Tag Archives for tipping.
A recent discussion created online buzz wondering whether it’s necessary to tip the person who cleans airport lounge showers between each use? The poster prompting the discussion tipped $5 at a Delta Sky Club and felt bad for not tipping $10. This seems to be thinking about the issue all wrong.
Airport self-checkout kiosks demand tips. I’ve even had one that wouldn’t allow opting out.
In fact, websites now solicit tips. You never even deal with a human. You book a hotel, and boom – please add on to the charges!
Nearly everyone on a flight has paid a different price for an identical seat going to the same destination. Different people have different willingness to pay. Airlines have become good at figuring out how much they can charge each customer for each flight.
Why shouldn’t airports get in on some of the action. And the simplest way to do it is just to ask a customer, did we charge you too little? Would you like to pay more?
A limited-service hotel’s self-serve continental breakfast had a tip jar beside the cereal tower, and even pre-seeded the jar with cash to imply that other guests are offering tips.
We’ve all experienced tipflation: an expectation that we tip more, and more often, than ever before. When you walk up to an iPad to pay for a purchase you know what’s coming next. You’re literally standing in line to pay for something you picked up from a shelf yourself, and you’re about to be asked to tip for it. How does this make sense?
And then you’re presented with choices, maybe 20%, 22% and 25%. When did tipping expectations go so high?
Hotels want guests to give tips to workers, so they can pay lower wages. The CEO of one hotel ownership group actually said the quiet part out loud.
In 2019 Hilton’s CEO said that even he didn’t tip housekeeping. But now hotels are pushing it, and we face a collective action problem. The practice pushes down housekeeper wages, but if an individual guest doesn’t do it that’s less money in a given housekeeper’s pocket on that given day.
The range of things for which tipping is being solicited in the United States has grown tremendously. Tipping, it seems, is no longer just for personal services someone provides – like a waiter in a restaurant, or a stylist in a salon. You’re asked to tip when you bus your own tray after waiting in line for food at a restaurant. You’re asked to tip when picking up food for carry out. And the amount you’re asked for has grown, from 15% to 20% and now sometimes 25%.
Surely there has to be a line. How much will we stand for? Isn’t a reasonable principle that tipping ought to be reserved for service provided by people and not machines?
I ran into a retail shop at the Austin airport that requires a tip when paying by credit card. This isn’t a sit down restaurant with table service. You pay at the counter, and I was buying a bottle of water.
The payment terminal at the concession requires you to select a tip amount prior to processing your card. $0.00 is not accepted.
Hotel chains aren’t pushing guests to tip out of affection for their lowest-paid employees. They’re doing it as a way of controlling owner costs. The CEO of one hotel group even says they need guests to tip more – so they don’t have to raise wages.
Nationally consumers are tipping 16.9% on bills at quick-service restaurants, 19.6% on bills at full-service restaurants, and 14.5% on takeout and delivery – but it varies a lot by state. How does your state tip, and are you more or less generous than your neighbors?
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 »
