mickchick

Due to hopefully temporary mobility issues, I booked wheelchair and buggy assistance with BA for check-in at Heathrow and again on return from Miami. The service was brilliant and everyone was very helpful, but afterwards I wondered if I should have tipped. I did tip the helper who took me from check-in at Miami to the lounge and then picked me up later and took me to the plane because after all, this is America and I know the rules. I asked him if I was allowed to take care of him for taking care of me. 'Of course', he replied. Easy peasy. But I had got it into my head that tipping simply isn't done at Heathrow, so i didn't. Later I was told by a friend who is in regular need of special assistance that he always tips at Heathrow and now I am mortified. One problem would have been that I was helped by four different people after I landed at Heathrow: the wheelchair guy who met me off the plane and took me to the top of the jetty; the buggy driver who took me from the jetty to the entrance to the passport hall; the wheelchair lady who took me through the passport line; and the man who wheeled me from passport control to the baggage carousel (and insisted on retrieving my luggage). He also wanted to wheel me and the bags to the car park, where my car was waiting, but I refused that - by this time I had a baggage trolley to lean on. Nobody at any time suggested they expected a tip, but if tipping is the norm for this service, I would have liked to have paid up.

Flexible preferences

Maybe the people at LHR wanted to help you, it certainly sounds like the bolded one did. I wouldn't beat yourself up over this - even if they had expected a tip (which I doubt) they will have long forgotten, it is the self-recriminations going around in your head that are the problem! Smile and let it go!

ds2016

I wouldn’t worry about it, there is no expectation of a tip in UK so nobody would have minded if you didn’t tip.

GlasgowCyclops

Yes and no. Mrs Cyclops uses a chair. We have never tipped. Granted we don't go to the USA.

However, on one occasion we did tip. Came off at VCE and the lady insisted she push all the way to the water taxi so i could manage the bags better. I gave 10euros.

In "normal circumstances" getting through an airport we don't. That is what they are there for.

corporate-wage-slave

Let me reassure you mickchick, that you have done nothing wrong here at all.

I have over the years got friendly with some of the Omniserv crew (and former workers) in LHR and while being helped by 4 staff is a bit unusual, having 3 helpers is not unusual if coming via T5B or T5C. Some people do tip in LHR, I would guess it's a fairly small minority, it really is not expected by the staff - they realise that the last person may do the least work and yet be the obvious person to tip. In the USA the expectation is of course very different - whether I agree with that or not is irrelevant - the minimum wage in Florida is US$8.25 an hour. So though it looks a bit unfair through the prism of that one trip and what you did in MIA, I really wouldn't dwell on the matter. It's true that the LHR assistance staff are not well paid, they are on £8 an hour, slightly more than the National Living Wage, so staff turnover is high, not least because the way to get on in this area is to progress on to jobs paying slightly more. Nevertheless from what I've understood, the staff would rather deal with a friendly pleasant non-tipper than an obnoxious tipper. Your friend who always tips may well be doing a good thing there, but he isn't the norm and the people who assisted you will not be thinking badly of you because of not tipping. They would if you were rude to them (and sadly that happens).

fransknorge

Also at LHR there are regulations for passengers with reduced mobility. What Omniserv is doing is not a factor, it is your legal rights. I would sugest to not tip and to not encourage it..

dwugson

My husband needs assistance and, when we pass through Heathrow usually find multiple people involved in the assistance. If we tipped each one it would cost a small fortune so we tend not to. However, there have been a few occasions when a single person has assisted all the way through and provided service above and beyond - those people do receive a tip from us. However, as commented on in other forums, assistance in London seems to be hit or miss and the last few times I have ended up wheeling my husband rather than waiting a long time for help. Hopefully things will improve with the recent publicity.