Tipping overload?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I pay $3 per bag to use the curbside Skycap for AA at DCA. Must be regional.

As in a tip OR in order to use the service you have to pay $3 per bag PLUS a tip?

All signs we've ever seen is "suggested tip amount". Never have ever seen a service charge for Skycap. It's not a paid system like that, it's a tipped service like your baggage handlers at a hotel.

 

[mrodgers]

Ugh. I know someone like this and avoid them at all costs. Just unbearable to be around.

I can't go to a restaurant with my mother as she will hunt for a reason to stiff on the tip all the time.

Last time we went out and she paid, I got a burger and asked for mayonnaise. Never got it. Not a big deal. She fussed and wanted to call the waitress over. It wasn't a big deal. She fussed the whole time over the mayonnaise I didn't get. Wasn't a big deal to me. I had to sneak back to the table to leave a tip as she didn't leave anything. I also had to stop at the front to let them know it was no big deal because I went to the bathroom and when I came out she was Karen'ing up at the front of the restaurant over the mayonnaise. Still, wasn't any big deal to me. I still ate and enjoyed my burger and have gone in to eat many times since.

I don't complain about anything. If I am not happy, I give the place a 2nd chance that it was a bad day or something. Lousy service or food the 2nd time, I just don't return.

Many also put everything on the wait staff. Had a horrible dinner at a new place that recently opened up. It was quite busy and we waited forever for food. The young waiter came by the table on several occasions to apologize about the slow wait. When we got our food, the food was lousy. The waiter, probably got a 30% tip (in the old 18% days of just a couple years ago.) He kept us with drinks (non-alcohol) and kept us up on what the issues were. He was fantastic and I let the manager know specifically that he was fantastic when the manager came over and apologized for the wait as well.

 

[wvjules]

As in a tip OR in order to use the service you have to pay $3 per bag PLUS a tip?

All signs we've ever seen is "suggested tip amount". Never have ever seen a service charge for Skycap.

I travel frequently so I do know the difference between a tip and a paid service. It is $3 paid only via CC to American Airlines. Tip is additional and optional.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I travel frequently so I do know the difference between a tip and a paid service. It is $3 paid only via CC to American Airlines. Tip is additional and optional.

Then that would be unusual, do you have something that I can look at like a picture or document for that because that's not how skycap traditionally is unless the entire program has been changed.

And you traveling has zero to do with knowing a difference between tip and paid...

ETA:
I've looked it up on AA's website. Looks like that is something AA charges rather than Skycap themselves. So that's an airline-specific thing not the program of Skycap itself. SWA is free to use for example just tip like normal.

 

[disney-inspired]

Over the last year, a Baconator medium meal at Wendy's has gone from $9 to $13. That's a 44% increase in a year.


I caught an interesting video on Youtube the other day. It was "going to McDonald's" in 1989. The guy carrying a camcorder camera around back then like the kids do these days with their phones and vlogging. He ordered a quarter pounder with cheese, Big Mac, 2 fries, 2 drinks, 2 coffee, and a milkshake. It was $7.88. I looked it up online as if I was putting an order in and it that would be over $25 today.

Everything has gone up with the serious inflation this past year so I don't attribute that to solely to the wage increase since in the increase occurred before pandemic. Sticking with my example, since McD's is a franchise, it's really up to the owner how much over the minimum wage they want to offer. Min. wage in LA county is $15 but I see $17/$18 in my area (high cost of living) and assume it's to compete with Starbucks and other high paying places.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I can't go to a restaurant with my mother as she will hunt for a reason to stiff on the tip all the time.

Last time we went out and she paid, I got a burger and asked for mayonnaise. Never got it. Not a big deal. She fussed and wanted to call the waitress over. It wasn't a big deal. She fussed the whole time over the mayonnaise I didn't get. Wasn't a big deal to me. I had to sneak back to the table to leave a tip as she didn't leave anything. I also had to stop at the front to let them know it was no big deal because I went to the bathroom and when I came out she was Karen'ing up at the front of the restaurant over the mayonnaise. Still, wasn't any big deal to me. I still ate and enjoyed my burger and have gone in to eat many times since.

I don't complain about anything. If I am not happy, I give the place a 2nd chance that it was a bad day or something. Lousy service or food the 2nd time, I just don't return.

Many also put everything on the wait staff. Had a horrible dinner at a new place that recently opened up. It was quite busy and we waited forever for food. The young waiter came by the table on several occasions to apologize about the slow wait. When we got our food, the food was lousy. The waiter, probably got a 30% tip (in the old 18% days of just a couple years ago.) He kept us with drinks (non-alcohol) and kept us up on what the issues were. He was fantastic and I let the manager know specifically that he was fantastic when the manager came over and apologized for the wait as well.

My mother-in-law is much more picky than my husband and I on things. I don't think they've ever not left a tip but they sure have made a ruckus out of things we find not worth it.

We still don't know why she orders eggs over medium with the yellow runny more like over easy eggs would be when that's an incredibly hard thing to get done, it's not like she makes that at home (my guess is she'd go through a lot of eggs in doing so) but she expects the kitchen staff to get it right just the way she like it. She really wants it over easy but she wants the whites to be a tad more done than that. I personally think she would be better off ordering over easy because the most important part to her is the yolk being runny and that is constantly why she's sending it back because it's too "done" in her mind.

She told us one time she sent the eggs back 4 times..I don't say this much but we would have been embarrassed had we been there. We often pay separate so I can't tell you if they overtip to compensate but yeah. It takes a lot for me to send something back or undertip. Undertipping is something I would reserve for only the worst of the worst issues with respects to the server themselves not the food.

 

[AvidDisReader]

No because while it is expected to tip it's not mandatory. Skycaps don't charge a fee to use their service.

Have you ever used a Skycap??? If you do not tip them you risk your luggage going to Denver when your are flying to Orlando.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Have you ever used a Skycap??? If you do not tip them you risk your luggage going to Denver when your are flying to Orlando.

We always tip (that's a personal decision) but it is not mandatory, if it's mandatory it becomes an actual fee to use it rather than a tip. Tipping truly isn't mandatory anywhere, just expectations based on norms created.

Most signs we see have a "suggest tip amount" listed for Skycap. It's a bit like Parking Spot, it's not mandatory to tip the drivers but we more often than not do especially the ones that make sure to pick up the luggage and drop it at our car rather than us picking it up and majority of them do (except for some that haven't even gotten up from their front seat).

 

[Moliphino]

Skycaps typically save you from standing in line

I've never had a line bad enough at the airport that I would rather pay. I can see it being useful for people with little kids and lots of bags or something like that. Myself, I tend to get to the airport stupidly early and only have one bag to check so I might as well do it myself.

 

[mjkacmom]

I've never had a line bad enough at the airport that I would rather pay. I can see it being useful for people with little kids and lots of bags or something like that. Myself, I tend to get to the airport stupidly early and only have one bag to check so I might as well do it myself.

You are lucky, we fly out of Newark liberty, usually United, no curbside checkin, and lines inside can be very long. I do miss skycaps.

 

[QueenIsabella]

But again, I think if you asked most servers (at least all the ones I know) they would prefer to remain a tipped employee vs a flat wage. I can't think of a single restaraunt that can pay all of their servers enough to equal what they make in tips. Would you rather make a flat $20/hr and no tips or make 25+/hr including tips? I very rarely ever see a comment from someone who actually is a server say they want a flat wage vs tips. It's always the customers complaining about it and acting like they are doing something helpful for the servers by trying to replace their tips with a flat wage. And lets not forget taxes. If a server gets paid a flat wage, they will pay taxes on every dime of that wage. But tips, while I know legally servers are supposed to claim all of their tips, very few actually do that.

These days, servers are much more likely to claim tipped income. I know my kids (both baristas, I posted up-thread) enter/have their tips entered into the store computer. It's not an issue--they both work part time, and aren't likely to owe any tax, but it's all tracked.

Both make over minimum wage ($7.25/hr here), before tips--Starbucks pays $15/hr, the regional coffee place pays $9/hr. My DS16 makes roughly $10/hr in tips on top of that--better than his sister over at "Starbs".

On the subject of skycaps, we've always used them in larger airports (lines aren't such an issue in smaller ones). We've always paid a few bucks a bag--they not only handle your luggage, but could, in the past, check you in. They were prompt and courteous. We would tip $20-30 for our family of 6 with luggage, as I recall (our travel needs have been evolving).

 

[tvguy]

I travel frequently so I do know the difference between a tip and a paid service. It is $3 paid only via CC to American Airlines. Tip is additional and optional.

To be honest, I didn't notice Skycaps were back. They were shut down for some time after September 11th.
I used to travel for business with 7 heavy equipment cases with $100,000 in TV camera gear and I tipped $20 so I guess I was close to $3 a bag and that was in 1979 and 1980. The Business Manager called me in to question why I was tipping so much. I told her I was told to get out of the car with the $20 bill in my hand, and I think the limit on luggage was 2 per person back then, and the fee for excess baggage was $25 a bag, so I was saving the company $125 in excess baggage fees because the Sky Caps would look the other way with that tip.
But we flew on the same flight to the same city, with the same bags sometimes 3 times in a week and the Sky Caps knew our van, had the tags ready to do when we got out of the car.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

the Sky Caps would look the other way with that tip.

Honestly I think they probably do that even nowadays, like a pound here and there kind of thing. Ultimately they can't go too far off because the airlines literally have passenger safety in mind with luggage weight but you're unlikely to have a charge if you're just a smidgen over like you might at the ticket counter.

 

[dez1978]

These days, servers are much more likely to claim tipped income. I know my kids (both baristas, I posted up-thread) enter/have their tips entered into the store computer. It's not an issue--they both work part time, and aren't likely to owe any tax, but it's all tracked.

Both make over minimum wage ($7.25/hr here), before tips--Starbucks pays $15/hr, the regional coffee place pays $9/hr. My DS16 makes roughly $10/hr in tips on top of that--better than his sister over at "Starbs".

On the subject of skycaps, we've always used them in larger airports (lines aren't such an issue in smaller ones). We've always paid a few bucks a bag--they not only handle your luggage, but could, in the past, check you in. They were prompt and courteous. We would tip $20-30 for our family of 6 with luggage, as I recall (our travel needs have been evolving).

I think a place like a coffee shop where you pay when ordering it's easier for the tips to be accounted for vs a table service restaraunt where you have 8-10 (or more) servers working and the servers handle the payment for their own checks. Yes servers will claim some tips, always, because they have to. But you'd have a hard time finding one who claimed 100%. I'd guess the avg would be 50%.

 

[Pink Partridge]

she was Karen'ing up

I LOVE this

 

[whiteness]

OK, never having actually worked in a job that can collect tips, I just assumed that it sucked as much as my experience working on commission. Which I absolutely hated for so many reasons.

So, people that work for tips do it because they make more money than if they were paid a fair salary and benefits? That does put an interesting spin on things, but it still doesn't change my mind visa-vis tipping wait staff versus them simply being paid fairly, like every worker should be paid fairly.

Notice, I keep emphasizing "fair salary and benefits", here? That works both ways. There shouldn't be any financial advantage to guilting and shaming people into paying a percentage of their total tab as tips, either. Everyone is entitled to a fair wage and benefits, but nobody is entitled to be paid disproportionally more than someone else equally skilled and essential, that is working just as hard and conscientiously.

If Disney waiters have chosen to work for tips because are hoping they can make more money than the other Cast Members that are equally magical and essential to my experience in the parks...well, that's very clever and enterprising of them, but I don't have to think it is fair or support their efforts in that regard. I certainly don't think they have the right to ask for increasingly larger percentages of my total spend in their eating establishment. If 10% wasn't enough for them to earn a fair wage, then go back to earning a salary like everyone else rather than squeezing me for more.

If being a tipped employee is a choice they make because they want to earn more than they otherwise reasonably could, then don't plead poverty and equity as a justification for demanding a higher percentage.

I admit, this comes off as harsh. But up until now I honestly felt sorry for people that worked for tips. It's really eye opening to learn that they chose this arrangement because it is more lucrative.

And the idea of not paying taxes on a portion of that income to further enrich yourself...well, being able to cheat on your taxes is not a very good goal and not something that we should be condoning, regardless how much some folks hate paying them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's really eye opening to learn that they chose this arrangement because it is more lucrative.

What you're attempting to portray is like a false narrative. The conversation inevitably goes to is "pay a living wage" in lieu of tips because people think about that as an either/or situation. In reality, IMO, what probably should really should be happening is a pay raise with tips still able to be collected.

Commission typically gets a higher pay rate to begin with. Are there that many commission-based jobs for a starting pay of $2.13 like a tipped position is in my state? Yes in my state they have to pay the difference to make up to Federal minimum wage depending on if the employee qualifies for it but the point is their starting pay is very low. When I worked at JCP over 17 years ago the jewelry employees started out at a higher rate than we did and they got commissions but their employment counted on that in terms of performance much like my employment counted on how many CC applications I could sign up in terms of my performance.

For so many decades we've just treated tipped positions in which there hasn't really been a realistic adjustment in what they start at. Some states have more generous pay than others but the societal mentality, which I might add you exemplify well, is one of which there's less push for more nuanced understanding. People just sorta misplace their anger at feeling like they have to tip at a restaurant assuming that with no tips a simple pay raise would make up the difference for the lower pay they have been getting.

 

[whiteness]

What you're attempting to portray is like a false narrative.

I hope you don't expect a tip for that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I hope you don't expect a tip for that.

lol you can venmo me later

 

[whiteness]

lol you can venmo me later

But, OK, pay people a guaranteed fair wage, and make tipping optional for good service.

And, FYI, a lot of terrible commission jobs have terrible base salaries. As a college freshman, I had a "job" going door to door trying to sign people up for newspaper subscriptions. Yeah, it had a "base salary" and you made extra money for every subscription. If they canceled before 2 months or so, they clawed that money back: you could literally walk a neighborhood all evening, and end up owing them money at the end of it if you were particularly unlucky. It was not "magical". People were often not thrilled to be visited by a newspaper salesman. Their "tip" would be to get the heck off their lawn...

But it paid for my books and ramen.