How do you warn them? What do you say? Curious because I hate when cabbies talk on their phones the whole way.....

At LAX
 

nay, but there as anywhere else, I do make it a point to say thank you.

Shuttle drivers will generally get a couple bucks from me if they help with the bags, and generally nothing if they don't. I did have one stop for me and let me on the bus the other day, and even though I had no bags that day I gave him a couple bucks.

I did have a rental car shuttle driver in Galveston that went out of his way, after his official hours were over that day to help me (we'd returned the car after the office was closed, and were standing waiting for a cab to the port to get us, which was running much later than it should have been. Shuttle driver was returning to park for the day and offered us a ride over to the port. It was after a long series of flight problems and lost bags, and we were genuinely concerned about actually making it to the ship before it left that day. He got a $20 for that, and my undying appreciation (which probably doesn't really mean a whole lot to him)).

Cheap.....note to self do not visit Westchester NY

Yep, and the hotel van driver can be your best friend if you want to be dropped off and picked up somewhere else. ;)

Don't generally buy into bribery for doing your job. YMMV

Particularly not where you're doing so to get something in return that is not part of the normal service and might disadvantage other customers.

I usually say "I would prefer you not talk on your cellphone when driving". Almost all will stop talking and the rest get no tip. 1 or 2 times I called the PUC and once they actually sent me a refund about 2 mo later (I always get a receipt). I was floored.

MisterNice

Why is that? Because you're afraid you'll have dchristiva as your passenger and not get a gratuity...or because 1 person in an entire county admits to not tipping you have made the assumption that the other 953,942 in Westchester will do the same?

nope, never

If I handle the one bag I have myself, I don't tip - there's no other way to get from the parking lot to the airport, so its not like I've picked some luxury I should tip for.

I was going to make an exception to this when recently traveling on a holiday, as I know its a pain to have to work on a holiday, but forgot too.

Should I need assistance with bags and stuff, sure, tip...

I almost hate to admit it now, but I generally do not. I am of course always polite and courteous, but unless something special is provided by the driver I don't tend to. I have not had any hotel shuttle drivers in recent memory that I have tipped.

Funny, I do tip cab drivers anywhere depending on their courtesy, driving, etc. Maybe I need to rethink the shuttle driver tips now that I'm thinking about it. When I travel with my wife she always tends to tip, she is much more generous than I am.

Always tip.

I've never had so much luggage that I needed help from the driver. It's generally just my briefcase and an overnight bag. How is that cheap? I'm supposed to tip just for the "complimentary" ride in the hotel or rental car shuttle? Give me a break.

If anybody would care to see the biggest shuttle service joke, it's at McCarren int'l in Vegas. It runs between the int'l terminal 2 and the main terminal 1. You can WALK between the two in less than probably 5 mins. I suppose if you have a lot of luggage it's useful. I just had my first experience with it; I got in, the driver was standing outside while the motor was running. The interior was exceedingly hot, like a blast furnace. As I sat down, you couldn't miss a huge sign on the dash area that said something like: "TIPS, 50% of my income is from tips!" Well, already starting to sweat from the intense heat (the motor running contributed to that) and then seeing this sign, I exited and mentioned to the driver, "Whew, it's hot in there!" He then offered to turn on the A/C but I responded, "Nah, that's alright, I'll walk there." If you ask me, how rude, to display a BIG sign like that. And, what does that "50% income from tips" mean anyway? Does that mean that if he makes $3k a month that he gets another $3k a month on top of that in tips? I'll bet that most newcomers to LAS Terminal 2 don't even realize that they can WALK to the adjacent terminal 1 before the shuttle driver even starts out (once more passenger fill in) for the terminal 1. Hey driver: if you're reading this, why don't you try: "Tips appreciated" and not with a giant sign practically blocking one's view through the window?