Tip for driver?
 

My friends are sending their car service (hired, not employee), to pick me up at LGA to take me to their home in CT. It will be about an hour's trip. What's the appropriate tip? I'm thinking $20, is that enough?

Stop the tip inflation!
 

You might want to have this moved to the Travelbuzz section to get more results. It is hardly a woman specific question. $20 seems hugely generous. That's probably more than the driver is paid per hour by his company. You would be more than doubling his salary. In addition, he might receive a tip from your friends, too. If all he has to do is pick you up at the baggage claim, take your luggage and put it in the trunk, then drive you to the destination for an hour, $5 should be good enough. There is no particular skill or hard labor involved in performing those duties. If you have somebody mow your lawn (a much harder job) you give them perhaps $20 an hour and no tip. This person earns probably already $20 an hour for an easier job. And you want to double that?

You could compromise and give $10 but $20 is just adding to the tip inflation.

The only exception I see is if he is a former elite armed services guy who actually performs some live saving security driving stunts while you are being attacked with RPGs. Let's hope this won't be the case.:D If it were the case, I'd tip $20. rotfl

On the other hand I'd make sure to thank your friends appropriately, although one could also have the position that it would be nicer to pick you up personally or the position that you should pay your own way.

Till

Uh, $20 isn't that much on a (presumably) $120 or so cab ride (depending on how far into CT, but that's pretty much a minimum for any half-decent car service).

But, be careful, a lot of NY car services include tip.

For me a tip is not primarily based on the cost of the service (which in this case includes quite a bit of gas, the usage and maintenance of the vehicle, administration cost, driver salary, cost of operating a business, plus profit margin) but on the type of service. It is an amount paid exactly to one individual providing a particular type of service. The fact that the driver is supposed to be punctual, courteous, helpful and -above all- a safe driver MUST be taken for granted and is thus included in the price of the service as a whole. Thus any tip is more of a symbolic nature and is more an act of goodwill than of a percentage based tipping scheme.

But I also find the US restaurant tipping scheme to be ridiculous, so my opinion is untypical. We've had the tipping discussion before and all possible arguments have been made. Non specific to women, by the way.

If Ginger feels like tipping generously instead of gingerly, she should do that. Personally, I find $20 borders the ridiculous, $5 borders the stingy or very reasonable or European (i.e. ME) and $10 might be in line with an American attitude.

I have tipped $20 for a person pushing me in a wheelchair at the airport. But that was 30 minutes of constant physical work for a woman pushing a man and dealing with his luggage. For a man to drive a woman in a motorized and comfortable vehicle shouldn't deserve this much of a tip just because it is a luxury product and environment. Otherwise, to keep the scale, we would have to tip the wheelchair woman $50-100. That would raise her salary far above the salary of a university professor with a Ph.D. in humanities (based on $80k/y at 45 weeks x 40hrs resulting in an hourly salary of $44). Besides the fact that university prof. is probably the more agreeable job overall, it is also the more demanding job in all regards but the physical one. And it delivers a higher value to society at large. Nobody ever tipped a professor, besides that even gifts of gratitude worth more than $20 are usually not allowed.

All this to say that $20 on top of the salary for performing the job he is paid to do anyway and that doesn't demand a whole lot of training or know-how seems like an awful lot. Plus, as the a priori question indicates, she doesn't even know, if he will at least do his job in a normal fashion, let alone a fashion that would command a tip doubling his salary.

Till

You're sorely mistaken in that there is no "American attitude" when it comes to tipping at New York. We were at 20% long before the rest of the country exceeded 15%.

We tip de rigeur at rates many would consider egregious. But it's what done.

Would you go to Japan and insist on your $10 tip?

I hope not.

So when you go to NY, you conform to NY's tipping customs. $20 is an appropriate tip for this ride. No less.

Excess doesn't need to be matched, just the habit itself. The basic tip is about 10% for driving/taxis - esp when there is limited personal service, e.g. lifting your luggage into the trunk, etc. The over-tipping you prescribe to definitely happens in many locales, NY among them, but that does not mean everyone needs to follow!! I'd guess you tip over and beyond many others on a regular basis, regardless if you're in NY or not. I know many NY'ers (and others) with a lot of money who do so. You can tip whatever you'd like but as I respect my funds a bit more than that, I'll stick closer to the standards used throughout the country.

I suggest the same for the OP - do what you're comfortable with, don't feel compelled. In truth - this is a tip, not a required charge and if in the end, you'd like to add $0, that is allowed, as well.

Yup, Ginger, it is, especially going from LGA into CT. Curious, how far into CT? Others might scowl but this indeed is the appropriate thing to do. Who knows, your friends might have already taken care of the tip.

I think $20.00 is appropriate.

Bobette

Please follow this in TravelBuzz.

l'etoile
Women Travelers moderator

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm always happy to tip (many years as a waitress in college), and stevenshev is right, norms differ, and NYC and LA are always higher than the rest of the country. If you're going to do something, do it right! That's what FT is all about ;)

^

I would do $20 also, unless the driver behaved poorly in some way. I usually tip taxi drivers 15%, but a minimum of $1. If this trip is about $120, then 15% would be $18 -- close enough.

I confess I don't understand this tipping thing at the best of times - Americans travelling all over the world leaving a little trail of money wherever they go. But I cannot understand why you would tip someone whose service was given to you by a third party. The third party, surely, should take care of any tips that are deemed necessary.

+1 and since my wife is American I am constantly pushed towards this 'culture'.

As a Brit i tend to follow the 10% rule for cabs/limo's, unless service has been really good. I now feel slightly embarrased after reading this thread, :)