COSPILOT

When traveling solo I don't need or care about curbside skycap services, but when traveling with family it can be a savior and worth every penny. Since you mentioned HI, two specific airports come to mind, HNL and OGG. With both, it's much easier to drop the wife and kids curbside with luggage, hand the guy a $20 (or more sometimes) before returning the car.

wtigerFF

That's exactly what we've done at OGG. My husband dumps all the luggage with me curbside and then returns the car. The first few times, I just sat there waiting because I couldn't handle all the luggage by myself, especially with all the different places you have to drag it. Then I discovered the SkyCaps were only a short distance away and asked them for help. They are my new saviors even before I realized that they were going to handle EVERYTHING for me!

schley

I like the skycaps service as they could always make it happen if it absolutely postiively had to be there the next day! Yep they don't interrpt the rules exactly, but isn't this actual service? Where you don't have a computer giving absolutes. I love these guys.

Zappity

I don't see the necessity in BOS. The check in desks are just inside an enclosed and rarely crowded curbfront and the the desks themselves rarely have long lines.

aevange8

This 100%. Due to traffic I showed up at LAX 47 minutes before a flight with pregnant wife, other baby and all the associated baby stuff she (doesn't really) need. Even worse got dropped off on the lower level by the parking spot. I went up the escalator while she waited for elevator with the kid, I came up at the same time sky cap was there with an empty cart. We made eye contact and I had boarding passes 2 mins later just under the cutoff time. $20 tip was well spent. The other 100 times I wonder who is using their service.

wtigerFF

I haven't needed them in BOS recently but about 10 years ago (in Terminal C), when I had no status, my husband and I missed an early morning UA flight at Christmas time because the line to check baggage was so long and slow moving. We had been in line for nearly 1.5 hrs and agents would not help us out of order because I had checked in online. When we finally reached the kiosk, it refused to help us because it was now 29 min prior to departure. No one would help us until the plane was long gone by nearly an hour. Had I thought to use the sky cap, we would have caught our original flight and not had to spend 9 hrs waiting for our new flight.

Now that I have status, it's not an issue but there are often high status folks who have the agents all tied up with a complex situation. I found that the newer self tagging bag drop off can often be faster so the sky cap is not as necessary as long as you can get your bags inside. We've often found ourselves with so many awkward extra boxes of Christmas presents that we're transporting that we're much happier to just dump everything with the skycap and let them deal with it.

In case you can't tell, I'm a big fan of skycaps. Most of the time, I can easily manage without them but when I do need them, they are a Godsend and well worth the tip.

schley

I have used them at ORD when my Hertz rent a car was damaged and took extra time to return. Used one of their volunteer chauffeurs (return agents) who almost harrass you for a ride to the terminal (for a tip of course) instead of waiting for the shuttle. I was 45 minutes until my international flight and this guy from Hertz knew the skycaps by name for UA out front and even said I wonder if xxxxx is working (some nickname). We got there with like 32 minutes until departure and they somehow curb checked my three bags (1 of which was over 100 lbs and only allowed 70 as you know). Well worth this hospitable service on both the Hertz driver and the UA skycap. 2 twenty dollar tips were given and I was thrilled.

They have their purpose and I am a firm believer in the tipping culture in the USA as many make their livings based on this.