Please tell me about skycaps

[sherry7]

Hi, DIS'ers. I have not flown for several years, so I'm kind of out of touch. We will be flying out of Pittsburgh. I've heard a little about skycaps. Exactly what are they, what do they do, and were can I find them? How much do they charge, and how much should we tip? Thanks!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Sky Caps,
Hmmm, they are at the entrance to the airlines, they don't charge you anything, but, you should tip them between 1.00 and 1.50 per bag. For this they will check your luggage, check you in, and depending on the airlines and the ticket, assign you a boarding pass. (ie: with Etickets from Delta they can issue a boarding pass, however, with hard tickets they cannot). This eliminates waiting in line to check in and check your bags, you get to walk to the gate unfettered.
"Sky Cap" is one of my favorite words when traveling.
IMHO, it is worth every penny of the tip (and I tip more than I advised here) to have everything taken care of curbside.
Hope this helps.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

these guys live off their tips. they are right at the entrance to the carrier and I tip them 1-2 per bag. if they unload the car for me I give them 2 per bag. I usually have my stroller bag and my wheeled bag and my DD's small bag. I give them 6 bucks. I also know them as well so I give a little more. if its around a holiday I throw in a 5 tip on top. (I know I give too much) but they are nice guys. and whenever I needed a wheelchair they always came when I called them)

 

[peg2001]

I used Skycaps for the first time on a recent trip. It saved us quite a bit of time as the regular line to check-in was VERY long. I highly recommend it.

I have a related question, however. How exactly is the tip handled? I waited until he had us checked in and had put tags on our bags and then I handed him the tip as I thanked him. I felt awkward but is that how it is typically done?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Peg,
You handled it just fine. I usually let them see that I have money from the beginning. Rolled, btw. No, I am not going to stiff them.
When I am done and they are getting ready to move the bags, I just say thank you, extend my hand, show the tip and they accept it and say thank you.
After doing it a few times, it becomes less ackward.

 

[DebbieB]

Sherry,

When you arrive at the Pittsburgh airport, follow the signs for departing flights. USAirways is the last airline on the departure level (top level of the airport). Park at the curb (or as close as you can, sometimes it can get crowded). If it isn't crowded, the skycap will approach your car and help you with the luggage (but it's rare not be crowded). If it's crowded there will be a line, just take your luggage over to the end of the line. When it's your turn, give the skycap your tickets (or electronic ticket printout) and ID's and tell him how many pieces you want to check. He'll ask the standard questions (have your bags been with you at all times......). He'll go to his computer terminal and print out the tags and give you your claim checks & tickets back. Give him the tip then. USAir in Pittsburgh does not issue boarding passes at the curb, you have to get them at the gate (the skycap will write your gate # on the ticket folder).

 

[sherry7]

Thanks for all the great replies.

Fellow SW PA'ers.....what time in the morning do the Skycaps start working? Our flight leaves at 7:56 AM on a Friday morning. Do you thing they'd be out and about by 6:00? (DH insists on getting to the airport at a unreasonably early hour. )

Won't we get ticketed for parking at the curb while all of this is going on?

Thanks!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

yes they are there that early. I used to start at the tkt counter at 4 am and some of them were already there!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

No you will not get a ticket at the curb for unloading, that is what the area is for.
Dee usually drops the bags and me at the curb, has the skycap look at his photo id and then takes off like a shot to park the car, in the meantime I handle the "routine" of checking us in and the sky cap takes care of all the other stuff. I hand him his well earned tip and wait about 10 mins. for Dee to come back from parking the car and we walk to the gate (or run if we are running in our usual "late mode" ).
We run this scenario both ways. It works really well for us.
The skycaps are there well before the first flight of the day, don't worry.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

so that must be you and Dee in those commercials I have seen with people running to get their flights Gail! LOL

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

I see you are on the "old" flight 204! (was 114 before that) That was always my favorite flight! I think it is now 386 or something like that! That flight is great! 1879 was a good flight, too, but they have taken that out of the schedule.

Have a good time!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Bev,
Could be, one time we had checked in, curbed the bags, had the boarding passes etc. Dee got hungry so we stopped for food, I had misread the departure time (by about 20 mins. That will teach me to wear my glasses) and we were just ambling down the gate area and the lady said, are you Gail Hayden and Dee White and I said "sure are". She let us know, very nicely, that we almost missed the plane and that they were getting ready to close the doors. We flew down the jetway and were the last to board, I was sooooooooooo embarassed!!!! That has not happened again. LOL