Tipping the hotel van driver

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A-300F4-622R

A-300F4-622R

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How much do you usually tip the hotel van driver? I do at least a dollar a bag and more if they do anything above and beyond.

It's been my experience that the the van drivers know which airline's crews tip well and which don't, and they respond accordingly with the level of service they provide.
 
A dollar I will tip more if they go above and beyond. The only time I don't tip is if they are over 15 mins late or don't offer to load my bags.
 
Gonzo said:
A dollar I will tip more if they go above and beyond. The only time I don't tip is if they are over 15 mins late or don't offer to load my bags.
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How does your company notify the hotel that you need picked up? Do they call the hotel when you arrive or does the hotel just show up at your scheduled time?
 
A-300F4-622R said:
How does your company notify the hotel that you need picked up? Do they call the hotel when you arrive or does the hotel just show up at your scheduled time?
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Different city by city. If it is a car service it is set up by scheduled time. Some hotels are set up to run every X mins and some use flightaware to see if we are on time. I also ask ops when I send the in range to call the hotel.
 
Gonzo said:
Different city by city. If it is a car service it is set up by scheduled time. Some hotels are set up to run every X mins and some use flightaware to see if we are on time. I also ask ops when I send the in range to call the hotel.
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We have a "call hotel van" prompt on our ACARS that we use. A few cities are set up at a certain time and the poor bastard has to wait if we are late.
 
I always tip a dollar for each bag they load (usually 1) I will tip for the FO or FA if they do not (they really don't make enough to be tipping)

When we call ten out ops calls the hotel.
 
Being charter, we're a little different I guess, but the crew usually swaps days on the tipping of the driver just like we swap days flying the plane (the captain tips).

When it's my turn, I will give the driver $3 for the two of us. If they do something great I will throw out a $5. And no, we don't get money for tips or get reimbursed for stuff like this.
 
I tip a buck unless we wait forever. We call the hotel when we open the door. I figure the tips are covered by per diem.
 
I normally tipped $5 each way, for the two of us, but was always reimbursed when I turned in expenses.
 
I tip a dollar to/from the airport unless they are the type that just sits in driver seat and doesnt even pretend to help with the bags.
 
Usually three out of four people in my crews tip the van driver $1 each way.

Last week I did a four-day and the entire time I was the only one that tipped the van driver on six different rides. I am regularly disgusted with approximately 40% of my co-workers and I do understand that it is not like this throughout the whole industry. It also happened to be the worst captain I have flown with in my time at the airlines thus far, so I wouldn't expect such an immature human being such as himself to tip anyone or act anything other than rude.

Anyway, to answer the question. :)

$1 each way as long as they helped with the bags. Maybe more if they go out of the way somehow.
 
Like most crews. $1/each way, sometimes a bit more if the weather is really bad and they got me to the destination in one piece or if they make a special run somewhere, e.g restaurant, store, mall, etc.
 
I tip $1 each way as long as they're reasonably on time and help with the bags. I should tip more but I'm a debt-laden commuter FO. On a busy month I can clear $650 in per diem so I figure it can come out of that. $6 per 4-day trip isn't too bad. I just budget one less overpriced beer at a hotel bar somewhere. At my company we are paid $1.80 per hour continuously from show time until release for our per diem. As long as we overnight out of base it is non-taxable. If you do a day-trip, you still get the per diem but it is taxable.
 
Van_Hoolio said:
As long as we overnight out of base it is non-taxable. If you do a day-trip, you still get the per diem but it is taxable.
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Its like that everywhere. Tax law, not contract stuff. And you are entitled to more per-diem than the company pays you in most cases, a portion of the difference which you can deduct on your taxes.
 
casey said:
Its like that everywhere. Tax law, not contract stuff. And you are entitled to more per-diem than the company pays you in most cases, a portion of the difference which you can deduct on your taxes.
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Yes, I know. I was pointing that out for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the career. And thanks for pointing out the other aspect of being able to deduct the difference from your taxes. I have no house and no kids, so I don't itemize. I assume the standard deduction is bigger for me anyway but I know it helps a lot of other guys out to do it that way.
 
$1 typically. Nothing if we wait more than 15 minutes for a pickup and get no good reason why and an overall crappy attitude.
 
Unless he's bringing me a pizza, I don't. I'm kidding, just taking a stab at the guys in The Lavatory discussing pizza delivery.
 
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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