Tipping the Van Driver?

wheelsup,

Why do you tip the restaurant SERVER 30-50%? Its there job to SERVE you isnt it? Its right in their title? Its there job, so why tip?

If you're answer is well their pay is calculated based on tips, well so is a van driver. In larger hotels Van drivers are the most junior Bellman. And what do bellmen get paid? Min. wage. They work off their tips, just like waiters. THe smaller hotels the regionals stay at, dont have bellman. At the hampton inn in Ashville, is their maintenance guy. He is asked to drive the van when not fixing toilets and replacing light bulbs. I think its nice of him to get pulled away from his duties to drive me and you to the hotel.

I try to tip, sometimes i am out of cash, so i cant and I feel bad. If i am out of ones, i get change from the front desk to take care of the man. I used to work in tipped position for about 6 years. So i may be biased.

Actually, I would accept the answer of I cant afford to tip more so than the "principle" reason.
 
Speaing of tipping, Kristie and I went to a five-star hotel in Vancouver, BC once and the gentleman that brought our bags to the room whas aghast that I tried to tip him.
 
blee256 said:
wheelsup,

Why do you tip the restaurant SERVER 30-50%? Its there job to SERVE you isnt it? Its right in their title? Its there job, so why tip?
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Because in general, the service they give is directly proportionate to the amount of tip I give. If I get great service, even if we have a $10 meal (think denny's) I've left a $5 tip. If it's really, really, crappy service, I do not tip nearly that much.

Whether I tip the van guy or not, I have gotten the same service. That is actually the majority of the reason I stopped tipping. It made no sense to do so - the tip had become expected rather than earned.

Also, I can choose to go to a restaurant for food. I cannot choose to not ride the van to the hotel (well I could, but then I would be walking). Plus, the Company doesn't pay for my restaurant meal. They pay the hotel to operate the van.

At the hampton inn in Ashville, is their maintenance guy. He is asked to drive the van when not fixing toilets and replacing light bulbs. I think its nice of him to get pulled away from his duties to drive me and you to the hotel.
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Whether he fixes toilets or drives a van - he gets paid the same regardless. In fact, I would argue that if it was someone other than a dedicated van driver doing the driving they shouldn't be receiving a tip anyway (maybe that's what you are saying).

If the hotel chooses not to use him, they call us a cab. No skin off my back. Now, me personally, I would rather be driving a van than fixing a toilet if I am paid the same :).

You do bring up a good point - that at the better hotels the van drivers actually depend on tips for part of their wage. It honestly wasn't something I thought about because the ones I see driving the vans are mx guys or front desk people, but I certainly wouldn't rule out that it isn't possible. Who knows, maybe I'll start tipping again :).
 
Do you tip Taxi drivers? Those are the only ones that I have to pry it out of my wallet. When it costs me $12 to go two miles its hard to wanna give more...
 
I almost always tip. If there is no effort to load my bags or if you leave me out waiting for the van in the freezing cold for 30 minutes when the hotel is less than 5 minutes away you're not getting a tip. If you drive like a maniac, almost get in a wreck more than once, and make me carsick there's a chance you're not getting a tip. Tips are based on a service, if it's that crappy the van driver doesn't deserve a buck.
 
It's customary to tip drivers. I used to get stiffed all the time, and it sucks. On the other hand, on some instances I was taken care of very well. One night as a limo driver I got $180.00 on top of the tip that was already built into my wage. The company I worked for was tired of the drivers getting stiffed all the time so the tip was built into the contract. Even still, many times I was tipped in cash on top of what was already billed. I figure the tip money I received in the past will cover my $1 tips to the van driver for quite some time, even though I'll be a first year regional FO.

Just think of it as paying $.50 to load and $.50 to unload your heavy flight case and suitcase.

Mike
 
I tipped drivers for a little while only because I felt bad for not doing it....

Until I did a quick calculation and figured tipping $1 each way costs me roughly $350 a year!!

When you make poverty wages as a new F/O $350 a year is a LOT of money.

Now...I load and unload my own bags AND help with the others bags....I WILL still tip for "extra" rides or service.


I'll tip again when I go up the payscale a bit and can afford it but for now I like to be able to eat.



Anyone who looks down upon someone on FIRST YEAR pay for not tipping is the one who is the loser....some of you captains need to pull your head out of your butt's and think "waaaaay" back to when you were struggling on first year pay. I think a good captain should cover his poor F/0's AND Flight attendants tips since your making the "big bucks" right?


Btw- the van drivers I asked made more than I do so I don't feel bad for them at all anymore. Call me cheap or whatever, I'm just trying to get by right now.
 
I tip; I even go out of my way to make sure I have dolla billz before a trip, but haven't noticed any difference in service because of it.

TBH, it's mainly because I don't want to look like an ass in front of the other crewmembers. And I feel very uncomfortable not tipping.

Maybe I should put my hat out in the aisle after a flight. Isn't flying a plane a service too? :yar:
 
Just to be clear, I'm looking at this from the perspective of where I work at and my experience as a professional pilot. I never made less than a van driver, so I'll give ya that. I'd say that's a good excuse. If you can't afford to tip, then don't.

Would you and wheels not got upset had I said "You're seen as loser at UPS if you don't tip". Or how about, "You're seen as a loser as a major airline pilot if you don't tip". I guess that's really where I'm coming from. If you make so little that the van driver makes more than you then I can see your point.

I'm just saying I see it as customary to tip the driver. I've always felt it was cheap not too.

A crewmember at a regional airline just PMed me that he was told during OE to not tip. What do you suppose the justification for that could be? Anyone heard that one before?
 
"but haven't noticed any difference in service because of it"

I know I've had pretty good luck with getting van drivers to take me somewhere during a layover. I want to stay on their good side because it helps me in the long run. Would a van driver discriminate against those who he thinks are cheap?
 
"it's mainly because I don't want to look like an ass in front of the other crewmembers"

So are you saying you look like an ass if you don't tip? Watch out Edawg, you're gonna start getting PM's....
 
I really love it when they have a sign asking for tips, but never move out of their seat to even touch a bag or anything. To me it's like the people at Subway having a tip jar on the counter for making your sandwich.
Other than those I do it.
 
I think we had about a 25 page thread on my company forums about this, and I was rediculed pretty hard for urging people to tip their van drivers. Apparantly a lot of people aren't doing it anymore. I always do it, and agree with don, it reflects poorly on the crew when someone, especially the captain doesn't do it.
 
Glad I don't have to worry about this.

99.9% of the time we get a rental. But if and when we do tip (encouraged to), we are reimbursed. It's amazing how much better line service is when you tip.

I know the Gulfstream guys at the company regularly give out $100 to unload the 550 because of how much luggage we carry around.

Line guys, do you pool the tips and share with others?
 
I'm all for tipping, unless the driver is a real horses @##. (And that is pretty rare.) The one that bugs me is when guys don't tip the lady van drivers for not loading/unloading their bags. I can think of a few instances where the driver was some petite skinny lady, sometimes older, and my fellow pilots wouldn't tip unless they got their bags out for them. Come on, she's less than half your weight! Move your fat butt, be a gentleman and get your own bags.

OK rant is finished.
 
DE727UPS said:
A crewmember at a regional airline just PMed me that he was told during OE to not tip. What do you suppose the justification for that could be? Anyone heard that one before?
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At least for my part I have not heard that one. If I recall, all my checkairmen would give tips.
 
DE727UPS said:
"but haven't noticed any difference in service because of it"

I know I've had pretty good luck with getting van drivers to take me somewhere during a layover. I want to stay on their good side because it helps me in the long run. Would a van driver discriminate against those who he thinks are cheap?
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When I need to go somewhere I give the tip upfront - ie I walk up, hand 'em a $5, and say "hey I need to go to XYZ, think that could happen?".

Again, I'm all for tipping when they go above and beyond, and make it happen. Another reason for tipping upfront is to ensure they come pick me up!! :D

My point in the original and subsequent posts was that people tend to tip automatically for the ride to and from the airport, and it's apparent to me now that it's more just to not look bad, which I kind of find humorous.
 
"and it's apparent to me now that it's more just to not look bad, which I kind of find humorous"

Well, you could make the argument that one doesn't want to be a scab cause it makes them look bad, too. Peer pressure. Whatever. What your fellow man will think about you if you do something is a powerful motivator in society.

"When I need to go somewhere I give the tip upfront - ie I walk up, hand 'em a $5"

I wouldn't call that a tip, but it's not a bad idea, I guess. In the same situation, I'd ask the guy for a ride and give him the $5 afterwords. I think that would make him even more highly motivated to pick you back up. But in either any case. Even if I gave him 5 on the way out, I'd give him something on the way back. That would be a tip.
 
Being a former Bellman and Doorman during college for a luxury hotel I have seen how tipping will get you extras. We still had to provided the "top service" to all guest but we remembered the ones that tipped.

As far as loading and unloading the bags we were told that we have to do it or we would get in trouble by the higher ups unless the guest specifically said not to.

After working there and doing some traveling I will tip as long as the person is doing their job and trying to help me out in any way. If they are rude and I have pocket change I will pull it out and give some of it but not all showing them see how I felt about their service.

So far, I have not had a problem at a hotel that has not been taken care of immediately. Not sure if it is good karma or what, but I will keep doing what works.
 
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