Tipping

[flybynightly]

I fly corporate and charter and tip line guys in certain places, especially for lav service.

What kind of tipping do any of you do?

I've discovered if you don't tip the guys in Aspen you can pretty much forget getting any kind of service.

 

[na265]

We usually only tip for lav service or de-icing. $10 for either one. We are a 91 flt dept.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

tipping strictly depends on the service....
If they did a good job and helped you out (PBI is a good example) ...tip em'!
If they do a nasty job like a lav on a westwind....20$ easy.
If they give you a ride to the hotel down the street...5$

Just please dont do like a lot of a$$holes.....stiff hard working line guys then turn in 50$ on your expenses for "hotel and line tips"...make money some other way.

Nothing worse than a crusty a$$ old senior airline captain who waits for the hotel guy to unload his bag, then turns around and walks away......

 

[Timebuilder]

Nothing worse than a crusty a$$ old senior airline captain who waits for the hotel guy to unload his bag, then turns around and walks away......

I can top that.

How about when you fly the multimillionaire owner of the jet you are flying, who knows darned well what you are making, and that it is easily 20K below industry standard, and says "great job" when you land and walks away to his limo.

 

[bigD]

How about when you fly the multimillionaire owner of the jet you are flying, who knows darned well what you are making, and that it is easily 20K below industry standard, and says "great job" when you land and walks away to his limo.

Do pilots generally get tipped in these situations? I never knew that. Interesting...

 

[Timebuilder]

Tipping is more a matter of personality than anything else.

One regular passenger, a very famous, and you could say infamous supporter of the Clintons, who has money to burn, never tips. Perhaps she is saving up for her next bu** lift.

Another passenger, a madison avenue ad exec, travels with his family, and always tips.

It amazes me that people who would never fail to tip the lineman who carries their bags out to the curb, or the limo driver that takes them to their high rise in Manhattan, can regularly ignore the crew who works for the company that beats all the other charter quotes in the Northeast.

As we recently discussed here in reference to the captain who was interviewed for the WSJ article, I think that many folks think that the basic Lear crew is paid the same as a senior Delta captain, and would be somehow "insulted" by a tip.

Who knows.

 

[lumax]

Not to be a scrooge, but the act of tipping has gotten out of control. I worked as a fueler for GA aircraft and I never expected to receive a tip.
Off the aviation subject: I was recently in New York where I noticed bus drivers getting tips. Why?
Why should I tip when I buy an ice cream, or coffee, or sandwich?
Is that not their job? I am almost certain that their wages are not adjusted for tips (correct me if I am wrong).
I understand waiters, hotel drivers, airport curb side checkers (which I do tip) because their wages are adjusted for tips.
Whats next pilots, lawyers, doctors?

Just my view on tipping

 

[Gulfstream 200]

no tipping is not out of control

Its simple, you tip for GOOD SERVICE.

I agree, a bus driver getting tipped is weird, loser gotee wearing treehuggers bumming at Starbucks dont need tips for serving a 4$ latte (they need to shave and get a better job) but anyways.........

BUT, if a line guy eagerly helps you and empties your crapper instead of walking away and hiding, he is doing good service and I am glad to throw him 20$ for it. If I have to hunt someone down and waste an extra 30 mins after a long day, screw it, I aint tipping...BAD service.
I appreciate when line guys/gals help me get out of there ASAP.

All I am saying is that pilots are usually embarassingly cheap. Be nice, if a kid working at the fbo quickly gets the van and volunteers to run you to the hotel, suggests a good place to eat or tells you where the good titty bars are, throw the poor kid 5$ or so....they appreciate it and it gives pilots a better reputation...

 

[CatYaaak]

tipping strictly depends on the service....
If they did a good job and helped you out (PBI is a good example) ...tip em'!
If they do a nasty job like a lav on a westwind....20$ easy.
If they give you a ride to the hotel down the street...5$

Just please dont do like a lot of a$$holes.....stiff hard working line guys then turn in 50$ on your expenses for "hotel and line tips"...make money some other way.

Nothing worse than a crusty a$$ old senior airline captain who waits for the hotel guy to unload his bag, then turns around and walks away......

G200 is right on (and $20 or more for someone who maneuvers a Weswind lav out succesfully is money well spent!).

Those who do their job well make your life easier and the owners/pax happy. They make you look good, especially the line guys and CSRs, who keep things running smoothly. Believe me they remember who gives tips as a sign of appreciation of a job well done, and will do it again for you. Line personnel remember aircraft and crews. Be the kind of crew they like to deal with, and this means more than just $$.

As G200 pointed out, the minumum tip for any ride should be $5, not the $1 which is the norm in the airline world. There is NOTHING more miserly than a crusty old airline captain making $250,000/year. Sometimes you can even catch them stuffing their half-eaten crew meal into their drag-bag for later consumption at the hotel room.

You expense the tips, so unless you go crazy with it, its regarded as part of doing business. Apply it where it counts.

Timebuilder....

The subject was GIVING tips, not getting them. If you, as a pilot, EXPECT to get tips, and harbor feelings of being slighted by not being tipped by the owner/customer because they can afford to pay the bills for your kerosene-powered ride, and most of which ride in limos (big deal), then you are most definitely in the wrong business. Class envy (no matter how much you are making), really has no place in the corporate aviation world, much like an "us vs. management" attitude has no place in it either. Salaried employees, even "below industry standard ones", don't normally recieve tips.

If you are flying jets for charter and EXPECT tips like a waiter, then I assume you split your tips with the mechanic back home, just like a waiter does with the bus boy. After all, he helped make your tip possible, didn't he? A customer already shelled out big bucks for the aircraft and crew...it was sold to him that way. Why should you expect to get a tip just for doing your job AS A PROFESSIONAL?

Do passengers hand tips through an airliner cockpit door, even when some of those pax could be worth a few mil themselves? Would you feel the same way if you saw an airline passenger climbing into a limo curbside? I doubt it.

 

[BE58 Driver]

Tipping?

I can say that as an out of work pilot who is currently working at an FBO the tipping is apprecaited. I never thought the line guys job is what it is. You are their long hours because your pay/benefits is terrible and are always in the weather good and bad. Lately has been mostly bad. So I can say from experience we apprecaite the tips. I am about to get ready to go out to dinner for the first time in about 2 months with my girlfriend from saved tips. I certainly would not tip bad service, but if we do our job right take care of us. Thanks again