Tipping in Jordan is part of the culture. It is not aggressive or demanded, and you will not be chased down a Petra street for failing to tip a camel handler. But in a country where tourism-sector wages are modest and good service is genuinely common, tipping is the right thing to do and is warmly received.
This guide gives you specific amounts for every situation so you can tip confidently rather than awkwardly estimating.
Restaurants and cafes
10% is the standard restaurant tip in Jordan if service charge is not already included in the bill.
Check your bill: many mid-range and upscale restaurants in Amman and tourist areas add a 10% service charge automatically. This appears as “service” or “khedma” on the itemised bill. If a service charge is included, you do not need to leave additional cash — though a small extra for exceptional service is always appreciated.
If no service charge is visible on the bill, leave 10% of the total in cash on the table or hand it directly to your server. At street food stalls and very casual local eateries where you pick up at a counter, tipping is optional and not customary — though rounding up (leaving 0.5 JOD on a 2.5 JOD falafel order) is always well received.
Practical amounts:
- Cheap local restaurant (5–8 JOD/person): 0.5–1 JOD tip
- Mid-range restaurant (12–20 JOD/person): 2–3 JOD tip
- Upscale restaurant (25–50 JOD/person): 5–8 JOD tip (if no service charge included)
Hotels
Hotel porters: 1–2 JOD per bag carried to your room. Hand it directly to the porter, not the reception desk.
Housekeeping: 1–2 JOD per day, left on the bedside table or in a clearly visible place with a note if you are leaving it at checkout rather than daily. Daily tipping is preferable — staff who clean your room may rotate.
Concierge (for restaurant reservations, arranging tours, etc.): 2–5 JOD for significant help; a sincere thank-you is sufficient for simple directions or information.
Front desk staff: Not typically tipped in Jordan — they receive a higher base wage as hotel management staff.
Private drivers and tour guides
Private drivers and tour guides are the people who most directly affect the quality of your Jordan experience, and tipping them is both customary and genuinely impactful given their earnings.
Private driver (day hire, 120–150 USD/day): 5–10 JOD per day is the standard range. For an exceptional driver who went above and beyond — got you to Petra by 6:30 AM, waited patiently, recommended a family restaurant that turned out to be the best meal of your trip — 10–15 JOD is not excessive.
Tour guide (Petra, Jerash, Amman walking tour, etc.): 5–10 JOD per person for a half-day guided tour. For a full-day private guide, 15–20 JOD total per tour group is appropriate. For an exceptional guide who taught you things you will remember, tip what feels right.
Multi-day tour drivers: The standard is 5–8 JOD per day per group. At the end of a 3-day itinerary, 15–20 JOD for the driver is appropriate.
Wadi Rum camps
Wadi Rum is where tipping feels most personal — you are in someone’s home-style environment and the Bedouin hospitality is genuine.
Camp cook/kitchen staff: 5 JOD is a standard and well-received tip for a good dinner. Leave it at breakfast before you depart, or give it directly to the cook if you can identify them. This is one of the most impactful tips you can leave — cooks are often the lowest-paid staff at camps.
Jeep driver/guide (your desert tour): 5 JOD at the end of the tour for a standard half-day; 10 JOD for a full-day tour. More for outstanding guiding and commentary.
Camp host (the person who checked you in and facilitated your stay): 3–5 JOD at checkout if they were particularly helpful.
Petra-specific tipping situations
Licensed Petra guide: 15–20 JOD for a half-day (2–3 hours). 25–30 JOD for a full day. These are professional guides who have trained for years and have specific knowledge that adds enormous value to a Petra visit.
Horse carriage (entrance road to Siq): The official fare is set, but drivers often hint at tips after the ride. If the driver was courteous and the horse was well-treated, 1–2 JOD is fair.
Donkey handler (steep Petra sections): 1–2 JOD for a short assist up a slope. Agree on the price before getting on — “how much?” is the first question, not “yes please.”
Souvenir stall vendors: Tipping is not part of the vendor relationship — pay the price you negotiate and move on.
Hammam (traditional bathhouse)
Jordan has a small number of active hammam bathhouses in Amman and tourist areas. Tipping 2–5 JOD for your attendant at the end of a session is appropriate — they perform labour-intensive work and tips form a significant part of their income.
When tipping is not necessary
- Petrol station attendants: Not customary, though rounding up to the nearest dinar on cash payment is a minor gesture.
- Supermarket cashiers: Not customary.
- Careem/taxi with meter: Not customary, though rounding up is always appreciated.
- Shopkeepers: Not tipped — negotiate the price and pay it.
Practical tips about tipping
Always have small notes. The most common tipping failure in Jordan is not having 1, 2, and 5 JOD notes available. A 50 JOD note handed to a porter expecting 2 JOD creates an awkward change situation. Draw small notes from ATMs specifically for tips.
Tip in cash, directly to the person. In restaurants with service charges, the charge sometimes goes to the establishment rather than the server — confirm or ask. A cash tip given directly to your waiter at the table guarantees it reaches them.
Tip at the end, not the beginning. Tipping in advance at the beginning of a tour or service is not the Jordanian norm and can create awkward dynamics. At the end, once you know the service was good, is the right moment.
JOD tips, not foreign currency. While USD is widely accepted in Jordan, tipping in JOD is preferred by recipients who then do not need to exchange it. USD is an acceptable alternative if you have no JOD, but JOD is better.
Frequently asked questions
Is tipping expected in Jordan or can I skip it?
Tipping is expected in restaurants, at hotels, and for guides and drivers. Skipping it entirely in those contexts will be noticed and considered impolite. The amounts involved are modest (typically 2–10 JOD in most situations) — it is worth tipping correctly.
What if I am on an all-inclusive tour?
Even on all-inclusive tours, tips for your guide and driver are expected and separate from the tour price. A good rule of thumb: 5 JOD per person per day for the tour guide, 3–5 JOD per person per day for the driver, left in a group collection at the end of the tour.
Can I tip by card?
Generally no. Card tip functionality (adding a tip to a card transaction) is available at some international hotel restaurants but not standard across Jordan. Carry cash specifically for tipping purposes.
Is tipping different during Ramadan?
No — the amounts are the same. If anything, tipping during Ramadan for staff who are fasting while working may feel like a particularly generous gesture. There is no cultural expectation to tip more or less during Ramadan.
The cultural context of tipping in Jordan
Tipping in Jordan is rooted in the concept of hospitality and reciprocity that runs through Jordanian culture. The Bedouin tradition of hosting guests — providing the best food, shelter, and care available — is extended into the service sector, where guides, drivers, and hosts take genuine pride in the experience they provide. A tip is not just financial acknowledgement; it is a signal that the service was noticed and appreciated.
This cultural context means that how you tip matters as much as how much you tip. A cash tip handed directly to a person — with a “shukran” (thank you) and eye contact — is received very differently from a tip dropped anonymously in a box. Direct tipping is the norm and the expectation.
Bedouin tipping culture in Wadi Rum and Petra
In Wadi Rum and the Petra area, the service economy is primarily Bedouin — the Zalabia and Howaytat tribes in Wadi Rum, the Bdoul Bedouin in Petra. Understanding the Bedouin service context changes how you approach tipping.
Bedouin guides in Wadi Rum: A jeep tour guide in Wadi Rum is typically a young man from a local family who has grown up in the desert, learned its geography and flora intimately, and now supports his extended family through tourism income. His day-rate for the jeep tour covers his operating costs; the tip is his personal income. 5 JOD for a 2-hour tour, 10 JOD for a full-day tour, is meaningful income in a rural economy.
Camp cooks in Wadi Rum: The zarb (underground barbecue) prepared for your camp dinner takes 3–4 hours of preparation. The cook is often a family member — sometimes a grandmother or aunt — who does not accompany the jeep tour and whose contribution to your experience is invisible to you until dinner. A 5 JOD tip specifically to the cook (not just to your driver/guide) acknowledges this invisible labour.
Petra’s Bedouin community: The Bdoul Bedouin were the original inhabitants of Petra, relocated from the archaeological zone in the 1980s to nearby Umm Sayhoun village. Many now earn their living in tourism — as guides, horse handlers, souvenir sellers, and donkey operators in the site. The economic situation of the Petra Bedouin community is complex. Tipping your licensed guide fairly supports the formal economy; purchasing souvenirs at fair prices (ask for the price and agree before buying) supports the informal economy.
Tour tipping for organised group tours
If you are on a GYG (GetYourGuide) or similar organised tour, the pricing usually does not include gratuity for guides and drivers. The following guidance applies:
Small group tours (8–15 people): 3–5 JOD per person for the guide, 2–3 JOD per person for the driver, collected at the end of the tour and presented as a group sum. If you are willing to organise the collection, do so discreetly — pass a note or whisper to a fellow traveller, collect from the group, and present together.
Large group tours (15+ people): 2–3 JOD per person for the guide, 1–2 JOD for the driver. Guides on large tours often have more guests to manage with proportionally harder work.
Private tours: The full 10–15 JOD per day for a private guide is appropriate; 5–10 JOD for a private driver/escort.
What “service charge included” really means in Jordan
When a Jordanian restaurant bill shows a 10% service charge, this is added to your bill and technically goes to the restaurant rather than the individual server — similar to how service charges work in many countries. The server may receive a portion of this through a tip-pooling arrangement, or they may not.
If your server provided genuinely attentive service, a small additional cash tip (1–2 JOD for an average meal, 3–5 JOD for a longer dinner) given directly to them is always appreciated and ensures it reaches them personally.
At the high-end restaurants in Amman (Fakhr El-Din, Sufra, Cantaloupe), where bills for two can reach 60–100 JOD, the service charge is typically included. An additional 5 JOD for excellent service is appropriate at this level.
Tipping at specific Jordan experiences
Dead Sea resort day pass: Resort attendants (towel handlers, lounger setup staff) typically receive 1–2 JOD per interaction. These staff are often visible and attentive; a tip at the beginning of your day ensures good service throughout.
Hammam attendants: If you visit a traditional hammam in Amman or Aqaba (a Jordanian bath experience), the scrub attendant performs labour-intensive physical work. 3–5 JOD for a scrub session is the standard tip.
Petra horse handlers: At the entrance to Petra, horses carry tourists along the first section of the “tourist road” (before the Siq). The official carriage fare is regulated, but handlers sometimes hint for tips. 1–2 JOD for the handler if the horse was well-treated is reasonable. Do not tip if you observed mistreatment.
Photography assistance: Jordanians who help you with a photograph (hold your phone for a group shot, suggest a camera angle) sometimes expect a small gesture. 0.5–1 JOD for a stranger who took time to help, nothing if it was a quick casual favour.
Mosque visits: No tipping expected in mosques. If someone provided a guided explanation of the mosque history and architecture, 2–3 JOD for their time is appropriate.
Budgeting for tips on a Jordan trip
As a practical planning guide, here is how tips accumulate over a 7-day Jordan trip:
| Service | Amount (JOD) |
|---|---|
| 3 hotel nights, porter 2 JOD/bag (2 bags) | 12 JOD |
| Housekeeping (3 nights, 2 JOD/night) | 6 JOD |
| 2 restaurant dinners (10%) | 5–8 JOD |
| Private driver (1 day to Dead Sea + Madaba) | 10 JOD |
| Petra licensed guide (full day) | 20–25 JOD |
| Wadi Rum jeep guide (full day) | 10 JOD |
| Wadi Rum camp cook | 5 JOD |
| Miscellaneous (café, quick help, snack vendor) | 5 JOD |
| Total | ~73–81 JOD (approx. 100–115 USD) |
This is a realistic tip budget for a well-guided mid-range 7-day Jordan trip. Factor it into your overall trip budget rather than treating it as an afterthought.