I tip hotel shuttles ONLY if they assist with luggage AND I have singles (usually when I use a hotel shuttle it is due to an unexpected stay).

The rental shuttles I've been on usually don't touch luggage and i'm not going to swim upstream to tip.

I always try to use curbside check-in as it is faster and I always tip per bag. A little more if they also get my boarding pass. Usually ends up 3 to 5 bucks for one person, one bag. Especially if they change your seat.

Also the shuttle driver. If you do not get out of the seat and help me, no tip. One guy scraped my windows at DTW when I had lost my snow brush. He got 5 bucks extra, heavy snowstorm.

I also make sure I always have dollar bills and fives or tens if appropriate. There is no excuse not to tip just because you did not plan your cash out accordingly. Kind of like eating out and not tipping because you only have enough money for the food.

If you do not want to tip do not use services where tipping is expected.

Last time into DTW with 8 bags the porter got our bags, took us to the fast guy in customs, got us a Metro Car and found me a lighter as they were loading the car. That guy got a huge tip.

I had never experienced that in US or Asia, perhaps a practice in Europe ?

If the showers are full, no matter how much you tip, you still have to wait. If I see someone tip the shower attendant in order to get to the front of the line, I would not hesitate to report to the lounge agent right away. This is not a restaurant or a bar.

No matter how poorly paid staff, they should accept as it is, if not find another job get better paid. They should have an atitude of helping and serving people, not expecting to be tipped, and should refuse any tip.

I always tip the cabana attendant in the CX F lounge in HKG (HKD 10) and from their reaction it is clear that tips are few and far between. They recognize my face and never have to ask for a cabana, it is always available, special service or not. I tip hotel maids etc. generously not because I am tipping for service but because I feel compassion for workers doing a hard job for low pay. There is a social responsibility when traveling the world, particularly if you are flying F.

As for tipping baggage porters at US airports, sometimes it is pragmatic to tip generously if you want special service. Such as the porter taking extra care that your bags are properly tagged and arrive on time to the right sorting area. Sure that should happen without a tip, but with a big enough tip they will take a second look to make sure it is all OK before moving on. I would never consider using curbside check-in without leaving a tip (unless I wanted that suitcase to be run over by a bus).

Ah. Well. There's an "expected" tip and a "required" charge. I suppose the obligation is a little less strong in the first case than in the second. But I wouldn't know this situation terribly well. ;)

You misunderstand
 

There is no charge either for a propelled wheelchair nor for rides in the electric cart. My tips are purely voluntary based on my appreciation of the service.

ralph

LOL! I remember ordering a pizza once from a company that promised a "30 minutes or free" deal. Of course, it ended up taking two hours. At 45 minutes I called the place and spoke to the manager who assured me that the pizza would be free. He said the delivery guy got lost.

Finally, the delivery guy got there 1 hour and 30 minutes late and I took my free pizza. Stunningly, as I am closing the door, the delivery guy says "You know, a tip is standard". I couldn't belive it, the guy delivers my pizza 2 full hours after I ordered it, it's cold, and he wants a tip..then has the nerve to ask for it outright. I closed the door in his face and called the manager back to file a complaint about the delivery guy. I don't think he lasted long.

The worst case for me was The Pasadena Brewing company about 5 years ago..it has since been put under new management and advertised as such..which is never a good sign.

Anyhow, the wife and I showed up and went to the hostess stand. She was on the phone and it was obvious it was with a friend by her conversation. She looked at us and gave us the "Hang on a sec" finger while she continued to chat about her hair for another minute. This would have been bizzare enough, but it got worse. We were seated, and nobody came to take our drink order for 40 minutes. Now, you may be wondering why I didn't just flag someone down, but after 10 minutes I started to wonder just how long it would take them to do it on their own. It was sort of an experiment at this point. Finally someone came to take our order, and we put in our food orders as well. This was the last we saw of anyone for another 50 minutes!! At this point it was more of a show than a dinner out, and we stuck it out just to see how bad it could actually get. We thought they were so inattentive, we could probably have walked out on the bill too! Finally they bring the meal and someone actually apologized for the poor service, and told us our drinks and deserts would be comped for our trouble. Great. It then took another 45 minutes to get someone to bring the bill and when they did, of course NOTHING was comped and there was extra stuff on there we did not order. Long story short, my tip was 4 nickels at the bottom of my dirty pint glass.

On another occasion, a co-worker and I were at Blondies in Colorado Springs. Nobody else was in there. The bartender and the waitress were behind the bar doing shots. Finally they took our order as if we were troubling them. I got my food in the normal time, but my co-worker did not get his. At about the 40 minute mark he asked, and the drunk waitress went to look for it. She brought it, and it was obvious it had been sitting waiting for pick up for that 40 minutes. It was cold and withered....she said "sorry, we are so busy"..but NOBODY WAS THERE. Come bill time, I filled in zeroes on the gratuity line. With happy faces in them!

It is more insulting to tip a stupidly small amount than to not tip at all. Failing that, some insult is appropriate, such as happy faces in the zeroes and a nice mess for them to clean up.

I´ve experienced this in the US, Canada, UK and Germany, and I´m sure there are many other countries where it happens much more often.
It´s not up to me to judge whether paying a "tip"/"expedite fee" is appropiate or not, but when considering the working conditions it´s really not surprising:

- it´s not a nice job and they get paid $5-$10/hour.
- most cleaning staff I´ve met hardly speak English
- most pax are either grumpy about no showers being available, and if they are most pax don´t even say "thank´s"
=> a friendly "good morning" and "tipping" $5 while asking whether it may be possible to avoid a 2h wait is likely going to work

While I´m not a huge fan of tipping in general, I do try to be generous if the service was good, and IMO any F pax should be able to tip $2-$5 when enjoying the F shower/spa/...

not tipping at curbside checkin is an invitation for lost bags.

They may be able to but why should they? Showers and spas are an advertised service which is included in the price of a ticket; they are free to use in airport lounges elsewhere in the world.
Kerbside check in is an advertised service that is paid for in the price of a ticket. Why should you feel menaced into paying extra for the service?

It is likely that F passengers are wealthier than most people they meet outwith their immediate work environment. But thay shouldn't feel obliged to right the wrongs of the world by handing out money to everyone they encounter. There are much more sensitive ways to give to charity and if people didn't tip then employers would have to pay proper better wages.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330m/4.5.0.186 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

I agree with you 100%, saying F should tip more is absurd, but about the curbside check in I am just telling you the reality..I am a fellow cheap charlie

I do not tip for services I am forced to use. (Example: consolidated rental car shuttle buses)

I tip for services I have a choice in using. (Cab or hotel shuttle)

Most the the showers in airlines lounges are all handle by the lounge agent who work for the airline, they keep a list, if not a separate shower agent rotate between duties in the front like in NRT RCC or NRT NH lounge. Therefore, what you tip to someone is actually after you finish the shower for the cleaners. Rather than to tip the agent in front to get to the front of the line, they do earn more than $5-$10 an hour, and come with full health and travel benefits.

Even if I fly F, and I had, never tipped anyone, if someone is nice enough on the ground or up in the air, I would write down their names and send a compliment letter to the airline. Only those really go the extra mile on long haul flights FA, or an unexpecting upgrade, then I would buy a box of chocolate from the duty free, but never tip anyone for standard service that I am supposed to expect.

That seems fair enough. I guess that's why the idea of tipping for wheelchair assistance is so abhorrent. People with disabilities face enough barriers as it is without the relatively few wealthy disabled people creating an expectation that you must tip people who accommodate your disability.