’s family and my family. How does the auto gratuity work with the dining plan? I hate to cause the server extra work, but can we request 3 separate checks for the automatic gratuity (which we will all likely add a little more to), or do we just need to get one bill and all settle up later? With 9 people that have to be on one plan, since we’re staying together, it would be nice if each family group could manage our own tipping as it happens rather than trying to settle up later.

Let me know if you have any input!
 
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We will be a party of 9 for most meals on our next trip. We are all staying together in a grand villa and and are on the dining plan.

I know they will apply the auto gratuity.

We are 3 groups in one villa - my parents, my sister’s family and my family. How does the auto gratuity work with the dining plan? I hate to cause the server extra work, but can we request 3 separate checks for the automatic gratuity (which we will all likely add a little more to), or do we just need to get one bill and all settle up later? With 9 people that have to be on one plan, since we’re staying together, it would be nice if each family group could manage our own tipping as it happens rather than trying to settle up later.

Let me know if you have any input!
You will still need to pay the extra gratuity as it's still more than a table of 6 regardless.
 
We will be a party of 9 for most meals on our next trip. We are all staying together in a grand villa and and are on the dining plan.

I know they will apply the auto gratuity.

We are 3 groups in one villa - my parents, my sister’s family and my family. How does the auto gratuity work with the dining plan? I hate to cause the server extra work, but can we request 3 separate checks for the automatic gratuity (which we will all likely add a little more to), or do we just need to get one bill and all settle up later? With 9 people that have to be on one plan, since we’re staying together, it would be nice if each family group could manage our own tipping as it happens rather than trying to settle up later.

Let me know if you have any input!

You may be able to request separate checks, but definitely check BEFORE the meal starts and not at the end - it is a pain in the butt to separate checks after they have been put into the system. Plus, it may cause some confusion in terms of whose dining credits are applied to the meal unless you are on the Deluxe plan (in which case everything is pooled so it won't matter).

If the restaurants aren't able to split the checks so that each family party gets the gratuity for their own meals, we've used Venmo and either the Splitwise or SettleUP app to divide checks.
 
With 9 people that have to be on one plan, since we’re staying together, it would be nice if each family group could manage our own tipping as it happens rather than trying to settle up later.

When you place your order, just tell them who is with who and ask for separate checks. Should be no problem even though you're paying from the same pool of credits.

I would suggest that you all pay the gratuity the same way; i.e. everyone pays cash then or uses their CC at the restaurant. You want to be sure you have a paper trail that the gratuity is paid just in case it also gets charged to the room. You DON'T want to charge to the room as that will negate the splitting of the checks in the first place.
 

If the restaurants aren't able to split the checks so that each family party gets the gratuity for their own meals, we've used Venmo and either the Splitwise or SettleUP app to divide checks.

Thank you! We all have Venmo and I didn’t think of this.

When you place your order, just tell them who is with who and ask for separate checks. Should be no problem even though you're paying from the same pool of credits.

I would suggest that you all pay the gratuity the same way; i.e. everyone pays cash then or uses their CC at the restaurant. You want to be sure you have a paper trail that the gratuity is paid just in case it also gets charged to the room. You DON'T want to charge to the room as that will negate the splitting of the checks in the first place.

Thank you! This is reassuring - we’ll be sure to tell them when we order. I always have to remind everyone to avoid room charges when we all stay together because it’s such a mess to figure out after the fact!
 
OP has their answer. This thread is closed. Tipping habits is not a topic for discussion. There is a sticky thread on the main restaurant board for the mechanics of tipping
 
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