Tipping??

[SimplyMagical]

When you arrive at the resort and the bellman puts your bags on the cart -- do you tip him as well as the bellman who brings your bags to your room when it is ready?? Thanks!

 

[rtkane]

I pretty much always tip. If someone touches a bag, I'll give a dollar a bag when they put them on the cart if they're going to store them (kind of an insurance policy in my mind, not that they'd likely treat them any differently had I not tipped). Once they deliver them to my room, I'll normally give $2 per bag, maybe $3 if it's raining or they have to haul them up stairs. Don't know how that compares to what you're supposed to tip, but when you really think about it, spending thousands of dollars on a trip (between airfare, park tickets, transfers, annual dues, etc.) what's a few bucks here and there?

 

[Pa@okw95]

I only tip the bellman that brings the bags to the room. I find the practice of two men doing this job a type of theft of the customer. I do tip well, $10 to $20 depending on the amount of time he spends with us and what he does.

 

[The VWL Five]

Actually in my younger days I was a bellman. The bellman and the so caled doorman are two separate people and do not share tips usually. There is no rule you must tip either but it is 'nice' to tip both. Not sure what Disney pays either but usually it is more tip based. I can see the point about 'theft' but both the bellman and doorman should hustle (so to say) for your tip.

In comparison when I arrive, I tip the doorman $4-$7 and the bellman $10-$20 depending on the load.

 

[Terry S]

I pretty much tip anyone that touches my bags also. The guy at the airport curb side check in gets $1 per bag. The guy at the hotel that takes them out of my car and stores them gets $1 per bag, the guy brings them up to my room gets $2 per bag. The guy who takes them back down to to store them at the end of the trip get $2 per bag and the guy who gets them from the storage area and puts them in my car gets $1 per bag. Just one caveot here: I don't consider the grocery store bags that I pick up at the store on the way in as one bag each. I kind of look at it as 2 or 3 grocery store bags equals one suitcase.

Last time I was at BCV, I was waiting for the town car to show up and I asked a guy to go get my bags, he went to get them and then left them on the cart at the curb until the town car got there, so I was waiting to tip him until he put them in the car, well when the town car showed up, a different guy started walking towards my bags, the original guy saw him and started to run towards the cart. Not sure what I would have done if the 2nd guy put them in the car.

 

[jmminarik]

Not that we travel so heavy we need a bellhop alot, but we follow the 'tip when delivered' philosophy. It's not my job to manage the delegation of work nor worry about distribution of gratuities. The same applies to valet parking...tip upon delivery of the car.

Assuming we had to use a bellhop, I'd tip $10 per cart. Counting bags is way too formalized for me.

I tend to over tip the wait and cleaning staffs though...they do more work over a longer time performing their services than the bellhops do.

-Joe

 

[SINK]

Whom ever touches our suitcases will get a tip. Typically, it's a $1 per suitcase for the doorman/valet who unloads our bags from the car. Then it's $2 per bag but not less than $10 for the bellman to bring the suitcases to our room. If we only have two suitcases, we take it by ourself.

Similiarly we tip our parking valet attendant both in and out.

 

[CarolynK]

Wow - people tip $10 to $20 for the guy to bring the bags to your room? Figuring this at an hourly rate, if it takes him ten minutes to do this, he is getting at least $60 an hour, or in the case of some extremely generous people, $120 per hour? That is a pretty good living for a job which requires no graduate school.

Please understand that I'm not insulting the intelligence of the bellhops (they are very nice guys, making a living). Obviously people tip what they feel is appropriate, and not everyone tips so high; it continues to amaze me the amounts that people say they tip, every time this topic comes up (often).

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by CarolynK
Wow - people tip $10 to $20 for the guy to bring the bags to your room? Figuring this at an hourly rate, if it takes him ten minutes to do this, he is getting at least $60 an hour, or in the case of some extremely generous people, $120 per hour? That is a pretty good living for a job which requires no graduate school.

Well, that presumes toting bags 100% of the time, which given the number of hops I remember seeing milling about the boardwalk ain't gonna happen. As mentioned, $10 isn't much compared to the over all cost of a trip...and about 1 round of beverages inside a park for a family of 4. I'd rather the money go directly to someone who has to haul bags/wait tables/clean rooms than to the Michael Eisner Executive Bonus Fund anyway.

That and I know there are lots of people (my in-laws being representative of them) that think a $1.00 tip is a lot of money to leave for a waitress at a table of 4...some places in the country tipping just ain't done the same way I was raised.

Besides, if I have so many bags I need a bellhop, that kid will be earning his money.

Please understand that I'm not insulting the intelligence of the bellhops (they are very nice guys, making a living). Obviously people tip what they feel is appropriate, and not everyone tips so high; it continues to amaze me the amounts that people say they tip, every time this topic comes up (often).

Once people start mentioning the tips at 10-20 bucks, the folx who don't tip or tip much less may be disinclined to post how much they tip.

Happy Easter Weekend.
-Joe

 

[LR_BCV]

wow! I don't (or didn't anyway) consider myself cheap, I almost always tip 20% at restaurants when the service is good (and hardly ever less than 15 even if the service is not-so-good as long as the server is not totally surly or obnoxious) but I have never tipped more than $5-$6 for the bellhop and the person who stores them gets $1-2.

We usually don't tons of luggage - mostly smaller suitcases. How hard is it to wheel a car down a hall and remove the bags? I'd prefer they just had carts available for personal use though I can understand why that's not feasible at most places.

 

[Pa@okw95]

To CarolynK, There is an old joke that or just a funny statement that goes something to the effect that the highest paid person in Vegas are the Cocktail Waitress. When I used to go there on a regular bases back some 25 years ago, back then it was estimated they made over $100,000 per year. I personally think the better ones made much more. That was back in the 60's and 70's. Now they required more than a mere graduate degree to make that kind of money of course. The bellman at most hotels have a lot of down time where they do not make the kind of money you suggest. I consider myself a moderate tipper and always give them a minimum of $10 and up to $20 if they do a little extra which some do. When I go on vacation part of the cost is tipping. I tip $5.00 at breakfast even if the bill is $10, $20 to $30 for dinner depending on where it is. I never tip the cleaning people at OKW because they don't do anything in my opinion. When staying for more than a day at any other place I give $5.00 per day. I also bring a bunch of $5.00 bills with me for any thing that may come up like valet parking for the person getting my car only. I tipped the person driving the boat for me at my last Illluminations viewing $30.00, I usually give $20 but he did a little extra also. Tipping is very much part of a vacation at a resort and I never asked how many graduate degrees they have.

 

[luv2vacation]

Just a note to CarolynK and the rest. Maybe that bellmen does have a degree how do you know? I graduated from college with honors and went to graduate school. GUESS WHAT? I am a stay home mom and when I do work I wait table. It funny that customers of mine think of me as "just a waitress. "