Lunch box food revisited

ATN_Pilot said:
Seriously? Yes, tipping the maid is considered standard tipping etiquette.
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Seriously? Also considered standard is that while on business travel you get Hotel Reward Points. Do we get that? No.
We are NOT standard business travelers, and hence I will NOT be tipping my maid or van driver.
 
First of all, you are the first person I have heard in my over 6 years here who tips the maid.
Second, it may have sounded rude, but I am serious. The hotels don't consider us regular guests. We don't get reward points is just an example. They pick us up and drop us off as part of our job.
Now, if I ask the driver to drop me off at a restaurant for dinner, then hell yeah I tip him.
 
They don't treat us like regular guests specifically because so many pilots (and especially flight attendants) treat them like dirt. The next time the hotel van shows up late when you've barely got time to get decent rest, just remember that you earned it by not tipping the van drivers.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
They don't treat us like regular guests specifically because so many pilots (and especially flight attendants) treat them like dirt. The next time the hotel van shows up late when you've barely got time to get decent rest, just remember that you earned it by not tipping the van drivers.
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No, I've earned it because some congressperson in D.C. decided that I'm not tired right now, I'm tired in December of 2013.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
They don't treat us like regular guests specifically because so many pilots (and especially flight attendants) treat them like dirt..
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Again, you must be part of some extreme crew that nobody else ever sees, because I'll tell you, in over 6 years here, I can think of 1 time when I witnessed ANY member of my crew treat a hotel van driver or front desk agent rude.
I and everyone I'm with is either very quiet and respectful in the van and at check-in, or very friendly, but nothing close to what you seem to think happens all the time. Maybe it's YOU.
What you describe is just plain wrong, doesn't happen.
 
Oh, I give up. You keep tipping the maid (and realize you're the only pilot or FA who does that), and keep tipping the Starbucks barista and the Panera sandwich maker, as long as you judge respect by tossing dollar bills around.
Strippers are classy women too.
 
FLflyer said:
Seriously? Also considered standard is that while on business travel you get Hotel Reward Points. Do we get that? No.
We are NOT standard business travelers, and hence I will NOT be tipping my maid or van driver.
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Don't get me started on perks programs. I don't get points at staying at their hotel. But you bet your ass they expect miles when they fly on my airline.

I don't tip maids. Maybe I should, but it's just not part of my "flow".
 
FLflyer said:
Oh, I give up. You keep tipping the maid (and realize you're the only pilot or FA who does that)
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Actually, plenty of our pilots tip the maid. I doubt any FAs do, since few of them even tip the van driver, but at least the pilots are doing their part.

and keep tipping the Starbucks barista and the Panera sandwich maker, as long as you judge respect by tossing dollar bills around.
Strippers are classy women too.
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Not sure why this is so offensive to you. Tipping is a normal part of etiquette in this country. Lawmakers create exceptions for service workers on the minimum wage laws, because they expect customers to tip them and for a large portion of their income to come from tips. Employers base compensation on expected tipping from customers. When you refuse to engage in customary tipping, you are basically taking money out of those people's pockets. Not tipping for horrible service is understandable. Simply not tipping as a matter of practice is not.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Actually, plenty of our pilots tip the maid. I doubt any FAs do, since few of them even tip the van driver, but at least the pilots are doing their part.



Not sure why this is so offensive to you. Tipping is a normal part of etiquette in this country. Lawmakers create exceptions for service workers on the minimum wage laws, because they expect customers to tip them and for a large portion of their income to come from tips. Employers base compensation on expected tipping from customers. When you refuse to engage in customary tipping, you are basically taking money out of those people's pockets. Not tipping for horrible service is understandable. Simply not tipping as a matter of practice is not.
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If it is a normal part of etiquette in this country then why is it that it is expected to tip the hotel van driver, but tipping an airline pilot is out of the question?? (corporate pilots get tipped)
 
Etiquette is etiquette. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. Maybe someday tipping your airline pilot will be considered customary tipping etiquette. For now, it's not. Tipping the maid and the van driver is, though.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Etiquette is etiquette. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. Maybe someday tipping your airline pilot will be considered customary tipping etiquette. For now, it's not. Tipping the maid and the van driver is, though.
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Good reading. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-24/...otel-guests-emily-post-institute?_s=PM:TRAVEL

Key points:

Survey data shows that about 30% of U.S. hotel guests leave tips for hotel housekeepers, according to Michael Lynn, a professor at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Tipping housekeepers is "a really lovely thing," said Reneta McCarthy, a Cornell lecturer who started out in the industry as a housekeeping manager with Marriott.
"But generally speaking I would say the majority of people don't do it. And when you look at it, you know, I hate to say it, but this is not considered a tips position. The housekeepers, unlike the bellmen, are not filling out tip reporting forms," she said.

Sure, feel free to tip if you feel it is warranted, but to say airline pilots are the ONLY people in the hotel NOT tipping is quite inaccurate.
 
On charter trips, even though it doesnt come out of my pocket, I dont tip maids, ive never even thought about it. Van drivers OTOH, get at least a five spot whether they were already going there or not, same goes for FBO guys who take me from the terminal to the FBO, mainly because its a service that they're not required to provide.

As far as tipping pilots, I've never turned one down. We have a guy that gives a bill every time for flying a baron on a 30 minute flight, then some guys dont give anything, it doesnt really bother me. I dont really expect a tip on a charter trip. On the flip side, theres a guy that used to work for us currently flying a citation X who gets a grand tip every trip on top of his salary.
 
Surveys can be deceiving. For example, if you broke it out by the class of hotel, I'm sure you would get much different results. I would bet that 10% of customers tip at a Hampton, but probably more like 75% at a Sheraton. It's about the class of clientele.

In addition, you skipped past the key part of the article: the tipping guidelines from Emily Post that tell you to tip the maid unless it's a one night stay at a motel, not a hotel.

If you're staying at Days Inns, then yeah, you probably don't need to tip the maid. They really don't expect it from people staying at that kind of hotel. But if your airline puts you in a Doubletree, then not tipping is going to stand out, and the airline crews are going to get bad service because of it. Hotels tend to put airline crews in the same rooms every night. They block them off and don't sell those rooms to the general public. If a maid consistently gets tipped from regular business travelers, but doesn't get tipped from airline crews very often, I wonder whether that maid is going to replace the sheets every night, or clean the drinking glasses? I'd rather not find out and just treat them well.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Surveys can be deceiving. For example, if you broke it out by the class of hotel, I'm sure you would get much different results. I would bet that 10% of customers tip at a Hampton, but probably more like 75% at a Sheraton. It's about the class of clientele.

In addition, you skipped past the key part of the article: the tipping guidelines from Emily Post that tell you to tip the maid unless it's a one night stay at a motel, not a hotel.

If you're staying at Days Inns, then yeah, you probably don't need to tip the maid. They really don't expect it from people staying at that kind of hotel. But if your airline puts you in a Doubletree, then not tipping is going to stand out, and the airline crews are going to get bad service because of it. Hotels tend to put airline crews in the same rooms every night. They block them off and don't sell those rooms to the general public. If a maid consistently gets tipped from regular business travelers, but doesn't get tipped from airline crews very often, I wonder whether that maid is going to replace the sheets every night, or clean the drinking glasses? I'd rather not find out and just treat them well.
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Sure surveys can be deceiving, but when you have a manager at a MARRIOTT saying it isn't considered a tipping position and that they don't fill out tip reporting forms...

Like I said, if you feel a tip is warranted - go for it.
 
My thing about tipping maids is that you could put a hundred dollar bill on the pillow every night and still not know if they changed the sheets. I think most of them would take it and let you think they cleaned something. There's no accountability. At least if I give the van driver a decent tip, I know I can expect decent service in the future.
 
cmill said:
My thing about tipping maids is that you could put a hundred dollar bill on the pillow every night and still not know if they changed the sheets. I think most of them would take it and let you think they cleaned something. There's no accountability. At least if I give the van driver a decent tip, I know I can expect decent service in the future.
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I find that if you treat people how you would like to be treated, that more often than not, you get treated pretty well in return, even if there is no direct "accountability."
 
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