Do you tip Centurion Lounge bartenders?
 

On a side note - do you folks tip the bartender at the SFO lounge? I've been tossing down a buck or two per drink but every time I take out cash everyone standing around me looks at me awkwardly and I realize nobody else is tipping. I keep a big stash of $1 bills in my bag just for situations like these. I've had some pretty good drinks there, leaving something behind seems appropriate. Maybe bartending my way through college makes this automatic.

Occasionally I'll see someone else leave some cash but it's definitely not the norm. For chrissake, you are getting free drinks!

What say you?

You paid for the drinks by paying for your card. Trust me, Amex isn’t buying you a drink.

That said, as one who also tended bar years ago I tip very well. For the average joe a buck or two per drink is appropriate and appreciated. Ex bartenders like us need to step up ^

Absolutely tip. I can't see how this is even a question tbh.

You're in the US, that's the culture (rightly or wrongly).

I generally don't tip lounge bartenders, Centurion or otherwise. But I'm also a low touch drinker, usually a draft beer or a simple liquor and mix. I'll leave some cash if I'm squatting at the bar for an inordinate amount of time, or if I'm ordering craft cocktails that actually take time and skill to make well. But tipping for something I could and would prefer to do myself? No. That's part of the reason I like the pm-NW SkyClubs that still have self-serve bars, I get to make my own drink!

And I say this as a guy who tended bar in college during the summers. I think it would be crazy to receive a $1-2 tip for pouring a beer, I think it's equally crazy to pay that amount to somebody else.

Traitor :p

I don't, but I never order mixed drinks, only sodas. That literally doesn't take very long to pour, only about 3-5 seconds.

I hand a fiver when ordering a double.

Amex should reimburse *me* for my time waiting for the bartender to serve me if I just want a diet Coke! No reason that shouldn't be self-serve...
But yes, I try to tip $1 if I have it on anything alcoholic, even a simple glass of wine.

Exactly. There's a good reason (laws about drinking age, for one thing) that a bartender has to serve anything alcoholic. But it's really dumb that Amex pushes the task of serving Coca-Cola and 7-Up onto their bartenders when it could be done by a machine just like the coffee is served. So, I don't tip on non alcoholic beverages, because Amex could solve this problem with a soda fountain.

Do you tip for the coke then? what's the difference between the bartender pouring a glass of wine and pouring a coke?

Expectations in the tipping culture are out of control....and i used to bartend at club where the wait was 5 deep sometimes. i always thought it was funny when someone would order a bottled beer and leave no tip and fellow bartenders would complain about being stiffed....all you literally did was use a bottle opener and hand him a beer.

Now if you want more demanding service or a more time consuming drink like a mojito, then tip.

I drink whiskey neat. I have no problem not tipping for a single pour.

Re: the soft-drink thing - I always feel weird tipping for a Coke. I also feel weird *not* tipping for a Coke. A $1 tip exceeds the value of the Coke, but then again, a tip is supposed to be for the service, right?

I feel like bartenders don't expect a tip for a soft drink (I know I didn't when I bartended), so I generally feel OK not tipping for those. But if I have, like, five Cokes over an extended layover, and the bartender was friendly vs. perfunctory, I will leave them a five-spot at the end before I leave. Illogical? Maybe.

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