Tipping the hotel van driver

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You can write it off if you itemize.

I certainly write 'em off!
 
I pretty much always throw a buck at 'em, late or not. I figure if they're late, it might just be because they were caught up doing other work, pickups, etc. Normally they catch crap for it from crews. I never understood that, because just like it's not the pilots fault when we're late, it may not be the van drivers' either. Karma baby.

The only time I had a dollar and didn't tip was when the driver just stood there watching us all load our own bags, then I hit my head on the trunk of the car.
 
JaceTheAce said:
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah right. You got to look at it this way. As long as I don't receive tips for transporting passengers in my airplane like the van driver transports passengers in his van, I won't tip.

As long as it's for company-required movement from the airport to the hotel, I never tip the van drivers. As long as my airline won't reimburse me for tipping for necessary transportation that is required for my job, I will not tip. The van drivers are never there waiting for us anyway. What's even worse is most van drivers expect a tip even if they have the worst attitude and arrive late.

Here's my exception: I DO tip if the van driver takes me to a restaurant, pharmacy, etc. $1 each way if it's close, $2 each way if it's far.

What's very sad is there are pilots and flight attendants who tip the van driver no matter how poor the service. If I were to tip every van driver on every overnight I would spend $336 per year on tipping. I can't afford that on a $29,000-$31,000 year wage.
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Gee, I wonder why that may be? I've seen first hand, what hotel van drivers do to airlines that are known to be stingy tippers.
 
A-300F4-622R said:
Gee, I wonder why that may be? I've seen first hand, what hotel van drivers do to airlines that are known to be stingy tippers.
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Which is my main complaint about a tipping society; tipping is 'expected' when it should really only be for service that goes above and beyond...

...NOT as a way to avoid sub-par service. When I see crap like that I'm LESS likely to tip.
 
right dawg, when the van is late, with no reason and an unapologetic attitude, then I won't tip. If it is apparent that they have no intention of helping load out the bags...no tip. I often take my own bag out anyway, and still tip as they remove my crew's bags. It really is about intention and service. I will tip much more for rides around town. A funny and engaging van driver get more than a dead log...and so on. If the van driver brings me pizza that's a whole other story!:D
 
E_Dawg said:
Which is my main complaint about a tipping society; tipping is 'expected' when it should really only be for service that goes above and beyond...

...NOT as a way to avoid sub-par service. When I see crap like that I'm LESS likely to tip.
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I see your point. The problem is if you alone try and buck the system, you are going to get on.... late van and/or poor service.
 
We were in the hotel van in LAN a few years ago, going to the restaurant for dinner. The head concierge lady, who always treats us great, was driving the van. We were chatting with her when her radio went off. It was the front desk saying that Comair had called AGAIN and was getting peeved waiting at the airport for a pickup. She called back to the hotel and told the front desk to call Comair and tell them it will be awhile till she can come and get them as she is taking the UPS crew to dinner. She told us that since we always treat her well and tip well, she gives us priority over all other hotel guests when we need transportation to and from the airport or to and from restaurants. She specifically mentioned that Comair didn't usually tip well, if at all plus they usually had a bad attitude towards her, so she would not go out of her way to take care of them.
 
30 mins from block in we get a taxi if no van shows up. That usually means waiting no more than 10-15 mins at the curb.
 
I'm starting to get the feeling that you really just wanted to bloviate, yet again, about your perceived inferiority of regional pilots.
 
Doug Taylor said:
I'm starting to get the feeling that you really just wanted to bloviate, yet again, about your perceived inferiority of regional pilots.
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Uh.... duh?

Completely unrelated, Dough....

I jumpseated on CoEx yesterday and the FO was a black dude named D. Taylor. What's the chances of that?
 
Doug Taylor said:
I'm starting to get the feeling that you really just wanted to bloviate, yet again, about your perceived inferiority of regional pilots.
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As is with all his posts. I mean he is the greatest airline pilot in the world. We are all just little nothings in his world. I mean I fly a little regional jet and he flies an Airbus so he must be better than all of us.
 
OMG! OMG! It's true! That chick swore she'd have an abortion! Liiiiiies.... LIES!!! ;)
 
I used to work in a hotel as a valet and as a van driver. The same person did both at that particular place.

Think about it for a second. Imagine a busy Saturday night with people waiting in line throwing 10's and 20's at you to park their Bentleys while they eat dinner in the hotel, oh and (insert any airline name in here) needs a ride from the airport. Who do you think is going to wait?
If the crew was decent about the unfortunate circumstances I'd call them a cab and expense it to the hotel. If not...tick tock.

I paid for my college education that way.
 
A-300F4-622R said:
We were in the hotel van in LAN a few years ago, going to the restaurant for dinner. The head concierge lady, who always treats us great, was driving the van. We were chatting with her when her radio went off. It was the front desk saying that Comair had called AGAIN and was getting peeved waiting at the airport for a pickup. She called back to the hotel and told the front desk to call Comair and tell them it will be awhile till she can come and get them as she is taking the UPS crew to dinner.
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so the airport van driver violated the contractual obligation to pick up the airlne crew, just getting in after their day at work, which we are certain was tougher than the UPS crew (it was a regional workday after all) and took your crew to dinner while they waited at the airport? You seem to be happy about this? The crew at the airport may have never been there before, and yet they pay the price. It could have been several of our JC people who are working hard to improve the workrules and image of regional pilots.

You know, you could have mentioned to her that regional crews have a much tougher job, with far less pay, but no... can't do that...those regional pilots are scum, right?


pathetic
 
ljg said:
If the crew was decent about the unfortunate circumstances I'd call them a cab and expense it to the hotel. If not...tick tock.

I paid for my college education that way.
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I can take a cab and charge it to the hotel if they are not there in 20min? (help me dawg I have been gone a long time now).

I have done it...and will do it again.

The contractual obligation is for them to pick us up within a certain amount of time, not based on how we tip, or how friendly we are. Those things make life more pleasant, but they are not contractually required.
 
Absolutely. And the lowly van driver couldn't care less if you did or didn't. He'll just keep parking Bentley's and look forward to going to taking that nice looking leggy blond out to a party later on.

Disclaimer, not ALL van drivers are this way. Some are quite decent.
 
ljg said:
Absolutely. And the lowly van driver couldn't care less if you did or didn't. He'll just keep parking Bentley's and look forward to going to taking that nice looking leggy blond out to a party later on.
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...his boss cares when an unnecessary bill for a taxi comes. Most of the places we stay they are happy for the rooms filled during slower times. Enough of that kind of behavior will get us moved to another property.


I agree, most are very cool.... we all know we are just the worker bees.
 
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