davie355

Prearranged ride from home to airport. I get in the back seat and I notice someone sitting shotgun! The driver says "This is my wife."

She says nothing and keeps quiet for the entire ride.

Pretzelsandpeanuts

20 percent or so, basically what I normally tip. I assume there was some legitimate reason for her to be there, this was his last fare and she needed a ride home. Now if she was in the back seat.....

nrr

If she were really his wife, giving him the usual 15%-20% tip is OK.
If she were a passenger (even though she sat in the front passenger seat), you were only given a "shared" ride (which I assumed you did not book), 10% (or even 0%).
How does one verify here real status, might be a touchy issue.

Tchiowa

Taxi or "Airport Car"? Airport car I wouldn't find surprising. Taxi I would question.

Bottom line I guess is that if they took you to your destination promptly and the "wife" didn't interfere with your ride or comfort, I'd pay the normal tip.

prncess674

As long as

• she was quiet (and I would have a problem with chatty drivers too)
• kept her seat comfortably forward as to not infringe on my space in the back seat
• there was ample room for my belongings in the trunk
• we made no extraneous stops
• the car was clean and well maintained

I would tip the normal amount.

I once had Uber Black car service pick me up at LGA and he had on workout clothes. He kept apologizing about his appearance, but frankly I was thrilled to get a car considering the taxi line was completely down the terminal. Sure he could have been dressed nice, but his car was super clean and he got me where I was going in a timely fashion so I was thrilled!

davie355

Booked this company: http://www.rdutaxiinc.com/

Although they actually sent: http://www.taxitaxiofraleigh.com/

mike2200

Whatever you thought was fair a person in the front seat didn't seem to have any effect on the space you needed nor did you state you were inconvenienced in anyway

gooselee

I had a similar situation where I absolutely lowered my tip. Asked my hotel in south NJ to book me an early AM car service to the office. Specified destination (just the name of the town...I didn't have the address when I made the request the night before) and pickup time. Even discussed with FD how long to allow with traffic.

Next morning, about 20 min before my scheduled time, FD calls my room and says the car is there. Great, I reply that I'll be down in a few as I'm still getting dressed. Five mins later they call again to say the driver is waiting.

I arrive downstairs at 7:10 for my 7:15 pickup and am quickly ushered out the front door by the FD person and driver. Didn't even get a chance to check out and get my folio. When I climb in the back of the SUV, another woman is sitting there.

As we are driving, we discover that she had arranged a 7am pickup to go to the airport. My office is sort of on the way but requires a 10-15 minute detour vs. taking the highway straight to the airport. It is clear that she also was unaware that this was a shared ride service.

I got a direct ride to my office, but I did adjust my tip substantially because it felt like the driver was double dipping his fare (mine was certainly the usual full rate). I also felt bad that the woman was now cutting it close for her int'l flight.

And the last kicker: never got the hotel folio emailed and had to spend another couple days getting SPG to nag the property to send it...

cbn42

This is very unprofessional, and may pose a safety risk as well. In some parts of the world, taxi drivers have been known to rob their passengers late at night, and it's always easier if there are two of them working together.

The taxi driver should have asked in advance, "is it okay if my wife is in the car?" and waited for an answer rather than just assuming it would be acceptable.

With that said, I don't think the tip should be affected in any way, especially if the wife was quiet and non-interfering.

Annalisa12

I don't think I would of gotten in the cab with 2 of them in it due to 'stranger danger'. Yes I know a male could do the wrong thing if on his own, but the 2 of them just would of seemed super dodgy to me.

geirfugl

I remember seing several cabs in Paris many a moon ago with big dogs next to the driver,whats the consensus on this,-do you tip the dog separately,or what ??

crabbing

i thought the customary taxi tip is 10%.

GUWonder

I've been in taxis and buses where the driver had their elderly parent, a spouse or young child seated in the front row. This didn't affect my tipping decisions.

In the DC area it used to be sort of normal that cabbies were allowed to pick up additional fare-paying riders under some conditions. This did affect my tipping decisions, in a minority of such situations.

jphripjah

I guess if you were really on the ball you could have asked the wife "when is his birthday?" Then asked to see the guy's driver's license.

I wouldn't get into a taxi with two dudes in it. I did it once in Nepal, one guy was a tout claiming he needed to tell the driver how to find my (well known) hotel, spent the entire time trying to talk me into a trekking tour, followed me in to the hotel to "help" me check in, then I think he called me room a few times over the next few days (I didn't answer).

A few years back I got in a taxi at the airport in Bolivia, the twentysomething year old driver had his young brother in the front seat, I didn't object.

Two adult men, I wouldn't do it again.

mmff

I would tip 0%. But then again, I never tip.