How do you tip?

[phyllis1966]

I agree with skiwee - I never heard of NOT tipping housekeeping until I read this thread. I was wondering why no envelope was left in our room at the end of our vacation last year - now I know that it may have been considered crass by many people. We had to chase down the mousekeeper to give her a $20 tip on our last day - and to her credit, our room was kept immaculate and the turndown service was very nice even though we left no tip for the first 6 nights.

To those who feel that mousekeepers should be able to make do on their salaries or else find another job, I can only say this - their hourly wage is most likely pitiful and I'm sure that they wouldn't be cleaning our toilets if they could just find another job that easily, so I like to give them a little extra since I can afford to spend $5000 on my vacation.

 

[Darian]

Oh so now we are all cheap. How nice.

By that logic I better start tipping the greeters at Walmart and the person who rings up my purchases at the checkstand. They make a pretty "pitiful wage" as well so they deserve a tip too, right? The folks who sell me clothing at Nordstroms work pretty hard also... hmmmm maybe we should start tipping them as well. Oh and we can't forget those poor wage slaves at McDonalds! Flipping burgers is worse than changing beds right?

There are in fact many people who enjoy their work in housekeeping. Its a decent job... good hours, clean environment and fairly low stress. This honest work is in no way demeaning. To say otherwise, as some posters have insinuated, is really insulting to those people who do the mousekeeping work. If a person wants a "better" job they can get a better job. But if If they don't have the skills, then they can invest the time and effort to get them. Community college is cheap after all. I worked servicing a continual process oven at Borden Industral Foods... that job sucked. Try chipping lemon taffee off the walls in a 300 degree steel room for an hour or so. The easy part of the job was catching 100lb bags of lemon powder off a conveyor belt and stacking them on a pallet. Fun. It helped pay for my college anyway.

85% of people don't tip housekeeping because its inappropriate to do so, not because they are being cheap. Perhaps the 15% of people who think otherwise should reconsider.

Who knows? Maybe thowing a bone to the "little people" helps ease their middle class guilt. Whatever. They probably like paying extra income tax too and think its noble.

Darian

 

[SonicLogic]

Tipping is part of the underground economy and should be avoided in most cases. Millions of tax dollars are lost. Most service folks that get tips on a regular basis under report their tip income, and therefore I (and you) have to pay more taxes. Don't tip!

 

[phyllis1966]

Looks like this thread is headed for the debate board!

 

[sm4987]

I was just thinking the same thing. I didn't realize my question would spark such a debate. I love all the responses though. Just to add mine, I don't mind tipping. To be truthful I had never even heard of it till I picked up a guidebook and it said it was nice to tip mousekeeping.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Darian
Oh so now we are all cheap. How nice.

By that logic I better start tipping the greeters at Walmart and the person who rings up my purchases at the checkstand. They make a pretty "pitiful wage" as well so they deserve a tip too, right? The folks who sell me clothing at Nordstroms work pretty hard also... hmmmm maybe we should start tipping them as well. Oh and we can't forget those poor wage slaves at McDonalds! Flipping burgers is worse than changing beds right?

There are in fact many people who enjoy their work in housekeeping. Its a decent job... good hours, clean environment and fairly low stress. This honest work is in no way demeaning. To say otherwise, as some posters have insinuated, is really insulting to those people who do the mousekeeping work. If a person wants a "better" job they can get a better job. But if If they don't have the skills, then they can invest the time and effort to get them. Community college is cheap after all. I worked servicing a continual process oven at Borden Industral Foods... that job sucked. Try chipping lemon taffee off the walls in a 300 degree steel room for an hour or so. The easy part of the job was catching 100lb bags of lemon powder off a conveyor belt and stacking them on a pallet. Fun. It helped pay for my college anyway.

85% of people don't tip housekeeping because its inappropriate to do so, not because they are being cheap. Perhaps the 15% of people who think otherwise should reconsider.

Who knows? Maybe thowing a bone to the "little people" helps ease their middle class guilt. Whatever. They probably like paying extra income tax too and think its noble.

Darian

I didn't call anyone cheap. If you read my post I said that "I" wasn't going to be cheap by not tipping. I would feel pretty miserly spending big bucks on a vacation and not feeling I could tip the ones around me well. That is "me". I can't help if I view not tipping or undertipping being cheap. That is the way I feel and would have a hard time living with myself if I did that to others. I think it is pretty bad that you are calling people that make tips "little people". How callous and immature. I have no guilt about anything. I could never understand why the middle class need to feel guilty about anything! Do the lower class opr upper class need to feel guilty as well? Why would I consider not tipping just because others do not tip? Who says they are right! It seems that non tippers will come up with any excuse to make themselves feel better. I tip well because I appreciate their service and can afford to tip well. I don't care what others tip and am just thankful I don't work and have to depend on tips! LOL!

 

[phyllis1966]

Don't worry, skiwee - I believe that Darian was accusing me of insinuating that everyone else is cheap, not you - LOL!

I don't feel guilty, either - I feel priveleged to be able to take my child to WDW 2 years in a row and stay at a wonderful resort. And while I can agree that tipping in general has gotten out of hand (delis, Dunkin' Donuts, and anywhere someone has to hand something to you!), I still feel that housekeeping is not a fun job and I like to give a tip to someone who makes my stay more enjoyable.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by phyllis1966
Don't worry, skiwee - I believe that Darian was accusing me of insinuating that everyone else is cheap, not you - LOL!

I don't feel guilty, either - I feel priveleged to be able to take my child to WDW 2 years in a row and stay at a wonderful resort. And while I can agree that tipping in general has gotten out of hand (delis, Dunkin' Donuts, and anywhere someone has to hand something to you!), I still feel that housekeeping is not a fun job and I like to give a tip to someone who makes my stay more enjoyable.

I agree! I will not be made to feel badly because I chose to acknowledge someone's hard work by giving them a tip. We have spent 35 days in WDW in the last 12 months and have had a most wonderful time. If I can afford that then I can afford to tip what I feel the service is worth to me. When the people I give the tip to actually complain about it being too much then I may reconsider! LOL!

 

[Darian]

skiwee1 & phyllis1966 -

You guys are so funny! The "little people" I was referring to were the mousekeepers and other service persons - not you two or any other posters for that matter!!! As I said in previous posts, I think its a good thing you tip generously. So do I. What I found troubling was the implication that the mousekeeper's jobs were so terrible and that somehow the job itself was demeaning. To me, that could be considered insulting to the mousekeepers themselves. Since my sister worked in such a position for several years you might understand why I took umbrage at such an insinuation. Hey, its my sister after all....

"If I can cough up $4000 a trip and go 3 times a year then I am not going to be cheap and not tip the housekeepers." quoted from skiwee1

Oh my dear skiwee1, it sure looks to me like you are saying here that someone who doesn't tip housekeeping is cheap. But in way of compromise, I would agree with you that if housekeeping does something out of the ordinary... like you request a zillion towels or something, that a tip would be appropriate - and at the very least a kind thing to do. PAX?

Darian

PS Some people tip excessivley because of "middle/upper class guilt." Its a "noblesse oblige" kind of thing... the "rich" giving pocket change to the poor and thus easing their personal feelings of guilt. That is NOT to say that is necessarily YOUR motivation.

 

[iwannago!!]

We tip $1/bag to the airport outside check in... usually a $5 bill.
We tip the limo driver $10-$15 each way
We tip the valet $2-5, depending on what we have in our pocket and how often we are tipping them. If we are tipping them all week, then we go $2-$3 each time and that is about it. If it is a one shot deal - maybe $5.
We tip the bellman that unloads our car a couple bucks - $2/3
We tip the bellhop $5-$10 for bringing bags to our room and another $5 - $10 to bring them down- maybe another $2-3 if he loads them into the car too.
We don't tip housekeeping just for cleaning our room - that is their job and we pay a pretty penny to 'rent' that room for the night - it should be clean. BUT I do tip for 'extra's. For instance, If we want the ice bucket filled - I might leave $2-3 sticking out of it and a little note that says 'please fill for us - thanks'. If we want extra towels, I might leave a $1-$2 with a note that says 'please leave extra bath towels - thanks'. If the housekeeper is especially nice and routinely fills our ice for us and routinely leaves us extra towels, then at the end our our stay we will leave all of our accumualted change and a big 'thank you' note. The accumulated change could easily be $20 - $30 (we keep it daily int he deskl drawer)!! If the housekeeper doesn't do anything other than make the bed and clean the bathroom, then we might take our change home for the piggy bank for next trip - or maybe even drop a $5 on the bed.

hope this helps!

ps = we also tip 20% of the bill at any restaurant - we don't subtract the tax or the alcohol either - the final number * 20%... if the waitress is good, she gets more than her fair share.

and we tip $2-$5/round of drinks (depending)

 

[phyllis1966]

Well, let me just say this: in no way would I ever demean anyone else or their job intentionally - all I know is that I hate to clean my own toilets, let alone a few hundred being used by total strangers.

But we digress...we tip about $1-2 per bag, just about whenever anyone brings them somewhere for us, including at the airport. At this point I will digress yet again to relay an "amusing" story from last year's Newark airport check-in. When our bags were taken from us outside as we checked in, my husband whispered to me that he didn't know if he should tip the man that explained where to go and put our 2 bags on the conveyor belt. I said I thought so, but DH felt that the man really didn't do much, which was true. As we were turning to enter the airport, the man said "I'll make sure your bags are OK, sir," or something to that effect - it was SO obvious that he was asking for a tip, so DH took out a $5 bill for him. I'm not trying to spark another debate, I'm just relaying an anecdote related to the topic.

 

[PLibster]

Do you tip Concierge and how much? Do you tip at the end of your stay? We are staying concierge in a few days and we have made our own PS's. So I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for your input.

 

[iwannago!!]

Originally posted by phyllis1966
As we were turning to enter the airport, the man said "I'll make sure your bags are OK, sir," or something to that effect - it was SO obvious that he was asking for a tip,

OH YES.. I have heard this line many times. It definitely is a reminder to tip for those that are unsure. I always tip the curbside check in, and have still heard that line if I wasn't quick enough with the slide of the cash!

 

[dahess]

$1.00 per person per day

 

[sm4987]

Thanks again for all the tips It should prove helpful on our trip next Friday.

 

[lmhall2000]

I have been enlightened reading about the tipping posts....I never knew to tip housekeeping- and I travelled extensively in my corporate days- all that said here's a kudos to the great mousekeeping services.....

We stayed at AKL two years ago, our son had an asthma attack- so maybe they felt sorry for us seeing all the medicine and nebulizer stuff around- but EVERYDAY they did fun things with our kids stuffed animals- and made towel animals as well- we would come in and find all the stuffed animals having a tea party or dressed in my kids pajamas. It was so cute!! We didn't tip a single dime and every night (6 nights) they did something great- and even gave us turndown service when we never requested it. So I think it's refreshing to know that the "extra" Disney touch is not contingent upon tips and my mousekeeper certainly did not expect it- but now that I'm wiser I will give daily tips with a nice note thanking them.

Tara