When I am travelling with the family and we have multiple bags, car seats, a stroller, etc... I usually tip a few dollars when they help me get it all into the shuttle and then off again.

Of COURSE I tip my driver, esp. if he or she helps me with bags or performs some other special service. But always a DOLLAR at the very least!

The only time I haven't tipped a shuttle driver in US was in Minneapolis -
I believe he was unaware that my wife and I were from UK when a made a crack to the couple in front about the British not tipping.

Felt I had to live up to his stereotyping.

skywest stiffs shuttle drivers
 

I started driving flight crews to and from the airport 30 years ago. It was $1 from the pilot(s) and .50 from each flight attendant. You could bank on it. My rent then was $240 per month.



Today I drove 12 crew members and received $3. I am on a break before the last two crews I am scheduled to pick up tonight. Who knows how long I may have to wait for them. I check frequently, and have a near perfect record of being there when a crew walks out the door.



I have called the airport curb the most #@%-forsaken land on Earth. My job is to be there when you walk out the door and safely transport you to your hotel. I am a tour guide, and full of funny and historical knowledge. I like to share that info, but will not interrupt a conversation a crew member is having on the phone or with another.. I only bring this up because when a crew of three to four totally stiffs me, or I get $1 total, it pisses me off. I try not to; but I tend to take it out on the next crew with curt responses, and a general tone of quiet disrespect.



This is so unhealthy for me, I quit three months ago and went on a SOUL SEARCH. Was it me? A bartender who doesn't care when a customer stiffs him once or twice because somebody is going to give me much more than I deserve. I don't remember all the $100 tips I have received in these 30 years as a tour guide, limo driver, or sometimes for a simple airport transfer.



Am I the guy who is only acting like he is service oriented? Who pretends to be of service to others, but inside his behavior is contingent on being EXTRA rewarded.



I got a job at the Capitol Hill Senior Assisted Living Community. I serve breakfast lunch, and sometimes dinner to some of a group of 50 Octogenarians plus. I do so without anticipation of any financial remuneration. I don't mind. I think of these people as having paid their dues.



You guys, many in the prime of your life, do not get the same pass.

Do you feel better after letting that out? I'm not asking sarcastically or anything. Sometimes you need that cathartic release.

I do tend to tip shuttle drivers particularly ones that make effort to announce stops clearly, help with luggage if I have a lot though I'll usually travel lighter or handle it myself and are pleasant. Then again I am from NY so coming from a tipping society helps make it automatic.

I can see crews maybe seeing it as something corporate is supposed to cover for their layovers/turnarounds and the days of 30 years ago when pilots were still seen as kings of the sky is generally over.

Not rational I know....

car rental shuttle. Never
hotel shuttle. Always, even if only a carry on bag that I handle. More if luggage that they handle. Less if I have to wait a long time even after calling the hotel.

actually yes, I feel better having released that. I was pulled away from the thread to pick up a single flight attendant, but she gave me a dollar, and the next crew stood up with $3/4. One more crew tonight and if all goes well, McDonalds

ended the night with $9 from 21 flight crew members in 7 "legs". While I was happy with the late night splurge, and many, many kind greetings from these professional travelers, aaaand I enjoy providing a safe space for them to vent about their passengers. That is locked up behind lawyer-doctor-shuttle driver confidentiality agreements. Too bad my final stiff was the captain of flight 3465. I didn't notice her face when I carefully loaded her belongings into my SUV, but watched her walk away, noticing 3 stripes, a JLO hairstyle, and no dollar bill in my hand

a final note on 2/11/2020. Kudos to the (I presume) Captain of Skywest 3024 who sat up front, and called his wife, and said "I love you" to his sons.