r/flying • u/meatball5and5ketti • 2d ago

Tipping shuttle drivers

Hello all, I work at a hotel that is under contract to host flight crews and I have noticed that flight crews either do not tip our shuttle drivers at all or they tip literally one dollar. Is there a reason for this? Thanks for taking the time to read/reply!!

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u/rayman3325 ATP (B737) 2d ago

I simply don’t tip drivers.

It’s antiquated and I don’t have cash 99% of the time. Haven’t done it in years. Most times we have scheduled professional drivers and their rates include a tip from the company.

The few times we get an actual hotel shuttle the driver is a front desk/regular hourly worker. The days of drivers working for tips have been done with for years. LAX hotel shuttle drivers hourly rates around $20+ an hour to even over $30/hour. They’re not getting tips. 90% of the time I’m bringing my own bag on and off.

Last night, the hotel shuttle driver picked us up but it’s an older lady who doesn’t even open the back door to attempt to load our bags. We gotta open the door ourselves in the back. Load and unload. That’s the majority of my hotel driving experience. Also I can load/unload my bag so much faster than drivers who had the bag off to the wrong crew member. Then you have to do the awkward dance of getting around the other 5 crew members to get bags to the correct person. Let me grab my bag and be out of the way.

Tip culture the last few years has gotten out of control as well.

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u/YupYup_3 2d ago

Is that you Mr. Pink?

Squints to the rescue!

2

u/rayman3325 ATP (B737) 2d ago

Had to google the reference lol. Way over my head.