Tag Archives for tipping.
Airports say concessionaires cannot simply raise listed prices, so instead travelers get hit with a growing list of surcharges that do the same thing more opaquely. The result is a strange bit of airport economics: prices look artificially lower than they really are, wage and benefit costs get broken out as separate fees, and workers may not even come out ahead because those extra charges can reduce what customers leave as tips.
Delta Air Lines is now making guests check bags before entering the dining room at its Delta One lounge at New York JFK, after what staff described as a very serious recent incident. At the same time, passengers buying upgraded drinks are being asked to tip in SkyMiles, adding a tacky new twist to what Delta sells as a premium ground experience.
I hate tipping because of the frictions. You don’t know what you’re supposed to tip, it’s ambiguous. You’re supposed to have cash? It’s so much better when employees are compensated by their employers and listed prices are the amounts you actually pay.
If tipping is supposed to ensure better service, why is it such a bad customer experience?
A flight delay sent one American Airlines passenger to the Flagship Lounge at DFW for a quick shower. When they finished, they returned the key, said “thank you,” and started walking away—until the employee stopped them cold: “Where is the tip?”
Marriott has added in-app tipping, routing payments through a third-party processor—an escalation beyond the QR-code tip prompts that have spread through hotels since the pandemic. This isn’t really about guest convenience; it’s about shifting more of employee compensation onto customers so hotels can staff up while keeping wage costs (and owner expenses) down.
A reader thought AAdvantage Dining had started charging for earning miles after seeing an “Advantage Program Fee” on their restaurant receipt. It turns out the fee comes from the restaurant’s point-of-sale system — a credit-card surcharge disguised with a confusing name.
It’s particularly galling to see a tip solicitation in this guest room at the Rapid City, South Dakota Hyatt Place – they’re suggesting a minimum tip of $5, but angling towards $10 or $15, when the property… isn’t doing daily housekeeping!
One rumor about tipping just isn’t true, that when you pay for premium drinks with SkyMiles at a Delta Sky Club that the airline pockets the tip and doesn’t pass it onto the server.
As one customer explains, flying from Denver to Seattle, they ordered a beer and snacks – Frontier charges for both – and they’re “presented with tipping options on [the payment] screen with min tip option 18%.”
Tipping is absolutely out of control. And now that legislation is advancing in Congress to exempt tips from income tax, we can expect it to spread further and faster. When you subsidize something, you get more of it.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
