Uh oh! Valet tipping question (Vegas, but other info would be good as well).

In My Humble Opinion
1

Once again, I find myself in Las Vegas for work and being the lazy American I am, I take advantage of the free valet parking at my hotel like it is going out of style.

What I wonder, though, is what a: is the proper tip (etiquette wise) and b: what y’all tip?

For instance, I always tip a few bucks when I pick up my car from the valet, but it recently occurred to me that I am probably screwing up big time and should tip when I drop off my car. Right? Wrong?

Also, I generally carry my own bags and put them in myself, so my tip is usually $2 at pick up. If the valet puts my bags in for me, I’ll give an extra dollar or two. Last night, my friend and I had her baby and we were waiting for the valet. I guess the guy saw the baby, because he RAN, came back with the car, and said, “I turned the heat way up so the baby would be warm :D”- that was cute, so he got a few extra bucks.

Another friend of mine, well, I guess she had never really experienced valets before (particularly the free kind in Vegas). I was seriously shocked (no, really, my face was :eek: ) when she and her boyfriend told me they tipped $20 when they dropped off the car and **$20 ** when they picked it up. Oh well, they said the valets were always fast.

So, in sum: what is the proper valet-tipping etiquette? Do you follow it or do something else?

2

20 bucks? Unless it is Christmas Eve, or he’s also their dealer, that is too much.

$2-10 is sufficient, depending upon where you are, and only at pickup. I know the logic behind tipping at drop-off, but unless you have an expensive car and are asking that he keep on eye on it, it shouldn’t necessary.

3

I agree completely. They honestly didn’t know and I think that was what they thought was normal. What’s more amazing is that these are two 21 year olds, so it’s not exactly like they are rollin’ in 20s to hand out to valets like candy.

4

Aww, just like in Brother when Beat Takeshi keeps tipping everyone with $100 till a maid stops him. :smiley:

5

My understanding is that $5 is the “standard” tip. Personally I only tip when I drop off if I’m, say, asking them to keep it close, for example. Or one or two times when the weather was really rotten.

6

I tip at pick up, not drop off. They almost always pool and split the tips anyway. I tip 5 bucks pretty much everywhere.

7

$5 when you pick it up. Pretty much standard everywhere we’ve stayed in Vegas.

8

Same here- $5 at pick up, more if it’s Christmas or some other holiday. Or the one time in Baltimore that it was about -10 degrees out and we were near the water and the wind was whipping and the valet brought the car toasty warm. We all 4 gave him $5 each.