pvn

what's wrong with asking a guy for change when you tip him? I don't see how that's possibly "tacky" at all, unless tipping the guy in the first place is considered tacky.

javabytes

Because it's astounding how many drivers suddenly have no change when you hand them a larger bill. Taxis are worse for this than Uber, but it still happens. That's why completely cashless (credit card, app, etc.) is better.

kop84

It's tacky (to me at least) because it feels cheap instead of generous.

Example A: I have a $5 bill to tip the driver
Me: Thanks for the ride - <hands $5 to driver>
UD: Thank you very much, have a safe flight

<End Scence> - very natural interaction and the UD feels good about the encounter as it was simple, brief and to the point. Common pleasantries exchanged, and we both move on with our lives hardly ever giving the other a though. And unless one of us is becomes an unreasonable person, this is really the only way for this interaction to go.

Example B: I only have a $20
Me: Thanks for the ride, do you have change fore a $20?
UD: Hmmm, let me check <looks in wallet/purse>
Me: <waiting awkwardly>
UD: I have a $10
Me: <thinking to myself, I really only wanted to give UD a $5, and now I can stiff the UD, or pay x2 what I was going to>
Me: Hmmm, I guess that's ok <damn social conventions>
UD: Thank you, have a safe flight
ME: Thank you have a good one.

<End Scene>
I don't feel good about this interaction at all, it took way longer, and was awkward, and I felt like I gave the UD too much $ as a tip, but didn't want to appear cheap. And there are several other ways this can go, if the UD has change for a $20, and asks how much I want back, I've to to say $15 please, and then he knows that I could have given more but chose not too.

It might be totally fine, but asking for change there is a ton more variables that have just been introduced, and all because I don't have small bills and Uber won't incorporate tipping into the ap....I also may be slightly neurotic about small social interactions.

Zorak

wandering OT: went on a Caribbean cruise and coming off of a shore excursion the smallest bill I had was a $5 so I held it out and asked for $2 back and the guy made a show of patting himself and then shrugged, "I don't have." And I wanted to ask "what about the $$ the people in front of me just tipped that I saw you hurriedly shove into your pockets" but I just and figured he needed the $2 more than I did.

jamesteroh

In that case I would have just put the $5 back in my pocket and apologized that you didn't have any ones, especially since you knew he had change. He obviously was trying to scam you.

I asked the guy I know that works at my bank that drives for Uber and he said he doesn't consider it cheap at all if someone asks for change. He said a driver would rather have someone for $2 back on a $5 bill than not to tip at all. He said he had it happen a few times and all but one time he had the change. One time someone asked him if he had $15 change for a $20 and he only had $12 and told the passenger not to worry about it and the passenger told him $12 was fine (he said he helped him with a lot of groceries and $8 he thought was a fair tip anyway) and another time someone asked for change and he didn't have it and told the passenger not to worry about it and he didn't get a tip but he rated the passenger five stars anyway since the passengers offered to tip him. He said if the passenger wouldn't have asked him if he had change he would have figured he was being stiffed and would have only given him four stars.

salut0

Yes, at the delta terminal. I was at terminal B.

salut0

I think people are overthinking this and the whole issue is ridiculous. Uber doesn't expect you to tip and doesn't offer the feature, so I don't. If I take a cab I do and a Lyft I might tip.

Tipping in cash just reduces the pressure that Uber drivers can put on Uber to make sure the rev share is appropriate rather than exploitative.

i once tipped an Uber to the airport with extra cash when we had five or six cases and a baby and I was generous. But that's the exception.

jdrtravel

1) not having cash is not the issue for me, it's not wanting to worry about it. Having to think about digging out cash, etc defeats the purpose of it being a cashless transaction. The whole idea of uber is you push a button on your phone, hop in and then hop out. They need to add tipping to the phone.

2) In terms of hotels, some properties in the SPG system claim gratuity is included in the platinum free breakfast.

IndyHoosier

I've been yelled at multiple times by cab drivers when asking for change. One of the many, many reasons why I avoid cabs if at all possible.

jdrtravel

Right. And then you get yelled at for wanting to use a credit card, and somehow, magically, over 50% of the cabs I've been in have "broken" credit card machines...I've started to confirm that I can use a credit card before getting into the cab now.

This is like waiters who get mad that you want to split the bill between credit cards. The world is quickly moving towards a cashless economy, people need to get on board.

krlcomm

Lyft is far superior IMO as well. I rarely use Uber anymore.

jamesteroh

I know at one time in NYC if the credit card machines were down the ride was free so cabbies didn't pull that crap to avoid paying the credit card processing fee and it could be that way in other cities. I wonder what they would do if you got in a cab with no cash and they told you the machine was broken when arriving. I'm sure the machine would miraculously start to work again If I were a cab driver I'd rather pay the cc fee since I wouldn't be out anything if I got robbed.

I don't know why a cab driver would get pissed if you asked for change. If I were driving a cab I'd rather the passenger ask for change and tip me than stiff me or worse put it on a credit card with no tip and stiff me and make me pay a fee.

I was in a car recently in FLL and the driver told me he drives for both UBER and Lyft and it had a touch screen similar to an ipad (may have been an ipad) with a square reader. He must have had it linked to his phone for wifi but it had a couple entertainment apps and if someone wanted to tip they could just slide their card through the reader.

At least we can get miles now if we tip on a lyft with a credit card While 1 mile/$ isn't much it is still nice when combined with 4.5 cents/$ you get from a chase saphire card

bergamini

I have a very slim wallet with little room for cash and, as you know, ATM fees can be $3-4 so electronic tipping is huge. Usually with free breakfasts they bring you a $0 bill and I can charge a tip to the room then. It's worked dozens of times. I get cash for a shoe shine and tip then. It's just so easy to do it electronically that it's a shame Uber isn't with the times.

I took an Uber in Jackson, MS, last week and there was a sign in the car from the driver that said something to the effect of "Tips are not required but if you do want to tip and don't have cash, here are my PayPal and Venmo accounts..." I sent him 15% on Venmo for a tip and the screen shot was a good enough receipt for my expense department. This is what most Uber drivers should do.

I have a friend who drives for Uber and verifies that there is an expectation for a tip.

javabytes

Many cities have headed off this scam by requiring that credit cards are accepted or the ride is free... and usually a placard stating this must be displayed in the cab. Funny enough, I think the machines have ears, because when they hear the words "If you want to get paid, you'll figure out how to fix the machine" they magically start working again. And those rare times there is an actual technical issue, the driver either finds their imprint slips, pulls out their Square reader, or gets on the horn to the taxi company to charge it centrally.

jdrtravel

This must be market specific. In San Francisco, literally all of the ride sharing drivers I ride with have both Uber and Lyft signs in their car and work for both.

I already moved away from Uber due to their terrible corporate culture (I have friend who work there that can vouch for it) but this Delta factor plus the tipping just confirms the choice.

I also know people who work for Lyft and they are much, much happier. I think the leadership at Lyft is just made up of better people. Once I went to lunch at Uber and I felt like I was in a gross frat cafeteria or something. For bro-ey.