I was in a wheelchair for a few months after a severe injury and tipped them $5 each time. He refused the rare $10 tip and simply said that his underlings are the ones that need the tip. There weren't enough pushers inside the immigration area. I do not tip for the trip from the gate to the plane or other short excursions.Īt Denver off of an international flight, we got top notch service from the supervisor of the company doing the wheelchairs from the gate, through immigration, and to bag recheck. I do not tip in overseas locations where tipping is not common unless the service is exceptional. Unlike some folks, $10 tip over and over again for me will make my wallet very unhappy so it's almost never going to happen. $10 is rare (you had to spend a ton of time with us and be real chatty in a pleasant way). When traveling with disabled family members, I almost always tip $5. Nevertheless, I do tip while in the US although I am very unhappy about that. I also believe tipping encourages the powers that be to continue this practice.
These workers also pay exorbitant amounts to commute to the airport even though my tax dollars paid for the public transit. I'm not happy at all with the lousy compensation and lack of benefits that service workers get in the US. I'm not trying to attack anybody or their wealth, just giving context to advice such as "$10+" tip. He has admitted to lavish spending on hotel food and beverage. Two kids flying paid first class Amex Centurion with waived fees (which must mean he is a VIP customer even among Centurion cardholders). Every indication from the post history of Often1 is that he is a man of extraordinary wealth. If you really care about the employees, I recommend supporting broader living-wage legislation, rather than shifting the burden onto travelers who may be no better-off themselves.Īlso - to be clear I respect anonymity on this site. A $15 minimum wage is already in effect at some US airports. There remains the question of subsistence for the employee.
If the service is a right, then contributing to a culture in which tipping is expected will disproportionately harm lower-income travelers and foreign travelers who may come from a culture where no tipping exists at all. In most circumstances I advocate tipping in line with the norm, but when the service is a right and not a privilege, I advocate tipping $0. Skycap substitute is not.īottom line is that you pay what you can and "expensive" is relative. Also important to remember that disability assistance is a right. That said, if you require assistance and really cannot afford it, you should tip what you can afford, bearing in mind the above. There may well be 200 frothing-at-the-mouth posts about why this is wrong, but that is the way it is. Maybe a bit more if they are handling luggage as well. A cart-driver who spends 5 minutes with you and 4 others ought to get $2+. One wheelchair pusher who spends 30 minutes with you ought to get $10+. How much depends on the service and how much time is involved. Depending on the airport, getting to/from may be quite expensive (plenty of recent newspaper stories about how little these folks make).
This is a simple way of saying that they depend on tips to subsist. Presuming you are referring to US domestic airports, these are almost uniformly employees of contractors to the airport authority and are rarely paid much above minimum wage.