Is it customary to give someone that pushes your wheelchair a tip?
Thanks.
Don’t know if it’s customary but seems like the decent thing to do. Will await further comments from those with experience.
IMHO as always; YMMV.
Here’s what the AARP says:
But cheapflights.com says:
So the answer is probably yes, tip them, but you won’t find consensus on how much.
For the past few years, my parents have needed wheelchairs to get around airports and they have tipped these people.
My parents always tip the wheelchair attendant.
I always tip $5, $10 if they help with a carryon… or one guy even checked us in at the gate!
I assist handicapped people at my job and I don’t expect a tip.
You’d better - lest they tip you not so gently out of the wheelchair.
Simple. Any time you’re wondering if you should tip, you should.
Should I tip the cashier at Walmart for bagging my groceries?
Yes. Always. As much as you can afford.
I worked at a company that designed software for folks who push wheelchairs in airports. Most of the companies that provide that service hire the cheapest people they can find, pay them peanuts, and treat them like shit. it was one of the worst work scenarios I’ve ever seen up close; the owners barely acknowledged the people who worked for them were human. In reality, they were usually low-skilled folks who not only wanted but badly needed a job. Folks were docked for things beyond their control - things like, for example, the person in the wheelchair wanting to use the bathroom, taking a looooong time to do it, and almost missing their flight. The pushers were not allowed to say anything to the client or try to hurry them along, but it counted as not doing their job correctly regardless.
So yeah, please tip your wheelchair pusher. Chances are they’re being badly treated at their job and (in general) just want to help.
There’s software for the people who push the wheelchairs in airports? What does it do? Is it for scheduling them against the flight schedule?
Nm
Thank you for the replies.
Probably wheelchair assistant would have been a better choice of words.
I now know they do more than just push a chair.
Wouldn’t have caught the connecting flight if not for the pushers. And at arrival they quickly found our luggage when it wasn’t on the lazy susan.
It was for management to schedule folks. There was also a smartphone component that allowed them to track their employees in the airport and communicate back and forth if necessary.
I had two wheelchair assistance people. One at the departing airport and the other at my destination.
Both let me know they didn’t work for the airline. And that they weren’t well paid.
Due to their knowledge of the airport and ease of getting through security, customs, etc. I was happy to tip them. They earned it.
Thank you for your input, folks.
Did you ask or did they volunteer this information? Because if they volunteered it, it’s pretty blatantly asking for tips.
I would happily tip any wheelchair assistant like those mentioned in this thread if I was in a position to need one, but I agree that this would make me feel obligated, then awkward, and probably after all was said & done, finally a little bit resentful…
Tipping Culture really is fucked, and all but impossible to completely get away from, and I write that from a country where tipping is, for locals at least, incredibly uncommon and unneeeded, yet even here still occassionally rears its ugly head.
As I said, my parents tipped the wheelchair attendants, but the etiquette is that they’re not supposed to ask for it. Essentially, the pretense is that the fact that they’re getting a tip is a surprise to them. Weird as that may be.