Tipping in Argentina: cash, card tips and cubierto
Check the bill before leaving a tip: cubierto is a separate charge. Cash works, and DNU 731/2024 allows electronic tips without setting a nationwide percentage.
Updated · 6 min read
The short version
- Electronic tips
- DNU 731/2024 permits card and digital-wallet tips.
- Merchant-held tip
- Merchant-held tips must reach workers within 24 hours.
- Fixed percentage
- DNU 731/2024 sets no nationwide tip percentage.
- Card compatibility
- Ask if the terminal accepts tips on Australian-issued cards.
Read the restaurant bill before you tip in Argentina: cubierto is a cover or place-setting charge, not a tip for your waiter. There is no nationwide 10% tipping requirement in DNU 731/2024; the decree lets eligible businesses offer card and digital-wallet tips, though your Australian-issued card still has to work with the terminal.
What should you do in each situation?
A propina is a discretionary payment for service. For the settings below, use the table as a practical decision guide, not a schedule of mandatory percentages. The national electronic-tipping announcement explicitly covers gastronomy, hotels, fuel sellers and delivery activities; it does not establish a rate for any occupation. Where no published local norm has been established, the table says so rather than making up what porteños leave.
| Situation | Practical approach | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurants | Look over the bill, then leave pesos for the server or ask to add a propina electronically before paying. Decide the amount yourself. | A cubierto line or card service charge is not proof that the worker received your tip. DNU 731/2024 sets no compulsory percentage. |
| Bars | If you're at a table, ask whether a tip can be added or leave cash if you want to thank the staff. At the counter, decide whether the service warrants one. | A fixed bar percentage is not established by the electronic-tip rule. |
| Cafés | Tip in pesos or ask if the café can accept an electronic propina when you pay. | The café price and a cubierto, if billed, are not automatically a worker gratuity. |
| Taxis and ride apps | Pay the fare shown; if you want to leave extra, ask the driver how they can receive it. | An app fare does not by itself show that an extra amount reached the driver. This decree does not publish a taxi tip rate. |
| Delivery | If you choose to tip, use an in-app option only if the order actually offers one, or ask the rider about cash. The national announcement includes delivery in its electronic-tip scope. | Do not assume an order's delivery charge is a rider's propina. |
| Hotels | Ask reception or the worker whether cash or a digital tip is convenient if someone helps with bags or room service. Hotels are among the businesses named in the national announcement. | It does not prescribe an amount per bag or night. |
| Hairdressers | If you wish to thank the person who did your hair, ask how to leave the extra amount. | No hairdresser percentage follows from the restaurant and hotel electronic-tip announcement. |
| Tour guides | Ask your guide directly about an optional tip at the end of the tour if you want to leave one. | A published guide-specific Argentine rate is not established by DNU 731/2024. |
| Supermarket packers | If somebody actually packs your shopping and you want to thank them, ask if they accept a cash tip. | Do not assume a paid packing service or an obligatory tip at every checkout. |
| Parking attendants | Pay the posted parking fee or official meter first; decide separately whether you want to give an attendant anything extra. | A person requesting cash near a parked car is not automatically collecting an official parking fee or a mandatory propina. |
The short version of “what do locals do?” is that the government rule tells you how a business may pass a tip to a worker, not how much most people leave. It is safe to ask “¿Se puede dejar propina?” (Can I leave a tip?) without committing to a number. If you see a percentage prompt, you can choose an amount rather than treating the screen as a legal instruction.
How do you leave a restaurant tip?
At a sit-down meal, check the bill, then leave cash for the server or ask whether you can add a propina (tip) electronically. Ask “¿Puedo dejar propina con tarjeta?” (Can I leave a tip by card?) before the card payment is processed; if the restaurant can't add it, leave cash in pesos instead. Using an Australian card in Argentina explains how to avoid an unwanted AUD conversion at the terminal.
For a group meal, look at what each person actually paid before agreeing on a shared extra amount; there is no national rule setting a flat percentage for your table. Paying by card and tipping in cash is a straightforward fallback where the terminal cannot take a tip. Hand cash to your server if you want to make clear who it is for, and don't leave a note on the receipt assuming the bank will collect it later.
Can an Australian card be used for an electronic tip?
DNU 731/2024 permits merchants in its scope to take tips through debit and credit cards or digital wallets. A tip may go directly into the worker's account. If the merchant first receives it into a separate account, the merchant has 24 hours to pass it on to the worker. Electronic processing cannot withhold taxes from the tip under the government's announcement. Ask both questions before tapping: does the business offer electronic tips, and can its terminal take an Australian-issued card for one?
If you pay for dinner on a foreign Visa, the published preferential tourist conversion concerns eligible purchases. Ask how to tip before tapping. The purchase conversion doesn't tell you whether the terminal can add a tip. If the card transaction prompts for AUD rather than ARS, read the displayed conversion carefully: Visa says the AUD option can contain a markup and can be declined without declining the transaction itself.
Keep the bill and gratuity separate in your head even if you make one electronic payment. The option to pay a tip digitally is a payment method, not a government-prescribed amount. If you want to give a rider or hotel worker an extra payment, ask how they prefer to receive it before relying on a button you have not actually seen in the app or at reception.
Is cubierto the same as a tip?
Cubierto is a cover or place-setting charge on the bill. A propina goes to the worker. Cubierto means a place setting; the electronic-tip rule covers payment to a worker. If the charge was not clear when you ordered, ask what it covers before paying rather than assuming it replaced a tip. Ask “¿Qué incluye el cubierto?” (What does the cover charge include?) if the receipt isn't clear.
A cover line and a tipping prompt can appear on the same bill; read each before paying. If you're eating in Buenos Aires, ask about the cover when you sit down rather than discovering it after dessert. For small peso notes, see cash and ATMs in Argentina.
Questions Aussies ask
Is tipping 10% compulsory in Argentina?
No nationwide percentage is mandatory under DNU 731/2024. Read the bill, then decide what to leave.
Can I add a tip when paying by card in Argentina?
Yes, if the merchant offers electronic tipping and its terminal accepts your Australian card. Ask before paying.
Does cubierto on an Argentine restaurant bill go to the waiter?
No. Cubierto is a billed cover or place-setting charge, not the electronic propina paid to a worker. Ask what the restaurant’s line item covers.
Do I have to tip in US dollars?
No. You can tip in Argentine pesos; businesses may also offer electronic tipping under DNU 731/2024.
Sources
- Argentina.gob.ar: electronic tips enter into force · DNU 731/2024 payment methods and 24-hour transfer.
- Real Academia Española: cubierto · Dictionary sense of table setting or cover.
- Visa Australia: dynamic currency conversion
- Visa Argentina: tourist conversion on purchases
- Argentina.gob.ar: DNU 731/2024 original decree summary · Worker tips are outside remuneration; accessed 29 September 2026.
