Surcharge
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What I Learned Tracking 500+ Restaurant Surcharges
What I Learned Tracking 500+ Restaurant Surcharges

If you have dined out lately, you’ve likely encountered these four main types of surcharges:

  1. Weekend or Sunday Surcharge
  2. Public Holiday Surcharge
  3. Card Surcharge
  4. Group Surcharge

Sunday Surcharge

Let’s start with the newest trend: the Sunday Surcharge. This has become incredibly common in the post-COVID era.

Key findings:

  • Perth is the last holdout: Perth may be the only place where Sunday surcharges are still uncommon.
  • The 10% Rule: Most Sunday surcharges are 10% or less, although Melbourne and Adelaide are more likely to have Sunday surcharge higher than 10%.

Public Holiday Surcharge

One of the longest-standing fees in the industry, this existed even before card surcharges became the norm.

Key Findings:

  • It’s here to stay: Over 90% of venues in Australia apply public holiday surcharge. At this point it’s essentially part of the culture.
  • State Variation: Sydney’s public holiday surcharges usually cap at 15%, whereas Brisbane and Canberra can get a be more liberal.

Group Surcharge

Sometimes labeled as a “Service Charge”, this kicks in for large groups (usually 10+, though some venues start as low as 6). The logic is that larger groups are harder to service, but there is rarely any transparency regarding whether this money actually goes to the staff or is simply pocketed by the restaurant.

Key Findings:

  • The Sydney Tax: Sydney is the most likely city to impose a group surcharge, with Melbourne in a distant second.
  • What is a group surcharge: Other than these two cities, group surcharge is virtually unknown in the rest of Australia.

Card Surcharge

If the proposed legislation passes this year, we might finally see the end of this. One of the most annoying surcharges because payment terminals don’t display the final price including the fee, so its always a guessing game when you see your bank statements.

Key Findings:

  • Consistency: The average card surcharge is around 1.4%, which remains fairly consistent across most Australian cities.

If you’re eating out this weekend and like to help out, you can add surcharges to surcharge.com.au. The goal is to be the petrolspy of venue surcharges.