>> "For tipping, flat-rate minimum tip (like for larger parties, and also described in one of the articles), for instance could level the field."
My belief is that that will mean you rarely get tips higher than the minimum. Tips are supposed to be--by definition--voluntary, and in some sense a reward for service. As such, it offends me when a minimum tip is added (note: pre-adding it is different that merely showing off to the side what certain percentages of the bill are as a helpful arithmetic guide.) In keeping with that feeling, I never tip higher than the minimum if it's pre-added, even though in almost all cases the tip I would have given would have been (sometimes significantly) higher.
My belief is that that will mean you rarely get tips higher than the minimum. Tips are supposed to be--by definition--voluntary, and in some sense a reward for service. As such, it offends me when a minimum tip is added (note: pre-adding it is different that merely showing off to the side what certain percentages of the bill are as a helpful arithmetic guide.) In keeping with that feeling, I never tip higher than the minimum if it's pre-added, even though in almost all cases the tip I would have given would have been (sometimes significantly) higher.