As one whose daily routine seems to consist of tipping waiters, cabbies, doormen, coat checkers, maître d’s, etc., one of life’s mysteries remains: how much do you tip the Amtrak sleeping car attendant? For example, when I went from Chicago to Seattle (2 nights) except for a brief introduction to the features of my room, I dealt with my car’s attendant only once. That was when I opened the top half of the vestibule door and started taking pictures. As I was leaning way out, he happened to walk through the vestibule and remarked that it was forbidden for passengers to open the doors. I don’t think he even broke stride before disappearing into the car. I kept snapping pictures. When we arrived in Seattle I tipped him 40 bucks, less than 10% of the fare. How do you figure your tip?
BTW, I’ve read that in the '50s the custom was to tip the Pullman Porter $1 per person per night (about $7.50 in 2006 dollars). That seems low to me, and I wonder if most even tipped that much. Apparently back then Americans didn’t have second thoughts about stiffing African-Americans (Negroes). To me it’s an indication of how limited the opportunities were for African-Americans. At an earlier time being a Pullman Porter was considered a prestigious position among them.
$20 to $50 or more per night per person, based on level and quality of service needed/rendered.
My car attendent on a trip from New York to Chicago kept an eye on my laptop ($3,000) and camera bag and lenses ($15,000) when I went to eat my meals. He also kept me supplied with fresh coffee in my roomette (I was writing a story on a tight deadline) all night long. I didn’t blink when I gave him $50. He told me he attempts to treat all passengers the same – wonderfully – because he is the main conduit between the passengers and Amtrak. One classy guy.
A Texan strikes oil and makes a fortune. With money to spare, he decides his next trip to Houston will be in the Pullman car. The porter takes his bag, makes his berth, polishes his boots-does all the services expected of a Pullman porter. As the Texan is getting off his train at the terminal, he notices another passenger giving the porter a gratuity. Not knowing anything about what to tip, he decides to approach it head on and asks, “I ain’t never done this before. What’s your average tip?” The porter, not missing a beat, says, “Ten dollars, sir.” The Texan pulls out a $10.00 gold pice and hands it to the porter, who just stands here, looking at it and not moving. “What’s the matter? Didn’t you say that ten dollars was the average?” “Yes”, says the porter slowly, “you’re just the first person to come up to the average.”
I didn’t say it was funny-just old. I know the feeling…
Like any person who gets tipped, I tip according to how good the service was. The other night I was in a local restaraunt with some friends, the waitress politly cam up too our order and brought our food out in a timley manner, but after this we sat there for almost 2 hours waiting for more coffee(me and my friends routinely go to this particular establishment for late night bull seeions fueld by many pots of coffee and dinner. Sesions sometimes lasting 3-5 hours. There is nothing to do here.) Finally we get another waitress to bring us coffee and then we waited another hour for them to bring us a check. I, needless to say left no tip that night. On the other hand. Great service will be very kindly rewarded. At this same establishment good service has been rewarded with as much as $20 between all of us there.
Generally at restaurants and the like I figure 10% of the total bill just because it is easy to figure, then in my mind I double it.
Then when it is tip time, I pick a point somewhere on the line between the 2, based upon how exceptional the service was. (it’s easier than figuring 15% in my head)
If I get really lousy service, I tip a penny, to make the point…
And just for kicks, if the place has valet parking I always walk out of the restaurant with one of their free breath mints in one hand, and a fiver in the other.
I’ll palm off the mint first, just to see their reaction, Than I hand them the $5 and tell them I was just joking.
I’ve had some funny responses from those guys.[:o)]
Nothing wrong with that, but the way I figured it was as a percentage of total fare (about 10% in this case). The fare reflects the time one spends on the train, distance, and class of service. That way someone in a bedroom would tip more than a roomette. Of course, if the attendant renders extra service, e.g. not taking close notice of you enthusiastically pursuing your hobby, that would merit extra.
I also was travelling with some expensive camera equipment. Not knowing what to do, I took it with me when I went to the diner. Are most attendants willing to watch over valuables? That is could you take it to him/her for temporary safekeeping? I would guess Amtrak, as its official policy, would be unwilling to assume responsibility for personal belongings under any circumstances.
Well, if Amtrak wants to attract more business customers like me, they need to have a more secure method of protecting valuables in bedrooms and roomettes when the passenger is somewhere else in the train. It gets old lugging that stuff around on long trip.
I was surprised because on Amtrak, all of the rooms lock ONLY from the inside! So I decided I had to trust my guy to keep an eye on all of that equipment (I took an $8,000 500mm lens on that trip) instead of me having to drag it all through the train with me at mealtimes, a real hassle. I realize that post 9/11 security protocol changed greatly, but why not have a key lock on the door and let the car attendant hold the key, and open it up only when a passenger IDs himself as the person in that roomette? It could stilll manually lock from the inside.
I wouldn’t think the plastic cardswipe locks (like in hotels) would be that expensive/difficult to install or operate. Of course, since Amtrak is being starved to death, even an inexpensive idea has to sit and wait.
OH my have we got some contraversey in here or what?? Wow…
I personally like to tip 20 percent which is the highest. I don’t know why I do but, I figure that if some one is working in a resturant, bar, or some other forum of service…ect… they would probally like to see a little more fall into their hands than minimum wage or a little over.
I’ve seen recommendations for ten bucks a night for sleeper attendants, so that’s what I generally give. There are variables. Once, on the Silver Meteor from D.C. to Jacksonville, the attendant was a delightful Scottish lady who was so cheerful, cool, and attentive that she got $20 for the one night. Same trip, on the way back to D.C., the attendant was so obviously averse to providing service of any kind (including no coffee in the morning, so I made it myself for everybody), and even rude, that he got stiffed. Anybody who had been there would not fault me.
In the diner I do the same as a restaurant - start at 15%, and it goes up or down depending on the service. The food doesn’t matter (NEVER order an Amsteak) - it’s service you’re tipping for. Sometimes I ask for dessert (usually the cheesecake) to be wrapped to take to my room; that’s always worth a tip boost.
And I don’t worry much about leaving stuff in the bedroom, since I take the camera and laptop with me everywhere anyway. I check my bag and take almost nothing to my room except a change of clothes. If they wanna steal that, and my beer, go ahead.
I don’t believe in tipping less for “bad” service or tipping more for someone who is trying to ingratiate themselves. I believe in tipping a standard amount because there are often circumstances out of the server’s control in the perceived quality of service. On the other hand, if I am making demands for service – asking for food boxes to take home what is left over, calling the waitperson back for an extra request, I give a proportionate extra amount. Also, in some low-cost diners, the food is inexpensive enough that one should round up the tip.
I did run into this one situation where I paid with large bills and asked for a certain amount of change representing a kind of standard 15% tip. It was a bunch of us couples out for Valentines dinner at some moderately-priced restaurant and it was a separate checks kind of deal, and while the wait person was giving us a lot of service, that wait person became kind of sullen that I didn’t give more than a standard tip. Using the returned change, I tipped extra, not because the wait person was unhappy but on reflection that I was doing a quick calculation in my head when I asked for the change, and because of the extra service. I guess I didn’t get any credit for that, and I have been embarressed to patronize the same restaurant, which I suppose doesn’t do the establishment or its hard-working waitstaff much good. I guess tipping requires a bit more elan than I have.
On the other hand, I think guys can be generous tippers for a variety of motivations. Many women I have known calculate that 15 percent and not-a-penny more. Guys, you need to be careful around your wives or women-friends. Generous tipping could be taken as a sign that you are confidant, financially successful, and generous. Some women could interpret it that you are careless financially, or if a tip is motivated by, say the kind of experience that a restaurant chain called Butterwings in trade publications promotes.
Let me make a distinction between tipping in a restaurant and tipping an Amtrak employee. In NYC it’s understood that a substantial part of a waiter’s income comes from tips, so you have to give or consider giving something. That’s not so clear to me about Amtrak car attendants. In addition, if Amtark were openly a government entity instead of a de facto one, my understanding is that it’s illegal to give gratuities to government employees.
BTW, are the guys who take tickets on the NEC corridor trains also car attendants. I would never give a tip to one of them. Surely it’s not the train conductor who takes the tickets. Is it? One of the surliest train employees I’ve ever met was a ticket taker on a NEC train. How many are there per train, about 1 per every 3 or 4 cars?
