Tip the Damned Maid! (An article about tipping)

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A lot of things need to come together for me to have a friggin good day. An extra $50 isn't going to do it. On the other hand, for many folks, an extra $50 is a gift from heaven.

If ten folks that wouldn't ordinarily tip a housekeeper would tip $5, that $50 could mean turning a crappy day into a good day. If a two or three buck tip on a drink is average and a five buck tip brings a smile, the $5 tip is worth it to me.

In most of my tipping opportunities, I'm not counting on ensuring good service from the same person the next time I visit. My travel is too random. I'm a grouchy bastard, but I like to pay it forward without recognition. Yes, I know everybody has their own budget constraints but remember that tips are cumulative, don't stiff anybody. And despite what folks say, a poor tip isn't worse than no tip.
 
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SpiceWeasel said:
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-t...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Thanks for having this come across my feed @ATN_Pilot ! Like I said there, my friends thought I was nuts that I didn't tip the maid at work, but I had not ever heard of it.

Professional pilots, when you stay at a hotel, tip your maid! And the van driver! And the bartender! Etc! ;) Get on it guys and gals.
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I tip.

This is completely 'ethnocentric' but I'm in a demographic of people who apparently don't tip, but I'm generally the only person tipping, or the person who tips the most!

Things that make ya say Hmmm… :)
 
ATN_Pilot said:
I hate to break it to you, but lower and middle class wages have been stagnant for a few decades in every line of work, not just for tipped workers. There is no evidence that tipping has any negative affect on earnings. That's just an excuse that cheapskates like to use for why they don't tip.
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Hate to break it to ya, but the Fair Labor Standards Act specifically allows a LOWER minimum wage to tipped employees. Some states do not allow this disparity. Alaska for example does not allow a lower minimum wage to tipped employees while Texas does. A waiter/waitress working for the same restaurant chain in Anchorage as in Austin will bring home a substantially different amount. The "tipped minimum wage" specifically exists because of the expectation of the employee to be tipped, and that poor waiter/waitress in Austin is feeling that negative impact on their earnings. Saying that tipping has no negative impact on earnings is just an excuse greedy company owners use to justify lower wages.
 
Sapper said:
Hate to break it to ya, but the Fair Labor Standards Act specifically allows a LOWER minimum wage to tipped employees.
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Yes, and I'm opposed to that, but it isn't going to change, certainly not by you not tipping people. And just so you know, housekeeping workers are not included in the tipped employees category, so they do receive normal minimum wage, and usually more.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Yes, and I'm opposed to that, but it isn't going to change, certainly not by you not tipping people. And just so you know, housekeeping workers are not included in the tipped employees category, so they do receive normal minimum wage, and usually more.
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I'm opposed to the law as well, and I never said not to tip folks. Someone who goes above and beyond the average should receive a tip that is above and beyond. The bell hop who helps with the mountain of luggage while on a family vacation is catching a healthy tip. If a waiter does a great job, I am going to compensate them for it. Conversely, if my family or I receive poor service (and it has to be truly horrid), the tip will reflect that. I am just opposed to employers taking advantage of the tipping situation in order to benefit their bottom line at the cost of the employee who is probably just scraping by as it is. By making the tip expected, as in the case of Marriott (and whoever else) putting out the tip envelopes, management may be setting up an argument that housekeeping should be part of that tipped employees category or simply not paying a fair wage and pointing to the expected tips to make up for it.
 
Sapper said:
I'm opposed to the law as well, and I never said not to tip folks. Someone who goes above and beyond the average should receive a tip that is above and beyond. The bell hop who helps with the mountain of luggage while on a family vacation is catching a healthy tip. If a waiter does a great job, I am going to compensate them for it. Conversely, if my family or I receive poor service (and it has to be truly horrid), the tip will reflect that. I am just opposed to employers taking advantage of the tipping situation in order to benefit their bottom line at the cost of the employee who is probably just scraping by as it is. By making the tip expected, as in the case of Marriott (and whoever else) putting out the tip envelopes, management may be setting up an argument that housekeeping should be part of that tipped employees category or simply not paying a fair wage and pointing to the expected tips to make up for it.
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Sometimes the tip envelopes are a way to fairly distribute tips among workers.
 
Sapper said:
I'm opposed to the law as well, and I never said not to tip folks. Someone who goes above and beyond the average should receive a tip that is above and beyond. The bell hop who helps with the mountain of luggage while on a family vacation is catching a healthy tip. If a waiter does a great job, I am going to compensate them for it. Conversely, if my family or I receive poor service (and it has to be truly horrid), the tip will reflect that. I am just opposed to employers taking advantage of the tipping situation in order to benefit their bottom line at the cost of the employee who is probably just scraping by as it is. By making the tip expected, as in the case of Marriott (and whoever else) putting out the tip envelopes, management may be setting up an argument that housekeeping should be part of that tipped employees category or simply not paying a fair wage and pointing to the expected tips to make up for it.
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You have to look at this from Marriott's perspective. They can't raise their room rates to pay housekeepers more, or they'll price themselves out of the market. So they can either put out a tip envelope, or the employee will get no additional money. This is why the minimum wage is so important: it forces everyone to raise bottom level wages so that companies aren't competing with each other on the price of labor.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
You have to look at this from Marriott's perspective. They can't raise their room rates to pay housekeepers more, or they'll price themselves out of the market. So they can either put out a tip envelope, or the employee will get no additional money. This is why the minimum wage is so important: it forces everyone to raise bottom level wages so that companies aren't competing with each other on the price of labor.
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Marriott charges more than motel 6, but their labor is paid the same? Granted a percentage of that difference in room rate is going to be more expensive facilities, higher maintenance costs, etc... One of those business costs should be labor, and it should be higher on a per employee basis than motel 6. If they are paying the same, then the company is pocketing the difference and expecting the customer to make up the difference by putting out the envelope.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Sometimes the tip envelopes are a way to fairly distribute tips among workers.
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I wonder if that money goes into a tip pool. If it does, might management track the tip pool? If they do, might they use it as a bargaining tool when pay raise time comes around? I honestly don't know the answers, and I'm not saying you should not tip for good service. But how to go about rewarding good service with out the company taking advantage?
 
Here's a simple, elegant solution.

Domestically, you probably amass a pretty good chunk of spare change during the day and especially after debrief and dinner.

So take all that pocket change and just leave it in the envelope the next morning.

It's probably more than a dollar or two, you don't have to worry about storing pocket change in your bags and you're helping.

Always* tip your van drivers. Yes, you can write it off.





*Unless they're being penises by picking you up at the terminal, driving to the opposite end of the airport and waiting at the FBO for a couple @Boris Badenov types to casually saunter out to the van when you're on a short layover.
 
Sapper said:
Marriott charges more than motel 6, but their labor is paid the same? Granted a percentage of that difference in room rate is going to be more expensive facilities, higher maintenance costs, etc... One of those business costs should be labor, and it should be higher on a per employee basis than motel 6. If they are paying the same, then the company is pocketing the difference and expecting the customer to make up the difference by putting out the envelope.
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Where is your evidence that Marriott pays the same as Motel 6? I seriously doubt that that's the case. But Marriott probably does pay the same as Hyatt and Hilton.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Personally, I *ONLY* tip the van driver if they arrive with a bunch of airline scum after having given them a guided tour of the airport perimeter. TWO hot dollars if they take us to our hotel first!
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It's on, son. It's on!
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Where is your evidence that Marriott pays the same as Motel 6? I seriously doubt that that's the case. But Marriott probably does pay the same as Hyatt and Hilton.
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Where is your evidence they don't? Remember, minimum wage is there because companies will race to the bottom of what they can get away with paying employees. If their practices are similar to Hyatt, then there is evidence of paying crappy wages:
"[Fired] housekeepers originally earned around $14–16 per hour, while the replacement workers are paid $8 per hour."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hyatt_100

By the way, I looked at the stock price for Marriott (since we seem to be picking on them), it has gone from $13.20 in FEB 09 to $79.40 in FEB 15. That increase is partially from stock repurchase by the company, but principally from the profits (which is how they are buying stock) increasing. Do you think the workers have seen such generous % increases in their wages over a similar time period?
 
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