Magical Express Tipping--Please Help the Ignorant!

[shellbelle1971]

When travelling as a family, we have never done curbside check-in or used bell services or anything for our bags...with my huge crew of kids, it's always been easiest for me to just assign certain children "porter duty." (Different story when it's just DH & me travelling--all I have to do is pack, and he takes care of everything else )

So we've never taken Magical Express, because we always get a rental car. But on our next trip, DH will head over from the airport to pick up the car while the rest of our BIG crew (g'ma, g'pa, me, 6 kids) take M.E. to the resort. Same plan, but in reverse for going back to the airport.

So now I'm confused...who/when/how much do I need to plan on tipping when using Magical Express?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Pretty much, tip anybody who handles your luggage in your presence (unless you happen to be in the room when your DME-transferred luggage arrives; Disney takes care of tipping the Bell/Luggage person). This means if you check in with the SkyCaps at your home airport, tip them a dollar or two a bag (this is in addition to any fee the airline might charge for this service) or check your luggage at the counter and you don't tip the airline employees.
If your carry-on luggage needs to be stowed under the bus, tip the driver a dollar or two a bag as well.
"My" rule (for me) - I tip anyone who handles my bag/s except at the airline counter - SkyCap, porter, bell hop, bus driver...

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

So now I'm confused...who/when/how much do I need to plan on tipping when using Magical Express?

That's a reasonable question. Unfortunately, Disney has not done a good job providing tip guidelines for Disney's Magical Express (DME).

Disney's official explanation is that they cover the inbound bell service gratuity for Magical Express luggage delivered to the room. Here's what Disney's Magical Express FAQ (for meeting attendees) says:

Q: Are Bell Service gratuities included for luggage delivery to my Resort room?

A: Yes, but for the inbound service only. Gratuities are not included if you elect to use Bell Services for luggage assistance when departing.​

In other word, the only gratuity that's paid by Disney for Magical Express guests is the inbound bell service gratuity for the delivery of your bags to your room — and then only if you're using the service as it's meant to be used (checking your bags from your home airport directly to your room).

Some guests elect not to use the yellow baggage routing tags so that they can retrieve their own bags at baggage claim and bring them to the DME motor coach. Such guests should tip the motorcoach driver, who will load and unload the bags from the cargo hold of the motorcoach. Also, such guests should tip at the resort for any baggage storage or assistance with the bags to the room.

If you're on an airline that participates in Remote Airline Check-in, it's great to be able to get your boarding passes and to check your bags at your resort on your check-out day. My understanding is that the Remote Airline Check-in employees are not sub-minumum wage employees who rely on tips for the majority of their income. However, they are allowed to accept tips. I tipped them both times that we used Remote Airline Check-in because I tend to tip anyone who handles my luggage — except for inbound Magical Express baggage handling (gratuities covered by Disney if you use the yellow tags), airline ticket counter agents, and TSA security employees.

There's been some discussion about whether to tip the DME motorcoach driver if he doesn't touch your luggage. My answer would be only if the driver does something to make your ride particularly pleasant, not if he merely drives the motorcoach and makes a few announcements.

As far as the amount is concerned, the customary guidelines have been $1-2 per bag for around at least 30 years now — even though the dollar isn't worth anywhere near what it used to be. So I keep that in mind when tipping. I tip more if I get friendly, attentive service. I also tip more if the service is more time-consuming, such as when a bellman assists with luggage (except for inbound DME luggage delivery, which, as noted earlier, is taken care of by Disney).

 

[shellbelle1971]

Thanks, Horace. This covered my questions. (And was mostly what I thought, although I didn't know that "inbound" gratuities were already included, so that's great to know.)

 

[Kahana-ri]

Our last trip I tipped magical express for handling our bags. Four girls, so we gave him $5. We each had one bag. I was surprised to see how many people didn't tip the ME driver. As mentioned above, anyone handling the bags I have always given a tip. I just feel its a courtesy and a polite gesture.

 

[seashoreCM]

Tips for bringing baggage to your resort room must be included because you do not have to go to the room and you do not have to wait in the room for the baggage to arrive, but instead can go directly to a park.

Some experts have been saying that you tip the person when he hands the bag back to you. This way if one person takes your bag and gives it another person who gives it to another person, then you do not tip all of them.

I don't like bellhops who beat you to your bag to carry it. I tell them to stop and hand it back right away and I don't tip them.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/magicx.htm

 

[aubriee]

Wait a minute! I think I missed something in Horace's explanation. I knew you tip the DME driver (both ways), but do you also tip the person at the DME/luggage desk at your resort on the morning they print out your boarding pass? They do take your luggage and make sure it gets on the DME truck back to the airport. Oops, I think I missed someone I didn't even think about tipping.

 

[seashoreCM]

I think you do not tip the person who applies the airline baggage tags and checks in the luggage at the resort for "participating" airlines. (You do not tip the person who does this same role at the airport check in counter.)

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I think you do not tip the person who applies the airline baggage tags and checks in the luggage at the resort for "participating" airlines. (You do not tip the person who does this same role at the airport check in counter.)

In the United States, it's customary to tip just about anyone who handles your luggage in your presence. Airline ticket counter employees, who work for an airline under a union contract, are a notable exception.

The Remote Airline Check-in employees work for BAGS, Inc. — not Disney, nor directly for the airlines. They are allowed to accept tips.

Are Resort Airline Check-in employees really the same as airline ticket counter agents (in which case there would be no tipping), even though they don't work for the airline? Or are they essentially remote skycaps, similar to curbside skycaps (in which case a tip would be customary and expected)?

Disney doesn't give any direction about tipping Resort Airline Check-in employees. So, it seems to me, that the usual expectations apply.

I tipped them both times that we used Remote Airline Check-in because I tend to tip anyone who handles my luggage — except for inbound Magical Express baggage handling (gratuities covered by Disney if you use the yellow tags), airline ticket counter agents, and TSA security employees.

 

[shellbelle1971]

Wait a minute! I think I missed something in Horace's explanation. I knew you tip the DME driver (both ways), but do you also tip the person at the DME/luggage desk at your resort on the morning they print out your boarding pass? They do take your luggage and make sure it gets on the DME truck back to the airport. Oops, I think I missed someone I didn't even think about tipping.

This was exactly the kind of thing I was worried about! Big TX to all who've thought this through so completely!