nkedel

I'm not sure everyone WOULD tip under those circumstances, and I suspect the answers you get will vary widely.

Assuming I had bags and got assistance with them from the driver, I'd probably tip something but probably nothing proportional to the $110 cost of the tickets. Regular city or intercity bus drivers are not tipped, and for something like Supershuttle I'll normally just tip a couple dollars unless they've done something out of the ordinary or I have a ton of bags.

wharvey

Sounds like this is not a trip to the city. What shuttle bus? And where is it going?

I would probably tip $5. Is a tip not included in the rate?

pinniped

For restaurant waitstaff in the U.S., I don't think of it this way: it's so ingrained in the culture and in the underlying mechanics of the labor market for waitstaff that it's simply part of the cost. It is a system that benefits the restaurant owner, often at the expense of everyone else, but in the U.S. it's business interests that call the shots. Thus the tip doesn't either reward good service or insure against bad - it just is.

That said, for many other professions that are starting to get tipped, it totally feels like "look after my car". We had a thread about tipping plumbers a few months back. That definitely had the feel of "tip the guy so he doesn't screw up the job." (My actual experience with plumbers is not this at all - the mostly good professionals who do good work, and many would probably take offense to the idea that they must be bribed to get a job right.)

sydunipete

The shuttle bus is going from JFK to Philadelphia. It's not a public bus service but one of those shared mini-bus shuttles.

I haven't seen an invoice yet to know if a tip is included.

Thanks for the responses so far.

wharvey

Do you have a link to the company website? We might be able to research for you.

sydunipete

http://supertranspa.com/

pinniped

I've only done the NYC-Philly bus thing one time: I think I tipped a porter a buck to throw my bag onto the bus. It was a bigger bus...I didn't interact with or tip the driver.

In this case, sounds like more of a large van where driver = porter, I suppose I'd tip a couple bucks for handling/stowing luggage. The aforementioned $5 wouldn't be out of line. (I wouldn't necessarily *like* it, but I would probably do it.)

Just assume your invoice won't make any mention of a tip. Fare + taxes is more likely. I would be happy to be wrong here...

gglave

I used to take a similar shuttle from Denver airport to Keystone resort in the US Rockies. I'd ride a return trip monthly.

I would always tip the driver - Usually around $8.

sydunipete

So taking the middle-ground here : if all he does is open the boot (sorry trunk) for my bags and is grumpy and does nothing more than get me from A to B then I think twice about a tip. If he respectfully places my bags in the trunk, drives well, shares some amusing anecdotes and gives us a guided tour of Philadelphia as we make our way to our final destination in a timely fashion then a $10 or $15 tip would be appropriate (for 2 people).

Thanks for your help.