[QUOTE=flysurfer] ...very broad consensus among FTers that tipping airline staff is not appropriate, especially in Germany...

... 12-place F compartment (747-400) ...QUOTE]

Flysurfer-- The two tippees (both drivers) seemed surprised but pleased, rather than "shocked and dismayed." My German friends had advised that they thought tipping LH employees was okay so long as the recipients were limited to those wrestling with machinery and baggage, and the amounts were not excessive. However, if FTers familiar with this scene uniformly disapprove, I will knock it off.

I can only apologize for the tantalizing reference to a 12-place F compartment. It is, of course, 16 places; I was just typing faster than I could think. (In my own defense, that's a common problem around here.)