How much do you tip???

[mo3bys]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering how much you are supposed to tip people?
Like the shuttle driver?
Bellhops?
Maids?
Concierge?
We will be staying at the paradise pier with concierge for 7 nights?
We have never done this before and were wondering
Thanks so much

 

[Goofster57]

According to my wife....way to much....


Here is a link that may help out

http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php

 

[famograham]

WOW!!!!! I just looked at that link and if I tipped everyone they suggest, (whose services I use of course)..it would probably cost more than our family even brings in!!!

 

[kiwitravel]

In New Zealand Tipping is almost non existant as we have laws governing minimum wages, for us travelling to the USA we really struggled with it... How do you tip the maids?? We had money out different days but they didn't take it (do you have to put some sort of sign on it?) When we left the maid that cleaned our room wasn't the one that normally did it and didn't want to leave it with her, in the end we left it at reception and just hoped she got it.

On the day we flew out the plane was delayed so Qantas gave us meal vouchers, we had a waitress who when she took our order informed us in a very measured tone that the voucher did not include her tip, by that stage we had spent all of our US money. As both the food and service was poor I felt no guilt in not leaving a tip and as we walked out she said in a very loud voice "thanks for not leaving a tip", wish I had said "thanks for never smiling and serving bad luke warm food" but I didn't...

 

[Pezalicious]

That link says you're now supposed to tip, even if the person is the owner. Does anyone know why that's changed?

 

[drag n' fly]

Hi everyone,
I was wondering how much you are supposed to tip people?
Like the shuttle driver?
Bellhops?
Maids?
Concierge?
We will be staying at the paradise pier with concierge for 7 nights?
We have never done this before and were wondering
Thanks so much

Shuttle- a buck a passenger, if he handles your luggage a buck a piece not both though
Bellhop- a buck per piece of luggage
Maid- a buck per person staying in the room per day
Concierge- whatever you want!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Shuttle- a buck a passenger, if he handles your luggage a buck a piece not both though
Bellhop- a buck per piece of luggage
Maid- a buck per person staying in the room per day
Concierge- whatever you want!

This is how we tip, except we only tip a shuttle driver *IF* he handles are bags. Otherwise we don't tip the driver.

Anyone who handles our luggage (skycab, bellhops) get at least a $1 per bag, sometimes more.

We always leave a daily tip for housekeeping, usually $4-$5 per day.

And of course we tip food servers, usually about 18%-20% for good service, and a little more for excellent service.

Seriously though, tipping is getting expensive when you're on vacation. It's like a whole other column in our vacation planning budget sheet. Good grief!

 

[drag n' fly]

This is how we tip, except we only tip a shuttle driver *IF* he handles are bags. Otherwise we don't tip the driver.

Anyone who handles our luggage (skycab, bellhops) get at least a $1 per bag, sometimes more.

We always leave a daily tip for housekeeping, usually $4-$5 per day.

And of course we tip food servers, usually about 18%-20% for good service, and a little more for excellent service.

Seriously though, tipping is getting expensive when you're on vacation. It's like a whole other column in our vacation planning budget sheet. Good grief!

It truly is isn't it!

 

[Goofster57]

How do you tip the maids?? We had money out different days but they didn't take it (do you have to put some sort of sign on it?)

We make out an envelope for each day of our stay and write "Housekeeping" on so they know it is for them. If you leave one ever day that covers you if you don't have the same maid each day.

 

[DisSarahK]

We do $2 a bag for shuttle drivers/bellhops and $2 a night for housekeeping.

 

[CardinalsFan]

I tip a SkyCap $1 per bag, and I'll tip a shuttle driver $1 per bag if he handles the bag. My wife used to be a waitress, so she always makes me tip 20% minimum, unless the server was awful. And the minimum we leave a server is $5, even if we had a tab that was less than $25. She remembers what it was like to be a server...

I never stay at a nice enough place to have a bellhop, so I've never tipped a bellhop before.

And I have never tipped a hotel's housekeeping staff! This is an entirely new concept to me. Am I the only one? I remember tipping the "steward" who took care of my cabin when I went on a cruise nearly 15 years ago, but that was because we had been "advised" on how much to tip our cabin steward and the waiter who waited on us at our meals all week.

But, when I think about it, that steward did many of the same things that housekeeping does in a hotel. So why have I never thought of tipping housekeeping? I've never heard of anyone doing it until I read this thread. Who else has never heard of tipping housekeeping?

 

[mo3bys]

Thank you all for your advice and tips. This board has helped us out so much
Happy Holidays

 

[disney-super-mom]

And I have never tipped a hotel's housekeeping staff! This is an entirely new concept to me. Am I the only one? I remember tipping the "steward" who took care of my cabin when I went on a cruise nearly 15 years ago, but that was because we had been "advised" on how much to tip our cabin steward and the waiter who waited on us at our meals all week.

But, when I think about it, that steward did many of the same things that housekeeping does in a hotel. So why have I never thought of tipping housekeeping? I've never heard of anyone doing it until I read this thread. Who else has never heard of tipping housekeeping?

You're not alone. There's many many people who've never heard of tipping housekeeping and didn't know they were supposed to.

The only reason I know is because I was the front desk manager at a hotel for 6 years (a long time ago), and so of course I was aware how important the tips were to our housekeeping staff (when they actually got a tip). They work physically very hard, and sometimes have to clean up horrible/disgusting messes, and most really don't earn much more than minimum wage. In my opinion, they are much more deserving of a tip than a person who handles your bags. Housekeepers handle our crud.

 

[#1MMFan]

I agree the tipping can get out of hand to a certain extent. I also understand the problems when coming from a country that has a better than average minimum wage law and where there is less expectation to tip (not that we tip badly).
In the USA however, for the three of us, we end up tipping the driver $10, the bellhops $10 initially to store the bags, then $15-20 to deliver the bags to room on arrival or storage on our departure (it depends on how heavy the bags are). We tip 15-20% for waiters/waitresses and usually round it up, but of course we'll leave less if we are unhappy with the service (and I have a loud enough voice/good enough look of disdain to make sure a server knows if I did not think their service was that great).
As for housekeeping, gees... this was something that in the UK we tend to tip often at the end of our stays (likewise on the Continent i.e. Spain/Greece etc). But once I read on here about daily tipping we started leaving envelopes with perhaps $3-5 per day. But when you considered that we have longer holidays (vacations) than our US friends, often stretching to 2 or 3 weeks, you soon realise that you are paying 5x21 which is over $100 just for a service which frankly one expects when one pays for a hotel room. Most times I just put it down to being the way things are in the USA, and followed suit, but this past couple of vacations the housekeeping was poorer - well, put it this way, things were skimped over. I just felt that it wasn't worth the tip. Years ago, I might have felt bad or shunned away from NOT leaving a tip, but I am afraid this time I didn't feel guilty. I do think to a certain extent that non-US vacationers are sometimes somewhat taken advantage of by having tipping policies rammed down their throat a lot.
I think anyone who complains about the lack of a tip/ a poor tip to a customer's face (or deliberately within earshot) should be seriously disciplined. It's not a right, it's a reward.

 

[silence]

And I have never tipped a hotel's housekeeping staff! This is an entirely new concept to me. Am I the only one? I've never heard of anyone doing it until I read this thread. Who else has never heard of tipping housekeeping?

I tend to do a lot of traveling, besides just our Disney trips and I have never tipped housekeeping! I guess I'm just a really bad traveller, but I don't get that concept at all.

 

[brenda1966]

The housekeeping tips are a fairly new thing to me too. Hadn't heard of it until recently.

When we were at WDW I felt so bad because we left our tip at the end of the week and the lady who cleaned our room and did our towel animals didn't appear to be working that day. Next time I will know to bring envelopes and tip each day.

When I travel on business and stay in those overpriced hotels I don't tip. I don't know why but the price of the room irritates me, so that's probably why. When I travel to Mexico or Disney and I feel I've recieved good care, I leave a tip in the room.

 

[DevilDuckie]

I think it is important for those not in the US to be aware that in some states waiters make less than minimum wage- sometimes as low as about $2 an hour. At that rate and with taxes based on a presumption of tips, a table that does not tip "because they were out of money" has actually cost their server money.

If tipping is too expensive, reconsider the activity. I won't tip truly shoddy service (servers here make $7.50 or more an hour) but if I cannot afford to tip, I cannot afford to eat out.

 

[madfelice]

Wow, This tipping is really an amazing thing. As I am from Australia, we hardly ever tip at all, so it's all just greek to me! Tipping housekeeping makes sense, I guess, but we will be staying in the states in hotels for over 6 weeks, so that will certainly mount up!

 

[Sunobo]

I only tip the housekeeping staff if they do a something special for us, an outstanding job, or if we leave a big mess.

I've been a waitress for years and while not all places use the same practice, many do. Wait staff frequently has to share their tips with the host staff, bus staff and/or bartenders. The tip share portion is usually based on the servers sales not on how much they collect in tips. If service is really bad, I will leave a penny, and if it's great I'll leave 20%. The rest fall somewhere around 15%.

 

[Kellie_MO3]

Hmm, see, I tend to tip only if the job done is above and beyond what a "typical" job would be for them... If we're very messy, or the waiter/ress comes back often to make sure everything is okay and if we need refills on anything... I see a tip as just that, something extra for a job well done. They already are getting paid for simply doing their job, so if they just do their job at a bare minimum where it can be seen as completed but nothing special, then they get paid by their employer for that... I save tips for great service (that being said, we are a family of 6 with small children, and do tend to leave at least a small mess wherever we go, so generally we do end up tipping )