Oh joy -- ANOTHER person to tip

The BBQ Pit
1

Several recent threads have dealt with the idiocy of tipping. Myself, I wish tipping had never begun. But since some people depend on it for their living, I comply. E.g., I tip 20% in restaurants if the service is even marginally acceptable. Servers are not only expected by their employers to earn part of their income this way, the IRS taxes them on it whether they make it or not. Convention has placed me into labor negotiations with them every time I sit down for a hamburger, but that’s no reason to stiff them.

That said…

What really pisses me off are people who try to vote themselves raises by asserting new tipping conventions, out of the blue effing sky.

Which (figuratively) takes us to the incidents prompting this rant…

Flying out of BWI last week, the ticketing agent took my checked bag, and handed me my two boarding passes (there was a connecting flight in Phoenix). He went through the usual speech, “OK, Mr. Shakespeare, you’ll be boarding at gate B14, here’re your boarding passes, your luggage is checked through to Las Vegas,… and let’s not forget a small tip for the man”.

He was a fast talker, and the shift from the standard info to a pitch for a tip was so abrupt, that I’d already thanked him and started walking away before I realized I’d been hit up.

I always vacation by car. So until a recent job change, I hadn’t flown much for a long time. But last I remember, checking bags at an airline counter was not a service that required a tip. I assumed that this guy was just greedy, trying the sneaky strategy I mentioned above.

But he doesn’t seem to be alone.

Yesterday morning, I checked in for the return flight in Vegas. The ticketing agent gave me my boarding passes, paused, and said, “And I will be taking care of your bag”. This time, the pause was long enough for me to realize that he was definitely asking for a tip.

I inquired, “What exactly will you be doing with my bag?”

He replied, “I’ll be taking it over there”. He pointed to a conveyor belt, maybe 10-15 feet away.

I said, “And when did you start expecting a tip for that?”

He answered with the practiced non-sequitur, “It’s a porter service”.

I shook my head. “Nope – a porter carries your bags here from the taxi. But I carried my own bag. I always do. If checking my bag is no longer part of your job, I’ll be glad to carry it over there myself.”

He replied that, for safety reasons, I was not allowed behind the counter.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t help you. Thank you for checking my bag. Have a nice day.” I flashed a mouth-only smile, and patiently watched until he’d done his job.

I could understand if I’d been checking a trunk full of bowling balls. But this bag was a small, standard carry-on size suitcase, barely big enough for three days worth of summer-in-Las-Vegas clothes.

Arggggghhh!

Maybe it’s long been standard to hit up vacationers? As I said, I wouldn’t know.

Or maybe the Las Vegas destination got me the ‘high-roller’ treatment? (Which would be to laugh – I was traveling partly for a work conference, ate at Arby’s every morning I was there and didn’t gamble a nickel).

I’m done ranting, but I’m mildly curious how widespread it is to have to tip airline ticketing agents. If I was unaware of a standard practice, I stand corrected. But still just as pissed.

2

Oh man. That just strikes me as … I don’t know.

I never deal with ticketing agents, because I order tickets online and they offer the option to print out a boarding pass at home (I figure the less human interaction at an airport, the better…most times). So all I have to do is go through security.

Of course, now the people at security checkpoints will start putting out tip jars. And you’d BETTER tip if they use the wand on you! :stuck_out_tongue:

3

I’ve never heard of tipping anybody at the airline service counter! Absolutely no one during my last flying experience (mid-May this year) has ever asked me for a tip or implied that it was understood that I give them one. That’s ludicrous.

In fact, the only time I tipped someone in an airport, it was really a bribe. But that was when I was living in South America, and, well, if you wanted to get things done efficiently, particularly if you’re dealing with anyone of any authority, that’s just what you did.

4

Forget the security staff. I have a terrifying mental image of the Pilot standing at the door of the plane with his hand out.

“You know, ma’am, they’re predicting turbulence over Cleveland. And I can’t help noticing that your granny over there looks kind of frail. That osteoporosis can really be a problem on a rough flight…”

5

I fly all the time and flew to Vegas just last year. And I flew in and out of BWI a month ago. I never had this experience. I don’t even recall having the opportunity to tip in such a situation; usually once you’re done they point you towards security so you’ll get the hell out of the way.

What airline was this?

6

I think your outrage is certainly waranted. Bell boys seem to be the only people who can seemingly get away with basically holding out their outstretched palm and telepathicaly saying “give me five dollars!!”

That’s out of control.

The even more insane thing is that you were in Vegas. It’s not at all uncommon for a “whale” to tip you what a normal person makes in a week. Those people should be the last people to be uttering such non-subtle solicitations.

7

I just flew on vacation last November. Either nobody hit me up for tips, or I just didn’t notice.

Have to admit, I like the way you handled yourself there, F.U.. I can call you F.U., can’t I?

8

Flying through Phoenix? Were you on America West?

I flew with them recently, also out of BWI. Went BWI to Phoenix to SF, and then returned the opposite way ten days later. No-one hit me up for a tip, and if they had my reaction would have been just as incredulous as yours.

Unbelievable.

9

Is the OP talking about a ticket agent or a skycap?

The skycaps are the guys (typically) that have a booth outside where you can check in. They can ‘check’ you in.

I know people tip them all the time (usually for the convience of not having to drag your bag upstairs, etc), but I have never heard of an airline employee asking for a tip.

10

Holy CRAP.

I flew out of BWI in mid-May, and my boyfriend flew out of here in early June. Nothing like this happened. We both ended up on Northwest this time, but he and I have flown Northwest, US Airways, Continental, Midwest, and United out of BWI at some point and have never experienced anything like this.

Maybe you should contact the airline and tell them about it. I highly doubt that this is sanctioned.

11

My mother and I were informed (rather rudely) about it being customary to tip sky caps. I had no idea. I considered them to be ticketing agents, that operated outdoors. My bad.

But a ticketing agent? Inside? That carries your bag a whopping 10 feet?

I’m a habitual tipper and even I think that’s out of control.

I second the suggestion that you call the airline. I seriously doubt that’s sanctioned. They’re probably allowed to accept tips, but accepting tips is a far cry from soliciting them.

12

My GF informed me that it is customary to tip these guys $1 per bag. I always do. But is what they do any different than what the ticket agent at the counter does? They aren’t really carrying the bags any further. (at least not at LAX) They just put them on a cart and some guy who I didn’t tip comes along and takes the cart.

13

In my experience, the skycap makes you feel like he’s taking care of you. I actually haven’t flown since 9/11 (not because of 9/11 or anything, just happened that way), but the skycaps would usually come over to the curb with a cart and get the luggage as you took it out of the car. They would do the check-in thing, make sure your bags had tags, make sure you were headed toward the right gate, and wish you a good trip. It was almost always some wizened old guy, and you felt like you were in good hands. So, in my experience, it was a more “personalized” service, and certainly worth a tip.

But ticket agents? Oy.

What’s next? Your postman won’t give you your mail unless you’ve left a fiver in the mailbox?

14

In extremely innaproriate situatins such as this, management should be informed IMO.

This crosses the line between duty and quality of service. A spoken request for a tip for a ten foot walk is, and should be, more insulting than a tip jar at a bookstore.

Any people that have noted my advocation for decent tipping, might also see that I also detest wildly innapropriate tipping, it gives legitimatly tipped professions a black eye.

No tip, and a scolding is in order here.

15

I was on America West.

I think the problem may be one of definition, specifically a ticketing agent vice a skycap.

I always thought skycaps were guys who carried your bags at an airport, who of course were entitled to tips.

The guys who asked me for tips in Baltimore and Vegas had access to the airline’s computer network, and generated my boarding passes, so I assumed they were ticketing agents (and, I hope to God, airline employees). But their desks were outside. Does that make them skycaps?

In any event, they were on the same floor as if I had checked in inside, so they didn’t save me any trips upstairs. The fact that they were outside shaved about fifty feet off my walk (the distance to the indoor ticketing desk). But it’s not like they carried my bag fifty feet.

As is often the case with people who vote themselves tips, these ticketing agents/skycaps may be exploiting our confusion.

I think I will ask the airline what gives. If they say I’m supposed to tip them, I’ll put it on my expense account.

Thanks for the kind words, Lord – feel free to call me whatever you like.

16

Returning from Mexico (Cancun), there’s a uniformed (customs?) guy who goes thru your luggage while you’re waiting to check in. He expects a tip. It annoyed the hell out of me, but I gave him one to avoid any hassles.

17

It is rumored that these “skycaps” in ATL can get as much as $100 per hour just in tips due to the high volume of passangers, as this is one of the busiest (if not the busiest) international airports in the USA…

18

I spoke with a sky cap a year or so ago when I was flying. He worked at one of the outside check-in booths, had access to the computers and checked me in, but told me he was not an employee and that tips were his only source of income. Don’t know if I was swooshed or not, but since then, I’ve tipped each time I’ve encountered one.

19

Yes, it does. And yes, it is customary to tip them.

20

OK, I have been informed.

Also, I was wrong when I referred to a conveyor belt – there was no conveyor belt, the bags were put on a cart. I seem to have conflated the indoor people who check you in (ticketing agents) with the outdoor people who check you in (skycaps).

I’m now wrestling with the knowledge that non-airline employees have access to everyone’s flight information via computer. (I realize that ‘access to the computer network’ has a fuzzy boundary: e.g., anyone can check available flights via the worldwide web. But skycaps apparently can see who is flying, and when and where). Does this surprise/scare/annoy anyone else?

Thanks to all for the info.