Last weekend I traveled out to San Francisco with my brother. We had a rather enjoyable stay at the SFO Airport Hyatt Regency with the exception of one issue. It has long been my policy to not tip Hotel Shuttle Bus Drivers as I was taught this by my travel guru father and other travel happy friends. However our driver this weekend seemed incensed by our refusal to tip him. He stood at the bottom of the stairs with his hand all but out. Now we had carried our bags on ourselves and this driver had picked up a friend of his and dropped him off in a remote industrial area so there was no reason I saw to give him any money. I thought nothing of the incident until we had to ride the bus later, he refused to get out of his seat to help us with our luggage and he spent a good deal of time glaring at us. While we alighted from the bus at the hotel the third time I heard him muttering. Is my policy of no tipping incorrect? Should I rethink my staunch refusal for handouts?

Actually I would speak with the hotel mgr and tell him that although you enjoyed your stay very much, there was one thing that surprised you because it seemed so unusual, and then tell him exactly what you told us.

I sometimes tip shuttle bus drivers and sometimes I don't. I don't really think I have a pattern or a rule, I guess it depends on whether I carry my luggage, whether he opens the doors/is generally helpful, tells me about the area/gives an informal tour, etc. I never tip drivers who talk on their cell phones while driving -- I find it unbelievably rude (as well as dangerous) and it annoys me when they do it. (of course calling the hotel or dispatcher is okay, I'm talking about personal calls).

Now you've got ME wondering about my personal tipping policy. I can't think of a time when I EVER tipped a rental car shuttle driver. The thought never crossed my mind. When I think back, 99% of the time I've always lugged my own bags on & off the shuttle, so I guess I've never really felt that a driver went "above & beyond the call of duty". Once or twice a driver grabbed a particularly large piece of luggage from me, but I didn't tip for it. I suppose in a rare instance I could have parted with a few dollars, but, overall, I don't look at this a service that deserves a gratuity, particularly when the rental cars at most airports are miles from the baggage claim, so I have no choice but to take a shuttle. Plus, most of the time, I've never seen the drivers help anyone with luggage.

In short, as you describe the situation, I don't see anything wrong with your actions.

For some reason I had car rental shuttle drivers on my brain when I wrote my reply. However, as I reflect on my interactions with hotel shuttle drivers, I would say that my response still applies, though I'd be a little less emphatic about it. If I have a lot of luggage and the driver carts the bags to the front desk for me, I would likely give a gratuity.

We usually rent cars w/ Hertz who are very helpful, but I don't tip unless there is a lot of luggage and the driver helps us with it. Most of the Hertz shuttle drivers do not expect tip and are helpful anyway. I would tell the hotel -

This is one of those "Isn't that something!" posts where I would love to hear the driver's version of events. Then I'd love to see a videotape of the drama.

It's not that I believe the OP is not telling the truth, but in my experience, there's a tiny detail or two that gets omitted from these stories 99.4 times out of 100.

Well, if this guy was making detours from the prescribed route to give rides to friends, then you should not tip him and should report him to the hotel. He is wastign your time and that of everyone else on the van, not to mention his employer' gas.

First, no good complaining to the Hyatt, well not much good - they don't run the shuttle. In their infinite wisdom, the airport authorities have told the airport hotels they can't have their own shuttles. I guess it cuts down on traffic. The one that goes to the Hyatt also serves the Marriott, and possibly another property (memory fuzzy here). I do know the shuttle stops at the Marriott before it stops at the Hyatt. I have seen a few iffy detours/waits, although always on the East Coast in personal experience. Still, do you know it wasn't a co-worker being dropped off at employee parking?

Second, if you hauled your stuff on the first time, what had changed that you wanted help the next time? Just curious.

I tip if I get help with bags; if not, not. The last time we were at SFO (last winter) we had only carry-on, didn't tip, rode the shuttle many times in 3 days, and got unexceptional, decent service.

I assumed that the OP just meant that, rather than get out of his seat to SEE if the passengers wanted help with their bags, he simply kept himself planted at the steering wheel of the bus. I could be wrong, but I didn't get the impression that the OP NEEDED or WANTED help with luggage, just that he was illustrating that the driver made no effort to find out if help was warranted.

Is my policy of no tipping incorrect? Should I rethink my staunch refusal for handouts?

Tipping is not a handout.

I never tip shuttle bus drivers. Even if they pick up my luggage, that's what, five seconds?

A porter who carries your luggage all the way from the curb, to check-in, up the elevator to your hotel room and finally inside the room should be tipped, but a shuttle bus driver? That is a hand-out, unless you ratio it for the time involved, which would be a nickel a bag. Tipping a nickel appears to be an insult, so make it zero.

I've seen people tip a dollar to the shuttle bus driver when they had no luggage at all other than a carry-on. Why???

If the driver helps you with luggage you should tip. Since he knew about your policy of not tipping I don't blame him for not doing something he isn't being paid to do.

The hotel shuttles in Newark are supposed to drop you off at the air-train NOT at the terminal. There is a sign in the van telling you if you don't like the policy complain to the airport. It was suggested by the hotel that if you ask and tip the drive will usually risk getting in trouble and drop you off at the terminal. Not sure if the drivers get fined or a warning.

I tip shuttle drivers sometimes, but it's always only if they help with luggage, etc. One time several years ago coming back to an off-airport lot here at PIT, the shuttle driver helped me scrape the ice on the car windows. I hope I tipped him that time, but I can't remember!

Long ago I spent a few months driving a car rental bus. I'd say about 20-30% of the customers tipped. Some people did it if you helped with the luggage, but a lot of the tipping seemed to be based on how long the customers had to wait. If I waited for 10 minutes for a full bus load, it was not uncommon to get no tips. On the other hand, if someone got on the bus, and I took off right away, I often got a tip. Some of my best tips came when people were running late and I left right away, and moved right along. In general, it also seemed that the less full the bus was, the more likely people were to tip.

Odd, there was no sign in the van and the driver had no qualms about hitting the terminals on my last trip to EWR. He simply asked all the pax which one they needed and there we went.

I have never tipped a shuttle driver either until last Friday. We were taking the shuttle from the Airport in LAS to Avis, and the driver helped with the luggage and then spent time talking to my young daughter and making her laugh. I really liked his attitude, and it payed off for him.