Tipping Questions - Luggage

[Nicsmom]

I know this has been asked before and I did try to find it but I could not. I have a question about tipping. Who do you tip? The person that takes your bags from the car to the front desk and/or the person that brings your luggage from the desk/storage to your room? Thanks

 

[The Disney Dad]

I know this has been asked before and I did try to find it but I could not. I have a question about tipping. Who do you tip? The person that takes your bags from the car to the front desk and/or the person that brings your luggage from the desk/storage to your room? Thanks

I tip both of them, a tipping website suggests 50 cents to 1 dollar a bag ... We had 7 bags last trip and I tipped $5 ... the baggage handler had a smile on his face, so I guess I did o.k.

 

[tami82]

We tipped both since they were different people and the rack was filled to the top, no lie. We tipped $10 per person. It was well worth the $20 all together especially after coming from Nick Hotel where i had to lug my tons of stuff from the car to a slow elevator making many trips.

 

[marymoon]

We had a luggage cart full of stuff for our stay last week. 1 person got our stuff out of the car and onto the rack while another brought it to the room. We tipped each of these $6. When checking out, one person did all the work and we tipped her $12.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

So, do they ask if you need someone to take your bags? Do some people do it themselves?? We have always just brought our own bags up, though I must say only a couple of hotels we have ever stayed in would be considered "deluxe"!

 

[DebbieB]

So, do they ask if you need someone to take your bags? Do some people do it themselves?? We have always just brought our own bags up, though I must say only a couple of hotels we have ever stayed in would be considered "deluxe"!

I usually do it myself but I have a rolling suitcase, I put a carryon on top of it and my laptop over my shoulder. When my mom was alive, we used the bell services, it would have been too much for her to drag hers. They don't allow guests to use the carts themselves.

 

[GovieMom]

So, do they ask if you need someone to take your bags? Do some people do it themselves??

We do! Although the Disney resorts won't let you use their luggage carts. But there are four of us, so we can manage to carry everything to the room ourselves.

 

[BABY_EINSTEIN'S_MOM]

Okay, thanks! My dh is a "do it yourselfer"..lol. Also, we are a family of 5 and should have no trouble with our rolling suitcases!

 

[RitaFaye94]

What about from ME when they bring it to our room? Also, if we are not in our room will they leave it for us? And how do we leave the tip if we aren't in there?

 

[aubriee]

What about from ME when they bring it to our room? Also, if we are not in our room will they leave it for us? And how do we leave the tip if we aren't in there?

With ME the tip is included and you do not need to be in your room to receive it. It will be sitting there when you return from the parks that night. All you have to do is tip the DME driver (if you have any carry on bags under the bus). If your room is not ready at check in, leave your carry ons with luggage services (tipping them $1.00-$2.00/bag and then tipping them $1.00-$2.00/bag when you pick them up). Don't worry about any bags you checked with the airlines, they'll already be in your room.

 

[goofy4tink]

Anytime someone 'touches' your bags, they are going to feel entitled to a tip. I remember when we checked into the Polynesian. We had taken a towncar service there. When we pulled up, out raced a Bell Services CM. He took (grabbed really) our bags right out of the hands of our driver. He put them on the luggage truck thingie and then stood there...just waiting. My dh handed him $2...we had three bags. Then, yet another CM rolled the luggage into the lobby and waited while we checked in. He also stood there, waiting...and another $2 was handed over.
Then, once we were checked in, a third CM took the luggage from the lobby, over to our longhouse, where he also stood there, hand out so to speak, in our room. And another $2 was gone.
I know.....it's not about the money. It was only $6. And my dh usually tips much better than that, but he was really annoyed about the flagrant, in your face attitude of the Bell Services CMs. They were so obvious about wanting a tip and to have 3 different CMs move the luggage was incredible.

Now, we usually take our own luggage ourselves. I know that if I have a rental car, I unload it up at the entrance to the lobby at BW. And there is usually someone right there to help out. I tell them no, that we're all set. My dd stays with the luggage while I park the car. Then we bring it into the resort ourselves. If we have to leave it at Bell Services, then fine...we're prepared to give a tip. Otherwise, no.

 

[maxiesmom]

We do! Although the Disney resorts won't let you use their luggage carts.

That is not necessarily true. At the All Star Sports last year they loaded our stuff up on a luggge cart, and gave it to us to wheel up to our room. Maybe that is just a Value resort thing?

Oh, and I always tip at least $1 a bag if someone else handles my luggage for me. And if I don't have a lot of ones on me I just round it up. I would much rather word get around that I was an over-tipper, not an under-tipper.

 

[ThumperandLitenin]

We are DVC owners at VWL and BWV, we drive to WDW, and always have a ton of stuff with us. I let the guys unload the car. For that, I usually give them $10 - $15. We usually have seven to eight "items".

Same tip for the guy who brings everything to the room. The CM's work for tips, do a great job. and have always been friendly and helpful, so I'm glad to pay. In the grand scheme of a $2,000 vacation, it's not a material amount of money.

Usually the night before we leave, I'll walk stuff out to the car. It might take two trips at most. When we leave for the ride home in the morning, we usually only have a rolling bag and a carry-on which we handle ourselves.

Good question.

 

[Robert P]

Anytime someone 'touches' your bags, they are going to feel entitled to a tip. I remember when we checked into the Polynesian. We had taken a towncar service there. When we pulled up, out raced a Bell Services CM. He took (grabbed really) our bags right out of the hands of our driver. He put them on the luggage truck thingie and then stood there...just waiting. My dh handed him $2...we had three bags. Then, yet another CM rolled the luggage into the lobby and waited while we checked in. He also stood there, waiting...and another $2 was handed over.
Then, once we were checked in, a third CM took the luggage from the lobby, over to our longhouse, where he also stood there, hand out so to speak, in our room. And another $2 was gone.
I know.....it's not about the money. It was only $6. And my dh usually tips much better than that, but he was really annoyed about the flagrant, in your face attitude of the Bell Services CMs. They were so obvious about wanting a tip and to have 3 different CMs move the luggage was incredible.

Now, we usually take our own luggage ourselves. I know that if I have a rental car, I unload it up at the entrance to the lobby at BW. And there is usually someone right there to help out. I tell them no, that we're all set. My dd stays with the luggage while I park the car. Then we bring it into the resort ourselves. If we have to leave it at Bell Services, then fine...we're prepared to give a tip. Otherwise, no.

ITA. The WDW luggage system seems to favor at least 2 people handling your bags, each way. We usually do it ourselves, partly due to this setup, and partly b/c we may need something from the bags before the room is ready, and it's easier to just get it from the car.

When we do use bell services, I figure at least $1 per bag (usually more), and calculate that being split across the number of people handling the bags (on occassion, we have had a CM go with us straight to the car upon departing, so that CM gets the full amount). We typically have 6-8 bags, but even when I split the tip, nobody gets less than $5.

I speculate that many people, like us, would use the bell services for luggage handling more often, if the system didn't seem quite so complicated.


My ultimate pet peeve with bell services is when the CM goes out of there way to point out that 'this will probably be the last time you see me this trip'. I despise being played for a tip.

 

[GovieMom]

That is not necessarily true. At the All Star Sports last year they loaded our stuff up on a luggge cart, and gave it to us to wheel up to our room. Maybe that is just a Value resort thing?

It might be. All I know is that at AKL, DH asked to borrow a luggage cart and the CMs wouldn't let him. They told him we could carry the bags ourselves, but weren't allowed to use their carts!

 

[Robert P]

It might be. All I know is that at AKL, DH asked to borrow a luggage cart and the CMs wouldn't let him. They told him we could carry the bags ourselves, but weren't allowed to use their carts!

At least one of the carts at BC has a sign on it that says that guests are not allowed to use the luggage carts. I think I even took a picture of it at the time, as I found it interesting.

 

[Nicsmom]

Thanks for all the info. We always tip each person but on this up coming vaca we're doing a split stay (VWL, BCV, AKV) So, you can imagine how much this will cost us in tips. Yes, I know this will be just a fraction of the total cost of the vaca but I also want to be smart with my money. We have a lot of bags when you include groceries that we will move to/from each hotel. So, I guess I would budget about $120 for bell service. Again thanks for the info.